Can someone explain robes of armor to me?

[Seharvepernfan]

Armor can be enhanced up to +5, and armor enhancements have costs relative to armor enhancement (a +1 ghost touch chain shirt costs as much as a +4 chain shirt).

Supposedly, clothes can be enchanced as well, except they have no armor bonus to start with, so a +1 tunic or explorer's outfit or whatever costs 1000gp, and a +1 ghost touch tunic (bad example) would cost as much as a +4 one.

Armor enhancements can go up to a total of +10, with the actual enhancement capping at +5 (a +5 tunic of heavy fortification, equal to +10).

So, why do robes of armor get to go up to +8 in armor enhancement? Is it to match full plate? Shouldn't they only go up to +5, but up to +10 total, like armor?

[Ashtagon]

Which rule book are robes of armour in? I don't see it in SRD or in MIC.

[gkathellar]

Armor can be enhanced up to +5, and armor enhancements have costs relative to armor enhancement (a +1 ghost touch chain shirt costs as much as a +4 chain shirt).

Supposedly, clothes can be enchanced as well, except they have no armor bonus to start with, so a +1 tunic or explorer's outfit or whatever costs 1000gp, and a +1 ghost touch tunic (bad example) would cost as much as a +4 one.

Armor enhancements can go up to a total of +10, with the actual enhancement capping at +5 (a +5 tunic of heavy fortification, equal to +10).

So, why do robes of armor get to go up to +8 in armor enhancement? Is it to match full plate? Shouldn't they only go up to +5, but up to +10 total, like armor?

Do you mean Bracers of Armor?

IIRC, they go up to +8 because it's a legacy thing. See, back in 2E, especially powerful Bracers of AC (x) were rare and useful. There weren't a lot of major sources of AC other than spells and armor, after all. Bracers of AC 1-2 were as good as full plate, and therefore incredibly strong. The +8 bonus is there to equal the old -8 bonus of the days of yore.

[Curmudgeon]

The rules where you can apply armor bonuses identically to bracers (Arms slot) and robe (Body slot) items the same way are in Magic Item Compendium on pages 233-234. Basically they just formalized how Bracers of Armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bracersofArmor) and Robe of the Archmagi (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#robeoftheArchmagi) are both wondrous items with armor bonuses.

Note that you don't have to stop at just armor bonuses. Once you've got at least +1 magical armor property you can add non-numerical armor enhancements to your bracers or robe as well (up to a total +13 cost pre-Epic). The rules for that are in Arms and Equipment Guide on page 130. (That only talks about Bracers of Armor, but after the Magic Item Compendium rules generalization it applies to all such Arms and Body slot items.)

Note that while the armor bonus can go up to +8, it's all magic; there's no nonmagical armor base (like +5 for a breastplate) to build from. You pay quite a bit extra, and don't get to as high a total, when your AC doesn't come from actual armor.

[Seharvepernfan]

Yes! I meant bracers of armor :smallredface:

[Ashtagon]

okay, it seems...

mundane armours have their non-magical armour bonus (from +1 to +8), and an enhancement bonus of up to +5.

Robes (and rings etc.) have their magically-sourced armour bonus (from +1 to +8), and an enhancement bonus of up to +5.

Note that the maximum total for either (armour plus enhancement bonus) is +13. However, robes given an armour bonus but no enhancement bonus are still vulnerable to anti-magic fields.

You're not getting something that actual armour doesn't get here.