Special Armor Material

[Yogibear41]

Are their any special materials that could be used for Hide armor or a similar non metal type armor that can reduce the movement speed penalty? Reducing the ACP or increasing the max dex bonus would also be nice but primarily looking for increased movement speed.



Edit: wow just found the dreamhide armor /facepalm its pretty perfect but if you have any other suggestions that would be great too

[Darrin]

Are their any special materials that could be used for Hide armor or a similar non metal type armor that can reduce the movement speed penalty? Reducing the ACP or increasing the max dex bonus would also be nice but primarily looking for increased movement speed.



Edit: wow just found the dreamhide armor /facepalm its pretty perfect but if you have any other suggestions that would be great too

Could you be more specific about "reduce the movement speed penalty"? I can't tell if you mean reducing the weight category (heavy, medium, light), or if you're talking about the reduced movement from wearing medium/heavy armor.

Is this in regard to a druid's oath, or do you require hide armor for some other purpose?

[Gildedragon]

There's shadowsilk armor (ToM) for hide, leather and the like. It reduces the weight and weight category of the armor.

[Yogibear41]

Could you be more specific about "reduce the movement speed penalty"? I can't tell if you mean reducing the weight category (heavy, medium, light), or if you're talking about the reduced movement from wearing medium/heavy armor.

Is this in regard to a druid's oath, or do you require hide armor for some other purpose?


For movement speed as to not reduce 30 feet to 20 feet, and its not for a druid's oath but more for a roleplaying type purpose.

[Yogibear41]

There's shadowsilk armor (ToM) for hide, leather and the like. It reduces the weight and weight category of the armor.

This would also work very well, however how is it made? Don't see anything in the book about where it comes from our how its made other than "this material is woven from shadow itself"

[Gildedragon]

First you get some shadow-creature or dark-creature silkworms, some shadow-realm mulberry bushes...
Fabricate is bound to work too; shadow silk strikes me as an organic material.

[Darrin]

For movement speed as to not reduce 30 feet to 20 feet, and its not for a druid's oath but more for a roleplaying type purpose.

Aha. Here's some excerpts from an armor handbook I've been working on for some time... this is from the Druid section, so it's full of Druid-specific advice, but I've pulled out all of the hide-related special materials. (My best recommendation for you would be Dragoncraft Scale, which counts as light armor.)


Chameleon Leather (Serpent Kingdoms p. 148)
Price: 360 GP
Made out of color-changing snakeskin, this armor has the same stats as masterwork leather, but provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Hide checks. Circumstance bonuses can be pretty hard to come by, but unless you're a sneaky druid (tree ninja?) trying to max out your Hide check, you'll probably want something better than a +2 armor bonus. Shadow silk hide offers a +2 bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks when in shadowy or dark conditions, or a "Camouflage" pattern (FR Underdark p. 66) can be added to any armor for a +2 circumstance Hide bonus in a particular terrain.

Dhenuka Hide (Oriental Adventures p. 75)
Price: 30 GP
Rhino hide armor, with a better armor bonus than normal hide armor (comparable to scale mail), but Max Dex and ACP are much worse. At only 30 GP, though, a great bargain for a 1st level druid looking for something better than normal hide. Unfortunately, still medium armor, so it would restrict your speed.

Dragonhide (PHB)
Price: Masterwork x2
This is one of the cheaper non-metallic options, so an excellent choice for low-level druids. Inside Core/SRD only, it will probably be your best option. Only a few medium/heavy armors can be replaced with dragonhide: hide, breastplate, banded mail, half-plate, and full plate. However, other than masterwork reducing ACP by 1, there isn't much mechanical benefit. Darkleaf (similar to mithral, but cheaper) and sentira (Secrets of Sarlona, same properties as mithral) are going to have much better Max Dex and ACPs and can be applied to more types of armor. However, it can be upgraded as a Dragoncraft item (see below).

Dragoncraft (Draconomicon p. 117)
Price: +3000/6000/11000 GP
Adding the dragoncraft quality to dragonhide armor drops the weight category, reduces ACP by 2, and adds a nonmagical energy resistance 5, energy type based on the dragon's color (if you're looking for sonic or force resistance, it doesn't specifically mention it but doesn't forbid it). Darkleaf and sentira are cheaper and will get you better Max Dex/ACP, but... hmmm, a buckler or shield with force resistance 5, that's pretty tempting (never worry about magic missile again). Like dragonhide, it's only available on certain armors, but they are *not* the same options as dragonhide: breastplate and banded are not available, but scale mail is. Huh, I can't tell if that's a mistake by the designer or intentional. Hide, half-plate, and full plate are the other three armors available. The price for a shield isn't mentioned, either. I assume it's the same as light armor (+3000 GP). If you're looking for energy resistance (particularly force), then you might consider a dragoncraft buckler or light shield. For electricity and sonic resistance 5, take a look at Siege Beetle Chitin (MMV p. 153). Otherwise, stick with darkleaf or sentira.

Dreamhide (Secrets of Xen'drik p. 136)
Price: 700 GP
Made from the skin of dream serpents, dreamhide is a good replacement for a chain shirt. It's a little cheaper than a darkleaf chain shirt, but for the same price you can buy a dragonhide breastplate with a better armor bonus.

Mammoth Leather (Races of Stone p. 157)
Price: 45 GP
If this weren't exotic (requiring the Exotic Armor Proficiency feat), this would be a fabulous pick for a 1st level druid: same armor bonus and Max Dex as a chain shirt, lighter weight category than normal hide, and a little "yeah, I killed and skinned a mammoth, punk" flavor. However, better options with higher armor bonuses should be available later, so it's not worth wasting a feat on.

Nightscale (FR Underdark p. 66)
Price: 1000 GP
Same armor bonus as leather but with a Max Dex bonus on steroids. The combination of armor/dex bonus is one of the best in the game: +12 total, three points better than full plate and two points better than mechanus gear. The description describes this armor as exotic, meaning you would have to take Exotic Armor Proficiency to avoid any penalties, but since the ACP is already zero, you can wear this armor without the feat and still take no penalties. This is one of the better options for high Dex druids/wildshape forms.

Serpentscale Mail (Serpent Kingdoms p. 148)
Price: 800 GP
Another contender in the "is it as good as a breastplate?" category, and actually one of the better options (same ACP as a masterwork breastplate, but Max Dex is 1 higher). Also, great flavor for those herpetologists/ophidiophiles out there. Chitin breastplate (Races of the Dragon version) has the same stats but only costs 700 GP. A dragonhide breastplate also costs 700 GP, but Max Dex isn't quite as good. Still medium armor, though, so it would reduce your speed.

Shadow Silk (Tome of Magic p. 155)
Price: 1500 GP (padded), 1750 (leather), 2500 (hide)
I'm not sure what kind of druid would be comfortable wearing something made out of material from the plane of shadow... but hey, at least it's not metal. Shadow silk increases Max Dex by 2, reduces ACP by 2, and reduces weight by 75%. When in shadowy or dark conditions, it grants a +2 untyped bonus to Hide and Move Silenty checks, and also repairs itself (1 HP/round). Compared to leafweave, shadow silk will have a better Max Dex bonus but masterwork leafweave will have a better ACP. Leather scale, leafweave studded leather, sharkskin, dreamhide, or spidersilk offer better protection for a cheaper price.

Sharkskin (Races of Faerun p. 158, Stormwrack p. 106)
Price: 85 GP
This is a good substitute for studded leather, comparable to leather scale but with a better ACP (which you can bring down to zero by making it masterwork). On top of that, it has built-in shark teeth that work as armor spikes *and* give a +6 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist attempts to get out of an entangle effect (even better than Netcutter Spikes from Races of the Wild). Sharkskin was updated in Stormwrack, and while the stats are the same, the +6 circumstance bonus on Escape artist checks was changed to "when the wearer is bound with rope or similar easily cut bindings". While this should still apply to nets, check if your DM will allow it to still apply to other entangle effects.

Thunderhide (Serpent Kingdoms p. 148)
Price: 25 GP
Love the name, dinosaur hide is awesomesauce, but functionally not as good as leather scale or sharkskin armor. Still, not bad for the price and a great 1st-level pick for a druid with a Dex bonus in the +2 to +5 range. Unfortunately, it's medium instead of light, so it would still slow you down.

[Greenish]

You probably left it out since it's not very relevant to most druids, but Gnome Twistcloth from RoS isn't metallic either.

[Darrin]

You probably left it out since it's not very relevant to most druids, but Gnome Twistcloth from RoS isn't metallic either.

Oh, no, I do have an entry for gnome twistcloth in the handbook, but I left it out of my post because it didn't have anything to do with "Yeah, I killed this ferocious animal and now I'm wearing it's dead skin".

[Greenish]

Oh, no, I do have an entry for gnome twistcloth in the handbook, but I left it out of my post because it didn't have anything to do with "Yeah, I killed this ferocious animal and now I'm wearing it's dead skin".Are you saying that gnome twistcloth isn't made of killer gnomes? :smallconfused:

[subject42]

Are you saying that gnome twistcloth isn't made of killer gnomes? :smallconfused:

I believe Twistgnomes are in the "Subterranean Encounters of Faerun" supplement, between Tremor Dwarves and Unterwights. If the OP thinks his party can handle a CR3 encounter against a badger-riding humanoid with a few SLAs, it might be a good option.

[Greenish]

I believe Twistgnomes are in the "Subterranean Encounters of Faerun" supplement, between Tremor Dwarves and Unterwights. If the OP thinks his party can handle a CR3 encounter against a badger-riding humanoid with a few SLAs, it might be a good option.One should be warned, though. The twistgnomes are under-CR'd in a way that'd make the writers of MMII proud.