there are certain spellcaster that can cast spell with light armor without arcane failure... now my question is... if this character uses a mithral medium armor... or a celestial chain... what woud happen? theoricaly it says the armor is counted as light armor... but what about the spellcasters does it count as light armor for caster in relation of arcane failure?
second question is maybe more of advice... is there a feat that give us similar ability as the "shock trooper" feat in 3.5 (headless charge ability)?
Mithral armor is light armor in terms of movement but still requires the feat to wear the normally larger version. So a character still needs heavy armor proficiency to wear mithral full plate, even though it counts as medium armor. In this regard, I'd say medium mithral armor isn't light armor for the type of class abilities to which you refer. But I don't have anything official to back that up, just an extrapolation of logic.
I'm not familiar with the 3.5 feat. Usually when referring to other editions, include the text (or at least concept) in your post so it can be considered without having to hunt all over for it.
Mithral armor is light armor in terms of movement but still requires the feat to wear the normally larger version. So a character still needs heavy armor proficiency to wear mithral full plate, even though it counts as medium armor. In this regard, I'd say medium mithral armor isn't light armor for the type of class abilities to which you refer. But I don't have anything official to back that up, just an extrapolation of logic.
I'm not familiar with the 3.5 feat. Usually when referring to other editions, include the text (or at least concept) in your post so it can be considered without having to hunt all over for it.
oh when i said mithral medium armor i mean mithral breastplate/chain mail not a mithral heavy plate(full plate) ... so theoricaly it should be light armor... but what happens if an arcane caster wear it?
there are certain spellcaster that can cast spell with light armor without arcane failure... now my question is... if this character uses a mithral medium armor... or a celestial chain... what woud happen? theoricaly it says the armor is counted as light armor... but what about the spellcasters does it count as light armor for caster in relation of arcane failure?
second question is maybe more of advice... is there a feat that give us similar ability as the "shock trooper" feat in 3.5 (headless charge ability)?
A Bard who wears mithral Breastplate is, officially, wearing light armor and thus does not suffer Arcane Spell Failure. He is not proficient with Medium Armor and therefore suffers a -1 penalty on attack rolls.
Celestial Armor is described as Chainmail, but counts as light for all purposes, unlike mithral armors. A bard would not suffer its ASF nor its ACP.
Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. This decrease does not apply to proficiency in wearing the armor.
Based on this, everything about a mithral breastplate or mithral chainmail makes it light armor in every way EXCEPT you still need Medium Armor Proficiency to wear it without penalties. So your caster needs that proficiency feat or suffer the consequences, but if he has an ability to let him cast arcane spells in light armor without risk of failure, it should still apply under the "and other limitations" clause.
No, I've never seen a Pathfinder feat that would be even remotely like Shock Trooper.
To offer an example that might help clarify what you're asking: A 1st level Magus can wear light armor without any arcane spell failure chance. If you took chainmail and made it out of mithral, could a 1st level Magus wear that without incurring spell failure when casting?
To quote the Mithral material text:
Mithral:
Mithral is a very rare silvery, glistening metal that is lighter than steel but just as hard. When worked like steel, it becomes a wonderful material from which to create armor, and is occasionally used for other items as well. Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. This decrease does not apply to proficiency in wearing the armor. A character wearing mithral full plate must be proficient in wearing heavy armor to avoid adding the armor's check penalty to all his attack rolls and skill checks that involve moving. Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonuses are increased by 2, and armor check penalties are decreased by 3 (to a minimum of 0).
An item made from mithral weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. In the case of weapons, this lighter weight does not change a weapon's size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed, or two-handed). Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of mithral. (A longsword can be a mithral weapon, while a quarterstaff cannot.) Mithral weapons count as silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.
Mithral has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 15.
Emphasis mine.
Now, let's look at arcane spell failure:
Arcane Spell Failure:
Armor interferes with the gestures that a spellcaster must make to cast an arcane spell that has a somatic component. Arcane spellcasters face the possibility of arcane spell failure if they're wearing armor. Bards, magi, and summoners have class features which allow them to wear certain armors or even shields without incurring any arcane spell failure chance for casting spells from their class spell list.
ASF interferes with casting because it restricts the caster's movement. The same logic lies behind the Max DEX cap for armor. Mithral reduces both ASF and increases Max DEX allowed, so we can deduce that it allows for greater maneuverability.
Based on that and combined with the emphasized statement in the mithral material description, I'd say the intent is that you'd treat medium mithral armor as light for the purposes of class abilities that let you cast wearing that armor.
oh no prob, then its all ok i guess, i was making a oracle, sorcerer for a mytsic prestige class (so yeah she has proficiency).. so i guess is fine... now... about the shock trooper feat... guess it was too OP/broken to have been converted to pathfinder then...
