Mage armor and magical armor


Rules Questions

Grand Lodge

Don't worry, this is not a "Does Mage Armor stack with regular armor" question, clearly the bonuses do not stack.

No, my question is if the wizard has something like Deathless Bracers of armor and casts mage armor. Does he lose the Deathless ability as well as the bonus from the bracers or just the bonus, effectivly giving him +4 Deathless armor?

Thank you


The relevant part of the description for bracers of armor " If a creature receives a larger armor bonus from another source, the bracers of armor cease functioning and do not grant their armor bonus or their armor special abilities. If the bracers of armor grant a larger armor bonus, the other source of armor ceases functioning."

In the case where the bonuses are equal I would think you could pick which to use, but the rules are silent.


Yes, but if the bonuses were equal, why bother to cast Mage Armor.

In any event, the bracers of armor rules state what happen. They turn off (including special abilities) if the other source has a larger armor bonus.

Grand Lodge

What if the ability is on armor such as a silken ceremonial robe? Do the robes "turn off" during the spell as well?


Dafydd wrote:
What if the ability is on armor such as a silken ceremonial robe? Do the robes "turn off" during the spell as well?

No. Only when bracers of armor are involved does a source of armor "turn off" in any fashion.

If the robe has a non-zero armor bonus (due to an enhancement bonus), that and the mage armor won't stack, but you knew that. :-) A deathless robe will stay deathless.

Scarab Sages

I use a very similar combo on my Dark Tapestry Oracle. He wears a +1 Spell Storing Haramaki with Bestow Curse stores inside and uses the Cloak of Darkness revelation. He gets the +6 armor bonus from the revelation(which doesn’t stack with the Haramaki) and when someone hits him he sticks them with the Bestow Curse.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

What's people's opinion on wearing bracers under (say) plate armour, and then being subject to an incorporeal attack?


Darrell Impey UK wrote:
What's people's opinion on wearing bracers under (say) plate armour, and then being subject to an incorporeal attack?

Here's how silly bracers of armor are.

bracers of armor wrote:
Bracers of armor and ordinary armor do not stack. If a creature receives a larger armor bonus from another source, the bracers of armor cease functioning and do not grant their armor bonus or their armor special abilities. If the bracers of armor grant a larger armor bonus, the other source of armor ceases functioning.

1. If the bracers provide a better armor bonus, the plate mail doesn't function, and you're fine against an incorporeal attack.

2. If the plate mail provides a better armor bonus, the bracers have no effect at all, and you're vulnerable to incorporeal attacks.

3. If both provide the same armor bonus, they both continue to function, though neither the armor bonuses nor any overlapping special abilities stack.

Other pseudo-armor items don't have this weird behavior--they just follow the standard rules for overlapping bonuses. It's very silly.


I would allow bracers of armor under plate mail to function against incorporeal attacks, even though the wording of bracers of armor is silly.


So would I. : )


well, it's not silly, it's MAGIC!
I don't know what the problem is as "greater than" is a very clear term in the rules.
Yes, bracers can be worn with armor as they take up a magical body slot and not the armor slot. It's like adding things to Mr. Potato Head. Yay.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / Mage armor and magical armor All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.