I currently use a +1 dark wood buckler. With the leather armor (which I'd love to get rid of) I have ac 17.
I use a spear as a main weapon, and do 1d8+8 damage because I have 16 strength power attack, furios focus, and a two handed weapon. I also use a net and dagger.
I also am looking for non magical ways to increase ac because my character doesn't take money. That's a civilization thing. Seen too many people come to Mwangi searching for gold only to lose their minds, families, health, or lives. Gold is "bad." this means I give up my portion of treasure, something I do gladly (it was my idea after all) but it means I won't be buying magic items later and am at the mercy of chance. Hence why I'm looking for a feat or class solution. I do barter goods btw.
I'm playing a ranger from the Mwangi Expanse, and in keeping with the "jungle girl" theme I'd like to be able to avoid wearing armor. Are there are feats or archetypes that give me the ability to naturally increase my AC? I don't mind taking rogue or fighter levels, though I don't find monk appropriate for this character.
Maybe focus on stacking miss % at every opportunity. It would mostly require focusing on certain magic items, but with enough crazy juju magic backing you up, you'd be pretty hard to hit.
Stay out of melee or try to imagine a kind of monk who fits your idea.
Even barbarians need some AC, especially at low level (or as a dip).
Other than that, bracers of armor are your friends.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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leather armor as something more like a leather bikini, same armor class, just a style thing.
Hmm, Dalish leather armor?
Full-plate pasties and thong. Visually virtually naked, with a + 9 armor bonus.
how about any appropriate armor type for your character class with "glamour". It would have to be at least +1 enchanted but then you could flavor it pretty much however you want.
Also remember the peicemea armor rules from UC. You want to show your boobs, just don't wear a torso peice.
What if the other members of the party bought useful magical items for you? Amulets of Natural Armor, Ring of Protection, that sort of thing.
If you have a cleric in your party, you could see about getting your shield sanctified. This gives a +1 deflection bonus until you get hit the first time.
What's your Wisdom score?
Even a 1 level dip in Monk will give you +Wisdom AC while armorless, a bonus feat- which can be Dodge (+1AC!)- and you can flurry with a quarterstaff. Or with unarmed strikes. A two level dip will give you another feat, like maybe Deflect Arrows or Mobility, and Evasion. Also, those Monk levels will give you great bonuses to your saving throws, which can help keep you alive as much as Armor Class bonuses.
Your GM may allow you to call a spear a quarterstaff for the purposes of a flurry, since you seem to be giving up a lot based on your dedication to concept. (like your share of the treasure, for example)
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Now that I know your ranger's stat and that you prefer to use the spear how about the Two-Handed Weapon fighting style in the APG. Shield of Swings allows you to get +4 AC. And since your wisdom is not too high the Skirmisher archetype class might be better than spells.
I like shield idea. And, 'cause I'ma guy, I like the idea of a leather bikini! Come on, this is a fantasy game, right? :)
I appreciate that you do not want your character to get all the time and that she is an agile jungle girl, but at some point there has to be a point in wearing heavy armour and carrying a shield. Fourth Edition which I love initially made the mistake of overvaluing dexterity and intelligence, which mistake they rectified with masterwork heavy armour. The main tactic for an unarmoured warrior should be to avoid face-to-face combat whenever possible: backstab, ambush and shoot them from a distance or allow the Fighter to grab their attention and then come in from a flank.
I know someone already suggested adding in Nature Warden for the insight bonus to AC you get while in you favored terrain, but here's a way to expand on that:
Druid 1 (animal companion) or Druid 4 (animal domain)
Battle Scout Ranger 10 (you can treat any terrain as your favored terrain)
Nature Warden 2 (get the insight bonus to AC in you favored terrain)
Horrizom Walker X(boost your favored terrain bonuses)
Granted, this really is designed to optimize a couple of terrains, but will also allow you to get at least a +1 insight bonus to AC in any area by spending a couple of rounds in it. This is nice because, if I recall, there are only one or two items in the entire game which provide insight bonuses to AC, so you could still take any of the items others are suggesting. And you get a couple of spells you can use to boost yourself, namely Barkskin, Resist Energy, Bear's Endurance, and Cat's Grace.
Not to mention, your allies are likely to appreciate the slight boosts to initiative, perception, stealth, and survival. Your animal companion will end up being kinda weak, though. Not sure how much this means to you.
If you want to avoid wearing armor, just don't wear armor. AC gets to be a losing game after a while anyway. Past 8th or 9th level, a 20% miss chance from a cloak of displacement is going to protect you from more damage than your ~20AC. Sure, lots of creatures can see through it, but they were going to hit you anyway.
If you want a character with mechanical reasons to avoid armor, you could proceed as follows:
Set dexterity and wisdom as high as possible. Undines and vanaras would be ideal races for this purpose, with any other race (including human) that boosts one without penalizing the other a close second.
Start out as a monk (martial artist archetype, if you do not want a lawful alignment) to add your wisdom bonus to your initial AC as well as give you a reason to eschew armor and shields. Then take three levels of ranger (infiltrator archetype) to gain a +2 natural armor bonus for 30 minutes a day. Next, take three levels of barbarian (savage barbarian archetype) to get a +1 dodge bonus to AC. From there, you can either advance as a barbarian (for additional AC boosts at barbarian level 7+) or as a ranger (if you prefer to focus on the abilities of that class). You can take up to three more levels as a monk without taking a further hit to your BAB.
You can further improve your AC via the Dodge feat, appropriate magic items, and boosting your dexterity and/or wisdom scores. By doing this, you should not fall too far behind the party "tanks" in terms of AC.
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Do you have someone with Mage Armor in the party?
If so, simply buy them (or acquire one some other way) a 1st Level Pearl of Power (or the Spontaneous Caster equivalent) and have them cast it on you when they do it on themselves.
Works like a charm mechanically, and as it's invisible, fits the theme perfectly well. Also, no maximum Dex bonus, so that's nice. I highly reccomend it.
If you have an int of 11+ you could take 2 levels of rogue and use a feat to pick up minor magic (to stay away from obvious magic i'd probably go for resistance or mending) and major magic talents allowing you to use mage armor 2/day and flavor it as a ritual.
Depending on your favored enemy choice the Infiltrator ranger would also let you boost your natural armor for ranger levelx10 min increments per day.
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Guys, this thread is 5 months old. The character has likely been eaten by a grue by now.
I had a similar question in my thread 'No Armor, no clothes, no problem'
The most useful answers I had (outside of changing classes) was GM ruling.
With minimal clothes it was suggested a +1 to Dex and/or stealth checks.
Seeing as how my character only wears body paint my GM gave me my Cha bonus to AC within 30' of my opponent. The best thing I can say for staying within the confines of the rules is Feats, Feats, Feats and fight defensively.
Most all threads evolve into something else.
Bride of the portable hole was recommended to me...it is a free download.
From the book: A scantily-clad character gains a +1 armour
bonus to AC. A completely naked character gains
a +2 armour bonus to AC. Found under Nude Defense.
My personal recomendation is to simply not wear armor if its a big deal.
Find someone who can cast mage armor on you (its a great start for anyone who doesn't want to wear armor), prepare barkskin as soon as its an option and keep it up in dangerous situations, and buy a good ring of protection.
If you have Mage Armor and Barkskin elsewhere in the party, Pearls of Power are great facilitators for 'buying' a spell slot off of them.
And if you can swing it... dont be on the front line in melee. If you're not being swung at, your defenses are less than relevant, right? :)
Alternatively, if visuals are super critical but you want to remain in tip top shape defensively, just get Glamered Armor. Looks like a strip of leather, protects like 30 pounds of adamantium.
Take levels in rogue and use the Offensive Defense talent to gain a dodge bonus when you sneak attack.
Yar.
I know this is slightly off topic, but I cannot help but be reminded of this video. There is a single swear near the end, so I shall spoiler the link.
~P
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Bride of the portable hole was recommended to me...it is a free download.
From the book: A scantily-clad character gains a +1 armour
bonus to AC. A completely naked character gains
a +2 armour bonus to AC. Found under Nude Defense.
I just started running a bi-weekly True20 campaign, and I've given it a "Sword & Sorcery" theme, borrowing the wonderful Beasts & Barbarians setting for Savage Worlds. I converted a house rule from that setting called "Loincloth Hero/Bikini Heroine," which lets a character who intentionally wears very little to gain a bonus to their Toughness Save equal to their Charisma bonus. Toughness saves in that system are the alternative to hit points (you save versus damage and take wound levels with a failure) -- so, essentially, the hotter you look in a loincloth or bikini, the better your ability to shrug off damage.
Does it make sense? Hell no! But it's fun!