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Here come's a question about Field Plate.
PFSRD .. 1200g
Inner Sea World Guide (no errata) .. 1200g
Adventurer's Armor .. 1200g
Adventurer's Armor errata .. 400g
HeroLab .. 400g
What should it be?
Regardless of the source, is this the right cost for it given other armor options?
For what its worth the description of field plate says its the same as master work banded mail, which would cost 400 gp.
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I'd like to know where Hero Lab got the "like masterwork banded mail" description from. The description in ISWG says it's a cut down version for Full Plate, so, nothing like banded mail (apart for them both being made of metal and heavy armour).
Banded mail is bands of metal attacked to a leather backing, while full plate is effectively a heavy metal breastplate with arms protectors. Field plate is full plate without the arm protectors, so why the comparison to banded mail?
Hero Lab generally is pretty clueless. Don't use it - it's a trap. Just because it spells out things for you does not mean you actually have an understanding of the mechanics. Work it out for yourself, it'll benefit you in the long run. And there is no real advantage in making characters that quickly, anyway, since you'll need time for the backstory.
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Hero Lab generally is pretty clueless. Don't use it - it's a trap. Just because it spells out things for you does not mean you actually have an understanding of the mechanics. Work it out for yourself, it'll benefit you in the long run. And there is no real advantage in making characters that quickly, anyway, since you'll need time for the backstory.
Quick custom NPCs yo.
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I only started using it because all the players I GM for use it. Just about every time I've used it I've found a bug (and reported it).
But my main contribution to this thread is the argument over price. The argument is that field plate should cost 400gp because it is "like masterwork banded mail", but it really is nothing like masterwork banded mail (unless you treat Hero Lab as Gospel - which I don't), therefore another justification for price needs to be given.
You have three sources that list 1200gp and one of those sources is the reference website everyone uses. I think even the general consensus outweighs anything else.
You have three sources that list 1200gp and one of those sources is the reference website everyone uses.
... which has been known to be wrong on occasion. Your phrasing "reference websites" also implies it's official, which it isn't. It's not even allowed to reference Paizo's intellectual property anymore since it's gone commercial. Numerous rules from campign-setting-oriented source books appear under made-up names to avoid this, and constantly confuse players.
In the end, the Inner Sea World Guide is the latest source for the field plate and should be authoritative.
My reasoning for saying that 400gp sounds more appropriate was simply based on the fact that it is, mechanicaly, masterwork banded mail. 1,200gp for masterwork banded mail is silly.
Not quite, because you cannot have Masterwork Masterwork Banded Mail for a ACP of -4. You can have masterwork Field Plate for a -4 ACP though.
Now whether a cost difference of 950g is worth the extra 1 point difference in ACP is debatable, but they are not the same thing.
The point is, you can't say it should cost the same as masterwork banded mail cause it is the same thing when it is in fact not the same thing.
I agree the price difference makes it likely not worth the 1 point of ACP, but not all choices are equal or perfectly balanced or intended to be.
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My reasoning for saying that 400gp sounds more appropriate was simply based on the fact that it is, mechanicaly, masterwork banded mail. 1,200gp for masterwork banded mail is silly.
The description that it is "like masterwork banded mail" comes from Hero Lab, which isn't an official source. ISWG says it is a cut down version of full plate.
Read the CRB description of banded mail.
Now read the CRB description of full plate.
Do they sound similar? Not really. And ISWG compares field plate to full plate, not to banded mail, so if you're arguing mechanics, your base template should be full plate.
Your reasoning is based on a false premise.
It's odd how an armor can have less armor check penalty than full plate and yet still less maximum dex. Usually it's the other way around. You'd think it would at least be 7 armor, +2 Max dex. I'd like to say I'd use it but even then when you have heavy armor proficiency any argument to not take full plate is a hard one to make.
let's look at the statlines...
Full Plate - 1,500 gp Armor +9 MaxDex +1 ACP –6
Half-plate (agile) - 600(850) gp Amror +8 MaxDex +0 ACP-7
MW Half-plate (agile) - 750(1000) gp Amror +8 MaxDex +0 ACP-6
Field Plate - 1,200 gp* Armor +7 MaxDex +1 ACP -5
MW Banded Mal - 400 gp Armor +7 MaxDex +1 ACP -5
Banded Mail - 250 gp Armor +7 MaxDex +1 ACP –6
*=as noted in 1st post this is listed other some sources
I am not going to take a side, but considdering a Half Plate is somewhere along the line of the Field Plate (lower Dex of course) in protectionability and design, the price still seems odd.
Is anyone else not at all surprised that a pricing committee failed to get things at fair market value? This is why communism fell.
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Hero Lab generally is pretty clueless. Don't use it - it's a trap. Just because it spells out things for you does not mean you actually have an understanding of the mechanics. Work it out for yourself, it'll benefit you in the long run. And there is no real advantage in making characters that quickly, anyway, since you'll need time for the backstory.Quick custom NPCs yo.
Herolab is a blessing for GMs,a nd with the iPad app pretty handy for players who don't have system mastery. Does it allow one to be willfully blind to some elements of the system and not force you to learn it to play? Yes, but that helps tear down barriers for new players who don't have a lot of time but are interested.