Magi Chronicles RPG (4e Sourcebook)/Armor

Whether out in the uncharted domains of the wilderness or in the heat of battle, having a suitable set of armor can definitely go a long way. The system of claiming armor is much different this time around-- instead of buying one whole set of armor (which is still an option), you can instead purchase individual armor sets. Any amount of armor is essential towards surviving in a world where anything can happen at any moment.

Armor
Below are the different sets of armor along with their individual price sets. You can buy armor as a whole or in individual sets. You cannot buy the same armor piece from separate sets, such as a leather arm piece and a plate arm piece.

This method of purchasing armor allows more customization and more flexibility towards the choice and style of one's individual tastes.

Armor Categories

 * Cloth: Thin fabrics, long robes, outdoor attire, woven threads constitutes as cloth armor, and doesn’t provide any significant bonuses to your defenses. Torso cloth armor includes arms as well.
 * Leather: Leather armor is sturdier than cloth, providing protection to vital areas with pads of boiled-leather plates and still provides enough flexibility for the character to move effectively.
 * Hide: Made from the hides of felled beasts or animals, this armor provides unique protection in certain vital areas, but is less flexible than leather.
 * Splint: Made from a combination of tough fabrics and thin plates of a tough material, such as metal or bone, splint armor offers great protection and improved flexibility.
 * Chain: Chainmail armor is crafted in a fashion where metal chain rings mesh together to create a strong, yet flexible material that is both light and durable. Depending on the materials used, chain armor can offer great defenses for a low budget.
 * Banded: Made with a combination of strapped metal plates and areas of tough, layered fabrics, banded armor offers greater protection, but sacrifices mobility.
 * Scale: Scale armor is crafted by connecting metal scales or scales from a felled beast onto a light, supple leather jacket or chainmail to further improve a character’s defenses. It also doesn’t sacrifice as much mobility.
 * Plate: Made by covering a thin leather jacket with reinforced pieces of metal in a similar fashion as scale armor. This armor provides excellent defenses at the cost of reduced mobility. A full plate set is also called a body suit, and it includes a helmet visor.

Shields

 * Buckler: This small, wooden or light metal shield straps onto your arm and enables you to still hold any weapon in that hand. You can only equip yourself with one buckler on each arm, and the bonus to AC does not change.
 * Light Shield: A step up from the buckler, this shield is light enough that you can still maneuver yourself around the battlefield. You can hold an off-hand, versatile, or two-handed weapon in your shield hand.
 * Flux Shield: This shield combines reflective energy technology to protect yourself from enemy attacks. Like the light shield, you can only wield certain weapons with your shield hand.
 * Reflex Shield: A stronger version of the flux shield, the reflex shield can reflect certain attacks when you fight defensively. When you attack defensively, you gain a +1 bonus to reflex—if an enemy attacks you with a non-magical ranged attack, the attack hits them back instead. This effect can only be used upon one attack per round while you fight defensively. Like the light shield, you can only hold certain weapons with your shield hand.
 * Scale Shield: These shields, made the same way as scale armor, offers greater protection from attacks. You can hold only two-handed or versatile weapons with your shield hand.
 * Heavy Shield: Heavy shields are made from a single piece of metal and offers great protection. You cannot wield any weapons in your shield hand—unless you were to use a versatile weapon two-handed.

Reading the Armor Tables
The system for armor enables characters full customization of different armor sets to fill in any missing gaps in their defenses for any budget. A character can either buy armor sets individually or as a whole armor set—giving you many options to increase your defenses accordingly.
 * Armor Type: This column represents a type of armor set that displays each piece of the whole set. Some armor sets have more pieces. Different classes have different armor proficiencies, which affects the different armor piece sets which you can select from.
 * When you enhance armor with a specialized or magical effect, treat the armor as if it were a different set of your choice. For instance, if a fighter chose splint greaves, a leather waist, and leather bracers, he would treat the whole armor set as if it were either a Splint or Leather set to determine the effects and prerequisites of the specialized or magic enhancement.
 * AC Bonus: This value represents the degree of protection each individual piece offers. Some armor protects better than others. You must have proficiency with the specified armor set to be able to acquire the armor’s AC Bonus.
 * Minimum Enhancement Bonus: This value represents the lowest value that armor can grant. You cannot go any lower than the specified amount, regardless of a spell-like effect that reduces AC. All armor sets have a minimum enhancement bonus of +0.
 * Check: This value represents skill check penalties when using Strength-, Dexterity-, and Constitution-based skill checks while wearing armor. Armor check penalty values do not stack—use the highest check penalty when determining armor sets. Armor and shield check penalties, however, are added together. If you are not proficient with a chosen armor set piece, the check penalty doubles for that armor piece and is added to your check penalty total-- if an armor piece does not have an armor check penalty, the penalty becomes -1 by default.
 * Speed: This value represents the maximum speed at which you can move while wearing the armor. Armor with blank values enable you to move at any speed without penalties. Speed penalties do not stack—take the lowest speed value as your total maximum movement speed. This does not affect other movement types, such as forced movement or teleportation.
 * Weight: This value represents how heavy the armor set piece is.
 * Price: This value represents how much the armor set piece costs in zeni (zn).

Armor Descriptions

 * Arms: This set piece includes arm straps and thin material to allow flexibility, and elbow guards.
 * Gauntlets: This set piece includes a thin glove covered with thin plates of fabric or metal, wrist guards, and the option of a weapon lock, at a 7 zn bonus cost. A locked gauntlet provides a +3 bonus against Thievery check attempts to disarm your weapon from your hand, and requires separate minor actions to equip and unequip the weapon from your hand.
 * Helmet: This set piece includes a head guard, and an upper neck guard. You can also choose to equip your helmet with a visor at a 6 zn bonus cost. A visor grants you a +1 bonus to perception and dungeoneering checks and allows you to communicate to other members whom you don’t have line of sight to that also has a visor or comm-link.
 * Legs: This set piece includes leg straps with long plates of fabric or metal to allow flexibility, kneepads, ankle guards, and sometimes leather or metal boots.
 * Torso: This set piece includes a long, thin piece of fabric that wraps around your chest and to your hips, plates of fabric or metal protecting your upper chest area and upper back, shoulder pads, and a lower neck guard.
 * Waist: This set piece includes a lower lumbar plate of fabric or metal, hip guard, and upper shin guards. You can also equip a leather cloth imbued with a deity or customized logo onto it at no cost.
 * Full Set: This set piece includes all of the above set pieces except for the extra add-ons, unless specified otherwise.

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