Armor and Balance Issues

[Clockwork Kobold]

So I've been reading through the Occult adventure classes and there doesn't seem to be any sort of penalty to wearing armor as a psychic class and I haven't seen any thread discussing this. The problem I have with this is the fact that psychic, for instance, has some sorcerer/wizard spells that are damaging but no real penalty to wear armor. Granted it's only a few but if you were only wanting those spells why not be psychic and take 3 feats so you can wear full plate. While I am okay with medium being able to cast spells in armor since it is a melee class I don't understand why the other classes should be able to rock full plate. If someone could help explain how this is balanced other than you have to take feats to do it I would really like to know.

[Rynjin]

"You have to drop 3 Feats on a minimal advantage when you could have gotten something exponentially more powerful" isn't enough of a balancing factor for you?

Last I checked Clerics wearing Fullplate didn't break the game any more than they already did, and some damaging Wizard spells (the weakest kind) is hardly going to be a game changer in full plate either.

"Oh no! He has a few more AC! Whatever will we do!" is a much smaller problem than you're making it out to be.

[kestral287]

Honestly? Because you have to take feats. Or a dip, which is both better and worse.

It gives them an edge over the Sorcerer/Wizard, but since their spell list is (currently) weaker that's not a huge deal, and the general consensus is that the Wizard has much better ways to defend himself than straight AC.

Not that I don't like the image of a Psychic in fullplate, mind, and I'm really hoping for a Psychic version of the Eldritch Knight to make it practical.

[Clockwork Kobold]

In my defense magic missile and vampiric touch are awesome wizard spells but for some reason I thought there were more damaging spells in the psychic classes. That's what I get for not paying closer attention. :/

Also I think medium is what they were king of going for, for eldritch knight.

[kestral287]

Roughly half of a Psychic's damage-dealing offensive spells between spell levels 1 and 6 are Mind Thrust I-VI.

The Medium is somewhat amusing, but doesn't really fit what I'm hoping for. I've always had issues with the Eldritch Knight because the only Arcane classes that can wear armor have vested interest to not go near the class under any circumstances. In theory, a Psychic could make it more practical to actually survive on the front lines as an EK... but not being Arcane means no EK for them.

[Psyren]

kestral287 wrote:

Not that I don't like the image of a Psychic in fullplate, mind, and I'm really hoping for a Psychic version of the Eldritch Knight to make it practical.

Logan has stated they're planning to allow specific provisions for the Psychic to enter certain PrCs that are normally arcane-only or divine-only. My guess is that EK, MT and AT are at the top of that list.

[AlanDG2]

I remember some game where they said Psychics could wear armor except on their heads...

[Gilarius]

AlanDG2 wrote:

I remember some game where they said Psychics could wear armor except on their heads...

Rolemaster. Mentalists were the spellcasters involved.

Rolemaster also had lot of critical hit tables where you were very badly off if you didn't have a helmet on...

[Melkiador]

You don't even really need proficiency to wear light armor. You just have to get the armor check penalty to zero.

[graystone]

Melkiador wrote:

You don't even really need proficiency to wear light armor. You just have to get the armor check penalty to zero.

You can take 2 traits that give you a total of 2 lower check penalty. That makes Elven Chain and Celestial Armor wearable with no armor check penalty.

[Umbranus]

Not having to care about arcane spell failure is at least something that should be looked at when comparing them to other classes. It makes them much stronger for multi-classing or dipping than most arcane classes.
Sure, it is nothing that changes a class's tier on its own. But it might be enough to push it over if it's already close to the next one.

[JRutterbush]

graystone wrote:

Melkiador wrote:

You don't even really need proficiency to wear light armor. You just have to get the armor check penalty to zero.

You can take 2 traits that give you a total of 2 lower check penalty. That makes Elven Chain and Celestial Armor wearable with no armor check penalty.

One trait gives you access to a -0 ACP mithril breastplate, which is a +6 AC and +4 maximum Dexterity for only 4,000g.