Armor

Armor Qualities

To wear most armor effectively, a character must select one or more Armor Proficiency feats.

Armor and shields can take damage from some types of attacks.

Here is the format for armor entries (explaining the column headings on Table: Armor and Shields, below).

Armor Damage Reduction and Shield Bonus

Each armor or shield grants damage reduction (DR) as shown. Armor DR and shield DR stack (and either stacks with natural armor DR), but multiple instances of the same source do not stack; shield DR from carrying a shield doesn't stack with other effects that grant shield DR, and armor DR from a suit of armor doesn't stack with other effects that grant armor DR (you can wear only one suit of armor). Armor DR plus shield DR plus natural armor DR (including any enhancement bonuses that apply to these DRs) gives your protection DR.

Half (rounding up) of your protection DR is damage negation. Negated damage is not applied to your hit points at all. The remainder of your total protection DR (that is, half of it, rounding down) is damage conversion. Converted damage is applied to your resilience points rather than your body points. Damage conversion from protection DR stacks with damage conversion from other sources such as Fighter levels.

If the damage from an attack is equal to or less than your damage negation, all damage from the attack is negated. If the damage from an attack is greater that your damage negation but no more than your total DR, damage equal to your damage negation is negated and the remainder is converted. If the damage from an attack exceeds your total DR, you benefit from your full damage negation and conversion, and then remaining damage is normal body damage.

Maximum Dex Bonus

This number is the maximum Dexterity bonus to Evasion that this type of armor allows. Heavier armors limit mobility, reducing the wearer's ability to dodge blows. This restriction doesn't affect any other uses of the Dexterity modifier. Even if a character's Dexterity bonus to Evasion drops to 0 because of armor, this situation does not count as losing a Dexterity bonus to Evasion.
Your character's encumbrance (the amount of gear he or she carries) may also restrict the maximum Dexterity bonus that can be applied to his or her Evasion. Use the encumbrance maximum or the armor maximum, whichever is worse.

Shields
Shields do not affect a character's maximum Dexterity bonus to Evasion.

Armor Check Penalty

Any armor heavier than leather hurts a character's ability to use some skills. An armor check penalty number is the penalty that applies to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand, and Tumble checks by a character wearing a certain kind of armor. Double the normal armor check penalty is applied to Swim checks.
Armor check penalties from armor and shield stack.
A character's encumbrance (the amount of gear carried, including armor) may also apply a check penalty, but this does not stack with an armor check penalty. Use the armor check penalty or the encumbrance check penalty, whichever is worse.

Nonproficient with Armor Worn

A character who wears armor and/or uses a shield with which he or she is not proficient takes the armor's (and/or shield's) armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all Strength-based and Dexterity-based ability and skill checks. Check penalties from nonproficient armor use stack with check penalties from nonproficient shield use.

Sleeping in Armor

A character who sleeps in medium or heavy armor is automatically fatigued the next day. He or she takes a -1 penalty on Strength and Dexterity modifiers and can't charge or run. Sleeping in light armor does not cause fatigue.

Arcane Spell Failure

Spells are not yet in play. (Armor will hinder spellcasting when we bring that in, but not necessarily in exactly the same way as in the official rules).

Speed

Medium or heavy armor slows the wearer down. On Table: Armor and Shields are columns for base speeds of 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 feet. In each column is the character's speed while wearing the armor.

Shields
Shields do not affect a character's speed.

Weight

This column gives the weight of the armor sized for a Medium wearer. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much, and armor for Large characters weighs twice as much.

Armor Descriptions

Banded Mail:The suit includes gauntlets.

Breastplate:It comes with a helmet and greaves.

Buckler:This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm. You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it. You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a -1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you don't get the buckler's shield bonus for the rest of the round.
You can't bash someone with a buckler.

Chain Shirt:A chain shirt comes with a steel cap.

Chainmail:The suit includes gauntlets.

Full Plate:The suit includes gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a visored helmet, and a thick layer of padding that is worn underneath the armor. Each suit of full plate must be individually fitted to its owner by a master armorsmith, although a captured suit can be resized to fit a new owner at a cost of 200 to 800 (2d4x100) gold pieces.

Gauntlet, Locked:This armored gauntlet has small chains and braces that allow the wearer to attach a weapon to the gauntlet so that it cannot be dropped easily. It provides a +10 bonus on any roll made to keep from being disarmed in combat. Removing a weapon from a locked gauntlet or attaching a weapon to a locked gauntlet is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
The price given is for a single locked gauntlet. The weight given applies only if you're wearing a breastplate, light armor, or no armor. Otherwise, the locked gauntlet replaces a gauntlet you already have as part of the armor.
While the gauntlet is locked, you can't use the hand wearing it for casting spells or employing skills. (You can still cast spells with somatic components, provided that your other hand is free.)
Like a normal gauntlet, a locked gauntlet lets you deal lethal damage rather than nonlethal damage with an unarmed strike.

Half-Plate:The suit includes gauntlets.

Scale Mail:The suit includes gauntlets.

Shield, Heavy, Wooden or Steel:You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy shield is so heavy that you can't use your shield hand for anything else.
Wooden or Steel: Wooden and steel shields offer the same basic protection, though they respond differently to special attacks.
Shield Bash Attacks: You can bash an opponent with a heavy shield, using it as an off-hand weapon. See Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a heavy shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a heavy shield as a one-handed weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its shield bonus until your next action (usually until the next round). An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Shield, Light, Wooden or Steel:You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A light shield's weight lets you carry other items in that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it.
Wooden or Steel: Wooden and steel shields offer the same basic protection, though they respond differently to special attacks.
Shield Bash Attacks: You can bash an opponent with a light shield, using it as an off-hand weapon. See Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a light shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a light shield as a light weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its AC bonus until your next action (usually until the next round). An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Shield, Tower:This massive wooden shield is nearly as tall as you are. In most situations, it provides the indicated shield bonus to your AC. However, you can instead use it as total cover, though you must give up your attacks to do so. The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding. You cannot bash with a tower shield, nor can you use your shield hand for anything else.
When employing a tower shield in combat, you take a -2 penalty on attack rolls because of the shield's encumbrance.

Spikes:Adding spikes to armor or a shield adds to the cost and weight, but makes it more effective in attack. Details are given under Weapons.

Splint Mail:The suit includes gauntlets.

Masterwork Armor

Just as with weapons, you can purchase or craft masterwork versions of armor or shields. Such a well-made item functions like the normal version, except that its armor check penalty is lessened by 1.
A masterwork suit of armor or shield costs double the normal cost for that type of armor or shield.
The masterwork quality of a suit of armor or shield never provides a bonus on attack or damage rolls, even if the armor or shield is used as a weapon.
All magic armors and shields are automatically considered to be of masterwork quality.
You can't add the masterwork quality to armor or a shield after it is created; it must be crafted as a masterwork item.

Armor For Unusual Creatures

Armor and shields for unusually big creatures, unusually little creatures, and nonhumanoid creatures have different costs and weights from those given on Table: Armor and Shields. Refer to the appropriate line on the table below and apply the multipliers to cost and weight for the armor type in question.

Getting Into And Out Of Armor

The time required to don armor depends on its type; see Table: Donning Armor.

Don

This column tells how long it takes a character to put the armor on. (One minute is 10 rounds.) Readying (strapping on) a shield is only a move action.

Don Hastily

This column tells how long it takes to put the armor on in a hurry. The armor check penalty and armor bonus for hastily donned armor are each 1 point worse than normal.

Remove

This column tells how long it takes to get the armor off. Loosing a shield (removing it from the arm and dropping it) is only a move action.