| 5 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Assuming a character was a 1 level dip into Unchained Monk and the rest into Kineticist, picking Water as their first element, how would these two interact?
Monk's AC bonus reads: " When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC and CMD. ...He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load."
Kineticist's Water Shroud reads: "You surround yourself with a shroud of water, ice, or both that protects you from hard. The shroud can either cover your body, functioning as armor, or float around you and block attacks, functioning as a shield. It grants a +4 armor bonus to AC or a +2 shield bonus to AC, and you can change the type of bonus as a standard action." The rest of the text discusses increasing the AC bonus.
The point of concern is the wording of "functions as armor." I believe it means that the shroud acts like armor, but isn't literally armor as it imposes no weight, no arcane spell failure chance, and isn't restrictive on the body. I can see arguments for the opposing side, however, so I'm here to get a wider view.
And before someone asks that I simply work it out with my GM, I play PFS, so working it out with my GM isn't always an option, or nearly as simple an option.
It just grants an AC or shield bonus. It's not creating a suit of armor that you wear. Since the Monk's AC ability looks for "wears any armor" or "when he carries a shield" you fine to use both abilities at once.
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This hearkens back to the Advanced Players Guide and the varying ways the oracle revelations are worded:
Armor of Bones (Su): You can conjure armor made of bones that grants you a +4 armor bonus.
Coat of Many Stars (Su): You conjure a coat of starry radiance that grants you a +4 armor bonus.
Ice Armor (Su): You can conjure armor of ice that grants you a +4 armor bonus.
Air Barrier (Ex): You can create an invisible shell of air that grants you a +4 armor bonus.
One is a coat. Two specifically say they are armor. One is a shell of air. So monk AC would stack with heavens and wind but not bones or waves? I don't think we ever got an answer on that.
I'm hitting the FAQ button.
So another way to phrase the question is 'at what point are armour bonuses "armour" when it comes to a monk's AC bonus?' Obviously walking around in plate armour (while cool) would count, and so would the silken ceremonial robe (despite how thematic and cool that would be), while bracers of armour don't count, but when the text suggests it's actual matter (solid or not--I'm looking at YOU, air armour!) where's the dividing line?
Armor bonuses NEVER affect a monks AC ability. Suits of armor do.
Armor gives an armor bonus.
Other things can give an armor bonus.
Granting an armor bonus doesn't make anything armor.
A quick way to see if it's a suit of armor. Does it have a type (light, medium, heavy), weight, Max Dex Bonus, Armor Check Penalty, Arcane Spell Failure Chance and Speed? If it has these it's a suit of armor. If it doesn't it's not. Easy peasy.
I took the same stance as Graystone when I first read through. Theres no weight, no ACP, no Arcane failure chance, none of that. Its really just the word "functions" that made me hesitate.
I took the same stance as Graystone when I first read through. Theres no weight, no ACP, no Arcane failure chance, none of that. Its really just the word "functions" that made me hesitate.
For functions to be meaningful, it would have to say 'functions as a chain shirt or a heavy shield'. Otherwise it's just saying it's protecting the character by giving out armor/shield bonuses.
Mage Armor says it best. "Unlike mundane armor, mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction." For the monk abilities 'armor', it's the mundane armor that mage armor points out.
