[5e Conversions] Amulet of Natural Armor

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EvilGenius
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[5e Conversions] Amulet of Natural Armor

Post by EvilGenius »

A lot of characters had Amulets of Natural Armor under 3e and they don't exist (yet) in 5e so I thought I'd take a shot at a usable conversion.

In 3e, they did this:
This amulet, usually crafted from bone or beast scales, toughens the wearer’s body and flesh, giving him an enhancement bonus to his natural armor bonus of from +1 to +5, depending on the kind of amulet.
We've talked about the different AC philosophy in 5e, and I think the general feeling is that the Amulet shouldn't convert directly. So what could it do?

I think there are a few ways to go with a conversion. First idea is that it provides a base AC, like armor or the Mage Armor spell. If the Amulet provides a base AC, you can't use it with armor, since only the best base AC is considered.

The second option is that it provides a bonus to AC like Bracers of Defense or a Ring of Protection. This option can potentially lead to a lot higher ACs because you could wear plate mail AND then use an Amulet with it. I don't like this option as much but we could maybe give it a limited effect. I could see using a reaction to invoke the Amulet, which provides an AC bonus for that round only (like the Shield spell), and make it only usable on a limited basis (once or twice per long rest, or maybe uses equal to your con modifier, minimum 1 time). I think if you can use the amulet 1 or 2 times per long rest you probably don't need attunement. If you get uses based on your Con modifier, it should require attunement.

The third option is that it doesn't provide an AC bonus, but rather a different protective effect, like resistance. You could vary the effect depending on how powerful you want to make it. For example a single fixed, always-on resistance is just a varient on armor of resistance, but a limited use effect that you can use as a reaction a few times per rest is less powerful. Or you could allow the user to chose which resistance they want and then that resistance is in effect until after you finish a long rest.

What do you guys think?
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NukeHavoc
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Re: [5e Conversions] Amulet of Natural Armor

Post by NukeHavoc »

Honestly, I say just don't convert it. IMHO the Amulet of Natural Armor was indicative of the armor class arms race we had going on in 3e, where you needed these kinds of magical trinkets to keep up with the Jones' (and the fact that it stacked with regular armor made it very attractive).

It's not a signature magic item for any of our PCs, so I think it's something we can easily edit out of the game.
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EvilGenius
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Re: [5e Conversions] Amulet of Natural Armor

Post by EvilGenius »

LOL, yeah, there's always that option, too. :)
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