Venture-Lieutenant, Conventions—PaizoCon
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I didn't see any discussions regarding this, so I'm a bit confused and curious as to why the Spirit-Bonded armor enchantment from the Armor Master's Handbook is not legal in Society play. It has some specific limitations of what armor it can be applied to and most of the abilities a medium's spirit bonus gets used for don't seem like they're going to be boosted to problematic heights with it.
Is there something I'm missing with mediums that would cause this enchantment to become problematic? (Most of my research into medium has been for a specific idea, so I'm not familiar with all of the ins and outs that could go off the rails.) Is there something thematic about that doesn't fit what an ideal Pathfinder should be?
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As someone that was super hopeful it would be legal so my character could use it, Yes, or at least I can see why it is.
First, it could be being saved as a boon. Doubtful but possible.
But here's the reason I believe it is banned, Spirit-Bonded is 6,000gp, ALWAYS.
With Champion spirit this adds 1 to attack rolls, damage rolls, fort saves.
That is 1 feat, half a feat, and half another feat all together.
That is basically making your weapon +1 more, plus a fort save for 6000.
A weapon to +1 to +2 is 6,000, but 2 to 3 is 10,000, which you're getting for 6,000. And then 3 to 4 is 14,000, which you're getting for less than half. AND to add to this, it doesn't increase the price of your next +1 on your weapon.
It's similar to the reason that brawling for light armor went from being a +1 bonus to a +3 bonus. Because it was too big of a bonus for it's price.
So it would need to be errata'd to be a +2 armor enhancement, or a +1 weapon enhancement to be considered.
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I occasionally make a "my guesses on why material didn't make the legal cut" post for some of the material and I did do one for Armor Master's Handbook.
Spirit-Bonded - I believe the cost is too low for this armor property when worn by a medium. The Spirit Focus feat also increases the Spirit Bonus by 1, but it is a feat and only applies to one legend. This armor property costs a flat 6000 to apply to all legends (and stacks with the feat).
It's just too good. Way too good in comparison to the feat. I'm not a Paizo designer so I can't tell you if the feat is officially considered below the desired level but as a general rule of thumb a magic item shouldn't duplicate a feat. It certainly shouldn't be an upgraded feat. Likely the armor property writer didn't think to do that comparison. (Or perhaps wrote the property without knowing about the feat - certainly possible considering publication schedules.) The price on this is way low, assuming it should exist at all.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Conventions—PaizoCon
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Ok, I see what I missed. The Spirit Focus feat only applies to one legend group, not all of them. That's significantly different from a blanket boost to the spirit bonus value.
The specific idea I had in mind was primarily based around the marshal legend, so a lot of my comparison was against the bard's inspire courage bonuses.
Certainly something to be cognizant of and take into consideration for games outside of PFS.