Crafting Magic Armor

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Creating Magic Armor

To magically enchant armor, a character needs a good heavy workshop. There must be a powerful heat source such as a blown forge or magical fire. There must be a strong anvil and a wide variety of high-quality tools. There must be adequate room to work, with benches and tables. Finally, there should be a supply of materials, the most obvious being the armor or the pieces of the armor to be assembled. A good forge can be a cozy affair, or a massive workshop that sprawls and rambles through many rooms of a castle. In no case is any workspace ever portable.

Armor to be made into magic armor must be either masterwork armor, or armor made from a special material (see Dweomermetals, below). The masterwork cost or special materials cost is added to the base price to determine final market value. Additional magic supply costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic armor, equal to half the base price of the Absolute Bonus cost (see Absolute Bonus, below). If the character has a Craft (Armor) skill they can roll to make their own masterwork armor, although it is usually fastest to purchase a masterwork item from a less-skilled NPC smith.

Creating magic armor has a special prerequisite: The creator's effective caster level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the armor. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and one or more magic armor properties, the highest of the listed caster level requirements must be met. Magic armor must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to have any magic armor properties added to it.

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for enchanting the armor, the creator must have either 1) prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard), 2) Purchased scrolls of the spells, 3) Have the spells otherwise available such as in a wand, or 4) have worked out with the GM in advance any allowed substitutions (a jug of red dragon blood from a dragon of the proper challenge rating to substitute for a meteor swarm spell, for example) and must provide any material components or focuses the spells require. The act of working on the armor triggers the prepared spells, or integrates any allowed substitutes. The spells are not available to cast, and the substitutes are consumed in making the item. (Those spell slots are expended from the caster's currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Enchanting magic armor may entail other prerequisites beyond just spells or substituted materials. See the individual descriptions for details.


  • Time Required: Crafting magic armor requires one day for each CL of the item, minimum of seven days.
  • Feat(s) Required: Creator.
  • Skill(s) Required: Divinity, Naturalism, Reason, Spellcraft, Spycraft or Warcraft


Allowed Enchantments

Magic armors have three types of improvements that may be applied to them:


Armor Enhancement Bonus

Heroic tier characters (characters from level 1 to level 20) can wear armor with an enhancement bonus up to +5, and can have up to +5 pluses worth of Magic Armor properties applied to their armor, though there must always be at least +1 Enhancement bonus on the armor before any magic armor properties can be applied. As a result, heroic tier characters can wear armor with an absolute bonus of anything from +1 to +10.

Epic tier characters (characters level 21 to level 35) can wear armor with an enhancement bonus up to +9, and can have a total of up to +9 pluses-worth of Magic Armor properties applied to their armor (resulting in an Absolute Bonus as high as +18). However, the enhancement bonus of the armor must be raised to at least +6 before it can have any Epic magic armor properties applied to it.

Any attempt to wear armor more magically enchanted than your level allows results in the character taking a non-proficiency penalty with the armor (-4 to attack rolls), and the possibility of even more dire consequences (such as insanity, or being controlled by the armor).

At level 36 and higher (apotheosis) all restrictions on enhancement bonuses and the magic item properties are lifted, at which point the armor may be enchanted in any way the characters can afford.

While an armor's enhancement bonus is nearly always used to increase the armor's total AC, some armors contain innate properties from special materials, which may also be increased by allocating some or all of the enhancement bonus to that property. An example of this is an adamantine armor's Damage Resistance (DR). Players may dedicate enhancement bonuses to increasing these innate properties instead of the armor's Armor Bonus to AC. However, the armor's total enhancement bonus is always the sum of any of these, and the armor's total enhancement bonus cannot ever exceed the campaign level limitations for enhancement bonus (see Campaign Level, below). Note that reallocation of Enhancement bonus to enhance a special materials property of the armor is from the Absolute Bonus (see below), as this only refers to different ways to allocate the Enhancement bonus of the armor, not the pluses derived from Magic Armor Properties. For details on special material innate properties, and the effects of using enhancement bonuses to increase them, see the Dweomermetals And Other Special Materials page. Enhancement bonuses may never be used to add or enhance a property that the armor does not already have innately from its special materials.


Magic Armor Properties

Magic Armor Properties are additional traits, bonuses or effects that magic armors grant or perform on top of the normal functionality of that armor. Armor must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus before any magic armor properties may be added to them. The limit to the total value of all armor properties that may be added to a suit of armor is +5 pluses worth of properties for characters level 20 or below (heroic tier), or +9 pluses-worth of properties for characters levels 21 to 35 (epic tier). At level 36 and higher all restrictions are lifted, and armor may be enchanted in any way the characters can afford and the referee will allow.

No item may ever have the same property twice.


Dweomermetals and Special Materials

Mundane armors are assumed to be made of forged iron. Fragile armors are usually made of crude iron, bronze, or bone. Masterwork armors are assumed to be made of good quality steel, similar to historical Damascus or Wootz (forging good steel was often a happy accident before the chemistry was fully understood). Armors made from fantastic materials are possible as well, such as the classic mithril and adamantine.

In all cases, only ONE material may be used in the construction of a single suit of armor, even after the Apotheosis at level 36. Unless the referee allows it, of course.


Special Rule: Absolute Bonus

By adding together the plus values of the Enhancement Bonus and Magical Properties of a suit of armor you determine the armor's Absolute Bonus. For example, a +2 Expeditious Plate Mail has a +4 Absolute Bonus, since the Expeditious property has a +2 cost associated with it. The maximum possible Absolute Bonus of any magic weapon, armor or shield is +18, though the maximum allowed in a given campaign varies by the campaign's current player level. At level 36, all restrictions are lifted, and weapons, armors and shields may be enchanted in any way the characters can afford.


Restricted Enchantments

Armor cannot have any other magical enchantments placed on it besides the three listed above: armor enhancement bonus, magic armor properties and dweomermetals/special materials. For the sake of heading off questions, a list of what is NOT allowed is provided below. Note that there are magic armor properties and dweomermetals which can provide some of the effects below. However, except by using those properties or materials, these effects cannot be directly enchanted into armor.



Other Magic Armor Considerations

Full Suits

Armor is always created so that if the type of armor comes with a pair of boots, a helm, or a set of gauntlets, these pieces can be exchanged for other magic boots, helms, or gauntlets. It even looks good! Isn't magic great?


Caster Level for Armor

The caster level of magic armor with a special ability is given in the item description. For an item with only an enhancement bonus, the caster level is three times the enhancement bonus. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met. As always, caster level can either be a character's 'native' caster if they actually cast spells, or their Effective Caster Level they gain from having the Creator feat and ranks in either Divinity, Naturalism, Reason, Spellcraft, Spycraft or Warcraft. Note that even spell casters have to have the Creator feat to make magic items.


Hardness and Hit Points

Each +1 of a magic armor’s enhancement bonus adds +2 to its hardness and +10 to its hit points. This is additive with the base hardness and hit points of the armor, which is based on the material from which it is made and the type of armor in question. Refer to the tables below to determine base hardness and hit points. Armor properties usually have no effect on hardness or hit points, but some do, so refer to these specific rules for the effects of each property.


Table: Weapon, Armor and Shield Hardness and Hit Points

Weapon or Shield Hardness 1 4 Hit Points 2 3
Light blade 10 2
One-handed blade 10 5
Two-handed blade 10 10
Light metal-hafted weapon 10 10
One-handed metal-hafted weapon 10 20
Light hafted weapon 5 2
One-handed hafted weapon 5 5
Two-handed hafted weapon 5 10
Projectile weapon 5 5
Armor special4 armor bonus × 5
Buckler 10 5
Light wooden shield 5 7
Heavy wooden shield 5 15
Light steel shield 10 10
Heavy steel shield 10 20
Tower shield 5 20
  • 1 Add +2 for each +1 enhancement bonus of magic items.
  • 2 Divide by 2 for each size category of the item smaller than Medium, or multiply it by 2 for each size category larger than Medium.
  • 3 Add 10 hp for each +1 enhancement bonus of magic items
  • 4 Varies by material. See below and Dweomermetals for details.


Table: Substance Hardness and Hit Points

Substance Hardness Hit Points
Glass 1 1/in. of thickness
Paper or cloth 0 2/in. of thickness
Rope 0 2/in. of thickness
Ice 0 3/in. of thickness
Leather or hide 2 5/in. of thickness
Wood 5 10/in. of thickness
Stone 8 15/in. of thickness
Iron or steel 10 30/in. of thickness
Argent 15 40/in. of thickness
Ambergold 18 30/in. of thickness
Bloodgold 5 25/in. of thickness
Bloodsilver 20 40/in. of thickness
Cuprium adds +3 to base adds +9 to base
Mithral 15 30/in. of thickness
Peacemetal 15 35/in. of thickness
Puremetal 12 30/in. of thickness
Adamantine 20 40/in. of thickness
Dolemetal 25 50/in. of thickness
Truemetal 30 50/in. of thickness
Paramount 40 60/in. of thickness
Glassteel 10 30/in. of thickness


Interaction between Shields and Armor

Shield enhancement bonuses stack with armor enhancement bonuses. Shield enhancement bonuses do not act as attack or damage bonuses when the shield is used in a shield bash. The bashing special ability, however, does grant a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls (see the special ability description).

A shield can be built such that it also acts as a magic weapon. This requires the shield to be equipped with shield spikes, and is handled as if the shield was a double weapon, namely, two sets of enhancements are applied to the shield and the costs are tracked as though they were two separate items, even though they aren't. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that like bonuses never stack. For example, a property which grants a shield bonus to AC from the shield spikes would not stack with the shield bonus provided by the shield itself. Also, as a note, some magic weapon properties, such as the Defending magic item property, require you to use your shield or armor as a weapon to gain the benefit of the property. The GM may rule that when using the shield or armor spikes as a weapon means you lose the actual shield or armor bonuses until the start of your next turn, just as if you used your shield for a shield bash.

Magic properties built into a shield add to the market value in the form of additions to the bonus of the shield, although they do not improve AC. A shield cannot have an absolute bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +18. A shield with a special ability must also have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.


Activation of Armor and Shields

Usually a character benefits from magic armor and shields in exactly the way a character benefits from non-magical armor and shields: by wearing them. If armor or a shield has a special ability that the user needs to activate, then the user usually needs to utter the command word (a standard action).


Armor for Unusual Creatures

The cost of armor for non-humanoid creatures, as well as for creatures who are neither Small nor Medium, varies. The cost of the masterwork quality is also affected to the same degree. IE, if armor costs four times as much because it is size large, it costs 4 times as much to make it masterwork. The cost to enchant a size large suit of armor is unchanged, however, nor does the armor's size increase the time required for enchantment.

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