Dungeons and Dragons: Magic Armor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Addressing the age-old debate regarding fantasy armor, depictions of fantasy warriors and the true power of magical armor and weapons in a high fantasy world.
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#5E #DnD #Magic
How about magical paint
Give it a basic protection enchantment or mage armor
then you paint blue spirals on your body and run into combat basically naked
You will win every battle
Are you sure you don't need armor
Nope I have blue lol
Brought to you by the Piks
Golem armor it's actually a thing it's very powerful very strong very indestructible thing especially if it's made from mithril or adamantium
Barbarian: Gonna go pollish my armour
Party: but you don't wear armour
Barbarian: *starts pouring hot wax on abs and using a towel*
I would argue that the bulk of magic items end up lost. Sure there might be a constant stream of items coming out of barrows and dungeons. BUT, you give a modestly skilled person some amazing magic items and they are going to think they can handle that dragon/giant/beholder/whatever. The vast majority are not going to be even close to capable and their nice collection of magic items will get added to a hoard. I can imagine a temporary glut of magic when one of these amazing beasties is taken down but slowly and eventually all of it is going to find its way back into the hoard of another fantastic beast. There is probably also a constant drain of these items making their way to the outer planes as well.
You raise a few interesting points about why people would wear such armours but missed out one key aspect in my opinion:
the magic doesn't replace the functionality of the armour, it adds to it.
With the example you mentioned about equipping yourself with legendary +3 studded leather armour, it does give your 15+Dex AC yes, but only if it still functions as that studded leather armour. even assuming that the magic is completely independent of the actual material, the best a legendary bikini-leather would do is its +3 enhancement bonus, and you spent one-fifth of the cost of a palace on that. Now consider legendary plate bikini-armour: you're missing out on the functionality of 18 base AC, and the magic is giving you +3. BAD PLAN.
I like that mention some reasons why somebody would wear such armour, and I respect the validity of some of those. I'll also acknowledge that aesthetics can be a very important part of why somebody would make armour like that. But please, don't pretend it's even remotely close to a good idea if you care about the protective value of the armour.
A far better idea would be to maintain *almost* all fanctionality and coverage of the armour, but strategically leave joints and face free, if removing anything is even a good idea to begin with.
If baiting the enemies into attacking you is the main thing you care about (and you *must* achieve this through your looks for some reason), use "proper" armour with illusion magic that makes it look skimpy instead of having an enchantment bonus to its protection. The base armour is almost universally more defining for its protective value than the enchantment, with the sole exception of legendary leather armour.
These are some fair points, but there are a couple of things worth mentioning.
First up is functionality. There's more to armor than just defense and mobility. Plate Armor isn't the clunky, slow mess it's made out to be in modern media, and there's plenty of youtubers focused on historical arms and armaments that have even showcased minor gymnastics in a suit.
That said, they are still heavy, bulky, hot in the heat, and cold in the cold- not to mention rather conspicuous. It's important to remember that heavier armors are, well _heavier armors._ That +3 Plate is great, and your average greatsword-fighter and sword-and-board-paladin will probably pick it up in a heartbeat, but that doesn't mean it's going to serve everyone's purposes- even in terms of combat techniques- or be to everyone's comfort, which is a real and important factor in deciding what you will be wearing on the daily.
In a world where someone can hone their reflexes and dexterity to the point of making cats seem like slugs, opting for lighter armor can make perfect sense, or even be better than the best of plate. To look at the higher end of magical protection, Robes of the Archmage grant a static improved mage armor with a value of 15 + Dex, which can bring you up to an AC of 22 if combined with Bracers of defense- 1 higher than +3 plate- and it gives other benefits as well. If we start talking about Bladesingers, this just gets stupid. Now that's an outlier, and I won't argue it isn't, but the point is that pure defensive magic can, in some instances, surpass general (or even skillfully enchanted) physical protection.
Now in general, I actually agree with you. As a rule of thumb, actual armor is going to be a stronger option for raw defense than anything else. It's a sensible and practical conclusion that shouldn't be dismissed. However I do think it's worth considering that there are avenues by which a person can achieve similar, equal, or (in extreme cases) far superior defense through hard practice in skills and approaches of the dextrous and arcane variety.
TL;DR: Are battle-worthy bikinis/loincloths common? Definitely, most assuredly, absolutely not. That being said, they are certainly viable, and I wouldn't want to fight a guy or gal adept in wearing one.
There's more than one approach to equipment in the worlds of DnD in much the same way as there's more than one approach to combat, exploration, and socialization, and it's generally a poor idea to write off these approaches without considering the wider context which may lead someone to adopting them.
Not that I don't mind a bit of sex appeal, but I appreciate the art direction of modern D&D armouring their characters more fully.
The point about D&D not being Earth is good, but I take it a step further. Humans and the other races coexist with more advanced civilizations like celestials, fiends, djinns, and so on. In such a scenario, people would likely copy their armour (and everything else).
Interesting. Also, TH-camr Shadiversity has made a few videos on the topic of armour that make solid points from a historical, and therefore realistic, perspective.
Well according to the old Europe manuscripts in our world, Knights did fight giant Snails and Rabbits.
Heh! Can't argue with the facts.
Yeah people go out looking for them, but remember this is the dnd world! You go out as a normal family looking for a pair of shiny bracers and then you get killed by bugbears. And even if they survive who would be tending their shop/farm while they are away? Besides, not every dead adventurer is found by those who put it back in circulation. Half intelligent monsters would steal whatever they could from dead adventurers. Large creatures litterally EAT the adventurers so some armor might be in that pile of dung you passed by on the way to the local white dragons house. Others are buried with reverence to old heroes or stored by kings and powerful monsters as relics. And hey, if nobody buys any of that you could make up a mguffin about some extra planar entity stealing enchanted armor to feed some machine or the like with the specific type of magic placed in the item unique to the process of enchanting itself. That last idea in particular could lead to a whole host of story ideas....is the machine good or bad, is it even a machine at all and not just some offering bowl for God's we couldn't even hope to understand, or is it all just a ruse and magic items actually DO decay when out of contact of a force to draw energy from like say if someone falls down a pit 1,000 years ago and nobody ever finds him....
Suggestion AJ:
I got into D&D by sneaking into my dad's stuff and devouring the imaginativeness from AD&D.
I suggest you let a kid, that is too young for employment, win the book.
The only reason is to grow curiosity and creativity. For the sake of future epic tales in any media.
The best defense is a good offense as well.
Magic Armour, Living Armour(Like that of Darth Bane), Plant Armour(For druid) Power Armour^^
You have heard of it God-Emperor? AVE IMPERATOR brother!
The Emperor Protects!
Look, i accept the magic explanation, i totally do. But Armor nipple tassels that are stronger than full plate will never not be funny to me.
What about Magical Walls? A Cannon might tear through stone walls in real life but in DnD if they are enchanted magically it might be able to withstand an Ottoman Great Bombard no problem.
Theres all kinds of stuff like that in the lore. Like mix the blood of such and such magical creature into the mortar and now no one can teleport directly inside, etc.
Exactly, i love that cannon, in a historical sense. XD
If we can use magic to make seemingly ineffective armour actually protective, couldn't we also make bulky armour lighter and more fluid?
And less prone to cooking the person inside it? Yes!
AJ Pickett *pictures a pyromancer chasing a knight across a battlefield*
Pulling* kiting is generally more accurately described as fighting from range against melee opponents while staying on the move. In other words trying to keep an enemy at the same distance as when you initially attacked out of their range of attack.
Thank you, I have since learned I should have said "Aggro" :)
"Set a town on fire by sprinkling a little bat shit and sulfur". Just made my lvl 11 fire mage look like salt bae in my mind. Just a dash of sulfur.
Generally speaking, even mundane heavy armor will be cheaper and roughly equal in effectiveness compared to well-enchanted light armor, even with that light armor in the hands of someone who can use it to its fullest. When you start considering enchanted heavy armor, it's almost not even a contest in terms of defense- at least when viewed in a vacuum. That said, no universe is a vacuum, and I think people sell light and (to a much higher degree) unarmored fighting with the use of magic short.
The unarmored defense of both Monks and Barbarians is quite literally supernatural- both having the ability to potentially surpass the Defense of +3 Plate Armor while stark naked save for Bracers of Defense. I'll just let that image linger in your mind for a moment.
Bladesingers can be utterly insane. With Robes of the Archmagi, Bracers of Defense, a Staff of Power in the off-hand (+3 Shortsword in the main hand + Dual Wielder Feat), and peak Intelligence and Dexterity, they hit an AC of 30. 32 with Haste. If using the Shield spell, this jumps to 37- something which even an Ancient Red Dragon couldn't hit without a critical. Ao above, 8 centuries of life apparently gives the elves enough time to come up with some crazy shit.
Now is the above crazy ridiculous mega overkill and probably an outlier? Yeah, probably. But it serves the point. Magic or speed alone can rival or match most physical protection. Magic and speed together- when pushed to their limits- can utterly outstrip even the absolute best of physical armor in terms of protection.
I'm not arguing that this should necessarily be a common occurence. I'm not arguing that every hot elf girl with a sword-arm should be running around in fantasy yoga pants.
What I'm arguing, and what I'm pretty sure AJ is arguing, is that in a world where there are avenues by which the protection provided by even the most well-crafted and well-enchanted of heavy armors can be met (and, in some cases, exceeded) through a combination of speed and more magically inclined light clothing (including that of the more revealing variety) or armor, it makes sense that some people would pursue that latter option- be it for practical, personal, or stylistic reasons.
*Bonus Discussion*
An interesting but only moderately related side note to all of this is that there has been a fairly significant amount of research indicating that sexual arousal can reduce reaction time by around half a second. There was actually a pretty serious discussion within the fighting game community (and specifically that of Dead or Alive) a couple of years ago following a number of highly revealing costumes being banned. The players using these costumes were largely inoculated to the effects through continued exposure they had accrued between tournaments. Their opponents, however, had often not had this exposure, and suffered badly from it- generally explaining that the costumes in question had been very "distracting."
Now what does this mean for your D&D game? Pretty much nothing. It would be an utterly ridiculous thing to try to implement for a myriad of reasons, and generally isn't particularly relevant to the game. It's an argument in favor of skimpy (or otherwise attractive) armor, I suppose, but mostly it's just a somewhat interesting fact with a tangential relationship to the topic at hand.
True. Very true.
Seamus wuz here!
The question you asked is, where's all the magic armor? Why is it so rare when everyone knows how superior it is? Well I believe that, it's rare because to keep a permanent enchantment on weapons and armor, the weapons and armor would have to be made of rare and expensive materials. The crafting cost of say a cloak of displacement would be far more expensive than a suit of full plate which the full plate is out of the budget of most people besides the rich as it is. Not only that, but you would need to find a master tanner to craft the item, then hunt down and kill a displacer beast which is really dangerous. After having the the beast skinned, and the cloak made, it has to be enchanted, which will take months and thousands of gold coins. Only the most successful adventurers, merchants, and nobles would have magic armor and weapons and will try and keep those things in their families. The will not give them to novice warriors or adventurers because if they are killed, or the weapons and armor stolen, then it's probably gone forever. You have to remember, there are creatures like dragons who can smell magical items and items of value, that won't think twice about killing a loan human or elf and take them for their hordes. Also many adventurers get cocky and go into something above their abilities and get either captured or killed, and those items are lost. Then you have the most powerful adventurers with the most powerful magic items leave the plane and never return.
Also, you can equate the availability of magic items in D&D like luxury and super cars in our world. Uncommon items would be like your lower end luxury cars like BMW or Mercedes. You'll see them pretty much anywhere with a decent sized population. Rare items would be like the upper end of those brands. You can see them in the same places, but a lot less frequent. Very Rare would be like the standard version of you Ferraris or Lamborghinis. If you're in a big city like Waterdeep, you may see these every now and then. If not, you'll probably never see them. Legendary would be your limited built and numbered cars like the La Ferrari, Bugatti, McLaren P1 or the Senna. Chances are there are some in a city like Waterdeep, but unless you know and have access to the owners, you probably won't see any of them. Then artifacts fit in the category of the one off cars. You've heard of them, but chances are, you'll never see one.
Magic armor is always more about function than protection. Bulky plate blessed by Pelor's priests to ward off undead is all good, but magic items can do the same thing. Cloaks of Wings and robes with portable holes stuffed in the sleeves is more up my alley. I want me armor to do something unexpected like let me take flight at a moments notice, or enable me to reach into a pocket and pull out just about anything.
I'm an skimpy armor equalist. Though it does tend to signify the skimpier the physical protection the greater the magical protection. It took my pcs a couple of sessions to get it down. That maybe they should avoid the scantily clad battalion covered and just focus on the soldiers with normal armor.
XD That was catharic to read. 👍
*see's warlock with scales and horns walking forward between Trolls with some sort of slime smeared all over them* "OK, my character is going to assume I need magic weapons to hurt the warlock and those trolls are covered in flame-retardant grease". *DM awards Inspiration point for deductive reasoning*
Its in valts and in dragon hords .. lost or destroyed potable holes bottom of seas and lost kingdomes or lost to other worlds or plans and even lost to the underdark and to gods and to the forging of other magics and magical items..
Taking a step back from overt magic, let's look at something like a Monk. So, a dude in pajamas can be as well protected as a guy in heavy plate and a shield. If this is true, and it is true in d&d, then any level of actual armor is legit. The addition of enchantment only further justifies what's already part of the game.
And here I live on the opposite part of this madness. Thick tanky scary looking armor enchanted to be as light as can be and if possible even boost the speed of the wearer. Idea is simple people would try to stay away but no one will see just how hard it wound be to actually achieve that. Go for they squishy looking elf if you like just don't cry to your God when you get ran over by the pain train before you even got to them.
I have a theory as to what happens to magical items
certain rituals and extremely high-powered spells require ingredients that are little more than crushed-up magical items
That's where all the old armor and weapons go some crazy cleric warlock sorcerer or wizard is crushing them down for a ritual
In 4th edition, we called that magical essence "Residuum". Magic dust, wizard smack, fairy dust, Special M, zappy puff.
"See guys! It's not about hot ladies! It's um... about staying light. Yeah."
Spelunking + fullplate = death.
@@AJPickett But wouldn't leather armor, or better yet, something like a gambeson be better then a metal bikini?
Solid Color yes
"It is a legitimate tactic to heavily enchant some relatively light and mobile armor, but deliberately leave it cut back and ridiculously lacking in it's physical protection, from a visual point of view."
Retort to Shadiversity, regarding armor, found.
I’m tempted to send this to the tumblr blog “bikiniarmorandbattledamage” who just loves to call everyone to ever depict a woman in any armor that they don’t personally approve of a sexist for not giving her “practical armor”.
Even called Blizzard Sexist for the armor Pharah in Overwatch wears…
*whispers* "Doooo eeeeet"
That moment when the comments section of a DnD youtuber inspires a succubus pyromancer core who only wear jewlry in battle, with a warcry of: "wepons are of no use!"
I regret nothing!
AJ Pickett *Soul corruption intensifies*
It is more to it then this as well. Historically, armor and armro penetrating weapons compete and occationaly one side get the upper hand forcing the competitor into an entirly new path.
Full plate and you are pretty much immune to a lot of medivial weapons, thus we se the rise of less finess and more brute force fighting styles with crushing weapons. Eventually, the gun got the advantage. heavy hitting, at range and you can learn to use an musket in a day or so, leading to the knights getting eradicated by farmboys, protecting against a musket bullet was so hard that only a thick and heavy curiass could be worn and those where so heavy that it was msotly seen on cavalry. most soldiers had to fight using no armor at all, it was no longer a point in doing so. When I did my mandatory military service we where never equipped with any armor but a few years later, they started to become common again.
With some of the opponents in AD&D there is no real use bothering with armor and enchants can go a long way protecting anyway, as was the point of this video.
Before watching this video I though it would be about magically protetive spells like "mage armor" and barkskin as such, didn't realise it was about anything physical at all.
Some of these comments are a week old? This is a new video though! 🤔
Must be magic
Patreon advanced access.
@@AJPickett So what your saying is Magic of technology. lol
How about a contest of some sort? If it's a monster manual then a contest for who can come up with the most interesting home-brew monster in the comments section?
A minocentaur with a steam chainsaw and a miniature goblin-operated cannon on the back.
Oh by the way if anyone brings up skimpy armor as a bad thing point to the gladiators, Scottish warriors used to run into battle with just their Cilts a shead and their sword. The thing I don't think people understand about combat is not to get hit. I mean really how do people think fighting works you hit someone and they just stand there and let the armor do the work? And when they hit you, you just stand there like an idiot?
The argument against bikini armor is stupid. Especially in a high magic fantasy setting. To me wearing a lot of armor is more or less esthetic thing.
In my world the more armor you wear
The more they think you are weak or very low level really suck at dodging or blocking or both and need as much protection as you can.
The ones who walk into battle with little to no armor people fear because they're pretty much saying "you won't touch me"
Or I have such a high level magic or magic items you can't kill me.
Sure you could be bluffing but then you will end up dead because more then likely someone who thinks they equal you will fight you.
My character's Armour is glamoured to appear as a black suit, blue shirt, and red tie. In reality I'm wearing +2 adamantine full plate 😏
It would be a very loud three piece without some Silence enchantments.
The simple answer is: because it’s a fantasy game. If you insist on realism in armor you have a bigger problem of why is your adventurer wearing armor at all? Plate armor, pole arms, great swords, those are for warfare and would only be seen on the battlefield. In the real world, the most heavily armed and armored a person would typically get outside of war would be to wear a sword and buckler, something they could easily strap to their belt and that wouldn’t get in the way while they went about their daily business. Imagine how much more ridiculous it would be for your typical adventurer who’s day consists of climbing cliffs or spelunking through caverns to be wearing plate mail armor and carrying a halberd. That’s not even mentioning the kind of reaction someone in full armor wielding a great axe would get walking around town. I’m sure they’d get the same reaction that someone would get today if they decided to take a stroll through town wearing body armor and carrying a machine gun and grenades.
I've always been a fan of Bracers of Armor. I love the idea of enchanted defensive items! It has so much potential!
I love having discussions with people comparing fantasy worlds to the real world but some people take it to far and that places lame uncool limits.Its Fantasy people as long as it makes since in your made u worlds logic then roll with it lol
blank blank Don't forget though, the greatest fantasy has strong foundations in realism.
This helps in the process of drawing in the individual and making them feel present in the fantasy.
(If Barney the purple dinosaur draconic sorcerer, came in riding a Thomas the tank engine spell jammer, and was busy throwing raving rabbids, I think many folks would wonder what drug trip was going on.)
Nickolas Holmes If that is all established in the setting then great.
Just want to point out the regenerating trolls do exist in our world. Just look to most comment sections. They keep coming back no matter how often you slay them!
Are they trolls? Or undead? 🤔
Ah. Undead trolls. Of course.
If you want to portray powerful magic items as being commonplace in your D&D setting, that's entirely fine, but that's not Every Fantasy Setting, only some of them. Many low magic settings rely on the idea that magic is rare and mysterious, and that the people capable of creating magic items are rarer still. There is also a power in the mundane: a suit of full plate armor, which is highly difficult for a blacksmith to learn to make, nets you an AC of 18 in 5e, which is hard to beat even with magical means. It may not be magical, and the person wearing it may not be magical, but this mundane piece of craftsmanship allows them to go up against something that are magical.
True. Not every fantasy world has to be High Magic/Fantasy.
Wait. That means bikini armor. Heck ya
Make sure to give it to men too. Nothing like a magic chainmail speedo to protect you
Question: what are your thoughts on the detect magic? Specifically in relation to detecting curses and sentient magical items
I think that detect magic should be able to be cast at higher spell slot levels, giving more information the more powerful the spell slot expended is.
Okay, um, after going back and watching some of your older videos, I really missed your old intro. The kick-ass riff over your channel logo emerging from behind a mountain was actually perfect for your channel.
I love it when you make videos like this it really makes the D&D world feel alive really help,s a person wrap there mind around how things work thank you
I second this & then some.
Some thing to be wary of with a magic item economy: if magical items really are every where, and the market is constantly being added to, then magic items will lose cost do to the constant increase in supply. A healing potion will only cost 10-20 gold as an example.
Edit: thanks for the heart, I do prefer economy over no economy, regardless of that flaw
Original monster slash item or lore contest
I get kicked out of most groups
Because the second somebody says something stupid political I kind of well make fun of them a lot
It's a real problem I'm getting better at it
I predominantly stop using profanity
Thank you for the video and as always I thoroughly enjoyed it. That being said, I am not sure what online game you played that luring enemies in to attack someone who is actually very durable and able to tank isn't kiting. It's "pulling" NPC enemies, or "luring" Player Controlled enemies.
Kiting is when you snare, slow, root, etc an enemy or enemies and then proceed to out pace them keeping the distance between one another consistently while doing damage to them from that theoretically safe distance.
Alternatively, aggro-ing.
But we knew what he meant, and that's mostly what counts.
@@drakeford4860 I would agree. I started with thanking him for the video and stating that I always love them for a reason. It was a clarification for him on the topic not anything bad. I feel like AJ is the type of individual to want to be correct in their terminology on most things. Just a guess, and if he clarified that I am wrong I would of course just enjoy the videos and not do this again because I love his content.
So as I started this I totally agree knowing what he meant in the end is mostly what counts.
Aha! Aggroing is the word. Thank you so much, yes I do absolutely appreciate being corrected :)
I haven't played since advanced Dungeons & Dragons and I don't know why armor enchantment has dropped we used to create our own armor and weapons on our spare time for the party and for our stronghold like putting protection from normal weapons on Armor for our henchman putting a glyph of warning on a halberd activated by touch so if you get captured what a surprise attack
3:38 AJ cursed! I've caught him! let the shi*ts and f*cks flow free!
Iron Reed, I don't tend to swear as much off camera either these days, since I have a vocabulary rich enough to viciously insult anyone and anything without resorting to traditional vulgarity :)
@@AJPickett no doubt sir, Im mainly just teasing you because in at least one video you refer to a profanity sensor in your comment section. I've wanted to do nothing more than to make the air boil with profanity since you said that
I love experimenting on new kinds of armor. AJ have you ever seen the cursed armor of Ravenloft called Dead Mans Plate?
I have yet to read about it.
This is why my wizard does push-ups, wears a polished golden speedo and carries a two-handed sword. All so he won't get sniped in the first round.
So your wizard is a cheesy stripper?
@@lloydgush well, ergh. Yes.
Original Monster contest!
AJ Pickett. we can still look to history and the roman records from troops in Germaqnia and Goul. they faced warriors who fougth literly naked, with only a weapon and a shield. for them a battle whould be about true martial skill, and not who is hiding behind the thougest armor, and don't forget the zulu warriors. diffren't warrior cultures where they didn't use amor when it was aviable.
And Romans won against those naked warriors. Real threat to Roman Empire were those Germans that fought in armor comparable to roman one, agains them Romans had only adventage in organisation and discipline.
As for Zulu's. They did not use armor because of the weather.
@@marcinsikocinski4661 What is it about the weather?
and the point was there where warrior cultures there didn't use armor, not htat it was a good choice
@@dalleravn I should have put there "climate" instead of "weather". Zulu warriors fought armorless due to hot climate, which is an exception from general usefulness of armor (though they could have use mail armor if their technology level and availability of decent iron allowed it).
I was under apparently wrong impression that you are assuming that going into battle without armor was valid idea. Sorry for that.
@@marcinsikocinski4661 the Zulus had iron weapons, (ofcourse not the same technology as armor true) but hide, and bones where aviable. not the best but it still helps:)
@@dalleravn I've read recently that the iron ore available to the Zulu people was of a bad quality. Almost everything is enough to make an spear tip. Proper mail needs bit better ore and a lot of know how.
As for why the Zulu warriors didn't use a hide or bone armor. I can only assume that as their set of weapons consisted of clubs and spears - not very sophisticated weapons. Their defensive gear was as rudimentary. They worn no clothes so the idea putting few layers of clothes on themselves was alien to them (and there is the high temperature problem) so they have not developed cloth armor. Not very wealthy cultures, like the Scandinavians in the early Viking Age, did not use a lot of armor. Warriors have fought with only a shield and a spear or an axe. Swords and armor were costly and reserved for the wealthy and successful. Defensive gear that was most prominent was shield and layered clothes. First part of proper armor people have looked for was a helmet.
I wish I could be judged worthy of receiving such an amazing Tome of Power! The lore it must contain. The knowledge!
What about decent armor that’s enchanted? Something like Scale Plate Armor enchanted with regeneration or healing magic. That would be basically Gut’s berserk Armor from Berserk.
6:37 is this the antagonist from the movie Serenity, reimagined as a monk? I approve
Google Mordo
Can always create magical armor with Natural damage reduction as well.
I'm a girl all of my characters has...sexy armor and some just bordering no naked. When you have a lot of magic in the world I really don't see any reason to add to your encumbrance when it comes to armor. The point is to be as light and maneuverable with out being weighted down. Gives you more weapons you can carry, more equipment you can carry, and more stuff you can loot.
I have referred no less than 7 new DMs in my town to your videos, such a wealth of information bro!!
I find myself always torn between like the 'underprotected' armor and the more natural realistic. More realistic cause like come-on armor is awesome but then the more showy type cause one u can litterally run in shirtless damn near and still be taking hits like ur covered in titanium!
The bikini armor was ok before but will it keep off the bugs and sun of chult 🤔
Idk how u run your games or fantasies but unless its important, those kinds of details normally dont get noticed by my players or I. And even still, if It was important in sure full armor wouldn't fully protect them from the blood drinking and flesh devouring insects and arachnids that's hunting them at the time 😂😂😂
I love this soooooo much! Thank you for making this. I'm now part of your nerdy fb group c: (edit: and a patreon)
You can always do one of those gleamio giveaways. A lot of other TH-cam channels do that.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can do a contest where everyone has to submit fan art, a story, or maybe a homebrew they are proud of. (This of course will require you to judge and make sure they are not plagiarized.)
I've always gone with the 2e 'Permanency' spell. Making a magic item costs one point of constitution, ie it drains the soul. And not necessarily the soul of the caster. So team Evil tends to have a lot of magic items. And team Good tends to destroy magic items. Which keeps them kinda rare on the surface of Toril. And explains why Underdark races keep raiding the surface.
Spot on as ever, thanks for another great vid!
Maybe make an email specifically for the give and in you next video tell plp interested to email you and then just raffle from the names. Or maybe a homebrew class, item or monster contest and the winner also has their homebrew features in a future video.
"Sprinkling a bit of bat shit and sulfur..."!
Someone knows the old material components for the fireball spell! :D :D :D
So I take it that this video was made in reply to the people who complain about the “sexy armor”.
Yes, among other things.
I have long been fascinated by magical materals or otherwise used for armor and weapons.
Actually it makes sense for magic itens to be rare...
No reason why veteran wizards wouldn't "use them for parts" besides dragons who love collecting treasures and eating them.
Just how common is powerful magic in these worlds? I was under the impression that the PCs were special, essentially superheroes. Is there a 10th level wizard on every street-corner, preaching about the Aboleth cults ruining the world and selling Bracers of Armor out of their Bags of Holding to make ends meet? Can you just run down to the corner store and pick up a Wand of Magic Missiles out of an old pickle jar holding dozens of the things?
In fantasy film and fiction, there tends to be *A* suit of magic armor, usually ancient and itself the object of a quest or a gift from a mysterious and very, very old mage. If every member of the town guard is running around in Studded Leather Speedos of Invulnerability with Dancing Tower Shields and Vorpal short-swords, it's no bloody wonder all of these 'super-heroes' start out killing rats under the tavern.
Seems like the default setting for 5e is a bit of a middle ground. Minor magical stuff is what we would consider luxury items in our world. Expensive, but not impossible to find. Then there was the Netheril empire where stuff like you were saying just about did go on until they ruined it for everybody. And things are still kinda like that in the fey I believe...
In your bigger cities you can find bigger mpc's then the levels drop as you go down in size of cities the way I see it is a world where there is more evil then there Is good you have to rely on strength and Magic to protect and survive
FOR THE EMPEROR!
to be fair chainmail bikinis are clearly fanservice 99% of the time. Even if they are enchanted to protect all the parts they don't cover, they should at least have clothes underneath. Unless you're in a tropical forest you will need clothes to protect yourself against cold or the sun. It's the reason most of the world's population wears clothes. Plus if you want to trick enemies into attacking you by seemingly being unarmored, unassuming, and vulnerable, you wouldn't wear chainmail or a bikini. More like a ring or an amulet carefully hidden under plain clothes with the same effect as said bikini. You wouldn't wield a sword either, more like a plain-looking club or quarterstaff. The idea here is to make you look like an easy target. Any obvious weapons would prevent that, and unless you're in a harem or in the rainforest people would most likely question why you're dressing like a stripper, and in a such high magic environment that would allow those kind of light armors, would probably be suspicious and suspect magic
I really appreciate that your videos now are very clear about when something is from different editions and i love that you tell us your favorite version.
Never underestimate the power of bat shit and sulfur.
I like to make my magic items mostly rare in my settings. Magic is old and weird and no two mages work in the exact same way.
A good number of magical items meant for battle or adventure require attunement, and to me this is more than just simply a game mechanic.
Attuning requires a deep connection with the item and knowledge on how to not only use but also maintain it.
Perhaps this suit needs the runes etched into it to be greased with an incredibly rare oils every 50 moons. Or that sword must be cleaned with holy water after ever battle. Or those boots need to be shined with mountain troll fat every so often.
Over time the knowledge on how to properly keep these wanes with each generation. The item going from legendary, to rare, to uncommon, to mundane, and eventually just an old rusty sword.
Perhaps that helberd in that villagers attic was a great and powerful magical weapon. But now it is simply a slightly less worn down of its mundane counterparts, hoping a proper warrior will bring it to its former glory.
Magic armor is like power armor or electrical powered and shielded armor
I was so shocked when you said you only had 40k subs. I was like... wut? So, I cast an augury spell and asked if you were going to do much better. Got the response of "Weal." Not sure what that word means, but my patron assured me it was a good thing.
Indeed! I'll take it.
Keep it up AJ! Your videos are a welcome addition
Successfully "KITING" is when you (as a ranged character) successfully keep your distance from a melee character while attacking them.
From an aerial perspective it looks like you are a KITE that is invisibly attached to them.
You stay at your max range and move towards them as they move away and you back up when they move towards you.
rettwoods yeah what he describes is pulling
That is a great point I never considered bikini armor being valid because it's magical. I'll keep that in mind for future characters. I will say one main reason why magical armor isn't as common as it should be because first it has to be a Mastercraft item and then it takes years to enchant.
Thoughts on magic armor that projects a weaker looking version of you ( as in a second you )
And or straight up a magic armor mech suit
That is an excellent idea!!
@@AJPickett I was thinking dwarves making something akin to the battle tech elementals or the Titanfall mechs. But you know.. dwarfy steampunk version
Here's an up on the ante for great ideas. A flying gauntlet, made by a famous featherweight boxer. The user cannot fly, but you send it to punch or grab.
I have three arguments against common magical gear.
1. Those who can afford to commission their making are rarely willing to part with them (nobility, mercenary companies, wealthy merchants, etc).
2. It takes time to make these items which always will be a constraint on how many magical items are available or producible.
3. Some enchantments don't last as long as one might assume (this is why I think permanently enchanted items are most likely to eventually become legendary or highly sought after and hoarded).
I think I could make a fourth argument and that one is pretty obvious: cheaper equipment for the poorer adventurer is going to be far more common than any magical items. If you're broke, you make do.
Edit: This doesn't mean that certain armor won't look ridiculous btw. You should see what was created throughout the world's history. There's plenty of impractical non-ceremonial armors which even historians admit make no sense but still were created. Also, most fighters of the past rarely had full suits of armor. Most were lucky to get a breastplate and a helmet. The rest used gambesons or their analog. And that's assuming they're proper mercenaries (peasant conscripts were left unarmored).
Make a contest, give a vague description of a creature from the MM and who guesses correctly enters a draw for the win.
Hey AJ, great video & topic. Going a little off subject here. I have notice in the D&D artwork and in the descriptions and what it states in the stat block can be different. I have a few examples, dolgrim it shows them wearing a metal scale skirt, but it states it is wearing a chain shirt, Gladiator picture shows alot of baer skin with leather straps and metal rings, but it states it is wearing studded leather, you get the picture. I think that formula should be given at least to the DM's to be use with the monsters. I have also realized that there is room for all the old armor in the current 5e armor list. Field plate, full plate, bronze plate, banded & brigandine. Not for sure why they left them out but left room for them on the armor list. I still remember my friends as kids freaking out because they found bronze plate, not even magical.
Thanks AJ, you have a wonderful day!
My suggestion is to have a contest to create a D&D monster, one entry per person, and the one you like the most gets the book
I'm level 15 and I've still not found any magical armor that isn't purely cosmetic. Even if I found some for sale the party doesn't have money. Quest givers tend to disappear at the end of jobs, and things just so happen to go wrong in ways that require us to part with most of our earnings to repair some damage or prevent some catastrophe. Were operating on early level rewards and late level price scaling. People aren't leaving treasure in some dungeon, they put their stuff in banks not on an end table at the exit.
God isn't exactly paying his paladin to do his holy quest.
The evil PMC isn't paying us to not be killed by them
Nobody is going to pay for the prevention of an interplanetary invasion that hasn't happened yet.
And there's no money in trying to stop 2 wizards from exploding the planet in a rivalry. The reward is the planet hopefully doesn't explode, and we can live.
On top of everything else magic items are more rare in general, which is fine. But the problem is that their either highly protected, or useless trinkets. Like a war horn that makes fart noises.
So my martial character has an awesome suit of magic armor, and by magic I mean that it has RGB enchantments. Same for weapons just to a lesser extent. It's just a bit more damage.
Now, I know that martial classes aren't supposed to have nearly as much fantastical magic, they aren't casting crazy spells and doing fancy tricks. Their simple solutions to simple problems. Especially when an enemy caster is involved. Because if their good enough the martial won't have the opportunity to fight at all. If anything the party wizard is to deal with the enemy wizard. Or at least stall him so he can get stabbed. But at such a late level, and it's going to level 20, the casters are doing all this amazing stuff. They unlock it as they level up, I have to find items that don't exist to keep up. It also doesn't help when the guy playing the wizard thinks he's the best at everything and goes on these excessive descriptions of how he does basic things or defeats enemies. It leaves me feeling like a useless lump of meat dealing with the leftovers. While he wines about things being unfair to him, and how he has no money. Even though he's the guy who wasted all his money and brought the stupid overpriced fart horn for ruining serious roleplay moments. Not to mention the impulsivity to chance an artifact bringing untold wacky chaos into our game world in the capital city. Monsters, generated structures, random character effects, and just exploding being some of the possibilities. From which 40 are being drawn from. Because there's no way that could possibly disgrace my characters family name and noble bloodline by association. He definitely won't loose everything because of that, he also can absolutely rule out the possibility of him and his families public execution by royal decree. With everything I ever did and strived to to being crushed in the dirt because of another character who is not liable to any consequence personally. He's an immortal body snatcher with no deep personal connections or property. What's he got to worry about. Everything is on the table for him.
Sorry for the excessive detail but I just felt that this was a good of a place as any to get this off my chest.
It's just frustrating to have a character that I've developed for years and the history behind him. Be looked upon as though it was a bland surface level character with nothing interesting going on. I wrote over 50 full pages of history and lore for him, his ancestry, the culture that he grew up in, the explanation of how that came to be by the mixing of two different cultures, and the history that led to their existence. I wrote of how great he is, and how he failed in equal measure. Great victory and great loss. A grand philosophy on life and death with the resolution to do what you must for those you love and are ment to protect.
Whereas the wizards backstory and character relations can be sumed up on a post-it note if you write small. My character is the plank of wood and he is the complex character. Who never fails at anything serious. I know that you don't need a ton of material to have an interesting character. It just strikes me the wrong way to be so dismissive and overgeneralizing of a character that someone put a lot of effort into. To instead promote what little you've done on your end as being what's really important.
I could probably go on for a good while longer but I don't feel like I have it in me anymore, for the time being that is. Also I think TH-cam has a character limit.
I hope that everyone who has read this far has a good day and remember, kill the monologueing wizard, he's trying to sneak an incantation somewhere in his speech. Take my advice or don't it's up to you. But don't come crawling back to me when he summons eldritch tentacle monsters.
Oh and nice video AJ.
kiting is not agro. A lot of peoples people already said that but what I deeply care about
I have been well and truly corrected, thankfully :) I do appreciate it.
1.) Would something like this (amusing that it is neither better than normal armor nor stacks with it) be considered a magic item (for purposes of how many you get for a adventure) or a normal item? On the one hand, it can not provide better protection, will be more likely to be stolen, show up with detect magic and can be disabled by anti-magic. On the other hand, it is smaller, lighter, more easily concealed, and can be a status symbol (like full plate with gold plating)? Also, how common would these sort of things be: things that are more thematic than mechanical?
2.) I believe that most of the powerful stuff is either in the vaults of some powerful creature/organization or destroyed/lost with the body of its wielder. That and things like furnace spelljammer helms which eat them. Would those be a good reason why magic items are not everywhere?
3.) Is there a cannon fantasy equivalent of power armor.
4.) Are magic items still more durable in ani-magic or when dispelled (temporarily)?
5.) For the average D&D setting (like the Forgotten Realms or Greyhalk), how common (at any rarity, and given the right material and funds) would it be to be able to find someone to commission a magic item (or at least look for one that meets you specifications and get it fore you)?
For the 40k competition I would suggest a trivia contest. You can get some extra moderators and divide people up into groups (one moderator per group). Then, give them a question about D&D lore ( or even mechanics and/or IRL history, or ever through in MTG or Warhammer in as bonus questions). Each person sends a direct message to their moderator containing their answer. Each person has a number of strikes, and each time they miss a question they loose one (bonus would gain one, or at least stop a future loss). When you run out you loose. The last one standing wins it. If it is a tie, let those people try again, or just make them roll for it.
1.) That is a confusing question. Anti-magic zones are rare in D&D, The Beholder is scary because it has this power, the disenchanter is a creature that has not shown up in 4th or 5th edition, so, while I see that argument against reliance on magical protection, it is more theoretical than practical. Basically, I could make the same argument for "Why would anyone wear metal armor, in a world with the Heat Metal spell?".
2.) Yes, there could be forces that hunt down magic items and harvest them for power, for sure.
3.) Belts of Giant strength.
4.) Probably not.
5.) More common in Forgotten Realms than in Greyhawk. Much more common in Ravnica or Eberron. Far less common on Athas or Krynn.
@@AJPickett 1.) Xanathar's Guide and the DMG have suggested rules for how many magic items to award and when. Xanathar's Guide also separates minor and major magic items. I was wondering if they should count towards either of those totals, or just be handed out like normal mundane armor if it has the same stats (maybe more expensive).
Well, armor can only be so heavy before its useless in combat, 0.9cm of plate seems to be the upper limit for human (and horse). Anything thicker and heavier would need magic/technology to maintain mobility and i think less than 1cm of plate is not a preferred armor to absorb hit from hill giants club... Don't let me start babling about gambeson and "studded leather"...
Geezer here....
Looking like bait is a proven tactic.... But honestly kids one that fails more frequently as levels rise. Played many 9+ level characters and all that could use carried a tank plate back up. At upper level play to many opponents can nullify enchantment only deffense.
At higher levels, ditch the tank and get yourself a wizard.
@@AJPickett Never leave home..... Without a lizard in one pocket and wizard in the other.
Finally! Someone that gets it! Too many players and other people are breath too damn heavy over practicality. Where the very world "FANTASY!" Raines supreme and shit kicks the word practicality into nonexistence. Most people can't leave the urban meat grinder to let go of reality and logic for a few hours and enjoy a MAKE BELIEF *FANTASY* WORLD. That you have bow, sword and magic fighting monsters and otherworldly creatures. It doesn't make sense but once you enter through that door for DnD you are an Aveng..... I mean a character in another life in a world of wonderment! Hope people pull their head out of their arses and get with the fantasy.
Hey AJ, as for the book giveaway, my town's library is attempting to create an Adventurer's League weekly game. A few of the guys who are committed to being DMs run the Murder Hobo podcast and my friends and I recorded a session of Starfinder for a podcast at that library, but never released the episodes. Point being, I would gladly accept your monster manual and give it a healthy home at my library for many DMs to use.
its always bugged me a bit that natural armor and stuff like leather/chain/plate etc usually aren't supposed to stack past a certain point if im not mistaken on how the rules work
Me as well, just use a +1 and let it stack for hard as nails lizard man Barbarian or monks race status are not that good as is.
Ideas.
Very nice armor made from special materials and gilded then enchanted.
Living armor made from chitin or barnacles or idk living space crystal.
Animated armor basically living armor where its main enchantment is being alive.
Everyone could wear armor though someone needs to add gambesons as the lightest armor. Made better by finding better plants or furs for crafting it. Ive often felt fantasy armor was kind of just stylized because armor isnt well understood or how it functions. did samurai and alchemist and knights all exist at the same time yeah. I just feel that
Boob armor < realistic armor.
My main issue with armor in d&d is how restrictive heavier armor is made out to be. Even in full plate mail, you still have pretty good mobility. I mean ffs, I've seen videos of a guy doing cartwheels in full plate.
Joshua Zane Ah, so you watch Knyght Errant as well?
@@LurkerDaBerzerker I'm not actually familiar with that channel. I can't remember where I saw it first, but all you have to do is search "plate mail mobility" on TH-cam and you can find people doing all sorts of things in full plate.
Perhaps the lack of mobility could be explained by the greater build up of heat inside a full suit of heavy armor? Tires you out more, maybe? Requires you to conserve your movements as much as possible? It's flimsy, I know. But its something.
shamusfarmer Alrighty then, how about a cheap, simple, and highly available prestidigitation enchantment for temperature controlled armour, or simply keeping it at a temperature that was decided at the time of enchantment?
Edit: I still highly recommend giving Knyght Errant a viewing, and perhaps Pursuingthe KnightlyArts channel as well.
th-cam.com/video/JIdOtEkCIrA/w-d-xo.html
This video on the play of the axe was great, and it was the first place I heard of the "thumbs opposed grip" for polearms.
Apparently this grip aid's in close quarters combat, perhaps enough that we can make them work within 5 feet again.
Older suits of full plate armour used to restrict their wearers movement(around the time it was first invented) a fair bit. The french even lost a cavalry battle to the english due to it. Obviously armor was improved and continued to improve while full plate was worn. Right up into the renaissance where you had helmets with visor designs that bearly restricted your vision. And although armour is heavy, and slows you down, the kind of maniacs that wore it back then weren't really hindered by it. D&D is accurate, but in the sense of the early medieval period.
Yeah, when people argue about armor using real life as a benchmark it really does become invalid. There’s a lot of nerds on the Internet these days that are obsessed with historic weapons and armor/armies, and they love to be know it alls and have pissing contests when it comes to it.
Mithril & Ithilmar to Elves, Gromril to the Dwarves & Giants, Adamant or adamantium & adamantine in the scholar worlds, or better know by star metal, silver meteoritic iron as it is classified, i the most tricky metal to work with besides dragon scales, and this is because of several reasons, while elven steel is know for being light yet has in quality is far surpassed by dwarven something skills, it will be superior to most human worlds, elven seen is often a result of alchemy, combing magic during forging, enchanted fire & mystical gemstone with arcane arts, dwarves use elemental forges & magmatic iron, more primal magic used in the forms of the elements with direct means rather than an actual enchanter, that is why most of their crafted weapons do not rust, well not easily anyway, with star metal its a bit more harder, the forge and other components must be perfectly prepared, the metal must be worked to a near-religious Lvl of dedication, but once its done there are very few weapons and armors that can match them, bladed weapons made from them never dull, at all, blunt weapons and armors are very light, all able to tank magical attacks of the arcane, elemental & kinetic damage like its nothing, some weapons like certain elven swords are even capable to do the Jedi defence with magical & elemental attacks,
I could see old pieces of magical armor that get sold to a blacksmith being used to create “sets”, and then being sold at a higher value than the smith could sell them for individually.
Let’s say over the course of a few months the smith gets sold a +1 breastplate, a pair of plate boots of the winterlands, and a set of plate gauntlets. Affix the breastplate to a mundane set of long sleeved leather armor, attach some metal plating to to the forearms of the leather armor and the shins of the leg pieces, maybe add on a some flaps of leather reenforced by metal hanging off the bottom of the torso section of the leather armor to form a skirt to protect the upper legs(think like Roman armor), stylize as desired and you now have a set of heavily enchanted half-plate armor that can be marked up and sold for mucho profit. Perfect business practice for an Artificer/Smith character or NPC.
I would suggest that most magic leaches off like radioactive material. Ps don’t use enchanted grave goods that is how you get undead.
This would also explain why old high magic are crawling with odd monsters the restless dead and random things from other words.
Great vid as always but I feel there is so much more ground to be covered... :P
Not gonna lie really was hoping for actual magic items. Examples, history, famous users/creators etc.
This is merely the first in many vids on Magic Armor in the Magic Items series.
@@AJPickett Awesome.. I wasn't moanin, I jus love ya vids and want more... :)