Armor

Simple Armor

Light Armor

Heavy Armor

Martial Armor

Light Armor

Heavy Armor

Exotic Armor

Light Armor

Heavy Armor

Shields

Armor Rules

For most, armor is the simplest way to protect oneself in a world of rampant threats and dangers. Many characters can wear only the simplest of armors, and only some can use shields. To wear heavier armor effectively, a character can select the Armor Proficiency feats, but most classes are automatically proficient with the armors that work best for them. Armor comes in two weight classes and three proficiency categories. The weight classes are Light and Heavy, which are outlined in the Armor Keywords section. Proficiencies work similar to armor with simple, martial, and exotic variants of armor; with simple being the most commonly accessible to classes and exotic usually requiring a character to choose to gain proficiency on their own.

Donning Armor

To don, or equip, oneself with armor the creature wearing the armor must spend the time required to properly equip themselves. Some exceptions may exist such as the Armored coat which are designed to be able to be quickly donned instead of the usual methods. It is usually assumed a full set of armor is boots, bracers, some sort of chest armor, and possibly a helmet, each with their own set of buckles, straps, and other such things to keep the armor securely in place.

Light Armor requires 1 minute to properly equip, though can be hastily donned in 5 rounds. Heavy Armor requires 8 minutes to properly equip; or 4 minutes to don hastily. Donning armor assumes the character spends at least 4 AP each round on donning the armor; allowing them 1 AP to use on other tasks such as shifting 5 feet each round as to continue to don the armor.

Hastily donned armor provides 1 lower AC bonus for both the protection it provides to AC as well as its capability to redirect damage with armor redirection.

A creature may receive help from another creature to further hasten the process, reducing the hastily-donned time by half. The assisting creature must spend 4 AP each round to assist. Only two creatures can assist in donning armor, this includes the wearer of the armor if they are assisting, two creatures other than the wearer can assist donning the armor if the wearer takes no actions for the duration of the creatures assisting donning their armor for them.

Removing armor requires the amount of time to hastily don the armor to remove.

Cost

The cost in gold pieces of the armor for Small or Medium humanoid/monstrous humanoid creatures. Half the cost for each size below small, and double the cost for each size above medium.  This value is the pre-masterwork cost and does not multiply the masterwork or enhancing costs.

Barding

When making armor for a creature that is not a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, such as a beast like a horse, the armor must be made as barding for that type of creature. Doing so adds a 25% increase in the price of the armor; this is in addition to any price adjustments that occurred for armor made for a creature above medium size.

Armor Bonus

Each type of armor grants an armor bonus to Armor Checks(AC). The armor bonus from a suit of armor doesn’t stack with other effects or items that grant an armor bonus.

Nonproficient with Armor Worn: A character who wears armor with which he is not proficient double’s the armor strength rating requirement. If the armor has a strength rating of 0 or lower it instead becomes 1. In addition the armors AC bonus is treated as 1 lower (minimum 0) for AC rolls and redirecting damage to the armor.

Sleeping in Armor: A character who sleeps in heavy armor is automatically fatigued the next day. Sleeping in light armor does not cause fatigue.

Armor Redirection

Armor’s goal is to provide protection to its wearer, while it may deflect or turn some blows into near-misses, the key point is what it does when a direct hit occurs.

When the wearer of armor would take damage from an attack roll that targeted the wearer’s AC or Touch AC they may redirect a number of points of the damage up to the armor’s armor bonus, this may include any bonuses to the armor from enhancement bonuses. Any damage redirected in this way bypasses any hardness the armor would have and damages the armor directly. The wearer may not redirect damage from effects requiring saving throws or environmental hazards, such as lava. For the purposes of redirection the broken condition does not affect now much damage may be redirected to the armor.

Example: A suit of leather armor would allow 0, 1 or 2 points to be directed to the armor instead of the player. So an attack that would deal 8 would deal 6 to the player and 2 to the armor, or could deal 7 to the player and 1 to the armor.

Example 2: A suit of full plate could redirect 12 points due to its 10 armor bonus, and an additional 2 from its double-plated feature. As such anywhere from 0 to 12 damage can be redirected to the armor.

Armor Sacrifice

The wearer of armor may fully sacrifice their armor to save themselves. Once per round as a reaction the wearer of the armor may redirect an entire hit from an attack roll that targeted the wearer’s AC or Touch AC to their armor, dealing full damage to their armor bypassing any hardness the armor possesses. Any damage in excess of the armor’s hit points are then dealt to the wearer. The wearer may not redirect damage from effects requiring saving throws or environmental hazards, such as lava. You may only use armor sacrifice while your armor is above half hit points (lacks the broken condition).

Armor Health

Armor has hit points like any other object, but for armor the hit points are an important resource to be tracked by the wearer as it can serve as a secondary pool of health for a player.

Armor Hardness:

Increase the hardness of the armor by 2 per +1 enhancement bonus it possesses.

Armor has a number of hit points equal to 6x the base armor bonus of the armor. For each +1 enhancement bonus the armor possesses it gains 8+ the base armor bonus of the armor as additional hit points.

Armor that has taken damage in excess of half their total hit points gain the broken condition, meaning they are less effective at their designated task. The broken condition reduces AC bonus armor grants to half, rounded down. This reduction in AC reduces how much damage may be redirected to the armor per hit as well, but does not recalculate the armor’s maximum hit points.

Armor Keywords

Light: Armor with the light keyword applies to armor that allows agility to AC. Light armor tends to have lower armor bonus and strength rating than heavy armor.

Heavy: Armor with the heavy keyword applies to armor that does not allow the wearer’s agility bonus to AC or touch AC. If the wearer has a negative agility modifier the penalty is applied to their AC (such as from having a 9 or lower agility score). This is not treated as being flat-footed such as for sneak attack or determining if dodge bonuses apply; and may still be affected by feint for the purposes of denying dodge bonuses or becoming a valid target for sneak attack.

Natural: Natural material is armor made from hide, leather, or some other material that is not metal (such as cloth or bone). This keyword is important for a number of reasons.

Metal: Metal armor is armor made from Iron, Steel or some other material that is metal. This keyword is important for a number of reasons.

Strength Rating

The armor’s strength rating is the representation of how much strength the wearer needs to move efficiently in the armor. This means stronger characters will gain more benefit from a higher strength rating armor while a lower strength character will favor lighter armors as penalties for wearing the heavier armor may be too great to be worth it.

If your strength modifier is equal to or above the strength rating of the armor you wear the armor without penalty. If your strength modifier is below the strong rating of the armor you take the following penalties:

• For each point your strength modifier is below the strength rating of the armor you take a 5 foot penalty to your movement speed, to a minimum of 5 feet.
• For each point your strength modifier is below the strength rating of the armor you take a -1 penalty to attack rolls, MSB rolls, and Physical saves made while wearing the armor.
• For each point your strength modifier is below the strength rating of the armor you take a -1 penalty to strength or agility based skill checks.

Spellcasting and Armor

Armor interferes with the gestures that a spellcaster must make to cast a spell. Normally spellcasters are unable to cast in armor and automatically fail to cast any spell while wearing armor. Some feats and abilities exist that allow casters to bypass this restriction.

Weight

This column gives the weight of the armor sized for a Medium wearer. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor for Large characters weighs twice as much.

Special Armor Features

Shield Rules

For most, shields can be an additional way to protect oneself beyond the armor that they wear. Shields are simpler than armor coming in a baseline of 4 variants of Buckler, Light, Heavy, and Tower shields. Light and Heavy shields may be made of either metal or wood but outside of weight and hardness have no direct impact on other statistics for the shield. Proficiencies for shields are defined through weapons, as such bucklers fall into simple, light and heavy shields are martial, and tower shields are considered exotic. As such proficiency, damage, cost, and other factors are listed in the weapon section, while the Armor, Strength Rating, and other special notes are listed in the shield table.

Cost/Weight

The cost and weight for shields are listed in the weapon page as while a defensive item many of their features are defined on their weapon listing, in addition to other features.

Shield Bonus

Each type of shield grants a shield bonus to Armor Checks(AC). The armor bonus from a suit of armor doesn’t stack with other effects or items that grant an armor bonus.

Non-proficient with a Shield: A character who uses a shield with which he is not proficient double’s the shield’s strength rating requirement. If the shield has a strength rating of 0 or lower it instead becomes 1. In addition the shield’s AC bonus is treated as 1 lower. In addition any penalties associated with lacking proficiency in a weapon apply to a shield when attempting to use it to make shield bashes.

Shield Health

Shields have hit points similar to armor, but cannot normally redirect damage to themselves like armor when an attack manages to get past them; though it is important to be aware of the hit points of a shield for the purposes of sunder attempts made against it. A shield may be made of wood or metal, but a spiked shield is always considered to be made primarily of metal.

Shield Hardness and Health:

Increase the hardness of the shield by 2 per +1 enhancement bonus it possesses.

Shields have hit points as per the chart above; and for each +1 enhancement bonus the shield possesses it gains 10 additional hit points.

Shields that have taken damage in excess of half their total hit points gain the broken condition, meaning they are less effective at their designated task. The broken condition reduces AC bonus shield grants to half, rounded down.

Strength Rating

The shield’s strength rating is the representation of how much strength the wearer needs to fight efficiently. A shield’s strength rating when wielded is added to the strength rating of the armor they wear to determine required strength rating and penalties associated with it.

When wielding more than one shield you only add the highest strength rating values of any shields you are currently wielding.

Spellcasting and Shields

Unlike armor not all shields interfere with spellcasting though it depends on each shield.

Shields and Bashing

Shields are unique in which they serve two purposes. They are both a defensive and offensive item. A shield may be used as a weapon performing a shield bash, dealing damage as per the shield’s entry in the weapon table. A shield may be used as part of Two-Weapon Fighting. Any information relating to the weapon properties of a shield are listed. Spiked shields that are listed are simply variants of a shield that deal piercing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.

Raise Shield(Reaction)

Shields have a unique reaction they may use while equipped. A creature wielding a shield may as a reaction raise their shield and apply their shield’s AC bonus to their Physical save against an incoming attack or spell. This cannot be used in situations when you would be unable to use a reaction, and requires the wielder to be aware of the originating attacker for the attack or spell.