armor advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

armor advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lord Stormy
05-26-05, 10:40 PM I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form.

For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters)

Any help is appreciated
tiluvias99
05-26-05, 10:47 PM I believe there is an enhancement somewhere called "wild" or something... I think its a +3 bonus, and it allows you to keep your armor (including all magical stuff) when you change shape.
Rulebook
05-27-05, 02:23 AM wild dosent help lycanthropes. wild only affects wild shaping stuff.

theres a Vile PrC in Players Guide to Faerun that lets lycanthropes benifit from Wild armor but thats a tough class to get anyway.

werewolves arent much bigger than humans are though, would you actually NEED to get different armor? it only ruins the stuff if your new form is larger than your natural form. so unless you're a halfling or gnome, your armor is just fine without needing anything special for it.

you're kind of skrewed for the wolf-form though. though you can probably just House-Rule the Wild enhancement to work for lycanthropes. wouldnt see why you couldnt fiat it, its still an expensive mod.
jaerad
05-27-05, 02:47 AM Unless your animal form is a different size than your base form, you don't ruin armor/clothes when you change form IIRC. I'm sure that's for Hybrid form, and I'm pretty sure it stands for animal form as well. Though it may not, I forget.

If all you're worried about is Hybrid form, just take enough animal HD so that you just quite but don't change size. :) That's what I'm doing with Werebear. Only taking 5 levels instead of 6. I miss out on STR +4, NA +1, and Large size. Fair trade IMO, since I'm really only going to change into a Hybrid.

Help templating/stretching abilities over levels can be found here: Savage Progressions (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp).

Back to armor stretching. The only way that I know of is Enlarge Person (self). That enlarges your items with you. It's not a very high level spell, so it doesn't cost too much to make a ring of it or something. You could also imbue your armor with that, though I'm too much of a n3wb to know how to do that.
Nobby
05-27-05, 09:54 AM I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form.

For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters)

Any help is appreciated

LOL i have a pc who is this exact same rule but my party found out i was a werewolf when the blood moon come out and i didnt save the fort

Nobby
Draco Strang
05-27-05, 09:56 AM I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form.

For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters)

Any help is appreciated
Well, one way to get around this would be investing in bracers of armor, rings of protection, and amulets of natural armor. These all stay with you when you're in another form. Costly, but undeniably effective, and all 3 of those stack.
Sinon
05-27-05, 10:01 AM I don't even think that allowing wild-shape armor to function for lycanthropes would require a house rule. (House reading maybe.)

I mean, a druid can wear it and change into a wolf, but a lycanthrope can't do the exact same thing. Granted, the reason for change and the source of the ability to change are different, but is the armor supposed to know that?
PrinceAzar
05-27-05, 10:01 AM There's Beastskin from Complete Adventurer, it works for Druids, not sure if it works for lycanthropes. :)
jaerad
05-27-05, 12:27 PM Well, one way to get around this would be investing in bracers of armor, rings of protection, and amulets of natural armor. These all stay with you when you're in another form. Costly, but undeniably effective, and all 3 of those stack.
This is also the way to go if you have a high DEX (or high CON and two levels of Deepwarden). It is expensive though.

The problem I had is that my armor was specially crafted to hide the Hybrid form. The faceplate was a snarling bear face, and the guantlets had claws built in. Basically, it was a suit designed for a line of Dwarven natural Werebears. It's not really that we're hiding it 'cause we're ashamed or anything, it's just to make party life simpler and to keep from freaking people out. They just think we're Raging hardcore. :)

But I solved my problem by keeping from changing size, and ignoring the full animal form. But then again, I'm natural instead of inflicted - so I have total control at all times, baby.
Lord Stormy
05-27-05, 02:19 PM Perhaps a bit more background would help..

The armor comes from the priest who raised him, so has a value beyond gold pieces.

The desire for this enhancement comes from a near misadventure. While alone, he was scouting the area in his wolf form looking for an orc cave. Well he found it. After clearing out the cave in his hybrid form he found a prisoner. Luckily the cave was almost totally dark and he was able to leave and clothe himself before returning to rescue her. She, a bard, is now traveling with him. Suddenly losing his armor would attract too many questions.

And no, changing into hybrid form doesn’t hurt his armor, which was the priest’s reason for gifting him whit that particular type. In fact, we (my DM and I) had discussed that in a more rigid style of armor he might incur a greater armor check penalty and/or reduced movement due to the minor changes in his body (the STR increase would show as more muscle mass). The effect would apply in human if the armor were altered to fit the hybrid form (for being too large).

He is a CN natural werewolf, so the evil PrC is out. The wild ability is close to what I need and I thought about using that for a base, but was fishing for different solutions.

Thanks for the great reponse!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord Stormy 05-26-05, 10:40 PM	I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form. For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters) Any help is appreciated
tiluvias99 05-26-05, 10:47 PM	I believe there is an enhancement somewhere called "wild" or something... I think its a +3 bonus, and it allows you to keep your armor (including all magical stuff) when you change shape.
Rulebook 05-27-05, 02:23 AM	wild dosent help lycanthropes. wild only affects wild shaping stuff. theres a Vile PrC in Players Guide to Faerun that lets lycanthropes benifit from Wild armor but thats a tough class to get anyway. werewolves arent much bigger than humans are though, would you actually NEED to get different armor? it only ruins the stuff if your new form is larger than your natural form. so unless you're a halfling or gnome, your armor is just fine without needing anything special for it. you're kind of skrewed for the wolf-form though. though you can probably just House-Rule the Wild enhancement to work for lycanthropes. wouldnt see why you couldnt fiat it, its still an expensive mod.
jaerad 05-27-05, 02:47 AM	Unless your animal form is a different size than your base form, you don't ruin armor/clothes when you change form IIRC. I'm sure that's for Hybrid form, and I'm pretty sure it stands for animal form as well. Though it may not, I forget. If all you're worried about is Hybrid form, just take enough animal HD so that you just quite but don't change size. :) That's what I'm doing with Werebear. Only taking 5 levels instead of 6. I miss out on STR +4, NA +1, and Large size. Fair trade IMO, since I'm really only going to change into a Hybrid. Help templating/stretching abilities over levels can be found here: Savage Progressions (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp). Back to armor stretching. The only way that I know of is Enlarge Person (self). That enlarges your items with you. It's not a very high level spell, so it doesn't cost too much to make a ring of it or something. You could also imbue your armor with that, though I'm too much of a n3wb to know how to do that.
Nobby 05-27-05, 09:54 AM	I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form. For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters) Any help is appreciated LOL i have a pc who is this exact same rule but my party found out i was a werewolf when the blood moon come out and i didnt save the fort Nobby
Draco Strang 05-27-05, 09:56 AM	I would like to construct a suit of armor for a werewolf that will somehow compensate for his shape-shifting ability. I'm not looking to make it super powerful, and retaining the normal armor bonus isn't necessary (however the magical bonus would be nice). Basically I would like to overcome the need to strip off the armor when changing into wolf form. For reference he is a ranger looking to have his elven chain enchanted (currently non-magical). His role is scout and current party members are unaware of his ability ( if it matters) Any help is appreciated Well, one way to get around this would be investing in bracers of armor, rings of protection, and amulets of natural armor. These all stay with you when you're in another form. Costly, but undeniably effective, and all 3 of those stack.
Sinon 05-27-05, 10:01 AM	I don't even think that allowing wild-shape armor to function for lycanthropes would require a house rule. (House reading maybe.) I mean, a druid can wear it and change into a wolf, but a lycanthrope can't do the exact same thing. Granted, the reason for change and the source of the ability to change are different, but is the armor supposed to know that?
PrinceAzar 05-27-05, 10:01 AM	There's Beastskin from Complete Adventurer, it works for Druids, not sure if it works for lycanthropes. :)
jaerad 05-27-05, 12:27 PM	Well, one way to get around this would be investing in bracers of armor, rings of protection, and amulets of natural armor. These all stay with you when you're in another form. Costly, but undeniably effective, and all 3 of those stack. This is also the way to go if you have a high DEX (or high CON and two levels of Deepwarden). It is expensive though. The problem I had is that my armor was specially crafted to hide the Hybrid form. The faceplate was a snarling bear face, and the guantlets had claws built in. Basically, it was a suit designed for a line of Dwarven natural Werebears. It's not really that we're hiding it 'cause we're ashamed or anything, it's just to make party life simpler and to keep from freaking people out. They just think we're Raging hardcore. :) But I solved my problem by keeping from changing size, and ignoring the full animal form. But then again, I'm natural instead of inflicted - so I have total control at all times, baby.
Lord Stormy 05-27-05, 02:19 PM	Perhaps a bit more background would help.. The armor comes from the priest who raised him, so has a value beyond gold pieces. The desire for this enhancement comes from a near misadventure. While alone, he was scouting the area in his wolf form looking for an orc cave. Well he found it. After clearing out the cave in his hybrid form he found a prisoner. Luckily the cave was almost totally dark and he was able to leave and clothe himself before returning to rescue her. She, a bard, is now traveling with him. Suddenly losing his armor would attract too many questions. And no, changing into hybrid form doesn’t hurt his armor, which was the priest’s reason for gifting him whit that particular type. In fact, we (my DM and I) had discussed that in a more rigid style of armor he might incur a greater armor check penalty and/or reduced movement due to the minor changes in his body (the STR increase would show as more muscle mass). The effect would apply in human if the armor were altered to fit the hybrid form (for being too large). He is a CN natural werewolf, so the evil PrC is out. The wild ability is close to what I need and I thought about using that for a base, but was fishing for different solutions. Thanks for the great reponse!