Custom Armor device

[Rev Haus 235]

Once again I'm reaching out for some help.

In the game setting I play in, they have Greatcoats. They give the wearer a +1 AC bonus, can be worn over most armor, and can work in conjunction with shields.

How can I make this work?

I've tried adding it in as a piece of armor, but it won't stack on top of my normal armor (studded leather).
I've tried adding it as a shield, but it won't let me use a normal shield.

I've figured out some ways I could "trick" the system into letting me use it, but I'd like it to work right.

[Kendall-DM]

In general, according to the RAW, stacking armor doesn't work. However, let me see if I understand you correctly. You have Greatcoats, that can be worn OVER armor to enhance the AC of the item (is this an enhancement bonus that doesn't stack with magic, or is it something that always stacks with everything?). Does it provide the +1 to both armor and the shield, or just one or the other?

This is pretty easy to implement, I just need to know what kind of bonus your Greatcloak provides and how it stacks. Most likely, this will be added as either an item, or as a material, but we'll see. We'll get it working as you expect.

[Rev Haus 235]

It should be an item as near as I can tell.
It's a coat that is worn, sometimes. over armor. It adds a +1 bonus to AC.
It should stack with everything, but it doesn't add its bonus to items because it is an item unto its self.

[Kendall-DM]

The way herolab is set up, you can't stack armor. So making it a separate item with armor in and of itself won't stack with any other armor. The fact that you want it to provide armor, is an item, and it will be classified as armor. There is a problem with this setup, and I'll try to point out what it is in simple terms. If you wear full plate (+8) enchanted to +5 (+13 armor) and you have a Greatcoat that stacks with it (+1) that can also be enchanted (because it is also armor) to +5 (+6 armor), you'll end up with an AC of +19, not including any shields. Is that your intent, to have them stack as they do. This is the reason they are not meant to stack, and why I was thinking it wasn't armor in and of itself. Also, does a greatcoat also add the +1 to a shield, or does it just work in conjunction with a shield (but doesn't add any bonuses)?

[Mathias]

Sounds like it's just a matter of checking the count of Hero.Armor and Hero.EquipArmor tags on the hero - if you're wearing a greatcoat, and there are exactly 2 of each, delete those and assign one new one. (delete[] removes ALL tags that match its pattern, which is why you'll need delete + assign (or tagreplace)).

[Mathias]

Sorry - the Armor ratings wouldn't stack in that case. (Although you could write a script that came after the normal script that assembles the armor ratings of the armor pieces and manually add +1 to the total of hero.child[ArmorClass].field[tACArmor].value). (Or have the script find some other piece of armor and improve its armor rating as long as the greatcoat is being worn).

In Pathfinder, there's an item called an armored kilt that's implemented as an item power - it modifies the Armor rating of the piece of armor it's attached to.

[Rev Haus 235]

It's not meant to enhance anything, its a coat. I understand where there could be a great deal of abuse if it were enchanted because it is a separate item. Frankly, they aren't meant to be enchanted, its like enchanting your shirt. It just happens to add a +1 AC bonus. It doesn't add a plus to you armor, or to a shield, its adds a +1 to your AC. It's like a shield, but could be used while you were using a shield too.

The problem is that theoretically, one could wear the greatcoat as their only source of armor if they wanted to. Giving them an armor class bonus of +1, in addition to whatever their normal Dexterity modifier is.

As for writing scripts, I wouldn't have the foggiest clue as to how to start that.
I'm already running into that same kind of problem with customizations for weapons that add minor bonuses. The customizations are physical changes that have been made to the weapon, like adding a scope to a gun, or having it bored or precision shooting. I'm trying to add them in as Item Powers but not having any idea how I would write a script to add +1 to hit that stacks with all the other normal bonuses, or reducing the range increment penalty to -1 instead of -2.

[Kendall-DM]

Make a greatcoat as an armor that can be worn, using the Editor under the Gear tab. Make sure that you check the box Show in Charges List? and in Charge Effect 1 type in Worn. Then add this script to the greatcoat.

@Post-Attributes (User) 20000

doneif (field[hIsOn1].value = 0)

~ Add a +1 bonus to our AC.
hero.child[ArmorClass].field[Bonus].value += 1

This should work for what you want. To equip a greatcoat, just go to the In Play tab and select that it is worn. Tell me if this works for you.

[Rev Haus 235]

Yes. That totally works for the Greatcoat. Well done sir, and thanks for the help.

[protesilaus]

Pardon my awakening of an old thread.

Is there any way I can get a step-by-step on adding the Greatcoat? I just bought Hero Lab today. I figured out getting into the editor and being in the Gear tab. I can't find Show in Charges or Charge Effect 1, and when I put that script in Gear and try to test it, it gives me an error.

Thanks in advance!