Question about armor in 3.5E D&D

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#1.) Does a robe, such as one a wizard would wear, count as armor for the purpose of a monk's bonuses to AC, etc.?

#2.) Can you take a robe, like the one in #1, and give it an AC, by using the rules to increase the AC on a piece of armor?

 

My response:

1. No.

2. Yes. Same thing as bracers of armor, but a robe and not bracers.

 

It's a game balance thing. One would reasonably expect that a leather breastplate or a chainshirt would limit your unarmed manoeuvrability much less than a heavy concealing robe, but no.

 

Umm, Chevalier? Since a robe DOESN'T count as armour as far as I can tell, I'm not sure I can make sense of your reply.

 

I, as the DM of my D&D group, would say YES to both questions.

 

It should be noted that there isn't an entry for "robe" in the equipment section of the Player's Handbook. After all, if you are wearing a big heavy robe, what are you doing fighting dragons and exploring dungeons? Change into something more practical!

(I like to think the magic robes in the DMG are no more restrictive than padded or leather armor.)

EDIT: just a thought, if you are going to assign a armor check penalty or a limit on Dex bonus to AC, it would probably make sense to give a % chance of arcane spell failure too, since that is how it is with all armor.

 

You can have a robe give a bonus to your ac but not an "armor" bonus. Bracers of armor give an ac bonus. A robe could give a deflection bonus to AC or something like that.

 

Bracers of armor give you an armor bonus, just as if you had mage armor on yourself (but at a different bonus). If you make a same magic item, but make it a robe and not bracers, then the robe is still providing an armor bonus.

The armor bonus would not come from the robe's being super-thick, but by providing a field of force around the wearer.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't make a magic robe that gives you a deflection bonus to AC (or both a deflection and armor bonus). It would just be like a ring of protection, but a robe instead of a ring.

 

Thanks, BTA.

@Viper3220: You can have a monk robe that gives you armour bonus and keeps your WIS bonus in place, or a mage robe that gives you a drow full plate +5 worth of armour bonus with no risk of arcane spell failure attached.