Medium armor vs. robes

[TheMagicMan]

I'm playing as a wizard and thinking of playing as a shield dwarf to gain the ability to wear medium armor to save a spell slot and not have to use magic armor spell vs wearing robes and having to use the spell. What do you think? If I go the robe path what would be the best race?

[Minnzy]

Free medium armour prof is massive but if you don't wish to go that path you have to look at what the other races give.

Gnome has Forest gnome which gives you a free speak with animals if you don't have a party member to help with that.

Elves has the high elf for a bonus cantrip that uses your intelligence so you can use it at its max potential. Elven traits are also pretty good.

Drow has a bunch of little spells that run off your charisma which won't be too high but that's not a problem. The superior darkvision though is extremely nice as I don't usually ever include non dark vision races in my personal selection.

These would by my 3 personal choices with High elf probably coming out on top sort of. I'll be playing Drow though to see how some things were done but if you don't dislike small races like I do gnomes can be a lot of fun.

[Ghiron]

You can take 1 level of Cleric for medium armor proficiency. Knowledge Domain fits a Wizard nicely and allows you to get expertise in Arcana.

That's actually my Wizard build I'll be running with.

Not sure if Azuth, God of Wizards, is an option for your deity, but that would be the ideal choice for your Cleric deity as well. There's books found in game that reference Azuth so probably is an option.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by TheMagicMan:

I'm playing as a wizard and thinking of playing as a shield dwarf to gain the ability to wear medium armor to save a spell slot and not have to use magic armor spell vs wearing robes and having to use the spell. What do you think? If I go the robe path what would be the best race?

There's no 'arcane spell failure' with wearing armor in 5E. If you're proficient in it, you can wear it without issue.

So if you want to pick a race or feat that gives you access to Medium and Heavy armor, go for it.

Or you could just go Draconic Sorcerer, as their AC is 13 + Dex modifier.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Minnzy:

Free medium armour prof is massive but if you don't wish to go that path you have to look at what the other races give.

Gnome has Forest gnome which gives you a free speak with animals if you don't have a party member to help with that.

Elves has the high elf for a bonus cantrip that uses your intelligence so you can use it at its max potential. Elven traits are also pretty good.

Drow has a bunch of little spells that run off your charisma which won't be too high but that's not a problem. The superior darkvision though is extremely nice as I don't usually ever include non dark vision races in my personal selection.

These would by my 3 personal choices with High elf probably coming out on top sort of. I'll be playing Drow though to see how some things were done but if you don't dislike small races like I do gnomes can be a lot of fun.

Deep Gnomes also get superior dark vision, as well as a bonus to Stealth. I'm gonna assume Duergar also get Superior Dark Vision, since they live in the Underdark with Drow and Deep Gnomes.

[TheMagicMan]

Originally posted by Ghiron:

You can take 1 level of Cleric for medium armor proficiency. Knowledge Domain fits a Wizard nicely and allows you to get expertise in Arcana.

That's actually my Wizard build I'll be running with.

Not sure if Azuth, God of Wizards, is an option for your deity, but that would be the ideal choice for your Cleric deity as well. There's books found in game that reference Azuth so probably is an option.

How do you take 1 level of cleric if you playing as a wizard, do you mean multi-class?

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Rye:

I think that they have advantage on stealth. I may be misremembering, but if I'm correct then that's better than a +2 proficiency because advantage means rolling two D20s and taking the better result, whilst proficiency is just +2 to whatever you roll a single D20.

I'm going deep gnome rogue as my second character specifically because of this.

Just looked it up, Stone Camouflage gives you advantage on Stealth checks.

Gnome Cunning gives advantage on all INT, WIS and CHA saving throws against magic.

Honestly, Gnomes seem pretty darn powerful. I can understand why the community hates dealing with them. :-)

[Ghiron]

Originally posted by TheMagicMan:

Originally posted by Ghiron:

You can take 1 level of Cleric for medium armor proficiency. Knowledge Domain fits a Wizard nicely and allows you to get expertise in Arcana.

That's actually my Wizard build I'll be running with.

Not sure if Azuth, God of Wizards, is an option for your deity, but that would be the ideal choice for your Cleric deity as well. There's books found in game that reference Azuth so probably is an option.

How do you take 1 level of cleric if you playing as a wizard, do you mean multi-class?

Yep. Multiclass.

[TheMagicMan]

I notice that if you pick Dwarfs start off with Itn only being 15 and Gift int is 16. Does that make gift a better choice if I want Medium armor. I know I lose darkvision with dwarf but I could just light if I using gift.

[TheMagicMan]

Anybody?

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by TheMagicMan:

I notice that if you pick Dwarfs start off with Itn only being 15 and Gift int is 16. Does that make gift a better choice if I want Medium armor. I know I lose darkvision with dwarf but I could just light if I using gift.

Attributes have no effect on your armor rating, with the exception of a dexterity bonus, unless stated otherwise.

Monks and Barbarians get Unarmored Defense, which combines their Dexterity and Wisdom, or Dexterity and Constitution to decide their armor class bonus.

Draconic Sorcerers have a base AC of 13 plus their Dexterity modifier.

[Foolswalkin]

Originally posted by Ghiron:

You can take 1 level of Cleric for medium armor proficiency. Knowledge Domain fits a Wizard nicely and allows you to get expertise in Arcana.

That's actually my Wizard build I'll be running with.

Not sure if Azuth, God of Wizards, is an option for your deity, but that would be the ideal choice for your Cleric deity as well. There's books found in game that reference Azuth so probably is an option.

And shield as well, which the races don't and is worth another 2 AC.

Assuming it works as in 5e, I'm pro-Rock Gnome Enchanter with an initial 1 level dip for Knowledge Cleric. Expertise in 3 of the 4 Knowledge skills on an Int-focused character is extremely useful, Enchanter is the most comfortable up close and personal of all the Wizards (starting a Hypnotic Gaze staring contest can really lock down some big, tough enemies, and Instinctive Charm is staggeringly good), and the level 10 feature is absolutely top-tier.

[Foolswalkin]

Originally posted by TheMagicMan:

I notice that if you pick Dwarfs start off with Itn only being 15 and Gift int is 16. Does that make gift a better choice if I want Medium armor. I know I lose darkvision with dwarf but I could just light if I using gift.

That will no longer be a thing at release, given the changes to racial attributes.
We will now reserve ten minutes for the teeth grinding that accompanies any mention of the changes to the attribute system.

[Scooby]

I'm not familiar with the 5e rule set. Is there any advantage to choosing robes over armour? Such as increased mobility or something else?

[Foolswalkin]

Originally posted by Buko:

I'm not familiar with the 5e rule set. Is there any advantage to choosing robes over armour? Such as increased mobility or something else?

Nope, except they don't pay the opportunity cost of choosing whatever option got the other build access to armor.

[Scooby]

Originally posted by Foolswalkin:

Nope, except they don't pay the opportunity cost of choosing whatever option got the other build access to armor.

Originally posted by Rye:

There used to be an arcane spell failure chance based on the weight of the armor, but I think that proficiency in a weight of armor (light, medium, heavy) eliminates that failure chance.

Thank you.