Rarity of a homebrew item

[qube]

What do ya'll think would be the rarity of this item?


Veldrincress (armor of woven shadows)

The battle of Keeper's Dale has left many artifacts in it's wake, some from the noble knights fighting, and some of the cruel drow. Their cold-blooded assassins wore these enchanted black leather armors, as it complemented their Kyone Veldrin fighting style.


✦ Leather armor+1: AC equals 12+dex mod
✦ Stealth bonus: +2

At the stroke of midnight, Veldrincress gains 1d3 charges (maximum 3)
✦ Reaction (1 charge): increase your AC with your stealth modifier until the start of your next turn
✦ Reaction (1 charge): after you roll a stealth check, instead use 18 as your roll

(it's intended for a rogue, so a 'native' modifier of at least +10 stealth is presumed in it's design for the AC boost, and someone who hides a lot (ref. last ability) )

[Ninja_Prawn]

Aren't rogues already good enough at hiding? Also the Cloak of Elvenkind already exists, so this niche is already covered.


✦ Stealth bonus: +2

Not a fan of this, on a philosophical level. I'd maybe change it to something like "in an area of dim light or darkness, you can hide as a bonus action." If anything, that's more powerful (except for rogues), but it's also more thematic.


✦ Reaction (1 charge): increase your AC with your stealth modifier until the start of your next turn

That's a very large bonus. Assuming 20 Dex (because a low-level character is not going to have this item) and expertise, this goes from maybe +15 to +19, possibly more if things like Luckstones are available. That means a total AC around 32 to 36, which may as well be just "when you are attacked, you can use a reaction to expend 1 charge. The attack misses." There's no point making someone roll against AC 36; even the Tarrasque needs a 17 to hit that.

Overall, I'd say this is between very rare and legendary (more towards the latter if you implement the changes I just suggested) and it definitely requires attunement, possibly by drow only.

[Moosoculars]

The +2 static bonus is not really true to the 5e system so that should maybe be replaced with advantage to stealth.

That would also lessen the bonus for the Shield ability. Even so the bonus would still be +9 or so by the time they get this which is very powerful even if it is only 3 times per day.

Of course any rogue worth his salt would rob places at exactly 15 minutes to midnight guaranteeing themselves 4-6 charges for a mission.

The reaction is also a solid ability. With a monster skill check, and advantage (from another source) it will already be rare that the player botches a roll. This kind of ensures that they will never be seen.

It definitely needs to be attuned.

In my mind this is ledgendary. But personally I think it needs to be tweaked.

[LuccMa]

Of course any rogue worth his salt would rob places at exactly 15 minutes to midnight guaranteeing themselves 4-6 charges for a mission.



Make the Charges come back per Long Rest and maybe not all 3 but only one per LR.
Cut the +2 Bonus and change it to advantage under certain circumstances.
The +AC reaction could be only for this one attack, like the parry feature.
As someone with this armor is already (probably) REALLY good at stealth, maybe dont push that even further but give it a bit utility. 1/SR Misty Step from Shadow to Shadow (on a wall or through a lock, etc.)

As rarity is concerned... is that important in any way? They wont sell this. It's unique. Nobody cares if its rare, very rare or legendary or is there some rule about that, that im missing?

[Ninja_Prawn]

As rarity is concerned... is that important in any way? They wont sell this. It's unique. Nobody cares if its rare, very rare or legendary or is there some rule about that, that im missing?

It provides a guideline as to when (in terms of which level) it is appropriate to give this to PCs, even if you're not planning to sell it in shops. When we say 'looks like a legendary,' we mean 'don't give it to PCs lower than level 10.'

By the way, most items recover charges at a fixed time of day; that's the standard way of doing it. Makes sense, since an item can't really 'rest.'

[qube]

As rarity is concerned... is that important in any way? They wont sell this. It's unique. Nobody cares if its rare, very rare or legendary or is there some rule about that, that im missing?From a game's point of view, no. From a design point of view, yes: I want to know in what ballpark I'm currently in.

As for the remarks on changes - while they truely are greatly appreciated - I'm downgrading another existing item, which I did not make myself. For many things, while I one-hundred-percent agree with them, my hands are tied.


The fact that a plain +2 is not D&D5E style - agreed, sadly.
That the stealth boost probbably should be just an automiss or a flat +10 bonus - agreed, however this is added to add flavor.
As for the midnight trigger - I've added that not as accident, but to reward the (relatively newbies) when they figure that out.


Requires attunement; right - I forgot that.
The shadow flavored utility instead of stealth boost, feels like a good idea.

[nickl_2000]

One of the interesting things I see about this is that it is leather verses studded leather. Making this armor +1 makes it the same AC as studded leather, but modifies it's power in most peoples minds.