Bracers of Defense + Weapon vs. AC

[Solinor]

Would you treat the wearer as having AC 10 for the purposes of weapon vs. ac? Or perhaps treat it as a monster AC where it is just a flat AC regardless of what weapon is used?

[T. Foster]

Would you treat the wearer as having AC 10 for the purposes of weapon vs. ac? Or perhaps treat it as a monster AC where it is just a flat AC regardless of what weapon is used?

If I used the weapon vs. AC chart (which, i confess, I don't) my instinct is that I would treat the bracers as the armor of the type matching their AC -- so bracers of AC 5 would not only give you AC 5, they'd give the AC 5 column of adjustments. I'm not dead-set on that, though.

[BlackBat242]

I'd be more tempted to rule that they would provide the base (non-modified) AC5 protection, myself.

After all, they are "Wonder Woman's Bracelets"... and deflect weapon strikes without regard to what kind of weapon is used.

Either they deflect or they don't, and the armor penetration characteristics of the specific weapon don't really come into play, now do they?

[ScottyG]

When you consider what the weapon vs. AC adjustments are supposed to represent, the effectiveness of individual weapons against the physical qualities of specific types of armor, then I would not suggest using the corresponding AC modifiers. The bracers provide a protection that is more magical force than anything else. I would just use the AC straight.

[foxroe]

I suppose it depends on how you would interpret the statement: "Their magic bestows an effective armor class equal to actually wearing armor and employing a shield." Based on that wording, I would be tempted to say to use the WvAC modifiers, but then again, I don't use them at all.

[Solinor]

Hah, it helps to actually read the description of the item, thanks foxroe. I think in the end I will probably just go with the flat AC with no modifiers. I like Blackcats idea about Wonder Woman bracelets, this would help with describing how they actually work. I guess I always saw a passive defense of an invisible energy field around the wearer that flared when struck, but don't know where I got the idea. Thanks for the feed back guys.

[Flambeaux]

Hah, it helps to actually read the description of the item, thanks foxroe. I think in the end I will probably just go with the flat AC with no modifiers. I like Blackcats idea about Wonder Woman bracelets, this would help with describing how they actually work. I guess I always saw a passive defense of an invisible energy field around the wearer that flared when struck, but don't know where I got the idea. Thanks for the feed back guys.

Holtzman Shield Generators

[Falconer]

Related question: Since a Monk’s level gives him an “effective AC,” and bracers of defense also give an “effective AC,” what happens when a Monk wears bracers of defense? For example, a Master of the North Wind has an effective AC of 3; then he puts on bracers of defense AC 2. Is his AC now 2, or -5?

[T. Foster]

I've always played that effects that give "AC x" as different from those that give a "+x to AC" and only the latter are stackable.

[Matthew]

I would agree with Trent as to the latter question. With regard to the former, I could go either way, so probably would have one set of bracers function one way and another set another.

[Stik]

A lot of the confusion that goes along with this topic could have been avoided if rather than being called "Armor Class Adjustment" the chart had been called Armor Type Adjustment.

Weapons are given bonuses or penalties based on the type or armor they are trying to penetrate. This is intended to simulate the real-world fact that some weapons are better at penetrating/defeating certain types of armor than others. The history of medieval weapons and armor plays out as an arms race in which weapons were being designed to defeat the best available armor of the time, resulting in advances in armor to better defend against those weapons.

How to treat Bracers of Defense depends on how you imagine them functioning. If you see them working like Wonder Woman's bracelets, being interposed to block incoming weapons, then an armor type adjustment would certainly be appropriate, although I think it should be the same adjustment as AT 9 (a shield only). If you see them as providing a general protection, like a "you-can-hit-me" force-field, then go with Armor Type 10 and apply the bonus or penalty accordingly.