[3.5] Heaviest Non-Metal Armor (Best AC Bonus)

[Thurbane]

So, the Healer base class (MH), has a restriction on their armor:


A healer knows how to wear light metal armor and could become proficient with medium or heavy armor, but wearing metal armor or bearing a shield would violate her oath and suppress her healer powers.


A strict reading of this means they can wear any armor that isn't metal. Heavy armor proficiency can be picked up by a dip or PrC.

My previous go to would have been Bluewood, Bronzewood or Riverine Mechanus Gear (+10 AC), so the character can dump Dex.

But I recently discovered Thaalud Stone Armor (+12 AC) [Anauroch: The Empire of Shade p. 108]: the text states this is held together by "metal rivets".

Would that violate the Healer oath? If yes, is there anything that says Thaalud Stone Armor cannot be made of other materials (Bluewood, Bronzewood or Riverine)?

Other suggestions on heavy armor for a Healer?

Cheers - T

[Karl Aegis]

You want dragonscale armor.

[tiercel]

So, the Healer base class (MH), has a restriction on their armor:

A strict reading of this means they can wear any armor that isn't metal. Heavy armor proficiency can be picked up by a dip or PrC.


Wow the fluff on this is bad: I was asking myself “why the devils would a healer oath prevent shields much less metal armor?” and read on to find


Her ethos requires a certain vulnerability that allows her to more fully empathize with those in their care.

*eyetwitch*

That... makes little sense (a chain shirt is “cheating” but using my god’s magic to say “don’t touch me!” via sanctuary is OK even though that means less, y’know, actual healing) but if one is going to buy that, walking around in a great wooden mecha-suit would seem to violate the spirit of this “healer oath.” —It is telling that about the only other mention of The Official Healer Ethos is under “Ex-Healers”:


A healer who grossly violates her ethos (such as by refusing to heal an ally or a good-aligned creature) loses all spells and class features (except for proficiency with simple weapons and light armor).

Sigh. I can only assume that someone looked a little too long at the Druid armor restriction that kind-of-sort-of makes sense (maybe) and slapped a sloppy justication on porting it over as a “balance” feature. (Would Healer really be a “broken” class for being able to wear bog-standard steel full plate armor?)

A better justification might have been better visibility as a Healer, i.e. one presents oneself as a noncombatant so don’t target me, sort of thing... except I’m not sure if that’s even really even a fantasy-medieval thing, and would seem to be less compatible with knives, spears, and crossbows currently allowed...

....anyway....

Healers are probably more justified than most in using the Book of Exalted Cheese Deeds, and so the answer to “best armor” as with most things in D&D is “magic,” aka “being a smug jerk with Sanctified spells who walks around with oh-gods-my-poor-eyes-the-goggles-they-do-nothing glaring Greater Luminous Armor that totally leaves me as vulnerable as Riverine Thaalud Stone Armor would, only I don’t have to pay any gold for it because I am literally better than you can you feel my Healer-oath empathy yet, you simpering meatsacks?!?”

....

If you’ll excuse me, I need to go cast deathwatch a few times until I calm down and feel less saccharine-fueled self-righteous rage :p

[Thurbane]

^^ This post...gold!

[Eldan]

For the record, are healers limited to good alignment? Because I now have a burning desire to play a really arrogant, sanctimonious ******* of a healer.

[DeTess]

For the record, are healers limited to good alignment? Because I now have a burning desire to play a really arrogant, sanctimonious ******* of a healer.

Yes they are. Don't let that stop you though, as long as you still do the healing eventually after doing your arrogant **** routine, you should be fine :P

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Lol-ing at most of this. Pure gold.

Psychoactive skin of Crystaline Armor counts as light armor and is non-metallic. Think it's only 10ac though, your riverine whatever is probably higher, if less fluff compatible.

[Kelb_Panthera]

For the record, are healers limited to good alignment? Because I now have a burning desire to play a really arrogant, sanctimonious ******* of a healer.


Good is not nice, polite, well mannered, prudish, self-righteous, or naive, though good aligned characters might be some of those things.

A-hole healer is A-okay by the rules. Go for it and enjoy.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A high level psionic friend with force screen, inertial armor and the soul crystal power could net you +23 AC pretty easily, if he's willing to spend the power points every few days. Or even more, with some additional ML boosters. And all while working against incorporeal opponents, and with no weight, arcane spell failure, armor check penalties, or max Dex bonus to AC!

That's also not counting other powers that could net you additional AC, such as metamorphosis or the insight bonuses from defensive precognition.

[edit] Note that, while the above doesn't stack with the AC bonuses granted by actual armors and shields, it's a good idea to get +1 leather armor and a +1 buckler (and possibly an enhanced set of dastana bracers and chahar-aina), if you want some armor special qualities. Not that there are many that are worth getting mind you, but still.

[Thurbane]

For the record, are healers limited to good alignment? Because I now have a burning desire to play a really arrogant, sanctimonious ******* of a healer.

There is a Healer NPC in my game that I play as a hippie stoner: High Elf, Create Infusion (to make spells into consumable herbs) etc. :smalltongue:

[tiercel]

^^ This post...gold!

Lol-ing at most of this. Pure gold.

Heh! Glad to hear my little rant tickled a few funny bones; sometimes one has to wonder at absurdity and if there is actually an underlying sense to it. (Cf. Pelor, the Burning Hate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?443306-quot-Pelor-the-Burning-Hate-quot-(from-Wizards-forum)))


For the record, are healers limited to good alignment? Because I now have a burning desire to play a really arrogant, sanctimonious ******* of a healer.

Yes they are. Don't let that stop you though, as long as you still do the healing eventually after doing your arrogant **** routine, you should be fine :P

A-hole healer is A-okay by the rules. Go for it and enjoy.

Does one really have to ask, I mean:
https://blog.cyrildason.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/House-MD.png
House, M.D. A cane counts as a simple weapon, right? :wink:
Seriously, Good Is Not Nice (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodIsNotNice):amused: