Casting in Armor

[defendi]

Check me here. I see no Arcane spell failure or nothing like it. I also see no restriction on needing to have a proficiency in armor to cast in it. As near as I can see, a wizard can cast spells in plate if he wants.

[epigonebw]

Yes, wizards can wear heavy armor and cast spells from my understanding! They aren't proficient in any type of armor though, so they'd either need to take armor proficiency general feats to get up to heavy armor, or take the fighter dedication archetype.

[Seisho]

go with dedication 1 class feat which you have 8 off for instant prophiciency vs 3 general feats where you have only 5 AND you get weapon prophiciency on top AND the option for fighter feats AND the option to increase your weapon (and armor(?)) prophiciency

all you need is to sacrifice 1 skill in athletics (casters got way more then martials, you should be able to deal with it) and either 16 in dex (which is imo either way a must have for casters) or str (which is a ncie alternative)

[Colette Brunel]

The real AC-boosting trick for a sorcerer or a wizard, since they are untrained in unarmored defense, is to invest in Dexterity 16 and then take Fighter Dedication.

That opens up a breastplate for +4 AC, +2 TAC, and, sadly, -5 speed and -4 armor check penalty. At Dexterity 18, the sorcerer or wizard can downgrade to hide armor for +3 AC, +0 TAC, no speed penalty, and -3 armor check penalty. It certainly seems better than settling for Armor Proficiency (light) and studded leather or a chain shirt, no?

[Culach]

Or you could just go with a Wand of Mage Armor. Mage Armor now lasts ALL DAY, and SCALES, making it more useful than the 1e version.

That said, the advantages of the Fighter Dedication are pretty significant, so I might also suggest that.

[defendi]

Cool. But anyone can put on armor they aren't proficient in, there armor class is just lower. Or is there another penalty somewhere I missed?

[Voss]

defendi wrote:

Cool. But anyone can put on armor they aren't proficient in, there armor class is just lower. Or is there another penalty somewhere I missed?

Sadly no. A wizard in half-plate is at +3 AC and +0 TAC, + level. They've got to deal with the check and speed penalties as normal.

Both getting proficiency and dealing with the untrained penalty are both really trivial.

----
Personally, I think fighter dedication needs to be toned down, basically giving the signature skill, martial weapons and adding to your existing armor proficiencies. If you have none, you gain light. If you have light, you gain medium. If you have medium, you gain heavy.

As is, it gives a lot of classes the equivalent of way too many general feats, for basically no cost. (Everyone wants dex anyway, and assigning a skill isn't a problem, and isn't even a detriment, since it makes it a signature skill)

On the other hand, if it was 16 strength only (no dex option), it would be excessively restrictive.

The odd thing is, for barbarians and paladins, it's a complete waste. Barbarians can't use heavy armor (it magically turns off way too many abilities), and paladins already have all the things.
So it's basically a feat tax on the fighter's superior feats.

[JDragon_ITTS]

Voss wrote:

defendi wrote:

Cool. But anyone can put on armor they aren't proficient in, there armor class is just lower. Or is there another penalty somewhere I missed?

Sadly no. A wizard in half-plate is at +3 AC and +0 TAC, + level. They've got to deal with the check and speed penalties as normal.

Both getting proficiency and dealing with the untrained penalty are both really trivial.

But at 1st level that is still possibly better than the +1 from Mage Armor and +1 from Shield cantrip. IMHO.

[Voss]

JDragon_ITTS wrote:

Voss wrote:

defendi wrote:

Cool. But anyone can put on armor they aren't proficient in, there armor class is just lower. Or is there another penalty somewhere I missed?

Sadly no. A wizard in half-plate is at +3 AC and +0 TAC, + level. They've got to deal with the check and speed penalties as normal.

Both getting proficiency and dealing with the untrained penalty are both really trivial.

But at 1st level that is still possibly better than the +1 from Mage Armor and +1 from Shield cantrip. IMHO.

Correct, hence the 'sadly.' Everything about armor in this edition seems wrong.

It's far too easy to get proficiency, but simultaneously not having proficiency isn't that big of a deal.

Unarmored defense was simply forgotten.

The check and speed penalties are far, far too high (tanking the math on strength and dex related checks), and the speed penalties do horrible things to melee characters until 13th level, 17th level (almost never) or never, depending on class.

Several of the armor types are just objectively worse, others are tailored to specific dexterity values (if you wear heavy armor, stop at 14 Dex, the second half of medium is for 16 dex, etc).

Full plate might as well read 'never, ever wear this.'