ARMOR SPECIAL ABILITES
Magic armor is a common but vital item. In general, it protects the wearer to a greater extent than non-magical armor. Magic armor bonuses are enhancement bonuses, never rise above +5, and stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses). All magic armor is also masterwork armor, reducing armor check penalties by 1. In addition to an enhancement bonus, armor may have special abilities, such as the ability to resist critical hits or to help the wearer hide. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of an item, but do not improve AC. A suit of armor cannot have an effective bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A suit of armor with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. A suit of armor or a shield may be made of an unusual material. Armor is always created so that even if the type of armor comes with boots or gauntlets, these pieces can be switched for other magic boots or gauntlets.
Caster Level for Armor and Shields: The caster level of a magic shield or 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.
Shields: Shield enhancement bonuses stack with armor enhancement bonuses, so that a +1 heavy steel shield and +1 chainmail grant a total bonus of +9 to AC. Shield enhancement bonuses do not act as attack or damage bonuses when the shield is used in a bash. The bashing special ability, however, does grant a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls (see the special ability description). You could, in fact, build a shield that also acted as a magic weapon, but the cost of the enhancement bonus on attack rolls would need to be added into the cost of the shield and its enhancement bonus to AC. For example, a +1 buckler with +1 shield spikes would cost 3,475 gp (15 gp for the basic buckler, 150 to make it masterwork, 1,000 for the +1 bonus to AC, 10 gp for the spikes, 300 to make them masterwork, and 2,000 to make the spikes a +1 weapon). As with armor, special abilities built into the 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 effective bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A shield with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.
Shield Hardness and Hit Points: Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 2 to a shield’s hardness and +10 to its hit points. For example, a +3 heavy steel shield has hardness 16 and 50 hp.
Magic Armor and Shield Special Ability Descriptions
Name: Each entry begins with the ASAs name. The name of the ASA is color coded to indicate what ASAs are useful and what ASAs is a waste of space. The color scheme is as follows, using colors in the following order: Below Average Feat (Orange), Average (Green), An Above Average Feat (Blue), You’d be a fool not to take this (Purple)
Price: All armor abilities have a price which is either an increase in the enhancement bonus for purposes of calculating the price, or a flat gold piece value. A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus property bonus equivalents) higher than +10, nor can it have a market price (not counting special materials or the price of the masterwork armor/shield itself) of greater than 200,000 gp
Property: This indicates what the property can be added to. Usually it is armor or shield, but some can only be added to armor, some to shield, and some to only particular types of armor or shields.
Caster Level: The caster level of armor or shield with a special ability is given in the item stat block. For an item with only an enhancement bonus and no other abilities, 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.
Aura: The item’s aura strength, which is revealed if it is subjected to a detect magic spell, followed by a semicolon. Next, in parentheses, is the Spellcraft DC required to determine the school of magic, followed by the school or schools of magic associated with the item’s aura (usually determined by the spells listed in an item’s prerequisites). If the item requires only universal spells, or if it requires no spells, this reads “no school.” If multiple spells of different schools are required, the item’s aura is of the school of the highest-level spell. When two spells of different schools are equally high in level, the entry mentions both schools.
Activation: Usually a character benefits from magic armor in the same way a character benefits from a mundane armor, by wearing it. If an ASA has a special ability that the user needs to activate, then the type of action required to activate the item’s effect, along with what the user must do to activate the item is include in this entry. An entry of — indicates the item operates continuously, without any need for activation.
Prerequisite: Some armor abilities have the quality of synergy. A synergy property has a prerequisite, much as a feat does. Specifically, the item must already possess another particular property before a synergy ability can be added to it. Otherwise, synergy abilities function the same as any other weapon property. Despite the requirements for adding synergy abilities to armor and weapons, most adventurers consider them well worth the cost. These properties allow you to upgrade a favored ability of an item over time, rather than paying for it all at once. Synergy properties always replace their prerequisite property. Many synergy properties expand upon or improve the prerequisite property, and others both subsume the prerequisite property and add new abilities. To determine a synergy item’s effective enhancement bonus (and thus its aura strength and overall gp value), add together the bonus equivalent of the synergy property, the bonus equivalent of the synergy prerequisite property, the item’s enhancement bonus, and any bonus equivalents for other properties the item has. However, after adding a synergy property, the item loses its synergy prerequisite abilities. A synergy property still counts as any of its synergy prerequisite properties for the purpose of qualifying an item for still more synergy properties.
Description: A visual description of the item, read by the DM to a player whose character has discovered the item. A description of the item’s functions, including its effect, duration, range, uses per day, and so on.
Construction: What you need to add this particular weapon ability to a weapon.
Upgrade: If an armor ability has any synergies that require that particular ASA as a prerequisite, then those synergies are listed here. It should be noted that when you stack multiple synergies on the same base prerequisite, you only have to buy the base armor ability once. Only the base prerequisite is suppressed by a synergy and it can be suppressed multiple times, but it has no additional effect.
Synergy: When a particular armor ability works well with another armor ability, or a group of armor abilities, those abilities are listed here along with a short explanation as to how you might use it.
Editor: This is where general notes and observations are made. They are entirely subjective.
General Strategies
The key optimization strategy is to take as many special abilities as you can afford. All the way up to +9. You can make up for the lack of enhancement pluses with Magic Vestment. Consider putting it on a wand or a staff so you don't drive your cleric crazy. A few levels in UMD and you can buff up in the AM, and let your cleric memorize those other cool spells on his list. Also consider using a spell that mimicks a special ability to temporarily buff your armor. If it's not a buff you will need often then put the buff in a scroll. If it is a buff you will use all the time, then try placing the buff in a staff or a wand. It is likely to be cheaper than putting it on your weapon directly, and it frees up your weapon for other cooler special abilities.
When selecting your armor, there in unfortunately only one body slot. So that means that there is only one suit of armor that you can wear, right? Well, actually, there are a few exceptions. Certain types of foundation armor can accept a Chahar-Aina and a Dastana. Both of which add to your armor, but are technically separate pieces of armor. So, in theory, if you wished, one could wear a chain shirt with Chahar-Aina and Dastana and make each piece +1 with +9 in bonus ASAs. Also, the bracers of armor. They take up a body slot, but they can also by RAW accept up to +5 in bonuses, even the cheapest AC 1 bracer. So, in theory, on could have up to +32 in armor special abilities and then have someone cast magic vestment on his chain main and either the Chahar-Aina or the Dastana (They don’t stack with one another) and you have a total of +42. That is some serious ASAs.
On top of this, you can have a bracer on both arms (technically the negatives don’t stack) and put shield enhancements on both. If your DM is kind, you could enchant a ring of shielding or two, although I would limit it to only +5 myself, just like the bracers. Why, you could get another +33 in shield EBs and ASAs if you did it right.
Here’s a dirty little secret, most ASAs aren’t worth it. Oh, they got the rare good ones, but most of the ASAs are cheaper in other magic items, or not that impressive, or just plain impractical. Which is understandable, because D&D isn’t a video game. It isn’t about tanking up. It’s about rocket tag. Your money should be spent on weapons to kill your enemy, with some cash spent of a few defenses to buy you time to use your rocket to blow up your enemy. Not that armor and shields are useless, but they just don’t have the same game breaking “kick” that most WSAs have.
Ability Boost
(Presence, Strength, Improved Strength)
You’d think that there would be a whole suite of ability boosting ASAs, but apparently nobody bothered to write them up. And with good reason, because they are so much more expensive in a suit of armor then in a wondrous item. In short, don’t bother.
Anti-Magic
(Power Resistance [13,15,17,19], Spell Resistance [13,15,17,19], Reflecting, Spell Trapping, Spell Catching)
Spell resistance and power resistance may do the same thing, depending on your DM, or they might each work on spells and psionics respectively. As it stands, they are really only useful at low levels. Unfortunately, the scale of caster level tends to increase far faster then SR/PR is useful. But it still can provide a speed bump at lower levels. What you need is SR tht scales with your level, and that usually is a class feature. Since spell trapping is based on SR, and is a +5 ASA, it’s useless. Seriously. Total waste of cash. Reflecting isn’t that bad, except its only once a day and it too is a +5. So that leaves spell catching, which isn’t that horrible considering the cost, but it only goes up to 3rd and 6th level spells, depending on how much you spend on it. WotC just hates nerfing magic, for some reason. As a recommendation, none of the anti-magic ASAs are worth your time.
Anti-Stealth
(Heraldic Crest-Insight, Ocular, Scorpion Carapace, Seeing)
The Insight heraldic crest gives you the ability to cast see invisible once a day. Ocular and Seeing give you some minor bonuses to spot checks. Only the insight is worth anything, and even then Heraldic Crests are such a pain in the butt to use that they usually get ignored. Now Scorpion Carapace gives you scorpion sense, or the ability to sense people’s presence by vibrations in the ground from 10 to 20 feet away. If that doesn’t stop invisible people sneaking up on you, I don’t know what will. The problem is the expense. 32,000 gp is quite a bit of cash to lay out. Still, worth a look, depending on your needs.
Arcane Spell Success
(Twilight)
If you are an arcane spellcaster in armor, you cannot go wrong with twilight. Buy it. Buy it now.
Attacking
(Bashing, Glory Heraldic Crest, Poison Spike, Ranged, Whirlwind)
Without surprise, there are not that many offensive options for armor. If you are a sword and board, bashing is totally necessary as it increases your shield’s damage. The Glory Heraldic Crest makes you a more effective melee fighter, although the cost is a bit much. Poison spikes give you poison armor spikes, or make your armor spikes poisoned. I’m not sure which Check with your DM. Ranged Shield is stupid. Don’t take it, ever. Whirlwind is expensive, but being able to turn into a tornado and attack your foes by flinging them into the air is awesome. However, check with your DM first. Technically, you do not achieve gaseous form when you turn it on. Therefore, you can still be attacked. Make sure he RAIs that in or it’s useless. Who wants to turn into a funnel of whirling flesh?
Aura Management
(Inspiration Heraldic Crest)
If you are a marshal or a paladin, or anyone with a fear aura or any sort of aura, you will want this. It greatly increases the effectiveness of your auras. Anyone else, it’s useless.
Communications
(Linked, Signaling)
Linked is telepathic communication over a 10 mile area. Signaling is more along the lines of a very expensive remove camera. Everyone would have to buy linked separately, but for 3 hours a day you can be in communication. And note, the other people each get 3 hours a day as well. So with a 8 man group, you would have 24 hours. Signaling is more for NPCs.
Control
(Charming, Command, Commander, Spider Bound, Undead Controlling, Vermin Controlling)
Armor is good for being the guy in charge. Charming give you a damage aura that makes people who attack you subject to a charm person. Command and commander both help leadership feat. If you are into that feat, look at these ASAs. Spider Bound gives you a pet giant spider. Not that impressive for the cost. Undead and vermin controlling both give you 26 HD of obedient critters to serve as your wall of flesh and get in between you and anything that doesn’t like you. Both are fairly repulsive, but the combination of the two would allow you to have a small army fairly quickly. However, they just strike me as more NPC then PC ASAs. Frankly I find wrangling hoards of NPC monsters to be a major logistical pain in the ass.
Criticals
(Bloodlust Heraldic Crest)
If you need help confirming criticals, this can help. Otherwise, it’s of no use.
Damage Aura: Attacked
(Burning, Charming, Distracting, Ectoplasmic Feedback, Hamatula Barbs, Retaliation)
Burning allows you to burst into flames and do 2d6 damage to anyone who hits you for 11 rounds 3/day. All this for the low price of 90,000 gp. That is insane. Charming is also a bit expensive, but against monsters the DC is 16 and normal humanoids it is DC 11. So it’s not useless, but not that effective, either. Distracting is also horribly over priced, but it targets anyone who is your enemy within 45 feet every round. So by sheer numbers, eventually someone will roll a 1. Ectoplasmic feedback is a joke. It basically targets only undead ghosts. For a ghost hunter, it might be worth it, everyone else can safely ignore it. Hamatula barbs is finally a Damage aura ASA I would buy. 1d8 damage every time someone melee attacks you and only a +2 bonus. Retaliation tries to do the same thing, but it doesn’t turn on as often, does less damage, and costs the same.
Damage Aura: Grappled
(Acidic, Gnashing, Slimy, Starver)
A damage aura is basically this: When someone or something harms you in a given fashion, they take damage. Alas, the range of damage auras is all over the place. Acidic only harms that which grapples you for a full round. Gnashing bites anyone grappling you, but also anyone you grapple, so if you like hugging people, it could be useful. Slimy is really only useful if you are grappling or being grappled, and is a bit over priced. Starver is a +2 bonus that does 2d6 to anyone who grapples you. I would put this second after gnashing, since it doesn’t kick in if you are grappling someone.
Damage Reduction
(Axeblock, Hammerblock, Invulnerability, Spearblock, Stonemeld, Swarmguard)
Okay, first of all, damage reduction doesn’t stack, so While these are interesting, for some reason, WotC just doesn’t like people having easily bought DR. Axe/Hammer/Spear block all provide DR 5, but only against one type of melee damage. At +2 bonus each, in a stripped down suit of armor, it would cost about +6 bonus or 49,000 gp to be protected from everything. Invulnerability is a +3 bonus, but it’s 5/magic, so it’s useless to most players. Swarmguard is 5/-, but only against swarms, and stonemeld is 80,000 gp for 5/-. Your choices of DR just suck. I’m sorry, but that’s the case.
Defend: Armor Class
(Drowcraft, Focused, Valiant Defense Heraldic Crest, Illithidwrought, Nacreous)
Honestly, they all suck. The bonus to AC is better if you just buy an EB to the base armor.
Defend: Bludgeoning
(Anti-impact, Hammerblock)
Hammerblock gives you DR only against bludgeoning for a +2 bonus. If for some reason you need to defend against ONLY bludgeoning damage, then this might help. Otherwise, move along. Anti-impact only helps against massive blunt force trauma, like if you fall off a cliff or get hit with a massive falling object, like a small moon. I would totally recommend it, simply so you have your back protected against a few of those No Save/No SR attacks that involve blunt force trauma like Iceberg or Hail of Stones.
Defend: Breath Weapons
(Dragondodger)
Just get evasion from a ring and be done with it. This sucks.
Defend: Bull Rush/Overrun/Trip
(Anchoring, Greater Anchoring)
Yet another obscure method of attack that doesn’t get used that much. So when you get up in level, you really need to look at this, as there are few methods to prevent being kept prone constantly by a professional tripper.
Defend: Criticals/Sneak attack
(Fortification, Fortifying defense, Reinforcement)
Oh, what wonderful ideas, but in practice, way too expensive and ineffective. Alas, it’s difficult to make it count. At higher levels, critical masters can certain make your life short, and a sneaky rogue can backstab, but there are far cheaper ways to buy it with wondrous items.
Defend: Desiccation
(Desiccation Resistance)
How often do you get hit with horrid wilting? That said, it’s an obscure form of attack and it’s not that expensive. It’s worth picking this up at higher levels when your DM starts to use weird forms of damage.
Defend: Energy
(Acid/Cold/Electricity/Fire/Sonic Resistance, Burning, Comfort, Cooling, Energy Immunity, Everbright, Fire/Frost Warding, Bolstering Heraldic Crest, Radiant, Warming)
Armor is supposed to protect you, so it should be good at protecting you from energy damage, yes? No. I’m afraid armor sucks at protecting you from energy damage. Why? Because for some insane reason WotC though that Armor wasn’t a real body slot and jacked up the price on all energy resistance. Acid/Cold/Eletricity/Fire/Sonic Resistance is far cheaper in a ring. Given the rules for combining magic items in the MIC, there is no reason to ever standard energy defense in an armor, as is. Especially since energy resistance does not stack. Burning gives you 10 fire resistance for 90,000 gp. Don’t buy it. Comfort is 5,000 gp, and a wand that does the same thing is 750 gp and it lasts 24 hours a charge.
There are three exceptions, Cooling, Everbright, and Warming. They are each only a +1 bonus, and they each give energy resistance 5 to fire, acid, and cold respectfully. In a stripped down suit of armor, it would be cheaper then buying it in a ring.
There are three ASAs that provide variable protection. Bolstering Heraldic Crest gives you 7 rounds of any energy resistance you want at 20. Not wonderful, but it activates as a free action, so that’s nice. Radiant gives you All Five energy types at 10 for a +4 bonus. If you can’t combine everything into a ring, then this isn’t a bad option, depending on what other ASAs you have in the armor. Finally, there is energy immunity. It lasts for 10 rounds, it total immunity to every energy type, EXCEPT SONIC. For that, we curse WotC for once again messing with sonic energy types. Still, I’d pick it up, as its only a +2 bonus and it activates with an immediate action.
Defend: Flanking
(Ocular, Seeing, Wary)
Ocular makes you immune to flanking. Seeing fails to be any help against flanking. Wary helps rogues against flanking, but if you take ocular and become immune to it, then who cares?
Defend: Incorporeal
(Ectoplasmic Feedback, Ghost Touch)
Ghost touch is a +3 bonus when the weapon version is +1? What, you want to drive people to buy bracers of armor? I don’t understand WotC sometimes. It’s like they made all the defenses you can buy suck so you’d be forced to get those defenses as a spellcaster. Ectoplasmic feedback is a joke, but if you are dealing with ghosts, it might annoy them to take 1d6 when they touch you.
Defend: Negative Energy/Stat Drain
(Absorbing, Deathward, Negative Energy Protection, Soulfire)
Absorbing is the main way to protect yourself from ability drain. It sort of protects you from death-effects. Deathward protects you for one attack, but any attack. NEP activates after you are attacked and lasts for seven rounds. Not bad, but not amazing. Soulfire just renders you immune, but is a +4 bonus, so it’s on the expensive side. But you get what you pay for.
Defend: Piercing
(Nacreous, Spearblock)
Nacreous is a +2 to your AC against piercing. Spearblock is DR against only piercing. Normally this would suck, except that underwater, the most effective weapons are piercing. That means that if you are making a suit of underwater armor, you should consider these. Otherwise, next.
Defend: Ranged Attacks
(Arrow Catching, Arrow Deflection, Roaring)
Arrow catching draws all projectiles to you, arrow deflection lets you make one reflex save a round to deflect a projectile. Roaring reflects non-magical projectiles that do less then 10 points of damage back at the attacker. The projectile automatically hits. The obvious combination is arrow catching and roaring. Most arrows home in on you, then reflect back at the people shooting at you. Dangerous, but cool at the same time.
Defend: Slashing
(Axeblock)
There are better sources of comprehensive DR elsewhere.
Defend: Touch Attack
(Ghost Ward)
Touch attack is very difficult to pump up. This allows you to add to your touch attack. At higher levels, this becomes almost mandatory for fighters.
Druid Based
(Beastskin, Shapeshifting, Wild, Woodwalk)
If you like wild shape and want to keep all your armor bonuses and armor special abilities, Beastskin is the best choice. Wild is more expensive and does not provide you with your ASAs. However, it does not double the cost of Wild Shape uses per day like beastskin. Shapeshifting does it on the cheap. For a +1 bonus, you can turn your armor’s enhancement bonus into a deflection bonus, while shapeshifted which may not stack with other sources. However, Shapeshifting and beastskin should stack with each other, it’s just other sources of deflection AC may not help you.
Every 2nd level druid and 7th level ranger needs to buy woodwalk. Short range teleport, hiding in trees for days on end, it is just awesome and only usable by druids and rangers with woodland stride. So if you have woodland stride, you need this ASA.
Essentia
(Soulbound)
I don’t play with incarnium. So… whatever. Write a review and send it to me.
Evil Based
(Darksoul Protection, Demonmight Ward)
Impressive sounding names. Both suck. They suck hard. DMs, give your NPCs these ASAs to cripple them so it’s easier for your players to kill them. It’s THAT bad.
Fear
(Fearsome, Menacing)
Both fear ASAs go straight to panicked, but don’t last long. Still, combined with the various weapon fear-based WSAs, this could be a real game changer, given fear’s stacking effects. Get someone mildly afraid for 5 minutes, use a 1 round panic ASA, your enemies are now panicked for 5 minutes. Both are worth considering if you are going to be a fear monger. Fearsome is the better of the two, in my opinion, but it depends on your specific stacking needs.
Flying
(Feathered, Landing, Whirlwind)
Feathered lets you fly for a while. Not bad, but the WSAs that let you fly are better. Landing gives you slow fall 60 feet, which might be better then feather fall, in a very limited set of circumstances. Whirlwind turns you into a whirlwind for 4 rounds a day. Not good for flying very far, but it’s an option.
Good Based
(Angelic, Exalted)
Like evil based ASAs, these suck hard. They are next to useless.
Group Tactics
(Commander, Dancing, Linked, Paired, Wrapping)
These ASAs give you benefits when used with other people. Commander gives everyone around you a +1 morale bonus on will saves, which is nice for 2,000 gp. Dancing allows you to give your shield to someone else for 4 rounds. As it reads, there is no limit to how far the shield can go to protect someone else. Linked is only useful if everyone else buys linked for 6,000 gp each. But as a group it basically allows communication with the entire party telepathically.
The last two are strange. Paired gives you a +1 to your EB for your shield for every other people next to you with a paired shield. So if you have a platoon of men moving in a group, it starts to stack up quickly. Wrapping allows you to “stick”, to an enemy. So if a platoon of men had paired wrapping shields, they could surround someone, group “stick” to him, and in the process gain AC bonuses for every man who jumps onto the dog pile until the enemy collapses from the sheer number of men clinging to them.
Hit Point/Condition Management
(Healing, Heartening, Courage Heraldic Crest, Magic-Eating)
Healing is awesome in that it kicks in automatically if you reach negative hit points. More actions is awesome. Heartening gives you 5 temp hit points for 5 minutes twice a day for 2,000. Courage HC gives you aid and gives you 1d8+5 HPs once a day for 4,000 gp. I’m not that impressed with either of them, but if you got the WBL to blow, it’s not like they cost much. Finally Magic-Eating, for 10,000 gp, you get 1 HP for every level of a spell you save against THAT TARGETS YOU. Alas, that last part makes it suck. If Temp Hit points stacked, heartening and courage would be better buys. As it stands, just buy healing, or greater healing, if you have the cash, and you should be good.
Immunity
(Energy Immunity, Health, Planar Tolerance, Proof Against Enchantments, Proof Against Transmutation, Styptic, Time Buttress)
Energy Immunity will only make you immune to one of four types of energy (not sonic), but still is a good buy for a +2 bonus. For 11,250 gp, health renders you immune to all diseases. That means you can pick up green slime and throw it at people. Laugh at mummy rot. All sorts of fun stuff. Planar tolerance is expensive at 25,000 gp, but lets face facts, who likes the idea of being tossed into the element of Void and exploding? Well this will protect you from all sorts of background planar damage. So if you get to the level where planar hopping is an issue, you need this.
Proof against enchantments and transmutation are both expensive, but they deliver the goods. Styptic provides partial immunity to blood loss, so it’s worth a look. And time buttress gives you the rest of this round, and until the end of the next, where you are flat out immune to all attacks. One round of laughing at your most hated enemy. One round of using the cursed artifact of instant death. There is a great deal of potential abuse here, and worth a look, despite the high cost.
Initiative
(Courage HC, Roaring)
Courage only gives you a +1, but roaring gives you a +4. Still, the WSAs that boost Initiative are better choices. However, if you run out of sources to initiative, consider these. Remember, speed kills.
Light
(Daylight, Radiant)
Light is cheap and easy to get. Don’t waste your money in your armor.
Miss Chance
(Blinking, Blurring, Dark, Displacement, Gleaming, Mirror Image)
Blurring gives you a 20% miss chance for 15 rounds a day as a +1 Bonus. Greater Blurring costs +3 Bonus and lasts all day, but you have to keep renewing it. Gleaming is basically blur that lasts all day and costs +3 bonus. Dark gives you 20% miss chance, but only against people relying on darkvision.
Blinking and displacement both give you 50% miss chance, and both are really expensive for what they do. For the same price I would pick up mirror image. In fact, mirror image works with the miss chance, so you would do good to combine them. Although there are cheaper sources of mirror image.
Movement
(Freedom, Ice, Malleable, Mobility, Quickness, Speed, Spider Boon)
Freedom is expensive, but it gives you freedom of movement. You are better off with the ring, but if you need to save on space, it’s not that bad a choice. Ice slows down everyone else around you, so that’s like going faster yourself. Not my top choice, but a good choice. Malleable allows you to move and fight in areas too small for your size class, which in certain builds would be quite useful, but not for most. Quickness gives you an extra +5’ of movement. Always a good choice. Speed is haste, but it costs you your swift action. There are better sources of haste. However, if you cannot get perma-haste, all sources of haste are useful. You can never have too much haste, until you have unlimited haste, then you have enough.
Finally spider boon makes it easier to crawl around in spider webs and sticky stuff. It doesn’t do it very well, I’m afraid. I’d just get freedom and be done with it. Still, maybe you are on a budget. If that’s the case, then this and maybe the ASA Slick would be an okay combination. But it would be a whole lot of work to do what can be done with a freedom of movement ring.
Psionics
(Manifester, Thought Bastion)
I don’t use psionics. You’re on your own. Send me a write up and I’ll put it in here.
Rage
(Ferocity Heraldic Crest)
If you rage, pick this up. It gives you an extra round when you rage and an extra rage per day. It gives everyone a rage per day. Combine this with the rage based WSAs, and you can rage twice a day, do massive extra damage, and have it last for up to 10 rounds. For the price, if you like to rage, you should pick this up.
Repulsion
(Antipathy, Averter, Sanctuary)
Antipathy only works against a specific alignment, but if you pick any neutral alignment, that could cover most mooks. It lasts for two hours, which is nice, but it’s very expensive and not the pancea that you may wish. Averter gives you three rounds, three times a day as a DC 14, but it affects everyone and you can attack them. Sanctuary is DC 11, and you cannot take any overt hostile action, but it lasts a few minutes. Frankly, they all suck to one degree or another. I suppose antipathy, arrow catching, and roaring might be a good combination, at least against non-magic using rank and file mooks.
Rust Protection
(Blueshine, Durable, Everbright)
All three protect your armor, and only your armor, from rust and acid damage. Durable is the cheapest, but the other two have some minor perks. If rust is your concern, durable is the one to choose.
Saving Throws
(Agility, Empyreal, Bolstering Heraldic Crest, Mindarmor, Resilient, Scorpion Carapace, Slippery Aura/Mind, Stamina)
Agility is the same cost as ability in your weapon . Both are the only ways to get a +6 to your reflex save. Yes, it’s expensive, but when your WBL gets high enough, you will learn that it’s cheaper then resurrection. Empyreal allows you to turn your armor’s EBs into a sacred bonus to Saving throws. That’s very useful, as there are not a whole bunch of sacred bonuses to saving throw. Bolstering gives you a +1 morale bonus to fortitude and reflex saves, but it’s really overpriced. Mind armor gives you a immediate action to add a +5 untyped bonus to your will save. Frankly, that’s awesome for a mere 3,000 gp.
Now Empyreal is a +2 bonus, but for a +1 bonus you can use resilient that lets you move your EB to one TYPE of saving throw, as an untyped bonus. So you have to choose will, fortitude, or reflex, but you can do it as an immediate action, so that beats Empyreal that has to happen on your turn.
Scorpion carapace gives you a +4, but only against mind-affecting. At least it’s untyped. Slippery Mind/Aura gives you a free reroll on any mind affecting will save you fail and/or grant it to all your friends. Expensive, but it sure helps resist mind control, which can destroy a party in short order.
Finally, stamina gives you bonuses to your fortitude saves, but it doesn’t go up to +6 like agility, and it’s overpriced.
Senses
(Scorpion Carapace, Sentinel)
The scorpion carapace lets you sense anyone within 10 feet. Combine that with an area effect revealer, like Glitterdust, and invisible assassins will be a thing of the past. Sentinel just lets someone else see what you are seeing. It’s over priced for what it does.
Skill Boosts
(Balance, Blueshine, Dark, Insight Heraldic Crest, Hideous, Ocular, Seeing, Shadow, Silent Moves, Slick, Spider Boon)
Balance gives you competence bonus to balance checks. Over priced for what it does, and chances are you won’t need to balance all that much. But hey, maybe you want to be an acrobat or something. Blueshine gives you a +2 competence bonus to hide, so it doesn’t stack with shadow. Dark only works against darkvision, but it stacks with shadow. Insight gives you a +2 enhancement bonus to spot checks, but is over priced. Hideous may be worth it, because there aren’t a whole lot of skill bonuses to intimidate. Ocular gives you a +4 competence bonus to spot for a +2 bonus. Seeing gives you a +1 enhancement bonus to spot and is way over priced. Shadow and Silent moves both add to hide and move silent, but there are cheaper sources of skill bonuses for hide and move silent elsewhere. Slick gives you bonuses to escape artist checks. Finally Spider boon gives you a +4 enhancement bonus to Climb and Escape Artist and for 8 rounds you can take ten on climb checks. Over all, I’m not impressed with any of the skill boosts.
Spell Like Ability
(Blinding, Distracting, Ectoplasmic Wall, Energy Drain, Ghost Disrupting, Bloodlust/Honor/Valiant Defense Heraldic Crest, Ice, Stonemeld, Undead Disrupting)
Spell like abilities are powers that you can use that are basically things you activate a limited number of times per day. It’s a grab bag of powers that don’t fit anywhere else. Blinding can do a DC reflex save to blind people for 1d4 rounds twice a day. Even as a +1 bonus its somewhat overpriced. Distracting allows you to use hypnotic pattern, which lasts as long as you concentrate. So it isn’t that bad. Ectoplasmic wall allows you to make a wall once a day that isn’t that amazing, but can slow people down. Energy drain used to be awesome until the errata which made it work once a day. The compensated to bring it down to 10,000 gp, so if you are a sword and board, you should pick it up for your shield. If you are a monk, get it in a bracers of armor, or a beekeeper outfit. Ghost disrupting, Undead disrupting, and Ice are useless cantrips. Bloodlust gives you keen, but a scabbard of sharp edges does it better. Honor allows you to use order’s wrath which isn’t that impressive. Valiant Defense gives you shield other once a day for 3 hours. And stonemeld gives you meld with stone. Honestly, none of them jump out at me as all that impressive.
Stealth
(Bane Blind, Dark, Etherealness, Masking, Shadow, Silent Moves, Vanishing)
30 rounds a day you cannot be detected by a specific type of critter. You might think that sucks, but it’s not invisibility, it’s undetectability. No tremorsense, no scent, nothing until you stab them, then you appear as normal. And since it’s a swift action activation, you can turn invisible, sneak up on someone, then next round, stab them, appear, use your swift to turn undetectable again, then move to a new square. It’s the swift activation that makes this awesome. Now vanishing does the same thing, but for a +3 bonus (meaning a minimum cost of 16,000 gp) and it is twice a day, 30 rounds an activation. Vanishing works against anyone, but is a standard action activation. Bane bind is much better choice for assassinations. Vanishingis more for running away.
Dark gives you a +5 circumstance bonus to hide checks to people with dark vision. Meh. For 40,000 gp, you have non detection up at DC 25 to overcome when someone tries to use divination magic on you. ANY divination. Detect invisible, true seeing, whatever. They need to make a Caster Level check at 25 or they will fail to see you. The price tag is a bit of a bitch, however.
Finally you have Shadow and Silent Moves that give you a +5 to +15 competence bonus to Hide and move silent skill checks. If you are being a stealth bunny, there are cheaper sources of skill bonuses, but your DM may limit your access to such items, and even more if he limits you combining magic items. So if you are stuck with them, they aren’t bad. At least Shadow stacks with Dark.
Teleportation
(Aporter)
20,000 gp buys you a standard action dimension door up to 800 feet, twice a day. A bit expensive for what it does, but depending on availability, you might have to suck it up. The original 3.0 version was much more useful, but this is still a good choice. This version is more for escaping trouble. The original was more about, port in, stab-stab, port away. Now that it’s a standard action, your enemies will have time to react to your arrival. So save this more for fleeing trouble then running towards it.
Turn/Rebuke Undead
(Sacred)
Alas, it will not stack with itself. However, if you are into turning things, or controlling undead, a +2 bonus is a small price to pay for +2 levels. And technically it counts as a holy symbol to a specific god.
Wall Nerf
(Blinking, Ectoplasmic, Etherealness, Phasing, Xorn Movement)
If you want to get through a wall, you have a number of armor options. Blinking works, sort of. It has a random chance to fail, but if it’s a thin wall of 5 to 10 feet, you stand a good chance of making it. Ectoplasmic turns you into a strange version of gaseous form. You get a bunch of immunities and some DR, but can still be hit. On the other hand, you can now squeeze through cracks.
The grand daddy of wall bypass, but only usable once a day, Etherealness. Step into the ethereal plane, go wherever you want, step back through. It lasts as long as you want it, but only once, so that limits its usefulness. Basically its for getting into, or getting out of, trouble, but not both. Phasing gives you 60 feet a day, breakable any way you want, but not usable on natural materials. Only worked stone, or manufactured walls. I don’t get it. Finally, 9 rounds a day, broken up any way you want, you can make your full move as a xorn. That means if it’s earth or stone, you can take your full move through it, in any direction. Up, down, forward, backwards, whatever. That means you can use it to scale a tower by going up it INSIDE the wall. If you are a supercharged speedster from any other source, you could try and make a run through a mountain. Alas, a thin layer of metal will stop you, which is another reason to line your home with tin foil.
Water-Based
(Amphibious, Aquatic, Buoyant, Deep, Deepdweller, Floating, Gilled, Sailing, Underwater Action, Water Breathing)
Amphibious allows you to breath water and get a +5 to swimming for 21,000 gp. Aquatic allows you to “move freely through water”. As that is written, that means you get to use your base land movement underwater. For a +2 bonus, this sort of sucks. Then again, if you are a speed demon monk who’s boosted your movement up to 400’ a round or something insane, you might want this, just so you don’t have to worry about swim speed. Water Breathing requires you to buy aquatic and costs another +1 bonus. If you are getting one, you might consider the other. For 4,000 gp you don’t apply ACP to swim checks. Frankly, if you are shelling out 4,000 gp, find the other 8,000 and get deepdweller. You will thank me later.
Deep sucks. It clearly was replaced by Deepdweller, except that deep has enough minute changes that it still stands. Deep gives you darkvision where Deepdweller just gives you low-light. But for a difference of 10,500 gp and the many extra perks deepdweller gives you, get deepdweller. The ability to speak with any water-breather that speaks a language beats out darkvision.
Floating is just like buoyant, except that you get a +4 to swim checks. Same price. Same everything else. Gilled is the reverse. With gilled Water breathers can come onto land. A must for any would-be invaders from the deep. For 20,000 gp, you can get a +5 to swim checks and automatically succeed DC 20 balance checks ON A SHIP ONLY, with Sailing. Screw that noise.
Finally we have underwater action that negates penalties to swimming, allows you to breath underwater, and allows you to quench fires twice a day for 86,000 gp. Kill it. Kill it with fire. That is the worse ASA ever. Seriously. Why would you need to put out fires UNDERWATER? How is that an underwater ACTION? Most ASAs from Eberron suck.
Wearing Armor/Shields
(Animated, Called, Dancing, Ease, Glamered, Halfweight, Nimbleness, Restful, Variable)
Animated allows you to have a shield with no hands. That means that you can have a shield and have a two handed weapon at the same time. The ASA is unclear if you can still use it to shield bash. I believe the implications is “no. Dancing does the same thing, but only for four rounds. While that sounds like a bad deal, you can send the shield to go defend someone else who doesn’t even know how to use a shield. You have to be the one to use it, not the target. It is unclear if there is a range limit.
Called allows you to summon your armor or shield from any distance. Basically you do that funky anime thing where you spin around, speed lines appear, and your armor flies onto your body. I got no clue if that is actually the case, but it’s the image that pops into my head. If you have a shield sheath, you can put a weapon in your shield and Boom, you got your armor, shield, and weapon, even if you are naked in a dungeon. Wizards have back up spellbooks, Warriors have backup called armor hidden inside a stoneshaped boulder in the middle of nowhere. Alas, it sort of renders glamered reduced in value. Glamered is supposed to allow you to use your armor where you shouldn’t be allowed to have it, where as called just summons it. Still, they both have their place, even if they serve similar functions. Afterall, glamered gets “rid” of armor, where called only summons it.
Ease just makes it easier to get in, one round to get out, and you can sleep in your armor for a +1 bonus. Restful lets you sleep in your armor and gives you bonuses to hear someone sneaking up on you, and it only costs 500. The only reason to take ease over restful is if for some reason you see the need to get out of your armor in one round.
Halfweight not only halves the weight of your armor, but reduces it to light armor, so you get the movement rate of light armor. It does nothing else, so if you want to modify the MDB or the ACP, you need nimbleness for that. If you have a high enough dex, Nimbleness costs a +1 bonus, yet would give you +1 to your AC through the improved MDB. In a way, nimbleness pays for itself in the hands of high Dex individuals.
Finally there is variable, which allows your shield to turn into four different types of shields. Frankly, I sometimes wonder what would happen if you put it on a weapon with the WSA shielding. Or put it on a non-standard shield, like a hide shield, or a gnome battle cloak. It seems like there would be some sort of cool advantage there, but damned if I can figure it out.
