Here's a thought - armor that's not, strictly speaking, armor


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

Silver Crusade

Suppose one could buy a masterwork version of ordinary clothing, and then have it enchanted to be +1 (or higher) armor. That might be something that a character who is not proficient with any armor could use. Of course the base armor bonus would be 0. I'm thinking that something like that would cost at least 200 gp base.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16, 2012 Top 32

That's pretty much what bracers of armor do. Clothing of armor would be essentially the same, only in a different body slot.

Liberty's Edge

Epic Meepo wrote:
That's pretty much what bracers of armor do. Clothing of armor would be essentially the same, only in a different body slot.

But:

1) a little more flavorful
2) keeps your bracers slot open


Ah, I thought you were going to tell me that it is "ajar"...

Silver Crusade

And I'm thinking in terms of organized play. Anyone with the gold can buy +1 armor. A character would need to have earned enough PA to buy bracers of armor, or have found them in an adventure. Moreover, under the rules of organized play, masterwork weapons and armor can be enchanted "on the fly"; that is, a masterwork rapier could be enchanted to +1, a +1 shield could be enchanted to +2 (for only the difference in price). I do not think that Bracers of Armor could be so enhanced.

I realize that this item does not exist in organized play, so it's a moot point from my perspective.

Grand Lodge

If you don't have armor prof, you can still wear MW studded leather, leather and padded armor with no penalties anyways since you incure the mighty zero armor check penalty...well kinda moot as it's zero.

The only issues are with wizards and sorcerers and they have other ways to deal with that anyways. Come to think of it, they are the only ones without armor prof.... So what this becomes is a cheap way to try to get bracers of armor 5 or less...so I am against the idea.

Silver Crusade

I was thinking about a monk, who loses all his monk abilities when wearing any armor.


Magic Vestment treats clothing as +0 armor. So I see no reason why this shouldn't work in theory.


You mean that you have never had enchanted clothing? Aside from various robes these are pretty common in our games.


Andrew Besso wrote:
I was thinking about a monk, who loses all his monk abilities when wearing any armor.

If memory serves me, they did exactly this with Monk Straps from Magic of Faerun. They were leather straps that were treated as masterwork shirt (0 base AC) and were enhanced for AC.

Course I am getting older and my memory aint what it used to be.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Generally in organised play the rule is that you can not build an item that's not described in the core rules set whether the mechanics allow it or not.

That's the rule for LSJ-Pathfinder and as I understand it PFS is even more restrictive since you're not allowed to craft items at all. You are only allowed to purchase from the following lists.

1. Items granted by your Prestige level

2. Items that access is gained through Adventure journals.

If it's not on either of the above lists, you can't have it plain and simple.


4th edition did this openly and simply...one of a few things I liked about it vs. the many things I did not like. The armor type was called "Cloth" and it had no penalty, but no inherent armor bonus...it just used the armor slot and was enchantable like any other armor.


Enchanted robes, monk robes, etc have all been fairly common in D&D campaigns past in my recollection. Even in Neverwinter Nights persistent worlds online, there was clothing enchanted to add +'s to AC. I don't think this is a 4th edition addition. As I recall, clothing is always treated as "armor" (worn on the same slot) that grants no inherent AC bonus.

Liberty's Edge

Andrew Besso wrote:
a +1 shield could be enchanted to +2 (for only the difference in price)

You also need sufficient Max PA. +2's aren't under the "Always Available" section... only +1's.

Silver Crusade

LazarX wrote:

Generally in organised play the rule is that you can not build an item that's not described in the core rules set whether the mechanics allow it or not.

That's the rule for LSJ-Pathfinder and as I understand it PFS is even more restrictive since you're not allowed to craft items at all. You are only allowed to purchase from the following lists.

1. Items granted by your Prestige level

2. Items that access is gained through Adventure journals.

If it's not on either of the above lists, you can't have it plain and simple.

Unfortunately, that is exactly the rule. Perhaps in a future version of the organized play rules it will change.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Andrew Besso wrote:
LazarX wrote:

Generally in organised play the rule is that you can not build an item that's not described in the core rules set whether the mechanics allow it or not.

That's the rule for LSJ-Pathfinder and as I understand it PFS is even more restrictive since you're not allowed to craft items at all. You are only allowed to purchase from the following lists.

1. Items granted by your Prestige level

2. Items that access is gained through Adventure journals.

If it's not on either of the above lists, you can't have it plain and simple.

Unfortunately, that is exactly the rule. Perhaps in a future version of the organized play rules it will change.

It probably will not simply because of all the bookkeeping, and balance issues that would need to be contended with. Plain and simple it's one of the prices you pay to be able to have a character you can take from place to place, table to table.

On the other hand, LSJ just had a design new spell and item contest.. that's one route for incremental change.


Epic Meepo wrote:
That's pretty much what bracers of armor do. Clothing of armor would be essentially the same, only in a different body slot.

Aren't the bracers considered a force bonus and thus effective against incorporeal touch?

Dark Archive

KaeYoss wrote:
Epic Meepo wrote:
That's pretty much what bracers of armor do. Clothing of armor would be essentially the same, only in a different body slot.
Aren't the bracers considered a force bonus and thus effective against incorporeal touch?

the first paragraph says

"These items appear to be wrist or arm guards. They surround the wearer with an invisible but tangible field of force, granting him an armor bonus of +1 to +8, just as though he were wearing armor. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective."

so i guess they are force

huh, didnt think about that

Silver Crusade

Unfortunately, my GM was crystal clear about this. This is NOT allowed in organized play.

I hope that a future version of the game rules will specify "cloth armor" or something like that, with a base armor class of 0.

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