I have one question, guys: in the old days of 2e, Elven Chainmail was listed as being half the weight of regular chain and allowed your full Dexterity bonus to be used. Am I to assume that the same rule applies in 5e? If my character dons some Elven Chainmail, does my elven character get to use his full +3 Dexterity bonus in conjunction with this enchanted armor...? And speaking of enchanted armor, do other enchanted suits of armor, aside from the magical leather and studded leather, allow for usage of full Dexterity bonus? Thanks in advance for any insight on this issue.
Not to be a wiseass, but it's never safe to assume that rules have come over from other editions. Mr. Crawford specifically said in sage advice (I think on Dragon Talk) that a lot of people do this and it's not correct. 5E is its own set of rules and if it is not mentioned there, it's not there. Same goes, for example, for the 'surprise round' which many people still think exists in 5E (it does not).
And speaking of enchanted armor, do other enchanted suits of armor, aside from the magical leather and studded leather, allow for usage of full Dexterity bonus? Thanks in advance for any insight on this issue.
No one answered this part of Evan's question, and, since I have the same one, I'll repeat it. Are there any enchanted suits of armor besides the two mentioned above that allow for the full DEX bonus?
Nope - all suits of magical armor have the strength and dexterity requirements/restrictions of their base armor type.
They often have additional magical properties, such as the Elven Chain granting proficiency (making it good for a wizard for example), but I am not aware of any officially published magic armor that removes the dex limitations.
Bracers of Defense and similar magical items can boost your armor class without wearing armor and thus not impacting your dex bonus to AC.
2e was all about not getting hit, you really didn't want monsters in 2e hitting you since many had very negative effects when they did (level drain, save or die, so on) and characters most likely did not have the hit points to survive getting hit and if you did get hit, it took you weeks to regain hit points naturally (1 hit point per full day of rest).
5e knows you are going to get hit, it is built into the game, they give you ways to offset that damage (short rest hit die healing, long rest full healing, class abilities, so on). It is actually easier to get hit in plate armor/shield (AC 20) in 5e than it is in 2e(AC 0) due to the differences in how Hit Die Monster THACO and attack modifiers function. EXAMPLE, 2e goblin needs to roll a 20 to hit you in plate armor and shield, 5e goblin needs to roll 16.
But back to your original question, sorry No, armors in 5e and dexterity modifiers are limited by the armor type:
Light armor- full dexterity modifier
Medium armor- +2 modifier (more with feats)
Heavy armor- No modifier
IMO, They should have made elven chain light armor or allowed the dexterity modifier to be +3 or +4 just from a lore standpoint.
Older versions of Elven Chain were made of Mithral, in 5e Elven Chain is not automatically Mithral but the mechanics do not interfere with each other so a DM can still combine them.
There are suits of enchanted armor that allow for full Dexterity bonus applied. They're simply suits of enchanted light armor. Glamoured Studded Leather is awesome, and any armor including Leather/Studded Leather can come in +1/2/3 or of Resist varieties. Most of the heavy-duty enchanted armor is heavier stuff, yeah, but there are a few options for lighter-weight gear that provides full Dex.
I am a draconic bloodline sorcerer with a base AC of 17 (18 DEX), will I still get the +1 AC bonus from the Elven chain?
You cannot combine AC formulas, so the short answer to your question is 'no'.
Draconic Resilience is an AC formula that gives you an AC equal to 13 + Dex mod when not wearing armor. Elven Chain is armor.
The AC formulawhen wearing armor is equal to 10 + armor bonus + Dex mod, and the Dex mod is capped at a maximum of +2 for medium armor.
Elven Chain is a +1 set of medium armor. Your Sorcerer would have an AC of 10 + 4 (armor bonus, including the +1 magic item bonus) + 2 (Dex mod cap for medium armor), for a total of AC 16. You're better off naked.
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I have one question, guys: in the old days of 2e, Elven Chainmail was listed as being half the weight of regular chain and allowed your full Dexterity bonus to be used. Am I to assume that the same rule applies in 5e? If my character dons some Elven Chainmail, does my elven character get to use his full +3 Dexterity bonus in conjunction with this enchanted armor...? And speaking of enchanted armor, do other enchanted suits of armor, aside from the magical leather and studded leather, allow for usage of full Dexterity bonus? Thanks in advance for any insight on this issue.
Don't assume that any rules from previous editions carry over.
In this particular case, magic armor follows all the rules of its non-magical counterpart(Dex bonus, Str requirement, stealth disadvantage, etc) unless the magic armor's description explicitly says otherwise.
I have one question, guys: in the old days of 2e, Elven Chainmail was listed as being half the weight of regular chain and allowed your full Dexterity bonus to be used. Am I to assume that the same rule applies in 5e? If my character dons some Elven Chainmail, does my elven character get to use his full +3 Dexterity bonus in conjunction with this enchanted armor...? And speaking of enchanted armor, do other enchanted suits of armor, aside from the magical leather and studded leather, allow for usage of full Dexterity bonus? Thanks in advance for any insight on this issue.
Elven chain in 5e gives a +1 bonus to AC and the proficiency if the character does not already have it.
The DEX bonus restriction is always applied to an armour, even enchanted one, unless the description says otherwise.
Thank you for the clarification!!
Also, note that in this edition it's a chain shirt, not chainmail.
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I believe it is medium armor so only a +2 dex bonus unless you have the Medium Armor Master feat allowing a +3 bonus.
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Not to be a wiseass, but it's never safe to assume that rules have come over from other editions. Mr. Crawford specifically said in sage advice (I think on Dragon Talk) that a lot of people do this and it's not correct. 5E is its own set of rules and if it is not mentioned there, it's not there. Same goes, for example, for the 'surprise round' which many people still think exists in 5E (it does not).
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No one answered this part of Evan's question, and, since I have the same one, I'll repeat it. Are there any enchanted suits of armor besides the two mentioned above that allow for the full DEX bonus?
Nope - all suits of magical armor have the strength and dexterity requirements/restrictions of their base armor type.
They often have additional magical properties, such as the Elven Chain granting proficiency (making it good for a wizard for example), but I am not aware of any officially published magic armor that removes the dex limitations.
Bracers of Defense and similar magical items can boost your armor class without wearing armor and thus not impacting your dex bonus to AC.
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2e was all about not getting hit, you really didn't want monsters in 2e hitting you since many had very negative effects when they did (level drain, save or die, so on) and characters most likely did not have the hit points to survive getting hit and if you did get hit, it took you weeks to regain hit points naturally (1 hit point per full day of rest).
5e knows you are going to get hit, it is built into the game, they give you ways to offset that damage (short rest hit die healing, long rest full healing, class abilities, so on). It is actually easier to get hit in plate armor/shield (AC 20) in 5e than it is in 2e(AC 0) due to the differences in how Hit Die Monster THACO and attack modifiers function. EXAMPLE, 2e goblin needs to roll a 20 to hit you in plate armor and shield, 5e goblin needs to roll 16.
But back to your original question, sorry No, armors in 5e and dexterity modifiers are limited by the armor type:
IMO, They should have made elven chain light armor or allowed the dexterity modifier to be +3 or +4 just from a lore standpoint.
I couldn't agree more, it should be Light Armor.
Perpetually annoyed that Eldritch Knights can't use Eldritch Blast, Eldritch Smite, and Eldritch Sight.
At a min medium armor to get the partial Dexterity bonus.
Older versions of Elven Chain were made of Mithral, in 5e Elven Chain is not automatically Mithral but the mechanics do not interfere with each other so a DM can still combine them.
It [i]is[/i] medium armor.
There are suits of enchanted armor that allow for full Dexterity bonus applied. They're simply suits of enchanted light armor. Glamoured Studded Leather is awesome, and any armor including Leather/Studded Leather can come in +1/2/3 or of Resist varieties. Most of the heavy-duty enchanted armor is heavier stuff, yeah, but there are a few options for lighter-weight gear that provides full Dex.
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I am a draconic bloodline sorcerer with a base AC of 17 (18 DEX), will I still get the +1 AC bonus from the Elven chain?
Even with the +1, your AC would only be 16 with the elven chain. You’re better off without it.
You cannot combine AC formulas, so the short answer to your question is 'no'.
Draconic Resilience is an AC formula that gives you an AC equal to 13 + Dex mod when not wearing armor. Elven Chain is armor.
The AC formula when wearing armor is equal to 10 + armor bonus + Dex mod, and the Dex mod is capped at a maximum of +2 for medium armor.
Elven Chain is a +1 set of medium armor. Your Sorcerer would have an AC of 10 + 4 (armor bonus, including the +1 magic item bonus) + 2 (Dex mod cap for medium armor), for a total of AC 16. You're better off naked.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Don't assume that any rules from previous editions carry over.
In this particular case, magic armor follows all the rules of its non-magical counterpart(Dex bonus, Str requirement, stealth disadvantage, etc) unless the magic armor's description explicitly says otherwise.
@SagaTympana and @Sigred Thank you, that really helped me