I honest-to-goodness could not find a direct answer. My question is pretty straightforward:

Arcane Armor is created while you are wearing a set of Armor — let's go with Plate.

After it has been made Arcane Armor, it can be taken off and put back on with an action. Taking it off does not dispel it — it remains Arcane Armor. It covers your whole body, irrespective of the type of armor it was originally (though it keeps the same AC), and has a retractable helmet. Furthermore, there is nothing in the description that indicates the armor must be within a physical space, within a specific distance, to you. As written, the armor defies reality as a baseline. Heck, even RAI.

What is getting my goat is, what happens to the armor when you aren't wearing it? Are you lugging this around, ready to become Iron Man at any moment? Are you meant to cosplay as a Fighter and wear it all the time, taking it off only to sleep and bathe? Does it enter some liminal space like a Warlock's pact weapon? Is it dealer's choice?

Or is this whole question silly, because it ultimately comes down to a conversation with your DM?

How would you interpret it?

Let's be honest, after the infusion it becomes a magic item, and at this point you can throw the laws of conventional physics as we know them out the window XD

To your character though, it'd probably be an everyday thing they wouldn't think twice about unless they stopped to actually think about it. My personal thought on this is that doffing the armour would make it retract into some kind of pocket dimension thingie, turning into a small disc at the end of your turn which remains attached to a designated area on a piece of clothing you'd wear underneath, such as on the side of your belt. Then when you doff it, you basically go through an Iron Man type sequence where the whole thing kinda just covers you all up.

That's just how I like to think about it though. At the end of the day, it's D&D. If you can't think of something, ask the other players in your group as to what they think would happen. If you really want some kind of final verdict, get the DM's opinion on the ideas presented. If all else fails, shrug it off and say something like it disappears into the Astral Plane once doffed. 

Quote from Sirocco745 >>

Let's be honest, after the infusion it becomes a magic item, and at this point you can throw the laws of conventional physics as we know them out the window XD

To your character though, it'd probably be an everyday thing they wouldn't think twice about unless they stopped to actually think about it. My personal thought on this is that doffing the armour would make it retract into some kind of pocket dimension thingie, turning into a small disc at the end of your turn which remains attached to a designated area on a piece of clothing you'd wear underneath, such as on the side of your belt. Then when you doff it, you basically go through an Iron Man type sequence where the whole thing kinda just covers you all up.

That's just how I like to think about it though. At the end of the day, it's D&D. If you can't think of something, ask the other players in your group as to what they think would happen. If you really want some kind of final verdict, get the DM's opinion on the ideas presented. If all else fails, shrug it off and say something like it disappears into the Astral Plane once doffed. 

 Thanks for responding! 

A lot of what you've said is how I was thinking about it. But you can never be too sure! Wise men have many advisors. So I thought it was good to ask. I appreciate your input!

Quote from sofunnyiweep>>

 Thanks for responding! 

A lot of what you've said is how I was thinking about it. But you can never be too sure! Wise men have many advisors. So I thought it was good to ask. I appreciate your input!

 No problem, mate! In the end, it all comes down to what you and your DM agree on. But it's always good to get a second opinion!

I think you could describe it in almost any way, but keep in mind that nothing about the Arcane Armor alters its weight. So if you're tracking encumberance, even when doffed it is still a full-sized suit of armor and you need to be capable of carrying it with you somehow, even if it does fold up into like... a big belt buckle or something.

Quote from sofunnyiweep >>

I honest-to-goodness could not find a direct answer. My question is pretty straightforward:

Arcane Armor is created while you are wearing a set of Armor — let's go with Plate.

After it has been made Arcane Armor, it can be taken off and put back on with an action. Taking it off does not dispel it — it remains Arcane Armor. It covers your whole body, irrespective of the type of armor it was originally (though it keeps the same AC), and has a retractable helmet. Furthermore, there is nothing in the description that indicates the armor must be within a physical space, within a specific distance, to you. As written, the armor defies reality as a baseline. Heck, even RAI.

What is getting my goat is, what happens to the armor when you aren't wearing it? Are you lugging this around, ready to become Iron Man at any moment? Are you meant to cosplay as a Fighter and wear it all the time, taking it off only to sleep and bathe? Does it enter some liminal space like a Warlock's pact weapon? Is it dealer's choice?

Or is this whole question silly, because it ultimately comes down to a conversation with your DM?

How would you interpret it?

 You still treat it as armor, just like any other. It has special properties, yes, but it isn't any of Tony Stark's suits where it just folds away into a briefcase or is made of nanotech so it can disappear onto your clothes. The arcane armor still acts like armor so when you doff it it is now taking whatever space you lay it out upon (the matter of space is not spelled out as it is assumed that players understand that objects are of a physical nature and take up space within the world unless otherwise stated). This said, you and your DM can always homebrew the nature of the armor that it folds away into a belt or a backpack or some such.

And you probably would want to doff your armor from time-to-time to bathe, change clothes, etc. While RAW does not require you to doff your armor for a long rest, a DM can always utilize the optional rule from Xanthar's that does penalize taking a long rest in medium or heavy armor (but again, that is an optional rule).

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Quote from The_Grinning_Fox >>

 

Quote from sofunnyiweep >>

I honest-to-goodness could not find a direct answer. My question is pretty straightforward:

Arcane Armor is created while you are wearing a set of Armor — let's go with Plate.

After it has been made Arcane Armor, it can be taken off and put back on with an action. Taking it off does not dispel it — it remains Arcane Armor. It covers your whole body, irrespective of the type of armor it was originally (though it keeps the same AC), and has a retractable helmet. Furthermore, there is nothing in the description that indicates the armor must be within a physical space, within a specific distance, to you. As written, the armor defies reality as a baseline. Heck, even RAI.

What is getting my goat is, what happens to the armor when you aren't wearing it? Are you lugging this around, ready to become Iron Man at any moment? Are you meant to cosplay as a Fighter and wear it all the time, taking it off only to sleep and bathe? Does it enter some liminal space like a Warlock's pact weapon? Is it dealer's choice?

Or is this whole question silly, because it ultimately comes down to a conversation with your DM?

How would you interpret it?

 You still treat it as armor, just like any other. It has special properties, yes, but it isn't any of Tony Stark's suits where it just folds away into a briefcase or is made of nanotech so it can disappear onto your clothes. The arcane armor still acts like armor so when you doff it it is now taking whatever space you lay it out upon (the matter of space is not spelled out as it is assumed that players understand that objects are of a physical nature and take up space within the world unless otherwise stated). This said, you and your DM can always homebrew the nature of the armor that it folds away into a belt or a backpack or some such.

And you probably would want to doff your armor from time-to-time to bathe, change clothes, etc. While RAW does not require you to doff your armor for a long rest, a DM can always utilize the optional rule from Xanthar's that does penalize taking a long rest in medium or heavy armor (but again, that is an optional rule).

 That's definitely something to consider. As there's nothing in the rules of Arcane Armour that states that the armour's weight is reduced, RAW when you're travelling with it doffed, you'd have to carry it in some form still. I wouldn't discount the Iron Man type sequence yet, as you could talk with your DM and work something out like the magic that lets it shrink into a disc also lets it distribute its weight evenly across the wearer's body so you wouldn't have like a 50kg disc on your belt. You'd still be carrying 50kg, but it wouldn't be focused all on wherever you're carrying the disc. The disc is just my favourite and personal explanation of this, and in the end your DM has final say on the laws of physics.

Also, Arcane Armour seems to be made EXACTLY with the Xanathar's extra rule in mind. Donning heavy armour can take 10 minutes, 5 if someone helps. The ability to literally suit up into a full AC 19 suit of armour, plus whatever magical and non-magical defences you have, makes using heavy armour much more viable in campaigns where you'll be travelling a lot.

Oh certainly, flavor is free after all; and, if your DM is cool with it then yeah, you could have the armor fold away when "doffed" and then pop back on when you "don" it.

Quote from ArntItheBest >>

Infuse a Bag of Holding and put your armor in there. Before combat starts, or even within the first round, stick your hand into the bag and Iron Man 2 it up. You will always have the Bag of Holding handy to cast spells (any infused item is a focus for you), and it will look super cool to have you stick your hand into a bag and then plate armor rolls up your arm and onto the rest of your body!

 That, my friend, is an awesome idea