Magic Armor Reduces Armor Check Penalties?

[Marc Radle]

For some reason, I thought there was a rule somewhere that said magic armor reduced the armor check penalty ... but I can't seem to find it. Am I nuts?

[Psi51]

Magic armour is masterwork, there fore reduces armour penalty by 1

[StabbittyDoom]

As Psi notes, it is not the magical nature of the armor that reduces the ACP, it's the fact that it's masterwork. Since all magical armor must be masterwork, all magical armor has 1 less ACP.

If you want magic that reduces ACP, try the Comfort enchantment.

[Marc Radle]

OK, that's a start :)

For some reason I also thought I read a rule that said something like the armor check penalty is reduced by the plus of the armor (+2 plate would reduce the armor check penalty by 2 etc)

Like I said, am I nuts?

[Artanthos]

I remember this being the case in some versions of AD&D. I have not seen this in Pathfinder.

[cwslyclgh]

Artanthos wrote:

I remember this being the case in some versions of AD&D. I have not seen this in Pathfinder.

AD&D did not have armor check penalties for the most part...

[Marc Radle]

StabbittyDoom wrote:

If you want magic that reduces ACP, try the Comfort enchantment.

What book is the Comfort enchantment from? I can't seem to locate it?

Thanks!

[Elrostar]

Certain materials will also reduce the armor check penalty further. I'm thinking particularly of Mithral, of course. Which is one reason why Mithral is practically a must-have for serious armor. Reducing armor check penalties by 3 and increasing the max dex by 2 is just so much better than... basically anything else. Just look at a mithral chain shirt as compared with any other light armor (of similar cost): it's better in every conceivable category. Aside from rare instances where metal armor can cause problems (a real but fairly rare occurrence), why would anyone ever wear +1 leather armor if a mithral chain shirt were available?

And this is of course one of my main problems with it as a material: there's no reason for anyone to ever wear anything else, given the choice. The increased cost is certainly not any meaningful deterrent, and explanations that "it's rare and hard to come by" don't cut it. If it's rare, then its cost should be higher.

/end rant

[Trogdar]

leatherleaf armor has similar properties to mithral.

[StabbittyDoom]

Marc Radle wrote:

StabbittyDoom wrote:

If you want magic that reduces ACP, try the Comfort enchantment.

What book is the Comfort enchantment from? I can't seem to locate it?

Thanks!

According to the d20pfsrd it comes from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide. It's 5k for 1 point of ACP reduction and some misc abilities that are mostly flavor.

Trogdar wrote:

leatherleaf armor has similar properties to mithral.

I believe you mean darkleaf?

It's the same as mithral except that they made the minimum ASF chance 5%, which is just another instance of the middle finger going to casters who want to use armor. It doesn't matter from a mechanical standpoint*, but I guess a 9-level arcane caster putting forth the training to wear armor is just heresy. (/rant)

* They can get +8 armor from bracers compared to +7 armor from +5 darkleaf leather armor, which is the highest it would grant with no ASF if they didn't have the minimum.

[Ilja]

Elrostar wrote:

there's no reason for anyone to ever wear anything else, given the choice.

Well, one might want to use other materials. High-level fighters would probably prefer an adamantine full plate, though it depends on the build in question.