4e Armor

[DragonDM]

Ok. So, I'm going though the process of helping some friends to make their 4e Characters.

The thing is - eventually I'm going to want to DM 4e and I can't find definitions for anything beyond basic armor.
Magical items are listed, and I can eventually get the hang of them.

I'll list a quick example:

Cloth Armor (Light) * Bonus * Enhance * Check * Speed * Price * Lbs
Basic clothing * -- * +0 * - * - * 1 * 4
Feyweave * +1 * +4 * - * - * special * 5
Starweave * +2 * +6 * - * - * special * 3

Ok, looking on page 223 of the 4e PHB; Level 4 Magic Items are 840 gp (Feyweave)
and Level 6 Magical Items are 1,800 gp (Starweave).

So, my questions is: Am I correct in assigning those gp values to those items?

If I am correct, then I can move on to the other "special" items in the Books.

[Arbitrarity]

Right past the armor section and weapons section is the magic items section.

These are the items you want. Take any of the basic armors, and look for an enhancement you can apply. From the humble +1 cloth to the +6 mantle of the Seven Winds, a variety of enhancements modify the basic armors. The masterwork armors are assumed to be acquired after a certain degree of magical enhancement is applied. For example, you will never find +3 feyweave, as it has a minimum +4 bonus. +4 feyweave is +5 armor bonus, and costs the same as +4 magic armor (level 16), that is, 45000 gp.


Only some enhancements apply to some armor. I've likely been ninja'd.

[Colmarr]

I've likely been ninja'd.

Damn those tricky ninjas! First they steal our posting position, and now when we least expect it they're allowing us to post without interruption!

So, my questions is: Am I correct in assigning those gp values to those items?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: Masterwork armours work strangely. Any armour found with an enhancement bonus of +4 or higher is automatically of a masterwork type. By becoming masterwork, the AC Bonus of the item automatically increases.

There is no increase in price. +4 magic cloth armour and +4 magic starweave armour cost the same amount in gp.

That fact causes some verissimilitude issues for me, but I can understand the logic behind it.

If I am correct, then I can move on to the other "special" items in the Books.

I may be overreacting here, but masterwork armours are not "special items". They are simply materials that higher-level armours are made from. A PC doesn't need to choose between +4 Starweave and +4 Shimmering robes. The item should in fact be +4 Shimmering Starweave robes.

[Colmarr]

Double post

[Knaight]

Basically each armor has a level. A plain +4 armor might be level 16, a +4 fire resistance armor might be level 18, this could have allowed for far more incremental armor customization, but didn't. Anyways, you get feyweave at level 4 or something, and star at level 6, this is not level 4 or level 6 armor, this is +4 and +6 armor. Those are automatic upgrades.

[Kletian999]

To put it another way, you just CAN'T cram a +4 enchanment into normal material. The cost of the create item ritual is from scratch so it assumes you are paying for the better quality cloth as well.

[amanamana]

It's basically this: regular materials can't hold strong enchantments. You need masterwork items for this! So, higher level magic armors have to be made in this special materials. That's why there's no difference in price. There's not the option of having +5 armor made in regular steel.

[Yakk]

And masterwork items need the enchantment to work as well...

Thus, the two are tied.

[skywalker]

This whole SNAFU is my biggest complaint with 4e.

Why the hell they had to go and do this, I'll never know.

They could've made the system completely balanced without adding this crap in.

[Tengu_temp]

This whole SNAFU is my biggest complaint with 4e.

Why the hell they had to go and do this, I'll never know.

They could've made the system completely balanced without adding this crap in.

If you don't like it, you can always just keep the increased AC, but fluff the different materials out.

[Artanis]

This whole SNAFU is my biggest complaint with 4e.

Why the hell they had to go and do this, I'll never know.

They could've made the system completely balanced without adding this crap in.

It's probably the simplest way to put in this mechanic though. Which is easier to comprehend and remember, especially to a new player: a list of AC bonuses that each armor type gets on top of the usual AC and enhancement bonuses when said armor gets to +4, and another list for when said armor gets to +6; or "(insert armor class) is made of Stuff X, and at +4 is made of Stuff Y, and at +6 is made of Stuff Z"? Same end effect, much easier to remember, and much easier to add to in the future (i.e. some splatbook has "Shinycloth" that +4 armor can be made out of that gives less AC than the usual Stuff Y, but some other benefit).

Plus it lets them put that much more fluff in the book. Considering how many complaints there are about supposed lack of fluff...

[hamishspence]

Adventurer's Vault continued this, plus special bonuses to saves, or Resist All (plates) Armours with good bonuses have slightly lower AC.

[Yakk]

Light Armor: BASE + ENC + STAT
Heavy Armor: BASE + ENC

STAT =~ 4+(4 to 5 over 30 levels)
ENC = +0 to 6 over 30 levels.
BASE = up to 3 for Light, Up to 8 for Heavy (+1 for feat in both cases)

Both get +1 from a feat.

This gives us:
Light Armor: +7 to +19
Heavy Armor: +8 to +15

See the problem? Because stats grow, and you add your stat to your AC in light armor, Heavy armor is outpaced.

The gap happens to be +5 in favor of light armor (but only if you go demigod). So they added in an extra +4 for heavy armor. They did it via masterwork.

Finally, they decided "well, if we have masterwork heavy, we should have masterwork light", and tossed +2 to light armor, +6 to heavy armor...

Finally, you add 1/2 your level to your AC, resulting in:

Light Armor: 17 to 46 AC
Heavy Armor: 18 to 46 AC

Or a 28 to 29 increase in AC over your 29 levels from 1 to 30. Quite close to +1 per level, which is the balance-point 4e D&D is aimed at.

This then generates the fluff of masterwork armors, which they expanded in the adventurers vault.