Adjusted SRD Armors (3.5e Variant Rule)

Author: Ganteka Future (talk) Date Created: 13 August 2012 Status: Tentative Completion Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Adjusted SRD Armors

When a character dons a suit of armor with the intent of survival, he'll want a suit that gets his maximum Dexterity value paired with the highest armor value he could get. Originally, armors had a range of +6 to +11 (allowing for the inclusion of mithral which increases the optimal armor value by 2 as it increases maximum Dexterity bonus by as much.

This rule adjusts the armors just a bit, reducing the range to +8 to +11. There's now an armor to take care of every Dexterity bonus from +1 to +8, as well as an armor to provide a straight unmodified armor bonus from +1 to +8. Each armor category now has a set of armor to provide an optimal +11 (when made from mithral), being the chain shirt for light, breastplate for medium and still full plate for heavy.

There's also a clearer distinction now between each category of armor. Some armors are still less likely to see play at higher levels, simply by virtue of them being cheaper with slightly less-optimal statistics. However, at lower levels, their cheaper price makes them excellent starter armors without sacrificing protection.

What do these changes mean in the long run then? Well, characters aren't going to have higher possible ACs than they did before, they'll just have more options on what to wear to take care of their optimal Dexterity bonus.

The modification to the SRD armors are noted below on the recalculated table with bold. The default SRD armors are provided on an additional table below for reference.

Table: Recalculated Armor

Armor	Cost	Armor Bonus	Maximum Dexterity Bonus	Armor Check Penalty	Arcane Spell Failure %	Speed		Weight1	Donning Armor			Optimal AC Values
						(30 ft.)	(20 ft.)		Don	Don Hastily	Remove	Optimal Bonus	Optimal Mithral
Light Armor
Padded	5 gp	+1	+8	0	5%	30 ft.	20 ft.	10 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	—
Leather	10 gp	+2	+7	–1	10%	30 ft.	20 ft.	15 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	—
Studded Leather	25 gp	+3	+6	–2	15%	30 ft.	20 ft.	20 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	—
Chain Shirt	100 gp	+4	+5	–3	20%	30 ft.	20 ft.	25 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	+11
Medium Armor
Hide	15 gp	+5	+4	–6	30%	20 ft.	15 ft.	30 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	—
Scale Mail	50 gp	+5	+3	–4	30%	20 ft.	15 ft.	40 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+8	+10
Chainmail	150 gp	+5	+3	–5	25%	20 ft.	15 ft.	35 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+8	+10
Breastplate	200 gp	+5	+4	–4	20%	20 ft.	15 ft.	30 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+9	+11
Heavy Armor
Splint mail	150 gp	+6	+2	–8	40%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	45 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+8	+10
Banded mail	250 gp	+6	+2	–6	35%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	35 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+8	+10
Half-plate	600 gp	+7	+1	–8	45%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	50 lb.	4 minutes4	4 minutes3	1d4+1 minutes3	+8	+10
Full plate	1,500 gp	+8	+1	–6	35%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	50 lb.	4 minutes4	4 minutes3	1d4+1 minutes3	+9	+11
Weight figures are for armor sized to fit Medium characters. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor fitted for Large characters weighs twice as much. When running in heavy armor, you move only triple your speed, not quadruple. If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character doing nothing else can help one or two adjacent characters. Two characters can’t help each other don armor at the same time. The wearer must have help to don this armor. Without help, it can be donned only hastily.

Table: SRD Armor

Armor	Cost	Armor Bonus	Maximum Dexterity Bonus	Armor Check Penalty	Arcane Spell Failure %	Speed		Weight1	Donning Armor			Optimal AC Values
						(30 ft.)	(20 ft.)		Don	Don Hastily	Remove	Optimal Bonus	Optimal Mithral
Light Armor
Padded	5 gp	+1	+8	0	5%	30 ft.	20 ft.	10 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+9	—
Leather	10 gp	+2	+6	0	10%	30 ft.	20 ft.	15 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+8	—
Studded Leather	25 gp	+3	+5	–1	15%	30 ft.	20 ft.	20 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+8	—
Chain Shirt	100 gp	+4	+4	–2	20%	30 ft.	20 ft.	25 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+8	+10
Medium Armor
Hide	15 gp	+3	+4	–3	20%	20 ft.	15 ft.	25 lb.	1 minute	5 rounds	1 minute3	+7	—
Scale Mail	50 gp	+4	+3	–4	25%	20 ft.	15 ft.	30 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+7	+9
Chainmail	150 gp	+5	+2	–5	30%	20 ft.	15 ft.	40 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+7	+9
Breastplate	200 gp	+5	+3	–4	25%	20 ft.	15 ft.	30 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+8	+10
Heavy Armor
Splint mail	200 gp	+6	+0	–7	40%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	45 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+6	+8
Banded mail	250 gp	+6	+1	–6	35%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	35 lb.	4 minutes3	1 minute	1 minute3	+7	+9
Half-plate	600 gp	+7	+0	–7	40%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	50 lb.	4 minutes4	4 minutes3	1d4+1 minutes3	+7	+9
Full plate	1,500 gp	+8	+1	–6	35%	20 ft.2	15 ft.2	50 lb.	4 minutes4	4 minutes3	1d4+1 minutes3	+9	+11
Weight figures are for armor sized to fit Medium characters. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor fitted for Large characters weighs twice as much. When running in heavy armor, you move only triple your speed, not quadruple. If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character doing nothing else can help one or two adjacent characters. Two characters can’t help each other don armor at the same time. The wearer must have help to don this armor. Without help, it can be donned only hastily.

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