Extreme armor - Leaf Plate

[Malapterus]

Leaf Plate is supposed to be the ultimate in armor that can be created in medieval setting without the use of magic.

It is a heavy armor made of dozens of custom-crafted plates that, when joined, fit around the owner's body like a scaled iron skin - almost as though each muscle had its own free-moving plate to protect it.

Leaf Plate is extremely easy to move in - it does not slow the user's land speed and its max dex & armor check are very very low.

I am thinking:
AC Bonus: +8
Max Dex: +4
Armor Check: -4
Arcane Spell Failure: 40% (your entire arms and hands are armored so Somatic components are super clunky)
Weight: 50 Lb.

Now, Leaf Plate is not easy to come by and not easy to maintain. It needs to be custom-made for the user, and if said user increases or decreases significantly in weight then the armor no longer fits properly. There is no way to re-fit the Leaf Plate once it is made; each piece flows so precisely into the next piece that changing one would change them all. Wearing someone else's Leaf Plate is more or less right out.

I am thinking Leaf Plate made manually takes about 10 YEARS to craft, all the while the recipient must maintain their proportions. A person in a rush could have the casts of their body made and the molds of the leafs crafted and then have said molds Polymorphed or otherwise turned into steel, but even that I would think would take 6 months to a year. It's a very intimate process. It goes without saying that each suit of Leaf Plate is Masterwork.

I also think that something as simple as a good Bestow Curse could really mess someone up; if I curse you with 20 pounds of body fat you can't exercise off then you can't wear your armor properly until you get the curse removed.

What do you guys think would be a fair price for this, assuming you're running a campaign where the players could get it?

[Maat Mons]

So, mechanically, would a change in Str or Con require a new suit of armor? What about temporary changes?

What happen if you're wearing the armor when a spell changes you such that you no longer fit in it?



I don't agree with the decision to give it an outlandish crafting time.

And even if you do, people will just cast Fabricate, or one of the other spells that completely ignores crafting time.



This would require an Exotic Armor Proficiency feat? So I'd be paying a feat for (relative to full plate) an improvement of 3 max Dex bonus, and 2 armor check penalty? I feel like that's already enough of a cost. So just make the gp cost whatever seems thematic.




Honestly though, outside of a low-level game, I'd never wear this armor. If my physique changes slightly, I need to get a new suit of armor. More importantly, any magical enhancements I payed to put on the old suit are lost.

And I can't very well sell the old suit to recoup some of the money I've spent. Literally no other person could ever wear it. So why would they buy it?

[XionUnborn01]

You can price it whatever you want, no PC will ever buy it. No one is waiting 10 years for armor even 6 months is crazy. It's a cool concept but this just doesn't work.

[nonsi]

.

Why not make it plates that slide upon one another to make the armor change shape as the wearer's body moves in combat? (and drop the whole part of "fit around the owner's body like a scaled iron skin")

That would make a lot of sense design-wise and. It'll restrict movement a lot less and would make it nearly impossible to slip a blade in between the plates (and multiple layers are great for absorbing blunt impact).

This armor design (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/44/da/b0/44dab067216eb87784b95c8647399428.jpg) (plus extra layers at the chest area) comes close to what I have in mind.

[Malapterus]

So, mechanically, would a change in Str or Con require a new suit of armor? What about temporary changes?

What happen if you're wearing the armor when a spell changes you such that you no longer fit in it?



I don't agree with the decision to give it an outlandish crafting time.

And even if you do, people will just cast Fabricate, or one of the other spells that completely ignores crafting time.



This would require an Exotic Armor Proficiency feat? So I'd be paying a feat for (relative to full plate) an improvement of 3 max Dex bonus, and 2 armor check penalty? I feel like that's already enough of a cost. So just make the gp cost whatever seems thematic.




Honestly though, outside of a low-level game, I'd never wear this armor. If my physique changes slightly, I need to get a new suit of armor. More importantly, any magical enhancements I payed to put on the old suit are lost.

And I can't very well sell the old suit to recoup some of the money I've spent. Literally no other person could ever wear it. So why would they buy it?

I wouldn't rule that changes to your attributes would make you misshapen enough to ruin the armor. For a spell to do it, the caster would pretty much be having to intend that outcome to make it happen.

[rferries]

1) Great idea; a very logical way to insert mix "full plate" with "useable Dex".

2) I'll echo what's been said about the crafting time - that should be purely fluff, not mechanics. If it's not fluff no PC is going to pay for something they might never actually get to use in their campaign. I'd also argue that even without magic, a master smith should be able to craft it relatively quickly. Maybe just inflate the Craft DC?