Mage armor questions.

[Yqatuba]

1. Can you change clothes when mage armor is active? If so, how is the spell "smart" enough to tell the difference between clothes (a solid object) and a weapon hitting you? (another solid object.
2. What does the mage armor feel like if you touch it? (the text says it's an "invisible but tangible field" meaning you could presumably touch it)
3. Finally, why does it give an armor bonus instead of a deflection bonus?

[Mysterious Stranger]

1. Since mage armor is not air tight you can probably change clothes the same way you can change an undershirt while wearing a sweater.

2. Mage Armor is a force effect so it probably feels smoth.

3. It gives an armor bonus because it is a physical manifestation.

[Natan Linggod 327]

1.Up to the DM to decide but off hand I'd say no.
If the DM says yes then maybe magic is sort-of-alive in that it works off the casters knowledge and intent. So since the caster knows that clothes are not a weapon so does the magic. This opens a while new can of worms though so I'd reccomend against it.

2. I would think it feels like cool/roomtemperature metal. Smooth but not slick enough to cause problems.

3. For the same reason wearing a suit of armour does. Because that's basically what it is. A full body suit of armour made of force.

[MrCharisma]

1. Yes of course you can. You can wear clothes over armour, so your mage "armour" could be under your clothes. There's a vast difference between clothes touching you and a weapon hitting you when you're trying to avoid it. It's the same difference as a friend patting you on the head vs an orc attacking you with a great-axe. Rules-wise you can because the rules don't say anything about it (and the default is that you can).

2. Whatever you/the GM/other players think it feels like.

3. Probably for legacy reasons. I could be wrong about this but I think this spell might be older than the idea of deflection bonuses (and the difference between touch AC and flat-footed AC). If I'm wrong there then just imagine it as different flavour. Arcane tends to get access to armour/shield bonuses. Divine (Holy) to Deflection and Divine (Nature) to Natural armour.

[OmniMage]

1. I think its reasonable that you could lower the defense of mage armor for 1 turn, much like how you can lower spell resistance for 1 turn. That way, its easy to change shirts.

Disclaimer: Don't try to change shirts in combat. It can leave you exposed.

Alternatively, it could be reacting to anything moving fast enough or with enough force to cause you harm. Changing shirts would be neither of those things.

[Dave Justus]

1) Rules wise, it doesn't have any restriction on wearing or changing clothes in the spell. 1a) Magic
2) Quite possibly a number of different things, small variations of the 'fluff' of one single mechanical spell is possible. Alternately, whatever the GM thinks is most appropriate in their campaign world. Their is no canon answer for Golarion as far as I know.
3) Because it is a spell that was created specifically to give an armor bonus. (Wizards can't wear armor, so they need a spell to replace it)

[Pizza Lord]

Yqatuba wrote:

1. Can you change clothes when mage armor is active If so, how is the spell "smart" enough to tell the difference between clothes (a solid object) and a weapon hitting you? (another solid object).

Changing clothes is not an attack roll. Mage armor wouldn't affect someone handing you a weapon or you picking up a weapon either, just like it doesn't stop you from changing weapons. It won't affect a coup de gras where someone tries to hit you with a weapon either.

Yqatuba wrote:

2. What does the mage armor feel like if you touch it? (the text says it's an "invisible but tangible field" meaning you could presumably touch it) .

It is force, but that's not the same as a solid object. It is tangible, but that doesn't mean it's solid or an object. You can feel a field of force without touching it (in the way you're describing), like you could feel the static electricity on the screen of CRT TV you just turned off or pressure that could force you to the surface of water without being solid (though the water that creates the pressure might be solid, maybe, kinda sorta).

As for what it feels like, just say it feels like a tingly field of static electricity or like a cushiony sleeve around your forearm as you press your hand towards it.

Yqatuba wrote:

3. Finally, why does it give an armor bonus instead of a deflection bonus?

Because it is cushioning and absorbing the force or damage, rather than redirecting it. It's just like a meteorite smacking the atmosphere or a sudden field of gravity that cushions the blows and renders an attack non-damaging. While armor tends to work both ways (cushioning/absorbing or redirecting), in this case it functions as the former.

[Archimedes The Great]

1) It's magic. I've always interpreted it as the force manifests and reacts to threats, but otherwise doesn't impede you.
2) To my point above, you don't feel it unless you are trying to harm the wearer. It isn't like an invisible shell of steel.
3) Mechanics & Balance. It allows characters without armor bonus to have some while also being able to benefit from other stacking bonuses.

[Glorf Fei-Hung]

Watch Dune: The Slow clothing penetrates the armor!