This topic has been discussed before, but my "loophole" has a slightly different angle, I believe.
I do understand that armor bonus and special abilities of other armors do not stack. What about enhancement bonuses to AC? Are they included in "special abilities" or "armor bonus"?
Example:
+5 Haramaki and +8 Bracers of Armor
Haramaki gives an "armor bonus" of +1 (negated, does not stack) but also a +5 "enhancement bonus to AC" of +5, whereas the bracers only give an "armor bonus".
It may sound silly, but I ask, because usually these types of bonuses stack and the enhancement bonuses to AC are not mentioned in the section of the bracers text.
The last sentence "If the bracers of armor grant a larger armor bonus, the other source of armor ceases functioning." could be interpreted both ways I believe, but I am not a native speaker.
Still, "source of armor" is not "armor bonus" and could well encompass "enhancement bonus to AC". So I guess they are not stacking, but it does not hurt to ask.
The Haramaki actually gives a +6 Armor bonus, the +1 Armor Bonus that is naturally part of the Haramaki and a +5 enhancement to the haramaki's armor bonus.
If it was an enchancement bonus to AC itself (rather than an enhancement bonus to the armor bonus of the armor) then the enhancement bonus of magical armor and magical shield wouldn't stack. Since these enhancements are to the respective armor and shield bonuses (and hence don't apply when those bonuses don't apply) they do stack.
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A good rule of thumb is that if it's a "loophole" then it doesn't work.
A good rule of thumb is that if it's a "loophole" then it doesn't work.
Whether something is considered a loophole or not is a question of subjective perception; that's why I put the word in quotation marks. For me it is just a rules question or rather a question about interpretation.
My rule of thumb is simply that if you look at it through the lens of how the rest of the rules work and it seems like a much better deal than any other rules would make it it's probably the other way of reading it.
There is not a chance I would allow this sort of attempt at rules abuse. It is a clear attempt to gain a bonus which no sane person would believe is intended.
If your gm (or you are the gm) likes this sort of rules abuse and is willing to cope with the assorted silliness all the better for your fun. If you are attempting to gain a ruling which you can use to attempt to convince your gm he has to allow it because the internet says so , I suspect you are deservedly doomed. I would have to audit closely the character sheet of anyone who tried this one on me to see what shenanigans they have tried to pass off on me
I thank everybody for your answers. There was no intention by me to "abuse the rules". I won't ask my GM to allow this rule. I did already state in my opening post that it sounds silly. So it was really just a question.
I do nothing because the Internet says so. I find the knowledge and opinions of the community members very helpful to make up my mind. After many years here (mostly reading) I "know" quite a number of members who achieved quite the system mastery and I am glad they share their opinions and analyses on the messageboards.
Maybe this was a stupid question and I did not investigate enough.
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Not at all. There are parts of the rules where things really do work out in your favor. Paizo did their best to crush those parts at the behest of outraged forumites, but a few remain. This isn't one of them, though--bracers of armor are pretty much airtight.
Edit: I think you can still stack +1 (insert +7 worth of properties here) bracers of armor with a mage armor spell and get that extra +3 to AC from the difference, so there's that.
Eh, right. It does call out "another source" instead of just "armor".
Bracers of Armor allow a Monk or superDEX character to pay to put extra AC on their Monk AC or DEX score at the same cost other characters pay to put Enhancement on their armor. That's the function they're balanced for.
I also think the pricing of Bracers of Armor is just fine - it's the same as for other magic armor. My current character (Eldritch Scoundrel) could build them and will so soon, but until now there have been other priorities. The Magic Armor spell (extended) has served me well but I also add Displacement, Shield, Greater Invisibility or Mirror Image (or a combination) if needed and/or possible.
I think the problem here is the wording of enhancement bonuses presented in the Core Rulebook. Now, my copy is fairly old, so some of the wording may be presented differently in more recent versions. According to the Core Rulebook (p. 461), "Magic armor bonuses are enhancement bonuses, never rise above +5, and stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses)."
Now, I can see the argument of the OP on the surface level, but in my opinion, the argument ultimately falls flat when you read the description of Bracers of Armor (p. 504-505). "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."
This can be interpreted in a few ways, but the ones relevant to this post would be as follows. Enhancement bonuses applied to armor modify the armor bonus of the armor in question, and would not be a direct enhancement of an individual's AC.
The other way would be that Bracers of Armor is an armor bonus and would stack with something labeled as an enhancement bonus; however, the last two sentences of the description for Bracers of Armor in essence states that the bonus for Bracers of Armor is mutually exclusive with any other source of an armor bonus.
Going back to the OP's example of a haramaki with a +5 enhancement bonus, the haramaki's armor bonus is only a +1. According to the second interpretation, Bracers of Armor +8 would render the haramaki's magic bonuses and abilities completely inert if both are being used by the same individual.
Not at all. There are parts of the rules where things really do work out in your favor. Paizo did their best to crush those parts at the behest of outraged forumites, but a few remain. This isn't one of them, though--bracers of armor are pretty much airtight.
Edit: I think you can still stack +1 (insert +7 worth of properties here) bracers of armor with a mage armor spell and get that extra +3 to AC from the difference, so there's that.
Well, a Haramaki +1 w/+9 effects and Bracers +2 w/+6 effects, does work.
This is because neither is greater than the other, so nothing turns off.Finding +15 worth of effects might be difficult and expensive.
/cevah