Master of Armor (3.5e Prestige Class)

Master of Armor
"The best offense is a superior offense, but the best defense is often frustrating for the offender."

Masters of armor are those folks who love the idea of armor but are displeased about all the penalties and restrictions it imparts. Even with the lovely mithral chain shirt available. So, they grab their armor and train, overcoming those restrictions, often doing things that would appear ludicrous in any other case, like sneaking around in full plate only to cast a magic missile.

Becoming a Master of Armor
A master of armor is usually some weapon-swinger who feels that his armor is holding him back, so he puts some extra effort into training with his armor a bit more. If a character pursues this path, he can keep on using what he used before. Usually its the stout frontline combatants that look to this class, but nimble less-armored characters get something out of this class as well. Occasionally, you might find someone who's just sick of having their armor screw up their spells put in a bit of training as a master of armor.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the master of armor. The term "armor" below in the class features also refers to "shields" where applicable.

As such, at first level, a character may gain 2 skills as class skills which meet one of the following criteria.
 * 1) Either a Strength, Dexterity or Constitution-based skill of choice with at least 1 rank invested or is usable untrained.
 * 2) Used as part of class features granted by a previously taken class, such as Perform for bards or the key skill tied to a Martial Discipline known by the character.

 : A master of armor knows his armor and knows how to get as much precision out of it as possible. He wears it so much that it feels natural to him. Starting at 1st level, any armor he wears is treated as having a Maximum Dexterity Bonus of 1 higher, a reduction of 2 to his Armor Check Penalty, a reduction of his Arcane Spell Failure by 20% and a reduction in the effective weight of his armor by 50%. That is, half of his armor's weight counts as part of himself rather than weight he is carrying. These effects only apply to the armor as he wears it.

These effects are at the totals of his armor and shield or other protective items, rather than the individual items themselves.

At 2nd level, his Maximum Dexterity Bonus granted by Flexibility increases to 2, a reduction of 4 to his Armor Check Penalty, a reduction of 40% to his Arcane Spell Failure and a reduction to the effective weight of his armor by 75%.

At 3rd level, his Maximum Dexterity Bonus increase is 3, he no longer takes an Armor Check Penalty or incurs an Arcane Spell Failure chance. His armor no longer counts against his carried weight, counting as part of himself.

 : The time required to don his armor is reduced greatly, due to his training (and having to take his armor on and off repeatedly over a lifetime of combat, often in a hurry). In addition, he no longer requires help to don certain armors. At 1st level, use the following table to determine his armor donning and removal speeds.

 : A master of armor often gets attacked a lot. He's got experience getting hurt and knows how to use his armor to his best advantage, turning a potentially lethal attack into a less potentially lethal attack. At 2nd level, so long as a master of armor isn't helpless, he may shift his armor as he's struck, reducing the effectiveness of precision-based attacks (such as critical hits and sneak attacks). Such attacks deal half damage against a master of armor.

This ability only functions if the master of armor is wearing something that grants an armor or shield bonus.

 : A master of armor at 2nd level no longer suffers a penalty to his speed from wearing armor. He's used to wearing his armor so much, he's wholly accustomed to it. In addition, he's never fatigued for sleeping in medium or heavy armor.

 : A master of armor gets better at wearing more and bulkier armor as well. At 2nd level, his armor proficiency increases to encompass the next step. For example, a character only proficient with light armor and shields becomes proficient with medium armor as well as tower shields. A character already proficient with light through heavy armors gain an Exotic Armor Proficiency of his choice. Characters already proficient with tower shields gain no extra shield proficiencies.


 * Light Armor Proficiency &rarr; Medium Armor Proficiency &rarr; Heavy Armor Proficiency &rarr; Exotic Armor Proficiency
 * Shield Proficiency &rarr; Tower Shield Proficiency

 : While a master of armor is still gonna get hit, he can make sure that the parts that do get hit are his best-defended parts. At 3rd level, as an immediate action, a master of armor may increase his or an adjacent ally's armor class by 2 as a stacking untyped bonus which lasts until the start of his next turn. Even if the attacks against him or his ally still connect and deal damage, that damage is reduced by 1 point per HD of the master of armor.

This ability only functions if the master of armor is wearing something that grants an armor or shield bonus.

 : A master of armor resonates with his armor in tune. As such, at 3rd level, he applies any enhancement bonus to his armor or shield he's wearing to his Touch Armor Class.

In addition, he gains a minimum enhancement bonus to his armor, as his spirit flows into his gear. For every 4 HD he possesses, his armor gains a +1 enhancement bonus. This bonus doesn't stack with any enhancement bonus his current armor might have. Even if he wears mundane armor, that armor is treated as masterwork for the purpose of this ability to gain this special enhancement bonus.

 : A master of armor can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him. At 3rd level, he retains his Dexterity bonus to his Armor Class even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to Armor Class if immobilized. If a character has gained Uncanny Dodge from a previous source, he instead gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, which is detailed below for clarity.

 : The master of armor can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a sneak attacking characters (such as rogues) the ability to sneak attack the master of armor by flanking him, unless the sneak attacker has at least four more sneak attack granting HD than the master of armor has total HD.

Campaign Information
Masters of armor aren't all that specialized or fancy. Typically, most established towns with standing militia know about or even have someone with some master of armor training. You can pretty much tell that it's common knowledge that masters of armor are masters of armor.

Playing a Master of Armor
Combat: Masters of armor take positions where they know they're eventually gonna get hit, avoid as they try. They play to their defensive strength, standing with allies to provide a little extra armor boost if they need it. Occasionally, if playing more of a support role, a master of armor may use the Aid Another action paired with his Absorb Impact ability.

Make sure to take care when building a master of armor to take note of the basic multi-class saves problem. With only 3 levels, the Will and Reflex saves can start to fall behind the game. After all, a single character doesn't usually defend against every possible form of attack.

Advancement: A master of armor typically starts out on this path early, then heads back to whatever path he was on already for advancement. It's a short path.

Masters of Armor in the World
"I'm sure you're probably familiar with the scene where there are some innocent folks standing under some falling rocks about to be crushed and a brave guy puts up his arms or shield or whatever to cover them just as the rocks crash over, burying them. Then, frantic time goes by as the bystanders dig them out, to reveal everyone safe under that brave guy, straining against the weight. I know you know the scene. It's total bullshit. Last time I tried that, we needed a couple clerics and a dragon's ransom in gold."

- Burtgang Mooncrab, malaquian master of armor

In a world of guys in robes who shoot rainbows at flying lizards, the master of armor is comfortable, well, at low levels where it's designed to first get into the game, before everything goes all crazy plane-hopping punching demons in the face. At higher levels, a master of armor should have a good standby of features from his other classes to keep him competitive.

NPC Reactions: NPCs aren't likely to think anything different of a master of armor than they are of any other knight, warrior, fighter, or whatever else the master of armor's background might be.

Master of Armor Lore
Researching masters of armor is pretty easy, as most of what is known about them is common place. Old warriors are a good place to start asking questions.

Characters with ranks in Gather Information can research masters of armor to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Masters of Armor in the Game
Masters of armor are simply folks who desire to have a good defense and not have it screw up everything else they want to do, like jump across a moat filled with gators, or sneak up on the party elf after she stole your last pastry to catch her red (and sticky-sweet) handed.

Adaptation: The master of armor is such a straight-to-the-point class that it virtually doesn't require adaptation at all. With Essence of Armor being the only supernatural ability gained by the class, it should find a comfortable place in many campaign worlds.