Halfweight [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Halfweight [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Coralune
05-27-07, 10:06 PM Per Underdark, the Halfweight armor special ability is as follows:

Halfweight: All halfweight armors are exceptionally crafted works of art that use psionic circuitry, exceptional materials, and unbelievable articulation engineering to reduce the weight of normal armor to half its listed weight. A halfweight armor is treated as light armor in every way, except that the protection it provides is not affected. Thus, +1 halfweight breastplate is light armor and can be used without penalty by someone who has proficiency only with light armor. Price: +3 bonus (+2 if used on Illithidwrought armor)

What, precisely does that mean? Per my DM, the effect is that armor can be worn by those who can only wear light armor, it weighs half as much, and doesn't effect movement speed. I can't fault his reasoning as Wizard's text is generally taken to mean only what it specifically states.

This doesn't seem quite right to me as exotic materials such as Mithral and Blue Ice also lower the weight of an item by half in addition to actually lowering the weight category by one (whereas DM ruling on Halfweight is that you simply consider Halfweight armor light armor rather than it actually being light armor), lowering the check penalty by 3, increasing the max dex by 2, and lowering arcane spell failure chance by 10% all for 9000gp (equivalent to adding a +2 bonus to a masterwork armor). Blue Ice similarly lowers weight category, halves weight, reduces check penalty by 2, increases max dex by 1, and allows arcane casters to suffer no spell failure when casting spells with the Cold descriptor (though spell failure remains in full effect for other types of spells) all for 7,000gp.

Given these things, I can't fathom how an armor special ability that costs twice as much does less than half the effect. I realize that it's a potent advantage for someone who can only wear light armor to be able to wear halfweight heavy armor, but that doesn't seem in line with a +3 bonus, especially considering the significant penalties one would incur. Is there any errata on this particular armor special ability to clarify or perhaps someone from Wizards on hand who could obtain some information?
Malibu Trojan
05-27-07, 11:02 PM Halfweight can drop full-plate to light armor; mithril can only reduce the category by one. (As a consequence, Halfweight allows a bard to cast in full-plate with impunity, a ranger similarly to fight with two weapons, &c.) That alone would make me uneasy about balance, whatever the bonus cost.
Coralune
05-27-07, 11:08 PM Halfweight can drop full-plate to light armor; mithril can only reduce the category by one. (As a consequence, Halfweight allows a bard to cast in full-plate with impunity, a ranger similarly to fight with two weapons, &c.) That alone would make me uneasy about balance, whatever the bonus cost.

Halfweight doesn't lower the armor check penalty or the arcane spell failure chance. All it does is allow light armor wearers to wear heavy armor. So no, a bard can't cast with impunity in full plate.
Dielzen
05-27-07, 11:14 PM Actually, that's untrue, as a Bard can ignore ASF if wearing Light Armor, it doesn't say "Light Armor with ASF of less than X%." ...The same thought process is applied to Rangers gaining TWF feats if wearing light armor, not light armor less than X ACP.
Coralune
05-27-07, 11:47 PM Actually, that's untrue, as a Bard can ignore ASF if wearing Light Armor, it doesn't say "Light Armor with ASF of less than X%." ...The same thought process is applied to Rangers gaining TWF feats if wearing light armor, not light armor less than X ACP.

Well fancy that. Nonetheless, it seems overpriced for what it does. Two classes can get resounding benefit from it but what about the rest? Not to mention that it's only really useful for heavy armor; no reason to pay this absurd price for medium armor since one can just have it made of mithral or blue ice.
Dielzen
05-28-07, 02:08 AM Any class that gains evasion can use it wearing half-weight, barbarians get their stuff, rangers get their feats.

There's a lot worse enhancements out there, this one has its uses.
Poison_Dusk
05-29-07, 09:46 PM I put that on Mountain Plate for my Dread Necromancer.
Penknight
06-20-07, 03:47 PM Doesn't that mean that a person could theoretically make a suit of +5 halfweight mithril full plate and it weigh in at 12.5 lbs.?
Alediran
06-20-07, 04:07 PM Doesn't that mean that a person could theoretically make a suit of +5 halfweight mithril full plate and it weigh in at 12.5 lbs.?

If that's true it becomes an easy to transport armor. Hell, my D&D collection weights more than that and I take it every place I DM.
Tevin Kevlak
06-26-07, 07:50 PM Halfweight is quite useful for many classes, not just the ranger or bard. As was mentioned the Barbarian wearing halfweight full-plate would move his full 40 feet, classes such as the rogue, who are only proficient in light armor, can now fight to their fullest with full plate without taking the ACP to their attack rolls, not to mention one can sleep while wearing light armor without becoming fatigued. Get ambushed in the night regularly? Well good thing I was wearing my full-plate to bed :D

Another good combo would be a paladin, with a high charisma score, with halfweight fullplate and a ring of evasion.
Penknight
06-28-07, 04:17 AM Just looking for a consensus here, gentlemen. Or perhaps someone that might've seen some errata. Could a person make a suite of halfweight mithril full plate and reap all of the benefits?
Dielzen
06-28-07, 12:03 PM Just looking for a consensus here, gentlemen. Or perhaps someone that might've seen some errata. Could a person make a suite of halfweight mithril full plate and reap all of the benefits?

So you need an errata to tell you that the items in question work like they say? :confused:
Penknight
06-28-07, 12:53 PM So you need an errata to tell you that the items in question work like they say? :confused:That isn't whatI mean at all. Normally things work out and say that certain things stack, and then an errata comes along that changes that information. I am just wanting to cover all of my bases and make sure that there isn't anything of that sort involved here.
Alediran
06-28-07, 01:24 PM Since Halfweight is a magical property while mithral is a mundane material I can't se no reason that could stop the cumulative effects.
Penknight
06-28-07, 01:39 PM Since Halfweight is a magical property while mithral is a mundane material I can't se no reason that could stop the cumulative effects.Ah, my thanks friend. I really appreciate it. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Coralune 05-27-07, 10:06 PM	Per Underdark, the Halfweight armor special ability is as follows: Halfweight: All halfweight armors are exceptionally crafted works of art that use psionic circuitry, exceptional materials, and unbelievable articulation engineering to reduce the weight of normal armor to half its listed weight. A halfweight armor is treated as light armor in every way, except that the protection it provides is not affected. Thus, +1 halfweight breastplate is light armor and can be used without penalty by someone who has proficiency only with light armor. Price: +3 bonus (+2 if used on Illithidwrought armor) What, precisely does that mean? Per my DM, the effect is that armor can be worn by those who can only wear light armor, it weighs half as much, and doesn't effect movement speed. I can't fault his reasoning as Wizard's text is generally taken to mean only what it specifically states. This doesn't seem quite right to me as exotic materials such as Mithral and Blue Ice also lower the weight of an item by half in addition to actually lowering the weight category by one (whereas DM ruling on Halfweight is that you simply consider Halfweight armor light armor rather than it actually being light armor), lowering the check penalty by 3, increasing the max dex by 2, and lowering arcane spell failure chance by 10% all for 9000gp (equivalent to adding a +2 bonus to a masterwork armor). Blue Ice similarly lowers weight category, halves weight, reduces check penalty by 2, increases max dex by 1, and allows arcane casters to suffer no spell failure when casting spells with the Cold descriptor (though spell failure remains in full effect for other types of spells) all for 7,000gp. Given these things, I can't fathom how an armor special ability that costs twice as much does less than half the effect. I realize that it's a potent advantage for someone who can only wear light armor to be able to wear halfweight heavy armor, but that doesn't seem in line with a +3 bonus, especially considering the significant penalties one would incur. Is there any errata on this particular armor special ability to clarify or perhaps someone from Wizards on hand who could obtain some information?
Malibu Trojan 05-27-07, 11:02 PM	Halfweight can drop full-plate to light armor; mithril can only reduce the category by one. (As a consequence, Halfweight allows a bard to cast in full-plate with impunity, a ranger similarly to fight with two weapons, &c.) That alone would make me uneasy about balance, whatever the bonus cost.
Coralune 05-27-07, 11:08 PM	Halfweight can drop full-plate to light armor; mithril can only reduce the category by one. (As a consequence, Halfweight allows a bard to cast in full-plate with impunity, a ranger similarly to fight with two weapons, &c.) That alone would make me uneasy about balance, whatever the bonus cost. Halfweight doesn't lower the armor check penalty or the arcane spell failure chance. All it does is allow light armor wearers to wear heavy armor. So no, a bard can't cast with impunity in full plate.
Dielzen 05-27-07, 11:14 PM	Actually, that's untrue, as a Bard can ignore ASF if wearing Light Armor, it doesn't say "Light Armor with ASF of less than X%." ...The same thought process is applied to Rangers gaining TWF feats if wearing light armor, not light armor less than X ACP.
Coralune 05-27-07, 11:47 PM	Actually, that's untrue, as a Bard can ignore ASF if wearing Light Armor, it doesn't say "Light Armor with ASF of less than X%." ...The same thought process is applied to Rangers gaining TWF feats if wearing light armor, not light armor less than X ACP. Well fancy that. Nonetheless, it seems overpriced for what it does. Two classes can get resounding benefit from it but what about the rest? Not to mention that it's only really useful for heavy armor; no reason to pay this absurd price for medium armor since one can just have it made of mithral or blue ice.
Dielzen 05-28-07, 02:08 AM	Any class that gains evasion can use it wearing half-weight, barbarians get their stuff, rangers get their feats. There's a lot worse enhancements out there, this one has its uses.
Poison_Dusk 05-29-07, 09:46 PM	I put that on Mountain Plate for my Dread Necromancer.
Penknight 06-20-07, 03:47 PM	Doesn't that mean that a person could theoretically make a suit of +5 halfweight mithril full plate and it weigh in at 12.5 lbs.?
Alediran 06-20-07, 04:07 PM	Doesn't that mean that a person could theoretically make a suit of +5 halfweight mithril full plate and it weigh in at 12.5 lbs.? If that's true it becomes an easy to transport armor. Hell, my D&D collection weights more than that and I take it every place I DM.
Tevin Kevlak 06-26-07, 07:50 PM	Halfweight is quite useful for many classes, not just the ranger or bard. As was mentioned the Barbarian wearing halfweight full-plate would move his full 40 feet, classes such as the rogue, who are only proficient in light armor, can now fight to their fullest with full plate without taking the ACP to their attack rolls, not to mention one can sleep while wearing light armor without becoming fatigued. Get ambushed in the night regularly? Well good thing I was wearing my full-plate to bed :D Another good combo would be a paladin, with a high charisma score, with halfweight fullplate and a ring of evasion.
Penknight 06-28-07, 04:17 AM	Just looking for a consensus here, gentlemen. Or perhaps someone that might've seen some errata. Could a person make a suite of halfweight mithril full plate and reap all of the benefits?
Dielzen 06-28-07, 12:03 PM	Just looking for a consensus here, gentlemen. Or perhaps someone that might've seen some errata. Could a person make a suite of halfweight mithril full plate and reap all of the benefits? So you need an errata to tell you that the items in question work like they say? :confused:
Penknight 06-28-07, 12:53 PM	So you need an errata to tell you that the items in question work like they say? :confused:That isn't whatI mean at all. Normally things work out and say that certain things stack, and then an errata comes along that changes that information. I am just wanting to cover all of my bases and make sure that there isn't anything of that sort involved here.
Alediran 06-28-07, 01:24 PM	Since Halfweight is a magical property while mithral is a mundane material I can't se no reason that could stop the cumulative effects.
Penknight 06-28-07, 01:39 PM	Since Halfweight is a magical property while mithral is a mundane material I can't se no reason that could stop the cumulative effects.Ah, my thanks friend. I really appreciate it. :)