Stack Mage Armor?


Rules Questions


Can I cast mage armor multiple times in order to get better armor? Can I cast it on people (fighter/barbarian) that already have "regular" armor?


No. Mage armor provides an armor bonus; armor bonuses do not stack with others of the same type. Mage armor does stack with shield bonuses, morale bonuses and the like, but not with other armor bonuses.


artificer wrote:

Can I cast mage armor multiple times in order to get better armor? Can I cast it on people (fighter/barbarian) that already have "regular" armor?

No.

Multiple bonuses of the same type generally do not stack. The exceptions called out in the rules are circumstance and dodge bonuses.

Mage Armor grants an armor bonus, therefore multiple casting will not stack as they all give the same +4 Armor bonus.

Also a character already wearing normal armor is granted an Armor bonus by said armor and would only receive either their Armor bonus from the normal armor or the Armor bonus from Mage armor whichever is greater, not both.


Your monk would like Mage Armor though.


But you could have a mage armor and magic vestment on your shirt.
Since one is an armor bonus and the other is a enhancement bonus.


I haven't found the RAW for not stacking. Page?


and mage armor is still usefull if you meet something incorporal...


Look at the site under common terms -> bonus.


Bigtuna wrote:
Look at the site under common terms -> bonus.

Got it thanks!


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber
Bigtuna wrote:

But you could have a mage armor and magic vestment on your shirt.

Since one is an armor bonus and the other is a enhancement bonus.

No. Mage armor provides an armor bonus of +4. Your shirt provides and armor bonus of +0. Your buckler provides a shield bonus of +1.

Armor bonus doesn't stack, so you take the best (+4 vs +0) and add the shield (+1) for a total of +5.

Let's say you cast magic vestment on your buckler while your caster level is 8. Your buckler now has an enhancement bonus of +2 (caster level/4) to its base bonus (+1 shield bonus) for a total shield bonus of +3. Combined with your existing +4 armor bonus, you've got +7.

Instead, let's say you cast magic vestment on your shirt with the same caster level of 8. Your shirt now has an enchancement bonus of +2 to its base bonus of +0 for a total armor bonus of +2. This armor bonus for your shirt is still less than the armor bonus for your mage armor and still doesn't stack, so you've gained nothing.

Now, let's say your caster level is 20 instead. You enhance your shirt with a +5 enhancement bonus to the base bonus of +0, for a total of +5. Your shirt is now BETTER than the mage armor, so you'll use it instead.

If you enhance both your shirt and your buckler at caster level 20, you'll have a shield bonus of (+1 base shield bonus + 5 enchancement to shield bonus) and an armor bonus of (+0 base armor bonus from shirt + 5 enhancement to armor bonus from magic vestment) for a total of +11.

Stated another way, armor can have an enhancement bonus to its effectiveness (raising its armor bonus) and shields can have an enhancement bonuse (raising its shield bonus) but there is no enhancement bonus directly to armor class.

Other modifiers to armor class such as dodge bonuses DO stack.


hmm I'm afraid you are right...

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Bigtuna wrote:
hmm I'm afraid you are right...

Think of it this way. If Enhancement was a separate bonus, than the +5's from +5 Platemail and +5 shield, would not stack.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, LO Special Edition, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Quick reach out to the PRD on Bonuses and stacking...

Bonus Rule

Bonus stacking


LazarX wrote:
Bigtuna wrote:
hmm I'm afraid you are right...
Think of it this way. If Enhancement was a separate bonus, than the +5's from +5 Platemail and +5 shield, would not stack.

No I don't see it like that at all.

One is shield enhancement, the other is armor enhancement. Yes they're both enhancements, but they're different bonus types because they're for different armor types.

I think the general argument saying magic vestment stacks with mage armor is that mage armor gives armor bonus, and magic vestment [cast on armor/clothing] gives an armor enhancement bonus.

The dilemma/disagreement mostly comes in with the fact that people are claiming that armor enhancement bonus doesn't stack with armor bonus if the bonuses are on separate pieces of gear. I don't think there's any rule that actually says that though, or that armor enhancement bonus melds/mixes with armor bonus to become one bonus (armor bonus) per piece of equipment, before interacting with other pieces of equipment. (that is another thing I don't think actually exists in the rules? but I might be wrong about this one)

I don't see why people infer that those who think magic vestment stacks are figuring it so that it's an untyped enhancement bonus to AC. When it's cast on armor, the bonus type would be armor enhancement, not general AC enhancement.

An amulet of natural armor is a separate piece of equipment as someone's thick hide. One provides a natural armor enhancement bonus, the other provides a natural armor bonus. As far as I understand, those two stack, so why wouldn't two separate things for unnatural/regular armor also stack?

That all said, I'm fine with a DM saying "no" on the basis of it being too powerful (if it was too powerful), but that should specifically be the reason, not that it's just following a biased interpretation of [possibly ambiguous?] rules

Dark Archive

From the rule book on Combat under AC:

Quote:
Enhancement Bonuses: Enhancement bonuses apply to your armor to increase the armor bonus it provides.

So, a +4 enhancement bonus to leather armor changes the armor bonus for that armor to +6, not +2 armor with a separate +4 enhancement bonus.

So, going off of that info. Magic Vestment (say @ +3 enhancement bonus to armor) on clothing (+0 armor), makes that clothing have an armor bonus of +3.

Mage Armor grants an armor bonus of +4. Since these are the same bonus type (armor bonus) it falls under the stacking rules that state that in this case, you would end up with an armor bonus total of +4 (the mage armor).

Silver Crusade

Enhancement bonuses to armour make the armour bonus bigger.

The Amulet of Natural Armour doesn't give the wearer a natural armour bonus. It gives an enhancement bonus to your existing natural armour, and those creatures that seem to have no natural armour bonus actually have a natural armour bonus of +0.

Dark Archive

Now, does Mage armor count as a suit of armor for casting magical vestments? :P


No, because it's not a "suit".

PRD wrote:

An invisible but tangible field of force surrounds the subject of a mage armor spell, providing a +4 armor bonus to AC.

Unlike mundane armor, mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Since mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can't bypass it the way they do normal armor.

It's not actually a suit of armor at all, it simply provides a bonus like one.

Similarly, shield doesn't work, because it doesn't actually make a "shield", but an "invisible disk of force that provides a shield bonus".

PRD wrote:
Shield creates an invisible shield of force that hovers in front of you. It negates magic missile attacks directed at you. The disk also provides a +4 shield bonus to AC. This bonus applies against incorporeal touch attacks, since it is a force effect. The shield has no armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance.

Pedantic, I know, but... alas.

(That said, I may well allow it, dependent upon the game.)

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