A wizard..... in armour.....???

[Jimbob]

Mornign all,

I was flicking through MIC and saw a armour enchantment called "Twilight" which decreases armours arcane spell faliur by 10%. So then I was flicking through the DMG and saw that Mitheral chain shirt has a 10% asf so if I had in enchanted to +1 with Twilight I could cast spells in it with out any problem. But then my counter part who likes to mess up ideas said, well what about the check penetly??? well looking again but becasue I am not proficient it would effect my attack rolls and skills, so I looked at the shirt does not have any so I could wear it with out any probelms.

What does people think about this, would you allow it??

[MorkaisChosen]

Old trick, that one. Anyway, Wizards often don't need to worry about to-hit rolls, depending on spell selection.

Quite useful, though, especially on a high-Dex Gish build.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Yes. The feycraft mithril twilight breastplate +1 is a stalwart companion of many a wizard.

Furthermore, it's not as powerful as it sounds, since most people use Mage Armour anyway, and it takes up a slot - just be sure to load it up with some nifty enhancements (when I have the money, I never make a suit of armour without soulfire, for example).

[Emperor Tippy]

Yes. The feycraft mithril twilight breastplate +1 is a stalwart companion of many a wizard.

Furthermore, it's not as powerful as it sounds, since most people use Mage Armour anyway, and it takes up a slot - just be sure to load it up with some nifty enhancements (when I have the money, I never make a suit of armour without soulfire, for example).

Yeah, Heavy Fortification on the armor and Soulfire on the Mithril Buckler.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Yeah, Heavy Fortification on the armor and Soulfire on the Mithril Buckler.

Also, +5 magic weapon'd defending armour spikes on everything - hooray!

[Tengu]

Knight Phantom + Battle Caster feat = you can cast in Mithril Full Plate without spell failure. It's mostly for gishes though, as losing caster levels for a normal wizard is bad.

[Emperor Tippy]

Also, +5 magic weapon'd defending armour spikes on everything - hooray!

And the animated tower shield that you can use for total cover, thus making the tower shield invisible as well.

[Illiterate Scribe]

And the animated tower shield that you can use for total cover, thus making the tower shield invisible as well.

The shield needs +1 defending armour spikes too.

Also, recursion FTW!

[Swooper]

I'm pretty sure you need to attack with a defending weapon for the AC bonus to work in a particular round, so defending armour-spikes may not be such a good idea. I'm too lazy to look it up though.

[Leon]

Runesmith - Dwarf wizards in heavy armour

[UglyPanda]

I'm pretty sure you need to attack with a defending weapon for the AC bonus to work in a particular round, so defending armour-spikes may not be such a good idea. I'm too lazy to look it up though.

That's not true.

Defending: A defending weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the sword’s enhancement bonus to his AC as a bonus that stacks with all others. As a free action, the wielder chooses how to allocate the weapon’s enhancement bonus at the start of his turn before using the weapon, and the effect to AC lasts until his next turn.

I think you're thinking of Combat Expertise.

[Ecalsneerg]

Mornign all,

I was flicking through MIC and saw a armour enchantment called "Twilight" which decreases armours arcane spell faliur by 10%. So then I was flicking through the DMG and saw that Mitheral chain shirt has a 10% asf so if I had in enchanted to +1 with Twilight I could cast spells in it with out any problem. But then my counter part who likes to mess up ideas said, well what about the check penetly??? well looking again but becasue I am not proficient it would effect my attack rolls and skills, so I looked at the shirt does not have any so I could wear it with out any probelms.

What does people think about this, would you allow it??

Yes. Divine magic and psionics aren't affected by armour, why is arcane magic the exception?

[MorkaisChosen]

+1 Throwing Returning Armour Spikes for the win!

[LoneGamer]

And the animated tower shield that you can use for total cover, thus making the tower shield invisible as well.

Knight Phantoms don't allow you to cast arcane spells while wearing shields. I think only Duskblade can. And even then, only up to Heavy shields. A tower shield gives -2 to hit even when proficient with it, and you'd stuffer 35% arcane spell failure even if it's animated. By SRD, you still suffer all the associated penalties. Emphasis added.

Upon command, an animated shield floats within 2 feet of the wielder, protecting her as if she were using it herself but freeing up both her hands. Only one shield can protect a character at a time. A character with an animated shield still takes any penalties associated with shield use, such as armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, and nonproficiency.

[Jack_Simth]

Yes. Divine magic and psionics aren't affected by armour, why is arcane magic the exception?

In general, Arcane magic is stronger than either. If you invest heavily in Still Spell, or take the spells that don't have Somatic components, you can wear armor as a pure-classed Wizard, no problem... but, in general, you'll be using weaker offensive spells (exceptions exist - most notably Disjunction).

[Animefunkmaster]

Knight Phantom + Battle Caster feat = you can cast in Mithril Full Plate without spell failure. It's mostly for gishes though, as losing caster levels for a normal wizard is bad.

Adding on to this train of thought the following help with casting in Armor

Battle Sorcerer (light armor)
Bard (Light Armor)
Prestige Bard (1 lost caster level and light armor)
Spellsword (-10% Arcane Spell Failure)
Dread Necromancer (Light Armor)
Beguiler (Light Armor)

[Flickerdart]

Adding on to this train of thought the following help with casting in Armor

Battle Sorcerer (light armor)
Bard (Light Armor)
Prestige Bard (1 lost caster level and light armor)
Spellsword (-10% Arcane Spell Failure)
Dread Necromancer (Light Armor)
Beguiler (Light Armor)

Don't forget War what'shisface from Complete Arcane.

[BRC]

+1 Throwing Returning Armour Spikes for the win!

How does THAT work...

[UglyPanda]

How does THAT work...

I think it would be like some sort of metal porcupine or Cactuar (Final Fantasy). I'm aware they can't actually shoot their quills, but I'm making an analogy. It's not as cool as Rayman Kensai or the Headless Horseman Kensai, but think of the possibilities if you combine them.

[SurlySeraph]

Also, +5 magic weapon'd defending armour spikes on everything - hooray!

That's... huh. I need to go revise my "Highest possible armor class" build now. You can dual-wield bucklers, right? Right. *wanders off*

[Keld Denar]

I think it would be like some sort of metal porcupine or Cactuar (Final Fantasy). I'm aware they can't actually shoot their quills, but I'm making an analogy. It's not as cool as Rayman Kensai or the Headless Horseman Kensai, but think of the possibilities if you combine them.

WOooo hoooo!!!! +1 Flaming Throwing Returning Head 4tw!!!!

[Tengu]

Adding on to this train of thought the following help with casting in Armor

Battle Sorcerer (light armor)
Bard (Light Armor)
Prestige Bard (1 lost caster level and light armor)
Spellsword (-10% Arcane Spell Failure)
Dread Necromancer (Light Armor)
Beguiler (Light Armor)

Remember that a class' armored casting relates only to its spellcasting - a Wizard X/Bard 1 still has a chance to fail Wizard spells when casting in light armor.

[Tokiko Mima]

That's... huh. I need to go revise my "Highest possible armor class" build now. You can dual-wield bucklers, right? Right. *wanders off*

I know that was probably said tongue in cheek, but just in case: you can wield all the bucklers you want, but each of them gives a non-stacking +1 shield AC bonus. So you only benefit from the first buckler.

Also, be aware with defending weapons that you can only gain that defending AC bonus in a round where you have attacked with the weapon in question. So a wizard can't cast a spell with a standard action (or other actions that don't involve using the armor spikes) and gain the AC benefit from armor spikes that went unused that round.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Also, be aware with defending weapons that you can only gain that defending AC bonus in a round where you have attacked with the weapon in question. So a wizard can't cast a spell with a standard action (or other actions that don't involve using the armor spikes) and gain the AC benefit from armor spikes that went unused that round.

Errr ...

Defending
A defending weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the sword’s enhancement bonus to his AC as a bonus that stacks with all others.

[Yakk]

*sigh*

Animated Shield with +5 Shield Spikes, Defending
Shield with +5 Shield Spikes, Defending
Left Guantlet: +5 Defending
Right Guantlet: +5 Defending
Club: +5 Defending
Armor Spikes: +5 Defending
Total: +30 Defending AC

Yes, you can use Defending for cheese.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Yes, but they start off as +1 defending, and then you chain GMW on them. Much cheaper that way.

[Yakk]

No, you do that.

I avoid using cheese. I'm well aware that D&D can be broken quite easily. I personally prefer the route of "avoid breaking the game with cheese" rather than "force the DM to sigh, and add +30 to all monsters to-hit rolls when attacking your specific race/class for an arbitrary reason".

[FMArthur]

That's... huh. I need to go revise my "Highest possible armor class" build now. You can dual-wield bucklers, right? Right. *wanders off*

You can't put shield spikes on Bucklers (PHB p.125).

[ericgrau]

How does THAT work...

Logic has no place in this thread. Out! Out I say!

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Actually, it's even cheaper than that...

+1 spikes of defending on a Mithral Small Shield (no ASF)
Cast Greater Magic Weapon: now it's a +5.

Netting you a +4 untyped and stackable bonus to AC, which arguabally works even on flat-footed touch-attacks.

Now to really bring in the cheeze:

Chain Spell Greater Magic Weapon on a number of 'weapons' of +1 defending. Rake in the insane AC bonuses.

For the ultimate in cheeze:

1 quiver of +1 Arrows of Defending (nothing says you can't enchant ammo with the Defending quality)

+

1 GMW to increase 50 projectiles up to +5...

=

+200 to AC.

Have a nice day.

Efficent Quiver + (50 * 1/2 caster level) + Chain GMW = an even nicer day.

As far as a wizard in armor, +1 Mithral Chain Shirt has always been Mage Armor All Day. It doesn't work on a number of things that a regular Mage Armor does (like Incorporeal attacks), but it never goes away and doesn't take up a spell slot.

Better way is to go Abjurant Champion for five levels, though. +5 bonus to both Mage Armor and Shield, then have all your 1st level slot spells (other than one for Mage Armor) be Shield. You can drop one as a swift action for free, so do this whenever you are worried about melee attacks. Which, come to think of it, is probably never. A wizard has better things to do than AC, like Mirror Image and Quickened Dimension Door.