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Armor is one of the most basic ways for your character to defend themselves from harm. There are two kinds of armor - light armor, which is flexible and doesn't encumber movement, and heavy armor, which offers better protection but at the cost of mobility.

Your Armor defense is equal to armor's base defense + your Proficiency with that armor type. Your light armor proficiency is based on your Dexterity, while your heavy armor proficiency is based on your Constitution. Most physical attacks, including basic melee and ranged attacks, target your Armor.

Armor Check Penalty[]

Most types of armor have an armor check penalty, which is a penalty that is applied to certain skills when you wear armor. Armor incurs a penalty to your Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth and Thievery skills. This penalty is reduced by 2 if you are Proficient in that armor or shield type, and further by 1 if you have Expertise with that armor type, to a minimum penalty of 0.

Unarmored[]

Cloth armor offers no protection, but also causes no penalties, and does not require proficiency to wear. If you are not wearing any other form of armor, you are treated as if you were wearing cloth. There is no Proficiency requirement for cloth.

Cloth
Cloth[]

(unarmored)

Armor Defense:

Use Reflex defense

Check Penalty:

None

Speed Penalty:

None

Light Armor[]

All light armor offers protection based on your Dexterity ability base . Light armor does not offer resistance to any damage type, but also does not slow you down, and has a much lower armor check penalty than heavy armor.

Leather armor offers some protection against weapon attacks, but requires proficiency to gain any real defensive advantage from wearing it.

Leather
Leather[]

(light armor)

Armor Defense

10 + Light armor Proficiency (or 10 + Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield).


Check Penalty

-2 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth and Thievery
(none with Proficiency).

Encumberance:

None

Hide armor offers slightly better protection than leather, but is somewhat heavy, imparting a slight penalty to certain skill checks. If you do not have proficiency in light armor, you grant advantage while wearing Hide, and cannot gain advantage.

Hide
Hide[]

(light armor - trained only)

Armor Defense

11 + Light armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield)


Check Penalty

-3 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-1 with Proficiency, none with Expertise)

Speed Penalty:

None

Heavy furs are a modification of hide armor used in colder climates to protect against frostbite and chill. The addition of heavy gloves and bundles of fur-lined cloth grant resistance to cold, at the loss of manual dexterity and vulnerability to heat. If you do not have proficiency in light armor, you grant advantage while wearing furs, and cannot gain advantage.

Heavy Furs
Heavy Furs[]

(light armor - trained only)

Armor Defense

10 + Light armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield), resistance to cold, vulnerability to fire.


Check Penalty

-4 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-2 with Proficiency, -1 with Expertise)

Speed Penalty:

None

Heavy Armor[]

Heavy armor offers protection based on your Constitution ability base . When wearing heavy armor, you gain resistance to slashing attacks; rigid plate armor also imparts resistance to bashing attacks. All heavy armor is encumbering, reducing your character's speed and reflex by 1 each.

Chainmail is made out of an interlocking weave of metal rings, providing good protection while somewhat encumbering the wearer.

Chainmail
Chainmail[]

(heavy armor)

Armor Defense

10 + Heavy armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield), and resistance to slashing attacks.


Check Penalty

-3 to Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-1 with Proficiency, none with Expertise)

Encumberance:

-1 penalty to Speed and Reflex

Scalemail is made out of an interlocking weave of small metal scales, providing good protection while somewhat encumbering the wearer. If you do not have proficiency in heavy armor, you grant advantage while wearing Scalemail, and may not gain advantage.

Scalemail
Scalemail[]

(heavy armor - trained only)

Armor Defense

11 + Heavy armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield), and resistance to slashing attacks.


Check Penalty

-3 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-1 with Proficiency, none with Expertise)

Encumberance:

-1 penalty to Speed and Reflex

Half plate is a rigid metal breastplate, girdle, shoulder guards, vambraces, gauntlets, and boots, providing excellent protection at the cost of fine dexterity and speed. If you do not have proficiency in heavy armor, you grant advantage while wearing half plate, and may not gain advantage.

Half Plate
Half Plate[]

(heavy armor - trained only)

Armor Defense

12 + Heavy armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield), and resistance to slashing and bashing attacks.


Check Penalty

-4 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-2 with Proficiency, -1 with Expertise)

Encumberance:

-1 penalty to Speed and Reflex

Fullplate is a rigid carapace of metal, providing excellent protection at the cost of fine dexterity and speed. If you do not have expertise in heavy armor, you grant advantage while wearing it, and may not gain advantage.

Full Plate
Full Plate[]

(heavy armor - expert only)

Armor Defense

13 + Heavy armor Proficiency (or Shield Proficiency if higher and wearing a shield), and resistance to bashing and slashing attacks.


Check Penalty

-5 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-3 with Proficiency, -2 with Expertise)

Encumberance:

-1 penalty to Speed and Reflex

Shields[]

Shields may be worn with armor to further defend against attacks, adding a cover bonus to your Armor, Reflex, and Fortitude defenses.

A shield's Defense is based on your Strength. If your Shield's Proficiency is higher than your armor's, you may use your Shield's Proficiency check instead of your armor's.

Cover Bonus[]

Shields add their cover bonus to your Fortitude and Reflex defenses as well as your Armor defense.

Shield Check Penalty[]

Shields incur a shield check penalty to your Reflex defense and your Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth and Thievery skills. This penalty is reduced by 3 if you are Proficient in shields, and further by your Expertise bonus if you have Expertise with shields. Proficiency and Expertise may never reduce your shield check penalty below 0; apply any further reduction to your shield's encumberance penalty instead.

Light Shields[]

Light Shields leave your off-hand free for non-weapon tasks, and grant a +1 cover bonus while incurring a penalty to relevant skill checks.


Light Shield
Light Shield[]

(shield - light)

Armor Defense

Armor's base + Shield Proficiency (if higher than Armor's Proficiency)

Cover Bonus:

+1 to Armor, Reflex and Fortitude


Check Penalty

-2 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(none with Proficiency)

Encumberance:

None

Heavy Shields[]

Heavy Shields require the use of the shield hand to support and direct the shield, but grant a +2 cover bonus to Armor, Fortitude and Reflex while incurring a significant penalty to your Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth and Thievery skills. This penalty is reduced by 2 if you are Proficient in shields, and further by 1 if you have Expertise with shields.


Heavy Shield
Heavy Shield[]

(shield - heavy / trained only)

Armor Defense

Armor's base + Shield Proficiency (if higher than Armor's Proficiency)

Cover Bonus:

+2 to Armor, Reflex and Fortitude

Check Penalty:

-4 to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-1 with Proficiency, none with Expertise)

Encumberance:

None

Tower Shield
Tower Shield[]

(shield - heavy / expert only)

Armor Defense

Armor's base + Shield Proficiency (if higher than Armor's Proficiency)

Cover Bonus:

+5 to Armor, Reflex and Fortitude to attacks passing through any space in an adjacent arc 3. You may change the shield's facing whenever you move or shift, or as an immediate interrupt whenever you are attacked.

Check Penalty:

-4 to Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Endurance, Stealth, and Thievery
(-2 with Proficiency, -1 with Expertise)

Encumberance:

-1 penalty to Speed and Reflex


Optional Rule: Damage Reduction[]

In this optional rule, heavy armor does not provide resistance to damage. Instead, all armor - whether light or heavy - provides a penalty to all damage rolls from slashing and bashing weapon attacks made against the character wearing the armor. This penalty is as follows:

  • Leather: -1
  • Hides: -2
  • Chainmail: -3
  • Scalemail: -4
  • Half-plate: -5
  • Full-plate: -6
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