Armour Enchantment

[DamonJynx]

Hi Forumites,

I'm confused. In AoL it states for the armouring enchantment that each MP adds 1 AP to a single Hit Location whether on a person or suit of armour. So for a humanoid suit of armour (with 7 hit locations) for 2 armour points it would cost a minimum of 14 magic points and take 196 hours. Why wouldn't you just enchant a ring with Protection and/or a breastplate or similar with Damage Resistance which cover the whole body? Am I missing something?

 

[soltakss]

No, armouring enchantment has always been more expensive than Common Magic Matrices.

If you have a suit of enchanted armour, you can cast Protection on top, to get even more armour. With a Protection matrix, you can't, as you are limited to that spell.

 

[DamonJynx]

Thanks Simon.

So, for example, if you enchanted a suit of armour with Damsge Resistance (8) and also had a Ring of Protection 2 would they stack?

 

[soltakss]

So, for example, if you enchanted a suit of armour with Damsge Resistance (8) and also had a Ring of Protection 2 would they stack?

I don't think so, as neither is a permanent effect. So, if you gave the armour a Damage Resistance 8 matrix, you could easily cast that spell, or you could cast Protection 2, but you couldn't stack them to get the benefits of both.

I have used a Permanent Spell Enchantment in the past, that gives an item the ability of having a spell permanently on, so a suit of armour might have a permanent Protection 2, or a permanent Shield 2, but they would use the normal stacking rules, so would be incompatible with many spells.

The advantage of Armouring Enchantment is that it does stack with everything.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I'd possibly re-write the rules for Armouring Enchantment to clarify these points. Here's a rough draft of a new version:

This enchantment increases the armour points of an object. Each Magic Point invested in the enchantment bestows one AP upon the object. If used on a living creature, it increases armour points in only one Hit Location. It takes multiple enchantments to cover the entire creature. The creature may need protective runes tattooed on each enchanted Hit Location.

If placed on a suit of armour, each Armouring Enchantment protects only one Hit Location. Enchanting a full suit of armour for a humanoid (with 7 hit locations) with +2 AP costs 14 magic points. This takes at least 196 hours to complete. This enchantment requires almost a full month’s effort, assuming five working days per week.

If a creature wears magic armour on Hit Locations protected with this enchantment, the effects do not stack. Only use the stronger of the two enchantments. The same rule applies if the creature wears multiple layers of enchanted armour.

This enchantment does stack with other defensive spells if they are not permanent. This includes spells such as Damage Resistence, Deflection, and Protection. Defensive spells with a permanent duration may interfere with the Armouring Enchantment. This occurs if the Magic Points in the permanent spell are greater than those in the enchantment.

Armour Points created through this enchantment count as magical armour, meaning that any spells that would normally ignore or negate regular and/or natural armour do not negate or ignore APs granted by the Armouring Enchantment.

How does this approach look?

 

[DamonJynx]

That is much clearer, PE. I think the original RQII version has been cut down somewhat due to the editing required. I'll have to check that as well as it no doubt spells things out more clearly, however I'm sure it uses Gloranthan runes...

 

[Prime_Evil]

The MRQ II version is at the bottom of the first column on p101 of the Arms and Equipment Guide. It is very similar to the text in the Arms of Legend sourcebook.

This is cut down slightly from the version of the Armourblessing Enchantment on p40 of the MRQI Companion.

Personally, I'd be tempted to add something like this to the rule - but trhis may just be a matter of personal taste. Consider it an optional rule:

To create a suit of enchanted armour, the caster must sacrifice a point of permanent POW. This is in addition to Magic Points spent during the enchantment process. The caster empowers the item with a spark of their own life force. A spellcaster can enchant an entire suit of armour with a single point of POW. This assumes the individual pieces of armour cover contiguous hit locations. It also assumes the total SIZ of the enchanted armour does not exceed the caster's POW.
The same rules apply if the caster places the enchantment on a living creature. All Hit Locations covered by the enchantment must be contiguous. Additionally, the target creature's SIZ cannot exceed the caster's POW.
This optional rule limits the number of magic items that will appear a campaign. If this rule is in effect, most spellcasters will enchant no more than one or two in their lifetime. This assumption suits campaigns where enchanting weapons or armour is always a big deal. Permanent POW sacrificed to enchant armour can be regained by spending Improvement Rolls.

 

[DamonJynx]

Thanks PE. I think for Stormhaven, I'll stick with Common Magic or Sorcery spell matrices. A little bit easier to manage.