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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other [3.5] New Armour Enchantment : Morphing (Alter) Armour.



Sarethus
2016-10-08, 09:14 PM
Greetings all,

Would like some help with a new armour enchant I am working on. Right now it's very much a work in progress and I would like a lot of help with it.

The Glamer (DMG 219, price 2,700) enchantment allows a suit of armour to look like ordinary clothing without changing the actual bonus provided.

The morphing (MIC 39, price +1) weapon enchantment actually transforms the weapon to any other weapon.

The following enchantments are improvements on the basic ideas above except applied to armours and they actually transform the armour in question.

Alter / Morphing / Transform / Armour:

Allows a user to transform one armour type into another preset armour. This process takes 5 rounds and must take place out of combat. Any enchantments on the armour are retained in both forms whether for better or worse and any special material must remain the same in both forms or transform into a 'basic' version of the armour if it cannot be used in one form.

Example:

A Paladin wears a +3 Dragon Dodger Mobility Nimbleness Mithril Full Plate armour into combat with a dragon. The mobility armour enchantment does not work in Heavy Armour so the Paladin can not take advantage of it while the Nimbleness armour is very useful while in Full Plate.

After the combat the Paladin takes 5 rounds to transform his Full Plate armour to Padded Armour. Padded Armour is light so the mobility enchantment takes effect, however the nimbleness enchantment is still in effect but mostly wasted now. As padded armour cannot be made out of metal, the armour is now 'generic' instead of Mithril. The +3 bonus and Dragon Dodger enchants work as normal.


Notes:

The main thing I am going for is that while the Armour Type can change, the PC can not take unfair advantage of this by giving each form a different enchantment or transforming in mid-battle.

My main issues though is that I have no idea how to price this enchantment and I am uncertain as to whether this should be between two preset amours chosen at the time of crafting or allow the user to switch to any armour like the weapon morphing ability.

Another area for advice is what to name the thing. Alter, Morphing, Transforming armour are all valid names.

Right now I am just trying to avoid naming it Superman / Phonebooth armor. Hero is at ball wearing fancy clothes, enemies attack and he ducks out of combat for five rounds to transform into....Full Plate Man...

I would appreciate any advice.

remetagross
2016-10-09, 08:48 AM
Having only two armors to choose among is severly limitative; I would not price it with an effective enhancement bonus cost, but with a fixed amount of money. No more than 5000 gp should do, I think. Such a written ability seems pretty weak to me.

Having the ability to choose any armor is slightly better, but since there isn't as much diversity in armors as there is in weapons, I'd say such a power would be a bit below its equivalent for weapons. So a +1 enhancement bonus seems perfectly fair for me.

As for the name, why not Tailoring Armor, or Adaptative Armor ? Something a little more abstract can be very flavorful. Wardrobe armor ? Versatile Armor ?

Sarethus
2016-10-12, 10:41 AM
Thanks for the feedback, remetagross.

Regarding the names I like Versatile armour a lot. Adaptive armour is cool too.


I've been discussing this enchant a bit and I agree on the around 5,000 gp for specific armours.

I am waffling on the actual +1 bonus though as I feel that should be if this enchant made a significant change in combat ability. Do you think this does?

I am thinking of 20,000 gp (for all PHB armours) and 30,000 gp (for all armours including 'Exotic' armours).

remetagross
2016-10-12, 11:51 AM
Your welcome !

Now that you make me think more thoroughly about it, since it can't be used in combat, no, it does not really bring more power to the table. Had it been activated on a swift action, maybe. The glamer enhancement changes its outlook on an immediate action, so even in the middle of an urban chase with guards, you can disguise as the captain in a moment.
But as it is, this enhancement is only anecdotically useful, I think. It can be used if you already know who you will face, or if you want to sleep with it without fatigue, or if you must carry something heavy and lightening your armor diminishes your overall load...all those uses are rather situational.

I think even for all possible armors, 30.000 is too expensive: when the PCs can afford to unpocket that much money for a secondary armor enhancement, around level 16, they don't care about all of the above problems anymore. They fly, they teleport, they use Mage's Armor and Stoneskin to get much more armor class than through mundane armor. From one armor to another, 5 points of AC or Dex bonus or don't make much a difference, what matters is the set of enhancements on each. For that much money, the PCs can buy a scroll of Wish !

All in all, maybe that 15.000 gp cost would do to cover all possible armors. In any case, I agree that a +1 enhancement would be too steep.