Bards in mithral kikko armor

[Ravingdork]

Does a bard, summoner, or similar character suffer from arcane spell failure chance when wearing mithral kikko armor?

Mithral says it reduces it from 20 to 10%. It also seems to indicate that the armor is treated as one step lighter for the purposes of all but proficiency.

Does that mean that bards and similar characters get to ignore its arcane spell failure chance regardless of its value?

If so, then it would seem that mithral kikko armor (or brigandine armor as I prefer to call it) is the best armor in the game for such characters.

[Shifty]

"Bards can wear light armor and use shields without incurring any arcane spell failure chance for their bard spells." "A summoner can cast summoner spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance."

Once its Mith, its Light armour, so the above rules apply.

That said, the ACP will be a bit ugly due to the non proficiency.

[Booksy]

I would rule the bard has to be proficient with the medium armor to get the benefit of its lightness. If he doesn't know how to wear it right, he's not going to get a spellcasting benefit from it.

Ofcourse RAW I can't find anything to match this ruling, so I guess a bard without Armor Proficiency Medium could get any metal medium armor made from Mithral and gain all the benefits of light armor, as long as he was willing to deal with the ACP's(which I guess could be brought to 0, making it some pretty awesomee armor indeed)

[galahad2112]

I've asked this question on the forums here before, and the consensus seemed to be that for ASF it's light armor. ACP still applies. Of course, most people seem to think that non-proficiency does all sorts of horrid things...which is false. It does ONE horrid thing - ACP applies to attack rolls. So, really ANYONE is "proficient" with mithral kikko armor, as it's ACP is 0.

[Jeraa]

Shifty wrote:

That said, the ACP will be a bit ugly due to the non proficiency.

The ACP of mithral kikko armor is -0. Since the only drawback to being non-proficient in the armor you wear is that you apply the ACP as a penalty on your attack rolls (in addition to what the ACP normally applies to), there is no drawback. You take a -0 penalty on attack rolls if wearing a mithral kikko you aren't proficient in.

[Shifty]

Good point Jerra, I didn't do the math there :)

So yeah, its a 0 loss game.

[Seraphimpunk]

elven chainmail , while very similar to mithril chainmail, does have the added benefit of actually being light armor, not mithril armor, for proficiency.

[Jeraa]

Seraphimpunk wrote:

elven chainmail , while very similar to mithril chainmail, does have the added benefit of actually being light armor, not mithril armor, for proficiency.

Elven chain: +6 AC, +4 max dex, ACP -2, 20% ASF, treated as light armor for all purposes, 20 pounds, 5150gp

Mithral kikko: +5 AC, +6 max dex, ACP -0, 10% ASF, treated as medium armor for proficiency but light armor for everything else, 12.5 pounds, 4030gp

A mithral kikko does have 1 less AC, but is better then elven chain. It does require medium armor proficiency, but as its ACP is 0 proficiency is not needed. And with the 1120gp saved from not buying elven chainmail, you can enchant the mithral kikko to +1, bringing its AC bonus up to +6, the same as unenchanted elven chain.

For almost the same cost as elven chain , you can get a +1 mithral kikko that performs better in all areas. And 120gp left to spend elsewhere.

(Also, for almost the same price as elven chain or a +1 mithral kikko, you could get a +2 mithral shirt. +6 AC, +6 max dex, -0 ACP, 10% ASF, treated as light armor for everything, either 10 or 12.5 pounds, 5100gp.)

[LovesTha]

The extra max dex is goign to make it a very good option for many characters before the "free" +1 (it's not really free to match a +1 Elven Chain you'll be more expensive, but then you need +2 Elven Chain to match the Kikko if you have 22+ Dex)

[asthyril]

how does mithril kikko beat mithral breastplate with the comfort enhancement? mithral breastplate has 1 better ac and with comfort still has 0 acp, i would think that would be a better choice.

+1 comfort mithral breastplate: +7 AC, +5 max dex, ACP -0, 15% ASF, treated as medium armor for proficiency but light armor for everything else, 15 pounds, always clean, counts as cold weather gear, 10200gp

more expensive, but if youre looking for the best stats, that's it.

[Lythe Featherblade]

For dexers the kikko armor ends up with 1 more touch AC than mithral breastplate, and 1 less flatfooted AC. Mostly comes down to style.

mithral shirt +2 might only be 5100 vs mithral kikko+1 at 5030, but once you get higher enchantments it doesn't scale, +3 is 10100 vs +2kikko at 8030, +4 is 17100 vs +3kikko 13030.. the gap just increases more at every step and you hit the cap sooner.