Armoured mages

By Chris Lea

 

In case anyone's interested, here's my system (it's still being tweaked somewhat):

In order to cast a spell while in armour, a mage must make a save vs. spells, with the following modifiers to the roll:

-1/10# of armour worn (or portion thereof)

-1 armour is "fairly bulky"

-2 armour is "bulky"

-2 (-5 for illusion spells) if wearing visored helm

-1 if wearing leather gloves

-2 if wearing metal gauntlets

-1 (-2 if somatic component) for small shield or buckler

-2 (-4 if somatic component) for large shield

-1 spell to be cast is from level 1 or 2

-2 spell to be cast is from level 3 or 4

-3 spell to be cast is from level 5 or 6

-4 spell to be cast is from level 7 or 8

-5 spell to be cast is level 9

+5 caster is elf

+3 caster is gnome

+2 caster is half-elf

+3/proficiency slot used to facilitate casting

If roll is failed, the spell is lost from memory. On a natural "1" some nasty magical disaster might happen.

For convenience: banded -6; bronze plate -7; chain mail -4; elfin chain -2; leather -2; padded -2; plate mail -7; ring mail -4; scale mail -5; splint mail -6; studded leather -3; field plate -11 (-14 for illusions) [includes visored helm & gauntlet mods]; full plate -12 (-15 for illusions) [includes visored helm & gauntlet mods]

So an elven fighter/magic-user (3/3) wearing chain mail with small shield and leather gloves tries to cast a magic missile. The following modifiers apply:

-4(chain mail)-2(shield)-1(gloves)-1(lvl 1 spell)+5(is elf) = -3 .

He will succeed on 15 or better on d20.

If he drops the shield and gloves, it's a 12 or better roll.

A 23rd level human mage in splint mail with a ring of protection +2, who has used one proficiency slot to aid casting in armour attempts to cast a limited wish.

-6(splint mail)-4(level 7 spell)+2(ring)+3(proficiency)=-5

He will succeed on a 9 or better.

 

It is suggested that the player who wants to do this, do the math himself

 

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