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in one of the malhavoc press books is a suit of armor called the definitive harness. this heavy armor costs 10,000 gp, gives +12 to armor or +8 when flat-footed, has a maximum dexterity bonus of +3, an armor check penalty of -4, an arcane spell failure chance 25%, weighs 50 pounds, and requires the exotic armor proficiency feat.
make this armor out of mithral, and the price increases by 9,000 gp, the maximum dexterity bonus increases by 2, the armor check penalty is reduced by 3, the arcane spell failure chance is reduced by 10%, the weight is cut in half, and the armor is treated as medium.
thus we have
the mithral definitive harness costs 19,000 gp, has an armor bonus of +12 or +8 when flat-footed, a maximum dexterity bonus of +5, an armor check penalty of -1, an arcane spell failure chance 15%, weighs 25 pounds, and since it's medium armor a fighter can move full speed when wearing it!
i wish i had this armor in real life.
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And this is why so many groups don't allow 3rd party material...
Of course, such sentiments prove those who do either haven't really read Core, or ignore it's much, much bigger power-issue problems.
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And this is why so many groups don't allow 3rd party material...
Y'know, I feel like I should probably address this more.
Things found in the core rulebook that make this trick not terribly OP:
- clerics
- druids
- wizards
(- sorcerers)
(Incidentally, these are the classes that can't wear this armor.)
More specifically, the conjuration, transmutation, and various other buff spells out there allow you to create hordes for inexpensive amounts easily.
That said, let's look at one of my favorite first-party products, piecemeal armor rules. This is Paizo official, just in case you're curious, found in Ultimate Combat. Optional rules, true, but First Party.
Arms: Scale
Legs: Studded leather (there is almost never a reason not to do this)*
Torso: Plate (or agile plate).
6+1+1+1 = AC 9 armor, max DEX +3, -4 acp, 40% asf, slow speed, 38 lbs. 215 (415 for Agile). Make it Masterwork (an extra 150 gold), and that acp drops to -3 instead.
That's an 18,000 gold discount for 3 AC. Incidentally, a +3 enhancement bonus costs 9,000 gold. Making it mithril costs 9,000 gold.
We end up with +12 AC, max DEX +5, - acp, 30% asf, full speed, 19 lbs.
That looks suspiciously similar, but in this version, the AC works whether we're flat-footed or not. Hm.
Oh, you know what we're missing? An armored kilt. Stats here.
What that gives us is an +13 AC, max DEX +5, - acp, 30% asf, full speed, 29 lbs. Sure, it cost us 235 more gold (or 435 more if we really didn't want penalties to our climb and jump before it was enchanted), but it also allows us to keep the AC when flat-footed, allows us to less weight, and grants our armor an extra +6 to its hardness and an extra +30 hit points over the super-armor above.
Again, for comparison, the spell hardening would only get us the hardness increase and costs 660 gold instead of 235.
(Of course, a friendly 11th level wizard could cast it once for free, however, if we're presuming a friendly wizard, they could also craft the +3 into the armor for us for 4,500 instead of 9,000, and even craft the armor for 3,000 in mithril instead of 9,000, by repeated attempts at fabricate and crafter's fortune if nothing else; that'd save us 10,500 gold right there, though it'd cost us 9 days. Incidentally, several of us could Aid Another his Craft check to see about giving him extra bonuses... it'd be a great team-building exercise!)
This is, I'll remind, all first-party rules. Totes legit via PF and Paizo.
And, I really want to emphasize, I love this. I love PF - a lot - I respect Paizo, and I heart me some uber mage power. I love it and enjoy it all over the place.
But it's really important to get some perspective. 3rd Party Material can be great stuff. It can be lousy stuff. It can be just okay. But that great stuff? Really great.
I think the OP had a great and clever idea. Really cool!
It showed good thinking, discernment, and the ability to bring together different parts to make a whole.
Really cool. And potent!
... it's just not all that potent when compared to Paizo stuff. Hence your third-party comment, while probably accurate, represents sentiments that are deeply flawed and misplaced.
Good gaming!
* I could certainly eek out an extra point of AC by adding the o-yori legs instead. But that'd cost us, like, 300 extra gold, lower our max DEX by 1 (+2 or +4 mithril instead of +3 or +5 mithril), and increase our weight by 2 lbs (or by 1 lb. if mithril). For Fighters, this really shouldn't matter much, if they stick with armor training. But for everyone else it could be important. In any event, eeking out every last point of AC is the only reason you would go with any leg piece other than studded leather; in which case you'd go for o-yori (as described above), or leather-or-padded (for the casters who want as little asf % as possible). If you don't go with scale arms, go with padded arms, no matter who you are. Haramaki torso if you're a caster (or silken ceremonial armor for style points) though you're better off just going with haramaki (or the silken) as you don't incur asf. Requiring medium range armor (probably because you can't afford heavy or mithril) is where the torso choice gets difficult - the choice is always going to depend on your budget and needs. When dealing with heavy armor, just go with plate (or agile plate, if you've the funds to burn). No reason to get anything else (the Tatami-do is equaled or significatnly outclassed by the Chain in every way).
