[3.5] bonus AC instead of armor

[The Rabbler]

are there any rules for this? my group is about to start an OA campaign and we'd rather not be stuck wearing armor; purely for cool factor.

homebrew is acceptable, but I haven't been able to find any.

[Ravens_cry]

You mean like this? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/defenseBonus.htm)
I don't know if it works or not, never used it, but I like the idea for lower tech games, like the Stone Ages.

[Sewercop]

are there any rules for this? my group is about to start an OA campaign and we'd rather not be stuck wearing armor; purely for cool factor.

homebrew is acceptable, but I haven't been able to find any.

If homebrew is ok and its just for cool factor, why not just say that you pay the price for the armor in a ritual to draw upon youre inner chi\magic powers.
How to handle the dex bonuses and penalties? Just say that its the drawback\burden of carrying that kind chi\magic within yourself.
You can sell the ritual to another person just like magic items, meaning you no longer could use it. You find a ritual instead of an armor....etc etc

Needs some work, but it should not have any huge impacts in game except that you cant rob someones armor...

Just from the top of my head.

[Person_Man]

IIRC, Star Wars Saga Edition uses something like 10 + 1/2 your character level + Dexterity OR 10 + Armor Bonus + Dexterity, using whichever value is higher. You can take a class Talent to get it to 10 + 1/2 your character level + Armor Bonus + Dexterity. But I'm AFB right now, so I'm not sure.

You could also just use 10 + Str + Dex + 1/2 your character level.

But keep in mind that there are TONS of things that augment AC in 3.5 D&D. Armor is only important for low level non-magic/psionic characters. So you don't really need a house rule. You just need spells/powers or enough money to buy Amulets/Cloaks/etc.

[Myth]

I use bab as dodge ac + 1 point of critical threat for all weapons for a Naked Fanatic bonus for a Gaulish warrior in my historical campaign.

[Psyx]

Take a level of monk?

It might not look cool, but there's a reason why people wear armour: It makes them a dozen times more survivable than not doing so!

[The Rabbler]

You mean like this? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/defenseBonus.htm)
I don't know if it works or not, never used it, but I like the idea for lower tech games, like the Stone Ages.

this is perfect, thanks.


If homebrew is ok and its just for cool factor, why not just say that you pay the price for the armor in a ritual to draw upon youre inner chi\magic powers.
How to handle the dex bonuses and penalties? Just say that its the drawback\burden of carrying that kind chi\magic within yourself.
You can sell the ritual to another person just like magic items, meaning you no longer could use it. You find a ritual instead of an armor....etc etc

I was considering something like this, but my group feels that rituals to protect you should cost a lot more than normal armor does and that everyone walking around with these magic rituals would look a bit silly.


But keep in mind that there are TONS of things that augment AC in 3.5 D&D. Armor is only important for low level non-magic/psionic characters. So you don't really need a house rule. You just need spells/powers or enough money to buy Amulets/Cloaks/etc.

we're going to be playing a relatively low-magic campaign in which resources (iron, coal, etc) are pretty scarce; so we need something to really emulate armor. I probably should've mentioned that was the case; otherwise I'd just make some commoner's armor and be done with it.


I use bab as dodge ac + 1 point of critical threat for all weapons for a Naked Fanatic bonus for a Gaulish warrior in my historical campaign.

so a barbarian level 20 would have +20 dodge to AC? that's a bit too much AC to tack on for my group's taste, thanks though.

[tyckspoon]

so a barbarian level 20 would have +20 dodge to AC? that's a bit too much AC to tack on for my group's taste, thanks though.

It's actually a little bit less than you would otherwise get from going fully armored (+13 from Full Plate +5, +8 from a +5 Animated Shield) It's a much better kind of AC, since it applies to Touch and Dodge stacks with everything, but in a vacuum it's not a broken number. Could be a problem when combined with some of the means of acquiring a non-armor Armor/Shield bonus (Mage Armor, Bracers of Armor, MIC rules on adding Armor bonus to other items, etc) but that's not likely to be a real problem in a low-resource setting.

[lsfreak]

we're going to be playing a relatively low-magic campaign in which resources (iron, coal, etc) are pretty scarce; so we need something to really emulate armor. I probably should've mentioned that was the case; otherwise I'd just make some commoner's armor and be done with it.

Nonmetal armors - i.e. leather scales covered in tightly layered silk or linen, or even just the linens/silks themselves - are surprising effective, from what I've gathered over the the Real Wold Weapons thread. There was a nice discussion in the most-recently-filled thread you might want to try and search up.

[The Rabbler]

It's actually a little bit less than you would otherwise get from going fully armored (+13 from Full Plate +5, +8 from a +5 Animated Shield) It's a much better kind of AC, since it applies to Touch and Dodge stacks with everything, but in a vacuum it's not a broken number. Could be a problem when combined with some of the means of acquiring a non-armor Armor/Shield bonus (Mage Armor, Bracers of Armor, MIC rules on adding Armor bonus to other items, etc) but that's not likely to be a real problem in a low-resource setting.

I feel that it's a bit much to give away to someone. that +20 AC should have cost the wearer at least 100k gp to get otherwise.



Nonmetal armors - i.e. leather scales covered in tightly layered silk or linen, or even just the linens/silks themselves - are surprising effective, from what I've gathered over the the Real Wold Weapons thread. There was a nice discussion in the most-recently-filled thread you might want to try and search up.

unless they can emulate magically-enhanced full plate for some characters, it won't be enough for our campaign. thanks though.

[Myth]

It's actually a little bit less than you would otherwise get from going fully armored (+13 from Full Plate +5, +8 from a +5 Animated Shield) It's a much better kind of AC, since it applies to Touch and Dodge stacks with everything, but in a vacuum it's not a broken number. Could be a problem when combined with some of the means of acquiring a non-armor Armor/Shield bonus (Mage Armor, Bracers of Armor, MIC rules on adding Armor bonus to other items, etc) but that's not likely to be a real problem in a low-resource setting.

Like i said - real world setting. 270 BC to be precise.

[Ravens_cry]

Like i said - real world setting. 270 BC to be precise.
Deepening on where you are, you'll still have up to breast plate.

[Myth]

Deepening on where you are, you'll still have up to breast plate.

Aye, but the naked fanatic is a feat that works only if you wear no armour or clothes. Google the naked Gaulish warriors to get an idea of what i'm talking about.

I gave each of the players different, but balanced abilities to choose if they want. Some get 1/2 CLVL AB/AC when fighting in a Phalanx for example. It's all good with proper planning.

[Ravens_cry]

Aye, but the naked fanatic is a feat that works only if you wear no armour or clothes. Google the naked Gaulish warriors to get an idea of what i'm talking about.

I gave each of the players different, but balanced abilities to choose if they want. Some get 1/2 CLVL AB/AC when fighting in a Phalanx for example. It's all good with proper planning.
Yeah, and the naked fantatics lost to the breast plated phalanxers.

[Myth]

I beg to differ, do some reading on the Gaulish invasion of Greece. Anyway i'm talking about individual warriors and adding flavor with balanced mechanics. Naturally it's better to have a bronze breastplate and shield then going in, **** swinging and all.

[Spiryt]

I beg to differ, do some reading on the Gaulish invasion of Greece. Anyway i'm talking about individual warriors and adding flavor with balanced mechanics. Naturally it's better to have a bronze breastplate and shield then going in, **** swinging and all.

I'm pretty sure that in case of migrating of the Celtic tribes to the Greece, it was quite a bit more of a battle between mailed Celts and breastplated Greeks and naked Celts and some clothed Greeks.

It's always like that. :smallwink:

[Ravens_cry]

I beg to differ, do some reading on the Gaulish invasion of Greece. Anyway i'm talking about individual warriors and adding flavor with balanced mechanics. Naturally it's better to have a bronze breastplate and shield then going in, **** swinging and all.
Yeah, and I'm talking about the Roman invasion of Britain. The Celts were also big on the three B's, Bare, Blue and Badass. They ended up Busted.
But hey, if you want to support a variety of archetypes in a reasonably balanced manner, go right on ahead, I wish you all luck.

[Kylarra]

You could also use the rule of thumb I've picked up from SlayersD20, any part of an armor can be worn as if it were the full armor, purely for stylistic reasons. :smallbiggrin: (Of course it costs as much as the full armor and still imposes the same penalties).

[The Rabbler]

You could also use the rule of thumb I've picked up from SlayersD20, any part of an armor can be worn as if it were the full armor, purely for stylistic reasons. :smallbiggrin: (Of course it costs as much as the full armor and still imposes the same penalties).

... Now I'm getting images of extremely muscular men running around in metal thongs answering to feudal lords. Which is probably what at least one of our players would do.

[Ravens_cry]

You could also use the rule of thumb I've picked up from SlayersD20, any part of an armor can be worn as if it were the full armor, purely for stylistic reasons. :smallbiggrin: (Of course it costs as much as the full armor and still imposes the same penalties).
Well, chainmail bikinis would chafe.

[Kylarra]

... Now I'm getting images of extremely muscular men running around in metal thongs answering to feudal lords. Which is probably what at least one of our players would do.
It'd probably impose some significant social penalties at least. :smalltongue:



Well, chainmail bikinis would chafe.Yeah well...


I got nothing.

[Myth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_invasion_of_the_Balkans

Also, it's not a sterotype, it's historical fact.


"Some [Gauls] use iron breast-plates in battle, while others fight naked, trusting only in the protection which nature gives."[4] Polybius wrote an evocative account of Gaulish tactics against a Roman army at the Battle of Telamon of 225 BC: "The Insubres and the Boii wore trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae, in their love of glory and defiant spirit, had thrown off their garments and taken up their position in front of the whole army naked and wearing nothing but their arms... The appearance of these naked warriors was a terrifying spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life."[5]

[The Rabbler]

It'd probably impose some significant social penalties at least. :smalltongue:

knowing my group, I doubt it. They'd probably use it to get a bonus to diplomacy.

[Heatwizard]

knowing my group, I doubt it. They'd probably use it to get a bonus to diplomacy.

Is that what they're calling it these days?

[John Campbell]

You might try the Defense Bonus and Armor as DR rules from Unearthed Arcana. Combined, they make your defense less completely dependent on your gear, without making armor useless.

Actually, I would probably go further in the armor-as-DR department, and just convert its armor bonus straight-up to DR and not have it give any AC bonus at all. The Game of Thrones d20 game did this, and it worked quite well. Of course, it was a lot harder to build an übercharger power-attacking for 1d12+527 in Game of Thrones, so the DR was actually good for something.

Game of Thrones also used a different Defense Bonus progression than the UA ones... it basically went up like BAB, starting at 0, with the primary combat classes getting 3/4 Defense progression, the non-combatants getting 1/2, and only the real dodgy types - the Rogue and Swashbuckler/Duelist equivalents - getting full Defense progression.

[Bayar]

... Now I'm getting images of extremely muscular men running around in metal thongs answering to feudal lords. Which is probably what at least one of our players would do.

Switch metal thongs with normal clothing and metal PAULDRONS and it should work great.