Phantom Armour (spell)
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Phantom armour is a spell that materializes a semi-real suit of plate mail armour that envelops the chosen recipient, granting them an armour class (AC) of 3. For onlookers, the armour appears predominantly invisible, save for an initial brief shimmer at the spell's activation, which gives evidence that the enchantment has been cast.
| Range | touch |
| Duration | 6 hours or until depleted |
| Area of Effect | 1 creature; see text |
| Casting Time | 1 round |
| Saving Throw | none |
| Level | illusionist (1st) |
Contents
The spell bestows a +1 saving throw for every three levels of the caster with regards to area-effect attacks, such as breath weapons and various forms of magic, including fireballs and meteor swarm — unless the form is gas-based, in which case the armour gives no such benefit.
Recipient
Any character class may enjoy the protective benefits of the spell, which has no adverse effects on their movement or spellcasting abilities. Phantom armour possesses no measurable weight and doesn't contribute to encumbrance.
The dweomer may be invoked atop whatever the recipient is wearing, even if they're already clad in armour. The AC benefit supersedes all other protective benefits, whether from armour or dexterity. Even if the character's actual AC is better than the dweomer's, since attacks strike the dweomer first, before the character's person can be struck, only the phantom armour's AC applies. Note that it's possible, therefore, that an attack may hit the phantom armour, destroy it, and then do no damage to the recipient, if the latter's AC is sufficiently higher.
Absorbing Damage
When the character is hit, damage is accrued by the armour rather than befalling the wearer. Phantom armour absorbs up to 4 hit points (h.p.) +1/level of the caster; thus, a 7th level caster could bestow phantom armour that absorbs 11 h.p.
Once the armour is struck for all the damage it can absorb, the dweomer is dispelled. Additional damage is then taken by the wearer.
- For example, Maria is wearing phantom armour that can withstand 8 h.p., when she's hit for 10 damage. The first 8 are taken up by armour, which then evaporates. The remaining two damage are suffered by Maria.
