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Skjaldbakka
2007-09-02, 07:06 AM
Does mithral full plate count as medium for purposes of whether or not you are proficient with it? I could see this going either way, and would be interested in hearing both sides of the question before making a ruling for my game.

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-09-02, 07:12 AM
Does mithral full plate count as medium for purposes of whether or not you are proficient with it? I could see this going either way, and would be interested in hearing both sides of the question before making a ruling for my game.

Yes, it is one category lighter for the purpose of all limitations.


Is a character proficient with light armor, such as a
rogue, considered to be proficient with mithral breastplate?
What about a character proficient with medium armor,
such as a barbarian—is he considered proficient with
mithral full plate armor?
The description of mithral on page 284 of the Dungeon
Master’s Guide is less precise than it could be in defining how
it interacts with armor proficiency rules. The simplest answer—
and the one that the Sage expects most players and DMs use—
is that mithral armor is treated as one category lighter for all
purposes, including proficiency. This isn’t exactly what the
Dungeon Master’s Guide says, but it’s a reasonable
interpretation of the intent of the rule (and it’s supported by a
number of precedents, including the descriptions of various
specific mithral armors described on page 220 of the Dungeon
Master’s Guide and a variety of NPC stat blocks).
Thus, a ranger or rogue could wear a mithral breastplate
without suffering a nonproficiency penalty (since it’s treated as
light armor), and each could use any ability dependent on
wearing light or no armor (such as evasion or the ranger’s
combat style). A barbarian could wear mithral full plate armor
without suffering a nonproficiency penalty (since it’s treated as
medium armor), and he could use any ability dependent on
wearing medium or lighter armor (such as fast movement).
The same would be true of any other special material that
uses the same or similar language as mithral (such as darkleaf,
on page 120 of the EBERRON Campaign Setting).

Chineselegolas
2007-09-02, 07:19 AM
Yes, it is one category lighter for the purpose of all limitations.

Yay. Now to go shell out over 5/6ths my gp for one item...

Zincorium
2007-09-02, 07:27 AM
From the DMG/SRD mithril plate mail of speed description:



Speed while wearing a suit of mithral full plate is 20 feet for Medium creatures, or 15 feet for Small. The armor has an arcane spell failure chance of 25%, a maximum Dexterity bonus of +3, and an armor check penalty of -3. It is considered medium armor and weighs 25 pounds.


Emphasis mine.

Really, whether it should be considered one category lighter for the purposes of proficiency is up for discussion, but whether it is by RAW has already been stated in the core rulebooks.

I've always been fine with it, the magical enhancements that go onto everything are interesting, but ordinary craftsmanship should have some legitimate effects.

Since mithril is pretty similiar to titanium (except moreso) it seems reasonable that not only is the metal itself lighter, but you need far less of it to provide the same protection, and so the training is applicable. Not that armor feats have ever really made sense.

Lord_Kimboat
2007-09-02, 07:33 AM
The short answer for this is yes, it does.

However, I must say that this has caused some incredible unbalance for a game that I was running. Unfortunately, I was saddled with a barbarian with Mithral Full Plate from a previous game. He was, no higher than 4th level and I tried to rule that he should have to get the Heavy Armor Proficiency feat to use it.

What I should have argued is that he should cost him the equivalent of 10,000+ gp! And was by far the most valuable item in the game. Sadly I haven't yet had the pleasure of informing the player of this but still, his time will come. :smallcool:

Zincorium
2007-09-02, 07:40 AM
What I should have argued is that he should cost him the equivalent of 10,000+ gp! And was by far the most valuable item in the game. Sadly I haven't yet had the pleasure of informing the player of this but still, his time will come. :smallcool:

Yeah, that's the only real balancing factor (along with the inclusion of mithril in the game if you don't like it).

Personally, I recommend rust monsters. If you ambush the barbarian in a small space in darkness or shallow water, he might even lose his weapon too unless he's smart enough to carry around a beating stick.

Curmudgeon
2007-09-02, 10:50 AM
Yes, it is one category lighter for the purpose of all limitations. Your answer is correct, but you might want to fix the quote so it's "Originally Posted by FAQ" instead of "Originally Posted by SRD".

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-09-02, 11:16 AM
Your answer is correct, but you might want to fix the quote so it's "Originally Posted by FAQ" instead of "Originally Posted by SRD".

Thank you. :smallsmile:

I apologize. :smallredface:

the_tick_rules
2007-09-02, 11:19 AM
everyone loves mithril.