Please Add Racial Armor Mastery And Agility

[Alcides]

In lieu of all races being granted some type of Racial Toughness. I propose the following in order to balance all races such that there is a glorious harmony amongst all their enhancements and they can only think happy thoughts.

Dwarves, Half-Orcs and Warforge would be limited to Racial Armor Mastery II, and Racial Armor Agility II.
Humans, and Half-Elves would be limited to Racial Armor Mastery III and Racial Armor Agility III.
Drow, Elves and Halflings would be limited to Racial Armor Mastery IV and Racial Armor Agility IV.

Racial Armor Mastery
1. Racial Armor Mastery 1 - Cost 1 AP
Increase the Maximum Dexterity Bonus of any type of armor the character wears by 1.
2. Racial Armor Mastery 2 - Cost 2 AP, Requires Racial Armor Mastery I
Increase the Maximum Dexterity Bonus of any type of armor the character wears by 2.
3. Racial Armor Mastery 3 - Cost 3 AP, Requires Racial Armor Mastery II, Racial Dexterity I
Increase the Maximum Dexterity Bonus of any type of armor the character wears by 3.
4. Racial Armor Mastery 4 - Cost 4 AP, Requires Racial Armor Mastery III, Racial Dexterity II
Increase the Maximum Dexterity Bonus of any type of armor the character wears by 4.

Racial Armor Agility
1. Racial Armor Agility 1 - Cost 1 AP
Decrease the Armor check penalty of any type of armor the character wears by 1 to a minimum of 0. Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 2.5% to a minimum of 0%.
2. Racial Armored Agility 2 - Cost 2 AP, Requires Racial Armor Agility I
Decrease the Armor check penalty of any type of armor the character wears by 2 to a minimum of 0. Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 5.0% to a minimum of 0%.
3. Racial Armor Agility 3 - Cost 3 AP, Requires Racial Armor Agility II, Racial Dexterity I
Decrease the Armor check penalty of any type of armor the character wears by 3 to a minimum of 0. Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 7.5% to a minimum of 0%.
4. Racial Armor Agility 4 - Cost 4 AP, Requires Racial Armor Agility III, Racial Dexterity II
Decrease the Armor check penalty of any type of armor the character wears by 4 to a minimum of 0. Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 10.0% to a minimum of 0%.

[Dexxaan]

Please go ez on the pipe......

[Ghoste]

So the more lightly built races, more accustomed to wearing light armor or none at all should be the experts at wearing heavier armor? And the heavier built races who are more accustomed to wearing heavy armor (not to mention warforged who have their armor bound to their own body) should be more awkward and less sure how to move with heavy armor?

Interesting request...

[WeaselKing]

Please make all races identical.

That is all.

[Mindspat]

In theory it seems "fun" although I suspect in function it would further compound issues of inflating AC even higher. This rule system is kinda broken in the upper echelons of the mechanics so I would rather see more diversity encouraged rather then the narrowly centric concepts of AC, DPS and HP.

I want more ways to play, not less.

[Hence]

I too could use an additional point of Armor Mastery on my Human Fighter.
Just one point... I was thinking a Racial Armor Mastery bonus would be perfect, but this takes away most of the "frills" of being a Dwarf.

It would be nice to get Racial Armor Mastery as a Human, supposedly the most adaptive race. And while I support this idea, I do not necessarily support the breakdown that the OP gave.

[Alcides]

This request does little to hurt any race, save Dwarves that would loose Armor Mastery III. The Racial toughness enhancements are tied to constitution and toughness, so why not tie armor mastery and agility to dexterity?

[MrCow]

Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 2.5%

Decrease the Arcane Spell Failure of any Armor the character wears by 7.5%

Last I checked the 100-sided dice failed horribly at decimals.

[Alcides]

Last I checked the 100-sided dice failed horribly at decimals.

Teach your dice to use banker's rounding

[Dexxaan]

Newsflash: Look at where banker´s rounding has got us.......

[eonfreon]

I'm sorry, this idea makes little sense.
For the reasons Ghoste already mentioned:
I just don't see how an Elf or Halfling would be more proficient in wearing Heavy Armor than a Dwarf, or even a Human.
And adding a 4th Tier?
That's really wishful thinking.
At best, I could see a Racial Armor Mastery line being divided into Heavy, Medium, and Light armors, based on Race.
But really, the thought of an Elven or Halfling Fighter to be more comfortable than a Dwarf in Heavy Armor just goes against any "logical" (in a Fantasy Setting) rationale.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

This request does little to hurt any race, save Dwarves that would loose Armor Mastery III. The Racial toughness enhancements are tied to constitution and toughness, so why not tie armor mastery and agility to dexterity?

Because armor mastery should be about training, not dex.

Dwarves should get a bonus, they are armor smiths by trade and training and culture. WF have this stuff imbued in their bodies, who better to be able to handle it?

Either treat everyone the same or give the best bonus to dwarves and WF.

[Blazer]

Because armor mastery should be about training, not dex.

Dwarves should get a bonus, they are armor smiths by trade and training and culture. WF have this stuff imbued in their bodies, who better to be able to handle it?

Either treat everyone the same or give the best bonus to dwarves and WF.

Somewhat along these lines, wasn't there a post made some time ago with a suggestion to have the dwarven armor mastery apply to heavy armor only, but give elves a similar line for light armor? That seemed to be a pretty good idea at the time.

[Alcides]

Either treat everyone the same or give the best bonus to dwarves and WF.

Dwarves already get the best of everything as far as melee goes. There's little reason not to make a dwarf melee if you look at it from a HPs/AC/DPS perspective. My proposed change does little harm to this venue.

Warforged would be getting Armored Enhancements which they don't currently have...

As far as the other races go. I didn't add anything that increased the maximum Dexterity bonus for a Tower Shield. And most high dex builds are going to be wearing Icy Raiment + 8 AC Bracers, and there's already been discussions at length about that item combo.

All the races are being treated equally. The basis for the armor mastery is dexterity. Just because you don't like how it shakes down for precious dwarven builds, well tough it is what it is.

[TreknaQudane]

All the races are being treated equally. The basis for the armor mastery is dexterity. Just because you don't like how it shakes down for precious dwarven builds, well tough it is what it is.

Here I thought the basis for Dwarven Armor Mastery was a throw back to the fact Dwarves in Heavy Plate don't incur a speed penalty unlike every other race.

Like most others I do not see how you can tie a good dexterity score to martial training. A race that lives and dies defending home and clan in plate armor should have the best use of the armor, next to WF who need some love for those that chose to go adamantine.

[Turial]

I'm sorry, this idea makes little sense.
For the reasons Ghoste already mentioned:
I just don't see how an Elf or Halfling would be more proficient in wearing Heavy Armor than a Dwarf, or even a Human.
And adding a 4th Tier?
That's really wishful thinking.
At best, I could see a Racial Armor Mastery line being divided into Heavy, Medium, and Light armors, based on Race.
But really, the thought of an Elven or Halfling Fighter to be more comfortable than a Dwarf in Heavy Armor just goes against any "logical" (in a Fantasy Setting) rationale.

Also by the time you have enough dex to support the 4th tier, you might just be better off going for robes and outfits.

[eonfreon]

I've not played Warforged, so I have to ask:
Do WF need Armor Mastery?
I didn't think Docents had a Max Dex?

I'm all for balance, but you're skewing it the other way, and in a way that makes little sense, from both a Realistic sense and an established Fantasy Setting sense.

Proficiency in Heavy Armor (or any armor really) so that you become more comfortable and able to apply one's natural agility does not come from dexterity, but rather from training (being taught how to move in the armor), strength (being strong enough to move in the armor) and constitution (being able to tire less quickly while maneuvering in armor).
It's those other factors (training, strength, constitution) that allow you more access to your agility, not the other way around.

And from a Fantasy Setting POV, it's stretches credibility to accept the Heavily Armored Elf (and Halfling, come on) as being more comfortable than the Heavily Armored Dwarf.

[negative]

next to WF who need some love for those that chose to go adamantine.

I don't know, the Dragontouched docent goes a long way to make up for the fact a WF can't wear Mithral Full Plate, and it doesn't even require the 4 extra dex that MFP does. Then again, other races have the same options in DT armor too.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

All the races are being treated equally. The basis for the armor mastery is dexterity. Just because you don't like how it shakes down for precious dwarven builds, well tough it is what it is.

No, I just don't think your suggestion makes sense from a common sense or lore standpoint.

[Stormanne]

All the races are being treated equally. The basis for the armor mastery is dexterity. Just because you don't like how it shakes down for precious dwarven builds, well tough it is what it is.

But that's just it, not all the races are equal. They each have their strong points and their weak points. If you make them all equal, then what is the point of even having different races other than appearance. To give racial bonuses to all the races for every little thing coming and going is take the game further away from its pencil and paper roots than it already is.