You can make a magic item with the modifier Set -> Minimum Base Armor: 16, and then equipping it will give the effect described by the Barkskin spell, namely that your AC cannot be lower than 16. But it doesn't affect what your "actual" AC is, with regular base armor class + feature bonuses + DEX + bonuses from magic items/shield. And that "actual" armor calculation wouldn't apply unless it made your AC over 16 (the minimum base armor.)
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I am also having trouble getting this feature to work. I have tried several of the options listed here, but nothing seems to change on the character sheet. I am creating a race with this trait:
Natural Armor
Your hide is thick and tough, granting you a natural AC of 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
The class is set to Barbarian, which also has an armor modifier built into it.
I am currently trying to use the following modifier setup for the racial trait: Modifier Type: Set Modifier Subtype: Armor Class Fixed Value: 13
This seems like it ought to work, but it nothing on the character sheet changes. It still shows the base AC as 10, then adds the Dex and Unarmored bonus for Barbarian. Based on the way this race / class setup is geared, the character ought to have a base AC of 13, plus the Dex modifier (+2) plus the Barbarian modifier (+2), for a total of 17 AC.
Provides a BONUS to AC when unarmored. If you enter a value of 3 in the Fixed Value field, then the AC calculation would be: 10 + 3 (the value entered) + DEX bonus.
example: Lizardfolk
Sometimes it helps to create a homebrew copy of something that already exists and that does what you want, to see how it's officially set up. A good example here would be the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer's Draconic Resilience.
Edit: It's also worth mentioning that you can only benefit from one given AC calculation at a time. In Chapter 1 of the Basic Rules:
Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use.
These methods—along with any others that give you a formula for calculating your AC—are mutually exclusive; you can benefit from only one at a time. If you have access to more than one, you pick which one to use. For example, if you’re a sorcerer/monk, you can use either Unarmored Defense or Draconic Resilience, not both. Similarly, a druid/ barbarian who transforms into a beast form that has natural armor can use either the beast’s natural armor or Unarmored Defense (you aren’t considered to be wearing armor when you use natural armor).
Provides a BONUS to AC when unarmored. If you enter a value of 3 in the Fixed Value field, then the AC calculation would be: 10 + 3 (the value entered) + DEX bonus.
example: Lizardfolk
Sometimes it helps to create a homebrew copy of something that already exists and that does what you want, to see how it's officially set up. A good example here would be the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer's Draconic Resilience.
Edit: It's also worth mentioning that you can only benefit from one given AC calculation at a time. In Chapter 1 of the Basic Rules:
Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use.
These methods—along with any others that give you a formula for calculating your AC—are mutually exclusive; you can benefit from only one at a time. If you have access to more than one, you pick which one to use. For example, if you’re a sorcerer/monk, you can use either Unarmored Defense or Draconic Resilience, not both. Similarly, a druid/ barbarian who transforms into a beast form that has natural armor can use either the beast’s natural armor or Unarmored Defense (you aren’t considered to be wearing armor when you use natural armor).
Ah, yeah I think I got it. Shortly after I posted, I tried the Unarmored AC again (as you have suggested) setting the fixed value to 13, but it didn't seem to do anything. I went to work on something else for a while, and when I looked at the character sheet again, the AC was up to 25 lol
It's quite irritating that the changes don't seem to automatically update, or randomly take varying lengths of time to populate. Thanks for the help!
Final Edit: After waiting some time to test this, it looks like the racial trait AC bonus vs the class AC bonus is already something that's being handled automatically. I modified my Constitution to 19 to see if that changed the calculation, and it automatically switched from the natural AC to the Barbarian AC bonus. So, I suppose the short response is: you don't have to worry about choosing which one you want to use.
Halfling answered you so I wont repeat it, but I will offer further information.
The floor for AC is 10+Dex mod to start. If your Dex score of 12-13, then your mod is +1, so you are already looking at an automatic AC 11… unless something tells the system to do something different.
Something like Armor for example. Armor tells the system that you have an “Armored AC” to use. Your “Unarmored Armor Class” is continuing to use that same calculation, but when wearing armor, your “Armored AC” will use a different calculation now. Studded leather tells the system that whenever it is being worn, to: “Set->Armored Armor Class->2,” and the system takes 10+X that it’s using, finds the “ones place” and flips the 0 up 2 so now it reads as 12+X. So that same PC has an “Armored AC 13” whenever they wear Studded. A breastplate tells the system to not only change the floor for the calculation, but also put a cap of 2 on the Dex mod so the system sees “AAC=14+(X<2).” If you wear both studded and a breastplate, the system is programmed to only use the higher, so it compares “12+1=AAC13 : 14+1=AAC15 ; 13<15” And displays a 15 in that spot on the sheet.
Unarmored AC uses the same system. The Barbarian class says something different and tells the system that a character’s ”Unarmored Armor Class”calculation is “10+Dex+Con.” You want your trait to use “13+Dex,” and when the system compares them it’s supposed to go “10+X+Y : 13+X” and then decide which is higher. So therefore, you just need to use the “Unarmored” version of the same calculation that something like studded leather uses:
Just like Stormknight said, as Halfling pointed out. However….
The modifier you were using, “Set->Armor Class” tells the system to always us it unless something else either the Armored or Unarmored Armor Class is higher. By putting 13 in the fixed value it should have been displaying 23 as your AC since that would be waaayy higher than 10+Dex+Con. But you said it was still only display the Barbarian’s calculation. So that tells me the system wasn’t caught up to anything yet.
Whenever you add anything to, change anything on, or remove anything from any homebrew, you MUST re-save the entire thing using the main [SAVE CHANGES] button under Basic Information or the system won’t pick up your changes. After that it can sometimes take up to 20 minutes for those changes to push through to the character builder sheet.
Hi, I want to set up a class feature to change a character's AC to 10+DEX+WIS while unarmored and without a shield. Can't seem to figure out how. Any suggestions? I've read through the thread and tried some things but I can't seem to get it right. Class feature is for a druid homebrew subclass.
Modifier: Set->Subtype: Unarmored Armor Class->Ability: Wis
Whenever you add anything to, change anything on, or remove anything from any homebrew, you MUST re-save the entire thing using the main [SAVE CHANGES] button under Basic Information or the system won’t pick up your changes. After that it can sometimes take up to 20 minutes for those changes to push through to the character builder sheet.
I'm trying to create a magic item, a weapon, which when attended provides a set ac. I have used Set, Armor Class, (fixed value) 17, but when I test it on a character the AC doesn't pull through or override the existing AC of the character? Can anyone help?
Related Question: I have a subclass that I want to grant a flat +1 to AC as a feature. Setting the minimum AC and AC to 11 hasn't had any effect. Is there a way to grant this bonus across all armor situations, or is that beyond the current limitations and I will just have to instruct users to make a manual adjustment on the character sheet?
Related Question: I have a subclass that I want to grant a flat +1 to AC as a feature. Setting the minimum AC and AC to 11 hasn't had any effect. Is there a way to grant this bonus across all armor situations, or is that beyond the current limitations and I will just have to instruct users to make a manual adjustment on the character sheet?
Is there a way to possibly do the opposite? im trying to make a homebrew race with vulnerable skin and have been trying to use Bonus—>Subtype: Armor Class—>Fixed Value: -2.
Did this question ever get answered? The thread I see here seemed to shift into Unarmored AC modifications for races. I have tried multiple ways to get the Dex Modifier added back on to a homebrew Chainmail armor and cannot get it worked out.
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Curious what you mean by this.
You can make a magic item with the modifier Set -> Minimum Base Armor: 16, and then equipping it will give the effect described by the Barkskin spell, namely that your AC cannot be lower than 16. But it doesn't affect what your "actual" AC is, with regular base armor class + feature bonuses + DEX + bonuses from magic items/shield. And that "actual" armor calculation wouldn't apply unless it made your AC over 16 (the minimum base armor.)
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
I am also having trouble getting this feature to work. I have tried several of the options listed here, but nothing seems to change on the character sheet. I am creating a race with this trait:
The class is set to Barbarian, which also has an armor modifier built into it.
I am currently trying to use the following modifier setup for the racial trait:
Modifier Type: Set
Modifier Subtype: Armor Class
Fixed Value: 13
This seems like it ought to work, but it nothing on the character sheet changes. It still shows the base AC as 10, then adds the Dex and Unarmored bonus for Barbarian. Based on the way this race / class setup is geared, the character ought to have a base AC of 13, plus the Dex modifier (+2) plus the Barbarian modifier (+2), for a total of 17 AC.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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AlumniAn earlier post here by Stormknight gave the appropriate modifier to use for this:
Sometimes it helps to create a homebrew copy of something that already exists and that does what you want, to see how it's officially set up. A good example here would be the Draconic Bloodline sorcerer's Draconic Resilience.
Edit: It's also worth mentioning that you can only benefit from one given AC calculation at a time. In Chapter 1 of the Basic Rules:
This is discussed further in the Sage Advice Compendium:
Ah, yeah I think I got it. Shortly after I posted, I tried the Unarmored AC again (as you have suggested) setting the fixed value to 13, but it didn't seem to do anything. I went to work on something else for a while, and when I looked at the character sheet again, the AC was up to 25 lol
It's quite irritating that the changes don't seem to automatically update, or randomly take varying lengths of time to populate. Thanks for the help!
Final Edit: After waiting some time to test this, it looks like the racial trait AC bonus vs the class AC bonus is already something that's being handled automatically. I modified my Constitution to 19 to see if that changed the calculation, and it automatically switched from the natural AC to the Barbarian AC bonus. So, I suppose the short response is: you don't have to worry about choosing which one you want to use.
Halfling answered you so I wont repeat it, but I will offer further information.
The floor for AC is 10+Dex mod to start. If your Dex score of 12-13, then your mod is +1, so you are already looking at an automatic AC 11… unless something tells the system to do something different.
Something like Armor for example. Armor tells the system that you have an “Armored AC” to use. Your “Unarmored Armor Class” is continuing to use that same calculation, but when wearing armor, your “Armored AC” will use a different calculation now. Studded leather tells the system that whenever it is being worn, to: “Set->Armored Armor Class->2,” and the system takes 10+X that it’s using, finds the “ones place” and flips the 0 up 2 so now it reads as 12+X. So that same PC has an “Armored AC 13” whenever they wear Studded. A breastplate tells the system to not only change the floor for the calculation, but also put a cap of 2 on the Dex mod so the system sees “AAC=14+(X<2).” If you wear both studded and a breastplate, the system is programmed to only use the higher, so it compares “12+1=AAC13 : 14+1=AAC15 ; 13<15” And displays a 15 in that spot on the sheet.
Unarmored AC uses the same system. The Barbarian class says something different and tells the system that a character’s ”Unarmored Armor Class”calculation is “10+Dex+Con.” You want your trait to use “13+Dex,” and when the system compares them it’s supposed to go “10+X+Y : 13+X” and then decide which is higher. So therefore, you just need to use the “Unarmored” version of the same calculation that something like studded leather uses:
Just like Stormknight said, as Halfling pointed out. However….
The modifier you were using, “Set->Armor Class” tells the system to always us it unless something else either the Armored or Unarmored Armor Class is higher. By putting 13 in the fixed value it should have been displaying 23 as your AC since that would be waaayy higher than 10+Dex+Con. But you said it was still only display the Barbarian’s calculation. So that tells me the system wasn’t caught up to anything yet.
Whenever you add anything to, change anything on, or remove anything from any homebrew, you MUST re-save the entire thing using the main [SAVE CHANGES] button under Basic Information or the system won’t pick up your changes. After that it can sometimes take up to 20 minutes for those changes to push through to the character builder sheet.
I hope that helps.
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Hi, I want to set up a class feature to change a character's AC to 10+DEX+WIS while unarmored and without a shield. Can't seem to figure out how. Any suggestions? I've read through the thread and tried some things but I can't seem to get it right. Class feature is for a druid homebrew subclass.
Whenever you add anything to, change anything on, or remove anything from any homebrew, you MUST re-save the entire thing using the main [SAVE CHANGES] button under Basic Information or the system won’t pick up your changes. After that it can sometimes take up to 20 minutes for those changes to push through to the character builder sheet.
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Thank you! It was me saving incorrectly!
Hey,
I'm trying to create a magic item, a weapon, which when attended provides a set ac. I have used Set, Armor Class, (fixed value) 17, but when I test it on a character the AC doesn't pull through or override the existing AC of the character? Can anyone help?
The item is: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4699368-the-healers-burden
General FAQ #6:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/131411-a-homebrewers-how-to-faq
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Related Question: I have a subclass that I want to grant a flat +1 to AC as a feature. Setting the minimum AC and AC to 11 hasn't had any effect. Is there a way to grant this bonus across all armor situations, or is that beyond the current limitations and I will just have to instruct users to make a manual adjustment on the character sheet?
Modifier: Bonus—>Subtype: Armor Class—>Fixed Value: 1
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Perfecto! Thank you!
Thank you for this thread - I hope the OP found their answer - I didn't finish reading because I found mine...
I was having a similar problem with my Dragon Cloak https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/5064275-dragon-cloak
When equipped it adds the Fire Immunity but didn't change the AC
FOUND MY FIX amongst the conversation here and wanted to thank the community.
I changed "Bonus: Armor Class" to "Bonus: Armored Armor Class" and it removes/adds +1AC when I un/equip it.
To Followup, how would I setup a race feature to change a character's AC to 10+STR+WIS while unarmored and without a shield?
I can get either the STR or the WIS but how can I get both?
Please see the Homebrew Subclasses & Races FAQ #9: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/131411-a-homebrewers-how-to-faq). You would use “Bonus” for one of them and “Set” for the other.
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Is there a way to possibly do the opposite? im trying to make a homebrew race with vulnerable skin and have been trying to use Bonus—>Subtype: Armor Class—>Fixed Value: -2.
Not that I know of, sorry.
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Did this question ever get answered? The thread I see here seemed to shift into Unarmored AC modifications for races. I have tried multiple ways to get the Dex Modifier added back on to a homebrew Chainmail armor and cannot get it worked out.