Bracers of Armor... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bracers of Armor... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Chathsolen
03-16-06, 09:58 AM hello,

I was thinking of making a character that uses Bracers of Armor for his armor since he has high dex and i was wondering if they can be enchanted also like regular armor with like heavy fort and soulfire.

i thought i read somewere once in a book that said you could but i can't remeber where i read it at.
DrMorganes
03-16-06, 10:04 AM By the rules for magic item creation, yes, you can. However, you're going to pay a very hefty premium for doing so. Heavy Fortitude on a Bracer slot crosses the item affinity lines, and smacks you with a heavy modifier to the price.

Cost-wise you'd be better off breaking those enhancements into different pieces of equipment.
Starman IX
03-16-06, 10:07 AM You can, but it's expensive. Enchanting something you wear costs the regular price x1.5. Putting it on something that it's not supposed to be on costs X2 of the price you came up with on the previous calculation.

Example: Bracers of Armor +1(2000gp) with a +2 armor ability(4000 x 1.5 = 6000gp) would cost you 16000gp((2000 + 6000) x 2).
wonlee76
03-16-06, 11:20 AM Plus iirc, the +8 cap is still in place. So if you want Heavy Fortification, the "best" Bracers of Armor you can get is a +3 Heavy Fortification Bracers of Armor for 64k gold. So its usually better to try to find some other way to get those armor enhancements since it is biting into the AC bonus from the bracers.
Chathsolen
03-16-06, 11:23 AM soo heavy fort(+5) and soulfire (+4) would be considered protection abilities right ?

and Bracers of Armor i'm wanting for a 20th level Archer is +8

Edit !

I thought armor maxed at +10 total pre-epic (max of up to +5 enchantment bonus).

I'm still fairly new to 3.5 coming from 2nd edition
Wonton2006
03-16-06, 11:30 AM You can, but it's expensive. Enchanting something you wear costs the regular price x1.5. Putting it on something that it's not supposed to be on costs X2 of the price you came up with on the previous calculation.

Example: Bracers of Armor +1(2000gp) with a +2 armor ability(4000 x 1.5 = 6000gp) would cost you 16000gp((2000 + 6000) x 2).

Wait, wait... SO you can have bracers of armor +1 that, when combined with the +2, give you a +3 bonus? I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that it would be less costly to get bracers of armor +3. But if not, hey, that's a great idea.
Penguin_Witchdoctor
03-16-06, 11:31 AM Did this change since Arms and Equipment? Because in that book. It said the max was +13 where you have +8 Armor bonus and +5 worth of enhancments. Bad thing with enchanting Bracers of armor is that you can't give them the Enhancement bonus that normal armor gets beyond it armor bonus. If you have a very high Dex try a +1 Mithral Breastplate of Nimbleness. it got a Max dex of like +6 and armor check penalty of 0 and if it is feycraft and Twilight it has 0% arcane failure. oh and light armor Nimbleness is in Magic of Faerun, and Twilight is in Exalted deeds. Though a +1 Mithral Full-Plate of nimbleness and twilight is +4 max dex, armor check -1, and arcane failure of 10%. oh and med armor. this one is less likely to be Feycraft which is in DMG2. So, there is my power gamer lesson for the day.
Starman IX
03-16-06, 11:50 AM Wait, wait... SO you can have bracers of armor +1 that, when combined with the +2, give you a +3 bonus? I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that it would be less costly to get bracers of armor +3. But if not, hey, that's a great idea.If I'm right, Bracers of Armor are a Wondrous Item, not magical armor. So you'd be starting with a +2 armor ability on a Wondrous Item. Now if you put 3 +2 armor abilities on it, it would be a Wondrous Item with a +6 price on it.
Chathsolen
03-16-06, 11:54 AM i hope i don't confuse anyone..

well he has a dex bonus of +11, no shield and a ring of protection +5 and he has to be in light armor.
Penguin_Witchdoctor
03-16-06, 12:00 PM A dex of 32? those are some huge templates, and epic. Well Mithral adds +2 to max dex, and Nimbleness adds +1 to max dex. So you would have your whole dex mod with padded. So, yeah I would go with the bracers of armor. Just look in arms and Equipment. There is a sideboard about enchanting bracers of armor like normal armor in the Wonderous item section.
Starman IX
03-16-06, 12:04 PM Sorry, haven't read Arms & Equipment Guide. Though it is 3.0, it is the only ruling on this subject. Eh, I'm torn...
Chathsolen
03-16-06, 12:08 PM A dex of 32? those are some huge templates, and epic. Well Mithral adds +2 to max dex, and Nimbleness adds +1 to max dex. So you would have your whole dex mod with padded. So, yeah I would go with the bracers of armor. Just look in arms and Equipment. There is a sideboard about enchanting bracers of armor like normal armor in the Wonderous item section.

THANK YOU !!

thats where i read it at.

well he's a wood elf with nympth templete with a +5 tome, with +6 gloves of dex
Starman IX
03-16-06, 12:12 PM There's a Nymph template? It's a him? :confused:
Merestil Haye
03-16-06, 12:20 PM I'm not aware of any changes since the Arms & Equipment Guide, no.

Prereqs were Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Magic Arms and Armour, and prereqs for the armour bonus and abilites for the item.

Having checked the text, the only limits in place are The maximum Armour bonus provided by the bracers is +8.
The total maximum value of the item (AC bonus plus enhancement price modifiers) is +13.There is the implicit limit that the bracers must have an armour bonus of at least +1. What it does not say is that the price modifier for other enhancements can total no more than +5.

Thus you can have Bracers +8 with up to 5 points of armour / shield enhancement, or Bracers +1 with up to 12.

As for the cost, provided you are only enhancing the bracers with armour or shield qualities, it costs exactly what armour of equivalent total enhancement costs, with the exception that the item can be up to +13 enhancement before breaking the Epic cap. So the formula for pricing isBonus2 * 1,000gp.There is no increase for multiple enchantments on a single item, just as there would not be if the item was armour or shield.

As a piece of gratuitous advice; the one enhancement that is a complete waste of money and valuable "spaces" is Ghost Touch. Don't even bother with it in Bracers of Armour. The armour bonus already applies vs Incorporeal Touch attacks.
Chathsolen
03-16-06, 12:31 PM so with barcer +8 i can only add up to +5 enchantment bonus worth?

if thats the case then i need to decided between Heavy Fort or Soulfire (BoED)

yes a male nymph. altho very rare. there are a few. and he's only half. :D
Merestil Haye
03-16-06, 12:50 PM so with barcer +8 i can only add up to +5 enchantment bonus worth?

if thats the case then i need to decided between Heavy Fort or Soulfire (BoED)That would be right; although you could reduce the armour bonus to get the ability for more enhancements; for example, +6 Moderate Fort Soulfire would be the same cost (assuming Soulfire is +4; if it's +5 then you would have to bring the armour bonus down to 5).
MindFlayerArcanaMonk
03-16-06, 08:11 PM Could you not enchant something like a robe.... can you enchant clothing?
Chathsolen
03-18-06, 07:05 AM so a +8 Bracers of Armor with souldfire (+4 total) would cost me 169,000 gp?

guess i'll have to wait 1 more level for epic to get the rest of the enchantments on it.

oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ?
Merestil Haye
03-18-06, 08:00 AM so a +8 Bracers of Armor with souldfire (+4 total) would cost me 169,000 gp?

guess i'll have to wait 1 more level for epic to get the rest of the enchantments on it.

oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ?+8 bracers of armour are not epic items; the cost is 64,000gp (as stated in the item description in the DMG).

+8 bracers with a +4 enhancement are +12; they would cost 144,000gp. These are still not epic items.
Chathsolen
03-18-06, 08:06 AM oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ?

+8 bracers with a +4 enhancement are +12; they would cost 144,000gp. These are still not epic items.
thanx for correcting me
runestar
03-18-06, 08:13 AM Alternatively, you could just enchant a ring with similar abilities, and have it forged to occupy an alternate body slot like your torso(maybe a nipple ring or bellyring?). Good for occupying an otherwise unoccupied slot if your bracers can no longer hold further enhancements. :)
Kinghappo
03-18-06, 08:26 AM Padded shirt- This thicker than sweater clothshirt holds semi-shock absorbing pads that provide no addition to ac, yet does not hinder one's dexterity, the thick pads do give the shirt DR 1 in conserns to nonleathal damage, all other forms of leathal damage go through the shirt. This armor was mainly created for mages to be able to enchant their armors with abilities but not wearing that bulky metal or studded leather that their more psyical counterparts do. This shirt takes up enough space to keep a person from wearing normal armor

Price: 10 gold?

what you think?
Count Arioch the 28th
03-18-06, 08:50 AM I think that 10g is too cheap for an item that does that much.
Kinghappo
03-18-06, 09:01 AM but padded leather at least gives a +1 bonus, this provides no armor bonus, takes up the armor slot, ahhh i will edit it to include that and only provides a slight reduction in non leathal damage. when was the last time you had non leathal damage done to you?
Chathsolen
03-18-06, 10:32 AM would and amulet of natural armor stack with the bracers ?

if so then i could do a few more mods to the bracers to get what i want
draconic_swine
03-18-06, 11:52 AM The armour bonus would, but I don't think you can add armour enhancements to the amulet of natural armour. The AEG only states that bracers of armour can have them applied, AFAIK. Besides, I wouldn't allow you to add armour enhancements to more than one item any, even if you pay extremely high penalties, but that's just how I rule it.
Chathsolen
03-18-06, 11:53 AM thanx.

i wasn't looking at adding armor encahntments just wearing the amulet with the bracers
risner
03-18-06, 12:35 PM but padded leather at least gives a +1 bonus, this provides no armor bonus, takes up the armor slot, ahhh i will edit it to include that and only provides a slight reduction in non leathal damage. when was the last time you had non leathal damage done to you?

A similar item in RoS costs 150 gold.

i wasn't looking at adding armor encahntments just wearing the amulet with the bracers

As for wearing them together, yes they do work. The bonuses stack because the bracer is an armour bonus and the necklace/amulet is a natural armour bonus (different).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Chathsolen 03-16-06, 09:58 AM	hello, I was thinking of making a character that uses Bracers of Armor for his armor since he has high dex and i was wondering if they can be enchanted also like regular armor with like heavy fort and soulfire. i thought i read somewere once in a book that said you could but i can't remeber where i read it at.
DrMorganes 03-16-06, 10:04 AM	By the rules for magic item creation, yes, you can. However, you're going to pay a very hefty premium for doing so. Heavy Fortitude on a Bracer slot crosses the item affinity lines, and smacks you with a heavy modifier to the price. Cost-wise you'd be better off breaking those enhancements into different pieces of equipment.
Starman IX 03-16-06, 10:07 AM	You can, but it's expensive. Enchanting something you wear costs the regular price x1.5. Putting it on something that it's not supposed to be on costs X2 of the price you came up with on the previous calculation. Example: Bracers of Armor +1(2000gp) with a +2 armor ability(4000 x 1.5 = 6000gp) would cost you 16000gp((2000 + 6000) x 2).
wonlee76 03-16-06, 11:20 AM	Plus iirc, the +8 cap is still in place. So if you want Heavy Fortification, the "best" Bracers of Armor you can get is a +3 Heavy Fortification Bracers of Armor for 64k gold. So its usually better to try to find some other way to get those armor enhancements since it is biting into the AC bonus from the bracers.
Chathsolen 03-16-06, 11:23 AM	soo heavy fort(+5) and soulfire (+4) would be considered protection abilities right ? and Bracers of Armor i'm wanting for a 20th level Archer is +8 Edit ! I thought armor maxed at +10 total pre-epic (max of up to +5 enchantment bonus). I'm still fairly new to 3.5 coming from 2nd edition
Wonton2006 03-16-06, 11:30 AM	You can, but it's expensive. Enchanting something you wear costs the regular price x1.5. Putting it on something that it's not supposed to be on costs X2 of the price you came up with on the previous calculation. Example: Bracers of Armor +1(2000gp) with a +2 armor ability(4000 x 1.5 = 6000gp) would cost you 16000gp((2000 + 6000) x 2). Wait, wait... SO you can have bracers of armor +1 that, when combined with the +2, give you a +3 bonus? I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that it would be less costly to get bracers of armor +3. But if not, hey, that's a great idea.
Penguin_Witchdoctor 03-16-06, 11:31 AM	Did this change since Arms and Equipment? Because in that book. It said the max was +13 where you have +8 Armor bonus and +5 worth of enhancments. Bad thing with enchanting Bracers of armor is that you can't give them the Enhancement bonus that normal armor gets beyond it armor bonus. If you have a very high Dex try a +1 Mithral Breastplate of Nimbleness. it got a Max dex of like +6 and armor check penalty of 0 and if it is feycraft and Twilight it has 0% arcane failure. oh and light armor Nimbleness is in Magic of Faerun, and Twilight is in Exalted deeds. Though a +1 Mithral Full-Plate of nimbleness and twilight is +4 max dex, armor check -1, and arcane failure of 10%. oh and med armor. this one is less likely to be Feycraft which is in DMG2. So, there is my power gamer lesson for the day.
Starman IX 03-16-06, 11:50 AM	Wait, wait... SO you can have bracers of armor +1 that, when combined with the +2, give you a +3 bonus? I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that it would be less costly to get bracers of armor +3. But if not, hey, that's a great idea.If I'm right, Bracers of Armor are a Wondrous Item, not magical armor. So you'd be starting with a +2 armor ability on a Wondrous Item. Now if you put 3 +2 armor abilities on it, it would be a Wondrous Item with a +6 price on it.
Chathsolen 03-16-06, 11:54 AM	i hope i don't confuse anyone.. well he has a dex bonus of +11, no shield and a ring of protection +5 and he has to be in light armor.
Penguin_Witchdoctor 03-16-06, 12:00 PM	A dex of 32? those are some huge templates, and epic. Well Mithral adds +2 to max dex, and Nimbleness adds +1 to max dex. So you would have your whole dex mod with padded. So, yeah I would go with the bracers of armor. Just look in arms and Equipment. There is a sideboard about enchanting bracers of armor like normal armor in the Wonderous item section.
Starman IX 03-16-06, 12:04 PM	Sorry, haven't read Arms & Equipment Guide. Though it is 3.0, it is the only ruling on this subject. Eh, I'm torn...
Chathsolen 03-16-06, 12:08 PM	A dex of 32? those are some huge templates, and epic. Well Mithral adds +2 to max dex, and Nimbleness adds +1 to max dex. So you would have your whole dex mod with padded. So, yeah I would go with the bracers of armor. Just look in arms and Equipment. There is a sideboard about enchanting bracers of armor like normal armor in the Wonderous item section. THANK YOU !! thats where i read it at. well he's a wood elf with nympth templete with a +5 tome, with +6 gloves of dex
Starman IX 03-16-06, 12:12 PM	There's a Nymph template? It's a him? :confused:
Merestil Haye 03-16-06, 12:20 PM	I'm not aware of any changes since the Arms & Equipment Guide, no. Prereqs were Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Magic Arms and Armour, and prereqs for the armour bonus and abilites for the item. Having checked the text, the only limits in place are The maximum Armour bonus provided by the bracers is +8. The total maximum value of the item (AC bonus plus enhancement price modifiers) is +13.There is the implicit limit that the bracers must have an armour bonus of at least +1. What it does not say is that the price modifier for other enhancements can total no more than +5. Thus you can have Bracers +8 with up to 5 points of armour / shield enhancement, or Bracers +1 with up to 12. As for the cost, provided you are only enhancing the bracers with armour or shield qualities, it costs exactly what armour of equivalent total enhancement costs, with the exception that the item can be up to +13 enhancement before breaking the Epic cap. So the formula for pricing isBonus2 * 1,000gp.There is no increase for multiple enchantments on a single item, just as there would not be if the item was armour or shield. As a piece of gratuitous advice; the one enhancement that is a complete waste of money and valuable "spaces" is Ghost Touch. Don't even bother with it in Bracers of Armour. The armour bonus already applies vs Incorporeal Touch attacks.
Chathsolen 03-16-06, 12:31 PM	so with barcer +8 i can only add up to +5 enchantment bonus worth? if thats the case then i need to decided between Heavy Fort or Soulfire (BoED) yes a male nymph. altho very rare. there are a few. and he's only half. :D
Merestil Haye 03-16-06, 12:50 PM	so with barcer +8 i can only add up to +5 enchantment bonus worth? if thats the case then i need to decided between Heavy Fort or Soulfire (BoED)That would be right; although you could reduce the armour bonus to get the ability for more enhancements; for example, +6 Moderate Fort Soulfire would be the same cost (assuming Soulfire is +4; if it's +5 then you would have to bring the armour bonus down to 5).
MindFlayerArcanaMonk 03-16-06, 08:11 PM	Could you not enchant something like a robe.... can you enchant clothing?
Chathsolen 03-18-06, 07:05 AM	so a +8 Bracers of Armor with souldfire (+4 total) would cost me 169,000 gp? guess i'll have to wait 1 more level for epic to get the rest of the enchantments on it. oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ?
Merestil Haye 03-18-06, 08:00 AM	so a +8 Bracers of Armor with souldfire (+4 total) would cost me 169,000 gp? guess i'll have to wait 1 more level for epic to get the rest of the enchantments on it. oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ?+8 bracers of armour are not epic items; the cost is 64,000gp (as stated in the item description in the DMG). +8 bracers with a +4 enhancement are +12; they would cost 144,000gp. These are still not epic items.
Chathsolen 03-18-06, 08:06 AM	oh what would be the total bonus for epic +8 bracers of armor ? +8 bracers with a +4 enhancement are +12; they would cost 144,000gp. These are still not epic items. thanx for correcting me
runestar 03-18-06, 08:13 AM	Alternatively, you could just enchant a ring with similar abilities, and have it forged to occupy an alternate body slot like your torso(maybe a nipple ring or bellyring?). Good for occupying an otherwise unoccupied slot if your bracers can no longer hold further enhancements. :)
Kinghappo 03-18-06, 08:26 AM	Padded shirt- This thicker than sweater clothshirt holds semi-shock absorbing pads that provide no addition to ac, yet does not hinder one's dexterity, the thick pads do give the shirt DR 1 in conserns to nonleathal damage, all other forms of leathal damage go through the shirt. This armor was mainly created for mages to be able to enchant their armors with abilities but not wearing that bulky metal or studded leather that their more psyical counterparts do. This shirt takes up enough space to keep a person from wearing normal armor Price: 10 gold? what you think?
Count Arioch the 28th 03-18-06, 08:50 AM	I think that 10g is too cheap for an item that does that much.
Kinghappo 03-18-06, 09:01 AM	but padded leather at least gives a +1 bonus, this provides no armor bonus, takes up the armor slot, ahhh i will edit it to include that and only provides a slight reduction in non leathal damage. when was the last time you had non leathal damage done to you?
Chathsolen 03-18-06, 10:32 AM	would and amulet of natural armor stack with the bracers ? if so then i could do a few more mods to the bracers to get what i want
draconic_swine 03-18-06, 11:52 AM	The armour bonus would, but I don't think you can add armour enhancements to the amulet of natural armour. The AEG only states that bracers of armour can have them applied, AFAIK. Besides, I wouldn't allow you to add armour enhancements to more than one item any, even if you pay extremely high penalties, but that's just how I rule it.
Chathsolen 03-18-06, 11:53 AM	thanx. i wasn't looking at adding armor encahntments just wearing the amulet with the bracers
risner 03-18-06, 12:35 PM	but padded leather at least gives a +1 bonus, this provides no armor bonus, takes up the armor slot, ahhh i will edit it to include that and only provides a slight reduction in non leathal damage. when was the last time you had non leathal damage done to you? A similar item in RoS costs 150 gold. i wasn't looking at adding armor encahntments just wearing the amulet with the bracers As for wearing them together, yes they do work. The bonuses stack because the bracer is an armour bonus and the necklace/amulet is a natural armour bonus (different).