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cfalcon
2011-04-22, 10:53 AM
In the game I am starting I will, as I have done before, use gems (Tura gems) instead of weapon enhancements. These have a lot of advantages for the world I have (Caligo), but also the players respond well to getting a movable packet of +3 weapon to trade, switch onto different weapon types, and not be sad if a weapon gets sundered.

However, I had this interesting idea, where I would have a bunch of different types, and each one could have a different effect depending on whether it is in armor or weapon. Mostly this has been fine, but I am definitely curious f someone takes brilliant energy and sticks it in armor.


So what do you think brilliant energy armor would be like? The effects of inserting the gem could be as dramatic as transforming the armor into brilliant energy (which would make it much worse for most purposes I would imagine), or it could create a flickering lattice around the armor. The point is- because the weapon property is +4, this needs to be about as good as an armor enchant worth +4 as well (the 2x cost differential is accommodated for elsewhere, don't swear that one).


Any ideas?

cfalcon
2011-04-22, 10:58 AM
*don't *sweat* that one, not swear. I can't edit it fully on the phone, sorry.

Icedaemon
2011-04-22, 10:59 AM
Well, it could probably blind opponents - enemies receive penalties to hit if they rely on sight. This also affects enemies who need to make ranged touch attacks. Brilliant energy would probably also protect from ghost touch abilities. Probably a penalty to hide though.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-22, 11:01 AM
Brilliant Energy Armor
The entire armor becomes pure energy, changing the armor bonus to a deflection bonus and effectively removing the armor's weight and penalties from the equation. You still take penalties if you're not proficient in the armor, but, otherwise, you suffer no effects from wearing the armor aside from an increased AC (no weight, no speed reduction, no check penalties, and no maximum dexterity bonus).

This deflection bonus stacks with your next highest source of deflection bonus.

When wearing this armor, you may grapple and otherwise interact with incorporeal creatures and objects as though they were corporeal.

Finally, when active, you give off light as the daylight spell. <-- This part might not be necessary, or in line with what you had in mind.

Veyr
2011-04-22, 11:30 AM
But Brilliant Energy does not interact with non-living material.

"Attacks made with manufactured weapons, or made by creatures of the Construct or Undead types, ignore the armor's bonus to AC entirely, as they may pass right through it."

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-22, 11:44 AM
But Brilliant Energy does not interact with non-living material.

"Attacks made with manufactured weapons, or made by creatures of the Construct or Undead types, ignore the armor's bonus to AC entirely, as they may pass right through it."

This makes it very weak though.

And Billiant Energy weapons ignore this stuff. Remember...it's magic. We don't need to use the same rules everywhere. I think my version might actually be worth +3 or +4, whereas adding your addendum makes it far, far weaker.

Veyr
2011-04-22, 12:40 PM
I agree that that makes it very weak. Your version makes it exceptionally powerful. And completely ignores the existing fluff on Brilliant Energy. If it's not alive, it passes right through.

Siosilvar
2011-04-22, 01:30 PM
I agree that that makes it very weak. Your version makes it exceptionally powerful. And completely ignores the existing fluff on Brilliant Energy. If it's not alive, it passes right through.

What if Brilliant Energy worked like a very thin lightsaber? Most anything nonliving is cut through and melted right back together, effectively doing no damage. Organic stuff (with the exception of plastics and the like) is just cut and burned.

An armor of this would melt anything you hit it with.

Same mechanical effects for weapons, but completely changes what armor would do.

Solaris
2011-04-22, 01:42 PM
I agree that that makes it very weak. Your version makes it exceptionally powerful. And completely ignores the existing fluff on Brilliant Energy. If it's not alive, it passes right through.

But seeing as how your version also makes it unplayable, I'm gonna agree with Djinn in Tonic. It doesn't completely ignore the existing fluff, as it does turn the armor into something non-physical. It just makes sure the armor is actually still useful, and being that the OP requested something useful we're going to have to adjust the fluff as necessary.
After all, it's magic. Logic has nothing to do with it.

Veyr
2011-04-22, 02:53 PM
What you're describing is not Brilliant Energy; Brilliant Energy has very specific properties. There's a reason WotC never made it available as armor. If the OP wants to refluff Brilliant Energy, that's one thing, but until he suggests that he wants to do that, I consider Djinn in Tonic's version to be a non-solution: it's providing a neat, balanced enhancement, but it's not Brilliant Energy and therefore does not solve the OP's problem.

Flame of Anor
2011-04-22, 03:01 PM
What you're describing is not Brilliant Energy; Brilliant Energy has very specific properties. There's a reason WotC never made it available as armor. If the OP wants to refluff Brilliant Energy, that's one thing, but until he suggests that he wants to do that, I consider Djinn in Tonic's version to be a non-solution: it's providing a neat, balanced enhancement, but it's not Brilliant Energy and therefore does not solve the OP's problem.

Exactly. Make it of, I don't know, Warding Energy or something, but if it interacts with non-living material, it's not Brilliant Energy.

Icedaemon
2011-04-22, 03:12 PM
Why not (first off) rule it that magical weapons are affected by brilliant energy armour and possibly have half the armour bonus added as circumstance bonus vs sight-based foes (due to the bright light throwing off enemies' aim)? Perhaps not quite as powerful in as many situations, but damn useful in certain events.

Glimbur
2011-04-22, 03:13 PM
An interesting reversal would be to have it steal an idea from the Blink spell. Specifically, the armor makes you flicker between being Brilliant Energy and normal. This gives you an armor bonus (or deflection bonus) against nonliving material but has no effect against natural attacks. That is not worth a +4 enhancement bonus though.

Solaris
2011-04-22, 03:20 PM
Seriously? You guys are quibbling over whether or not it should be called Brilliant Energy or Warding Energy (which, admittedly, sounds like the basis of a pretty cool magic item). Magic =/= science. Logic need not apply, especially considering we don't exactly know how in the world it functions.
Brilliant Energy weapons ignore the non-living because it makes them better at being weapons (against most targets, anyhow), while Brilliant Energy armor doesn't because that makes it useless armor.

I do like the idea of having it apply more against magical and natural weapons than against mundane weapons. Perhaps having it apply only against those, while mundane weapons ignore it would be a workable solution. Fluff - Brilliant Energy is composed of 'crystallized' magical energy, so it ignores the mundane and the non-living but not the magical and the living. Slightly different from the weapons, but less so. It's nigh-useless in the early stages of the game, but useful indeed in the later stages.

Thinkin Ogre
2011-04-22, 03:37 PM
I am going to work from an example.
Example: +3 Brilliant Energy Armor Breast Plate.
How about it makes you into brilliant energy somewhat, applying a 50% miss chance against non-natural attacks and applies damage to an attacker using natural attacks equal to the magic bonus of the armor on a succesful hit.

using my example armor the armor would apply +8 AC(+3 magic, +5 breast plate) against natural attacks and 3 damage (the magic bonus) to the attacker on a succesful hit. against non-natural attacks it would apply a +3 armor bonus to AC but also grant a 50% (25% against magical weapons) miss chance.

I don't remember who thought up the miss chance but I am trying to give u credit here.

-Thinkin Ogre

Veyr
2011-04-22, 03:55 PM
Logic need not apply
Wrong; good fantasy establishes and then abides by its own rules. They don't have to match reality, but they do have to be consistent: this is known as immersion or verisimilitude or what have you. We do know how Brilliant Energy behaves; it's spelled out for us quite explicitly. Non-living material passes right through Brilliant Energy (and Brilliant Energy through non-living material). If the armor does not have this property, it is not Brilliant Energy.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-22, 04:06 PM
Wrong; good fantasy establishes and then abides by its own rules. They don't have to match reality, but they do have to be consistent: this is known as immersion or verisimilitude or what have you. We do know how Brilliant Energy behaves; it's spelled out for us quite explicitly. Non-living material passes right through Brilliant Energy (and Brilliant Energy through non-living material). If the armor does not have this property, it is not Brilliant Energy.

The problem, however, is that he wants it balanced as a +4 enchantment. As per your suggestion of "following the logic exactly," this is what we have:

A Brilliant Energy suit of Armor provides its armor bonus against incorporeal attacks and attacks with Brilliant Energy weapons. It provides its armor bonus against no other forms of attacks. Additionally, it gives off light as a torch.

And those two cases are still sort of pulled out of thin air.

Definitely not worth +4 (or even -4), and so it doesn't meet the requirements that were laid out in the original post of something that is worth a +4 bonus. Sometimes consistency must bend to fit the game, and there are MANY ways to represent armor made of a semi-tangible form of energy.

Personally, while you may not like it, I think my solution was fairly elegant and worth +4, without sacrificing to much of the flavor of a suit of energy armor. Instead of breaking the realism of the game (which magic already does in a number of ways), it merely expands on the uses of the Brilliant Energy spell, giving it a new defensive application.

Also, let's think about it this way: perhaps Brilliant Energy passes through material because it is an anathema to actual matter. Thus, used defensively, it repels physical matter. There...I've altered the original assertion to still make sense, and now the new use makes sense as well. Mission accomplished, and consistency preserved.

cfalcon
2011-04-22, 04:55 PM
Thank you all for your contributions!

Again, note that this is a magical gem that, when placed into a weapon, makes it a brilliant energy weapon. What it does when placed into a suite of armor is the hard part. Obviously, just turning it strictly into brilliant energy is not even remotely worth the +4- hence, it must do something else- which is precisely my problem.

Essentially, I'm looking for the magic to do something similar.

Recall also that it does not have to turn the entire armor into brilliant energy- it could create a netting, a web, or some other effect. I would *prefer* it use brilliant energy in some fashion.

Do note that armor made of this stuff would still work fine against natural attacks and unarmed attacks, as well as incorporeal. So perhaps the webbing or enhancement it has makes it particularly good at these kinds of attacks, or hurts people who strike it with them. The problem then becomes- to make *that* worth a +4, it becomes a Gem of Punishing Monks.


Djinn's idea is good in that it works with the glowy force idea. The downside is that it's basically the mirrored version of brilliant energy- which, of course, can also work.

Bloody Initiate
2011-04-22, 04:56 PM
Brilliant Energy as an armor quality shouldn't be +4. There is precedent for the the same-named weapon and armor quality being different prices for both (Ghost Touch), so I think Brilliant Energy should follow that precedent and have a more realistic cost when it's armor.

At the very least, it should defend against Brilliant Energy weapons.

only1doug
2011-04-22, 05:12 PM
Have the augment turn the armour into the equivelent of the Luminous Armour spell line? it becomes a force armour (blocks ethereal) and opponents suffer a -4 attack penalty due to the bright light (if they use vision).

Mechanically it isn't the same but it does have the same feel.

cfalcon
2011-04-22, 05:27 PM
Brilliant Energy as an armor quality shouldn't be +4.

True, but unimportant for my game. If a PC has a gem that has the appropriate magical glyph (my documents label it as "TBD Glyph 10"), then it will give a +4 appropriate bonus when shoved into armor. The question is, what should that be!


Have the augment turn the armour into the equivelent of the Luminous Armour spell line?

Hrm, where's that from? I'm not familiar with it.

Jarian
2011-04-22, 06:13 PM
Hrm, where's that from? I'm not familiar with it.

Book of Exalted Deeds.

Solaris
2011-04-22, 07:39 PM
Wrong; good fantasy establishes and then abides by its own rules. They don't have to match reality, but they do have to be consistent: this is known as immersion or verisimilitude or what have you. We do know how Brilliant Energy behaves; it's spelled out for us quite explicitly. Non-living material passes right through Brilliant Energy (and Brilliant Energy through non-living material). If the armor does not have this property, it is not Brilliant Energy.

Allow me to fetch from my DMG all the text I know of for the behavior of Brilliant Energy: A brilliant energy weapon has its significant portion—such as its blade, axe head, or arrowhead—transformed into light, although this does not modify the item’s weight. It always gives off light as a torch (20-foot radius). A brilliant energy weapon ignores nonliving matter. Armor bonuses to AC (including any enhancement bonuses to that armor) do not count against it because the weapon passes through armor. (Dexterity, deflection, dodge, natural armor, and other such bonuses still apply.) A brilliant energy weapon cannot harm undead, constructs, and objects. This property can only be applied to melee weapons, thrown weapons, and ammunition.
Now, yes, if we don't bend anything it becomes useless as armor. Wonderful, your response to the OP is "It can't be done." I detest such an attitude, and wonder why you're even bothering. But you know what? This explains nothing in sufficient depth. It doesn't tell me why it ignores nonliving matter. Does it interact with life-force? Is it simply the nature of the enchantment, something chosen as part of the magic item's creation? Is it just the way it is? It's magic. I can't pick it apart, examine it as I would something that has bearing on the real world. Therefore, saying "Brilliant Energy armor ignores nonmagical weapons, but not magical weapons or natural attacks" does no more damage to the verisimilitude of the setting than saying "Brilliant Energy armor ignores non-living matter". It might if all of the sudden it changed in-game with no more explanation than DM fiat, but if that's just the way it always was then there's no damage whatsoever.

Good fantasy comes from good storytelling. It doesn't need magic that functions just like science. Reliable, logical magic detracts from the whole point of magic and wanders into science fiction.

Veyr
2011-04-22, 11:12 PM
Nowhere did I say it can't be done, I said that Djinn's solution involved changing what Brilliant Energy is, which is a non-solution given the OP.

My "suggestion" was not intended to be a solution; as you've pointed out, it's not even remotely worth +4. It wasn't intended to be; it was to show the problems with Djinn's solution (I now see others, actually).

Problems with Djinn's suggestion:
Brilliant Energy explicitly ignores non-living matter. His does not.
His suggestion removes the armor's weight and ACP; Brilliant Energy explicitly does not do that for weapons.
His suggestion involves a Deflection bonus, making it count towards Touch AC, and therefore ward off spells. There is absolutely no indication that Brilliant Energy would be any more effective at preventing spells (which are, in general, non-living) from touching you than would normal metal armor. Thus, the bonus does not make sense.
Djinn's suggestion is probably reasonable for a +4 bonus. It is in no way Brilliant Energy. On further analysis, in fact, it's absolutely unlike Brilliant Energy.

If the OP wishes to refluff Brilliant Energy, then Djinn's suggestion is fine. If not, however, then it simply does not work.


Going with the OP's suggestion of adding a Brilliant Energy lattice to the armor in question, perhaps this would be more fitting:

"Adding the Brilliant Energy Tura Gem to an armor causes it to be encased in shining light. The wearer gains a +7 bonus to AC when attacked with the natural weapons or unarmed strike of any living creature, or any other effect that would require living material to pass through the Brilliant Energy lattice. Furthermore, he may also count any Enhancement bonuses on the armor as doubled versus such attack."

At a minimum, you gain +8 bonus against natural weapons; they do come up quite frequently, and that is double the bonus. This seems to me to be probably about +4 in worth. A bit boring, perhaps, but it is Brilliant Energy and it does seem to be balanced. Balance can easily be tweaked by changing the +7, as well.

Popertop
2011-04-23, 12:55 AM
Nowhere did I say it can't be done, I said that Djinn's solution involved changing what Brilliant Energy is, which is a non-solution given the OP.

Problems with Djinn's suggestion:
Brilliant Energy explicitly ignores non-living matter. His does not.
His suggestion removes the armor's weight and ACP; Brilliant Energy explicitly does not do that for weapons.
His suggestion involves a Deflection bonus, making it count towards Touch AC, and therefore ward off spells. There is absolutely no indication that Brilliant Energy would be any more effective at preventing spells (which are, in general, non-living) from touching you than would normal metal armor. Thus, the bonus does not make sense.
Djinn's suggestion is probably reasonable for a +4 bonus. It is in no way Brilliant Energy. On further analysis, in fact, it's absolutely unlike Brilliant Energy.

His suggestion doesn't change the nature of Brilliant Energy. It adapts Brilliant Energy to be applied to armor.

The RAW says "A brilliant energy weapon ignores non-living matter."

Brilliant Energy armor might very well have the opposite effect, in addition to protecting against Brilliant Energy weapons.

A deflection bonus doesn't seem that outrageous really, it's a very good bonus to have. In fact, you might be able to slap some miss chance on there for good measure. Maybe then it would be worth +4.


If the OP wishes to refluff Brilliant Energy, then Djinn's suggestion is fine. If not, however, then it simply does not work.

Seeing as he is operating in his own custom setting, that doesn't seem like a very big deal.

I really like the gem idea though, I might start using it myself.

only1doug
2011-04-23, 03:29 AM
Book of Exalted Deeds.

And its re-printed somewhere else as well (if only I could find it), without the stat sacrifice as a cleric spell.


this spell wraps the target in a protective shimmering aura of light. The Luminous Armour resembeles a suit of dazzling full plate but it is weightless and does not restrict the targets movement or mobility in any way.
In addition to granting the AC benefit of a breastplate (normal version, L2 spell) or Fullplate (Greater version, L4 spell) the luminous armour has no maximum dexterity restriction, no armour check penalty and no chance for arcane spell failure.
Luminous Armour sheds light equal to a daylight spell and counters darkness spells of 2nd level or lower with which it comes into contact. In addition the armours brightness causes opponents to take a -4 penalty on mellee attacks made against the target. This penalty stacks with the attack penalty suffered by creatures sensative to bright light (such as dark elves).

only1doug
2011-04-23, 05:24 AM
Alternatively:
DMG suggests that Brilliant energy is a mixture of Gaseous form and continual flame at CL16. give the armour a appearance similar to that suggested before: glows at about torchlike brightness and the ability to cast gaseous form at will (or 3/day if at will is considered too powerful).

Veyr
2011-04-23, 09:36 AM
Seeing as he is operating in his own custom setting, that doesn't seem like a very big deal.
There is no issue — except that isn't what the OP asked for.


I really like the gem idea though, I might start using it myself.
I agree here; Magic Item Compendium had a few minor ones, but using them for all magic weapon and armor is a cool idea.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-23, 10:36 AM
There is no issue — except that isn't what the OP asked for.

I'm not sure it isn't. You're arguing semantics: here's a way out. Explain to me exactly what a Brilliant Energy weapon is and how and why it works the way it does, and then I'll accept that the "brilliant energy" is a perfectly defined mechanic that we can't deviate from for the purposes of (in my mind) better gameplay and more interesting mechanics.

If we don't have a RAW definition of exactly what Brilliant Energy as a concept is, rather than Brilliant Energy in one specific execution, I see no compelling reason why we can't expand on the concept to give the OP a functional and interesting alternate effect.

Siosilvar
2011-04-23, 02:32 PM
So what do you think brilliant energy armor would be like? The effects of inserting the gem could be as dramatic as transforming the armor into brilliant energy (which would make it much worse for most purposes I would imagine), or it could create a flickering lattice around the armor. The point is- because the weapon property is +4, this needs to be about as good as an armor enchant worth +4 as well (the 2x cost differential is accommodated for elsewhere, don't swear that one).


Any ideas?Djinn answered to OP's questions quite adequately. He gave a +4-equivalent enchantment that matches what he thinks brilliant energy armor would do.

EDIT: Here's mine, if you like:

Brilliant Energy Armor
Brilliant energy armor adds only its enhancement bonus to AC against normal attacks. However, its full AC bonus applies against touch attacks and natural attacks.

Brilliant energy armor always gives off light as a torch; as a standard action, the wearer may focus the light and blind one target for 1d4+1 rounds (Fortitude DC 14 + enhancement bonus). Even if the target succeeds on the saving throw, they still are dazzled for the same duration.[hr]I'm not sure if it's quite worth +4, but it's decent enough.

EDIT2: Throw in this line from Djinn's:
When wearing this armor, you may grapple and otherwise interact with incorporeal creatures and objects as though they were corporeal.

and maybe the "no penalties" as well.

Veyr
2011-04-23, 09:36 PM
I'm not sure it isn't. You're arguing semantics: here's a way out. Explain to me exactly what a Brilliant Energy weapon is and how and why it works the way it does, and then I'll accept that the "brilliant energy" is a perfectly defined mechanic that we can't deviate from for the purposes of (in my mind) better gameplay and more interesting mechanics.
This is nonsense. I've listed three perfectly explicit properties of Brilliant Energy that your suggestion completely contradicts, including the most notable one — ignoring nonliving material is what makes Brilliant Energy what it is.

The OP did not ask you to change Brilliant Energy. He asked for a +4 armor property that uses Brilliant Energy. He already pointed out that there are problems with the obvious choice, because it would provide no protection. He could have easily changed that property if he wanted to, but he did not do that. He further posted after your suggestion, and it did not seem to me that he was satisfied with it.

Anyway, I'm done with this argument. No real point to it until the OP responds to the suggestions that have been made.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-23, 09:40 PM
This is nonsense. I've listed three perfectly explicit properties of Brilliant Energy that your suggestion completely contradicts, including the most notable one — ignoring nonliving material is what makes Brilliant Energy what it is.

And my point is that we have no basis for Brilliant Energy aside from the weapon. It could work any NUMBER of different ways, and there's no reason to say one is correct or incorrect in a fantasy game.

Siosilvar
2011-04-23, 10:18 PM
Let me put this here again.

So what do you think brilliant energy armor would be like? The effects of inserting the gem could be as dramatic as transforming the armor into brilliant energy (which would make it much worse for most purposes I would imagine), or it could create a flickering lattice around the armor. The point is- because the weapon property is +4, this needs to be about as good as an armor enchant worth +4 as well (the 2x cost differential is accommodated for elsewhere, don't swear that one).


Any ideas?And to elaborate from last time: This is a fluff question. Namely: "What could we do with Brilliant Energy that merits a +4 enchantment?"

Djinn answered that question, as have a number of other people. Change the line from "the armor becomes pure energy" to "the armor hovers above your skin and gives off an aura of pure energy" and there's no difference in the mechanical representation.

cfalcon
2011-04-27, 04:43 PM
Ok, I'd again like to thank everyone for their contributions!

I ended up with this (for now at least):


Armor: Your armor glitters with a shifting web of brilliant energy. This glowing energy sheds light as a daylight spell, and increases your enhancement bonus to AC versus brilliant energy weapons, natural and unarmed attacks by 2. Your AC bonus from your armor also applies as normal to brilliant energy weapons. Once every ten rounds, you can issue a mental command to the gem on your turn as a free action. You are immediately suffused with brilliant energy, gaining some of the qualities thereof: manufactured weapons pass through you (unless they are also brilliant energy). Attacks from undead and constructs pass through you without harm in a like manner. You do not gain the ability to walk through walls, nor do you fall through the floor. The effect ends at the beginning of your next turn.

Here are my thoughts on every suggestion in this thread:


Brilliant Energy Armor
The entire armor becomes pure energy, changing the armor bonus to a deflection bonus and effectively removing the armor's weight and penalties from the equation. You still take penalties if you're not proficient in the armor, but, otherwise, you suffer no effects from wearing the armor aside from an increased AC (no weight, no speed reduction, no check penalties, and no maximum dexterity bonus).

This deflection bonus stacks with your next highest source of deflection bonus.

When wearing this armor, you may grapple and otherwise interact with incorporeal creatures and objects as though they were corporeal.

Finally, when active, you give off light as the*daylight*spell. <-- This part might not be necessary, or in line with what you had in mind.

This started the thread off pretty well. Turning it into an additive deflection bonus basically makes it its own type of bonus, so it would presumably stack with mage armor, and I'm probably missing some great combo with the penalty-less armor. This could have some poor interaction with the casters though. My problem with these bonuses is that, while they are totally in line with a +4 bonus, is that they sort of make the whole thing really appealing to the guy who isn't normally wearing armor, while not adding too much to the guy who is big, tough, and strong. I was also hoping that it was going to be more like brilliant energy, but that's not really a prereq.


What if Brilliant Energy worked like a*very*thin lightsaber? Most anything nonliving is cut through and melted right back together, effectively doing no damage. Organic stuff (with the exception of plastics and the like) is just cut and burned.

I had had an idea similar to this, but not as cool. In mine, the wearer of the armor would basically deal reflective damage to those attacking him. I still think this is a pretty good idea. The problem is that reflective damage is sort of weak, normally- you don't normally spend your adventuring career hip deap in Kobolds who slay themselves against you. So picking an amount of reflective damage is hard, because any amount that will matter a tad in a normal fight will be REALLY good when you are up against a bunch of little guys. It seems like it excels at situations that aren't that common, and that it wouldn't be worth a +4 most of the time. I'd like to keep this reflective idea for something worth +1 or +2- that way it wouldn't have to be such a heavy investment of mirrored damage.


Why not (first off) rule it that magical weapons are affected by brilliant energy armour and possibly have half the armour bonus added as circumstance bonus vs sight-based foes (due to the bright light throwing off enemies' aim)? Perhaps not quite as powerful in as many situations, but damn useful in certain events.

The first suggestion I don't like, because it punishes people for having magical weapons. There was a spell in 2ed D&D that would make you immune to magical weapons, but non nonmagical ones. That spell was pretty heavily abused, and so I'm a bit scared of it.

The second suggestion is nice, and is similar to the later suggested luminous armor (from book of exalted deeds, as I was later to find out), in that it gives a to-hit penalty to sighted foes. My big concern here is straightforward: this is too much like a +AC bonus. Given that someone could have a +5 enhancement bonus to AC by, say, moderate levels (13-16ish), this would be a LOT to have come effectively from one item. And of course, if something doesn't use sight (or can opt not too), then this expensive bonus is entirely negated. It seems situationally very powerful and sometimes a huge gotcha- which, to be fair, the game has a lot of already- but usually, people have thought of those things a bunch.


How about it makes you into brilliant energy somewhat, applying a 50% miss chance against non-natural attacks and applies damage to an attacker using natural attacks equal to the magic bonus of the armor on a succesful hit.

Ultimately, this is the root of the idea that I'm planning on going with (modified). I got rid of the reflective damage for reasons discussed earlier, and made the shifting controllable. Being able to “go energy” once or twice an encounter is pretty great, and seems to be definitely worth the bonus on the rounds you aren't using it (and may be a bit too good- but at least it wears off). The flat 50% (or most flat % avoidance numbers) have a strong likelihood of being stacked with common and good buffs such as displacement or blink, and end up chopping up hit percentages a lot.


Have the augment turn the armour into the equivelent of the Luminous Armour spell line? it becomes a force armour (blocks ethereal) and opponents suffer a -4 attack penalty due to the bright light (if they use vision).

This idea I really liked a lot. When I dug into the mechanics though, I didn't like the results. The generic -4 miss chance against most things that will hit you, combined with the essentially permanent nature of the luminous armor spell series combined with other stackable enchants just made me too worried that I would be missing something big.


"Adding the Brilliant Energy Tura Gem to an armor causes it to be encased in shining light. The wearer gains a +7 bonus to AC when attacked with the natural weapons or unarmed strike of any living creature, or any other effect that would require living material to pass through the Brilliant Energy lattice. Furthermore, he may also count any Enhancement bonuses on the armor as doubled versus such attack."

This (or something similar) is a really appealing interpretation of the lattice concept. The obvious issue is that the bonus must be in excess of +4 versus the natural attacks, unarmed attacks, and brilliant energy attacks. This solves this elegantly, but the AC you end up with versus a regular monster (even a dragon) shoots skyward. This could have deletrious effects on game balance, and given the relative ease of swapping a Tura gem around, likely means that this would be much more desirable by whenever it is first affordable than it would otherwise be. For instance, if you suspected your next encounter would be mostly versus levelled opponents with weapons, or anything that is basically a humanoid baseline with armor and weapons, you would promptly put the gem into your weapon. If instead you thought you were going to fight some kind of massive monkey or brute-demon, you would instead put it in your armor. Either way, this modality really IS awesome, but it's probably TOO good. I still stuck with some of this idea though, with the +2 AC versus the types of stuff that doesn't go through brilliant energy: this reduces the rewards for this kind of play, while still keeping them present, and trading the rest of the awesome for essentially a defensive cooldown.


Brilliant energy armor adds only its enhancement bonus to AC against normal attacks. However, its full AC bonus applies against touch attacks and natural attacks.

Brilliant energy armor always gives off light as a torch; as a standard action, the wearer may focus the light and blind one target for 1d4+1 rounds (Fortitude DC 14 + enhancement bonus). Even if the target succeeds on the saving throw, they still are dazzled for the same duration.

The first part of this is a pretty hefty penalty, and would often encourage someone to NOT have this gem in their armor generally, as the armor portion of the AC bonus is usually a rather large amount of it. The second part is a pretty safe ability, though it has to cost a standard and at the levels where +4 equivalent bonuses come into play on armor, blinding a single target is often not a really persued thing. It also turns it into an offensive trick, which I'm a bit dubious of on armor. Still, this is a fine interpretation, and would only take minor tweaking to ensure the offensive ability was going to be effective enough. I just decided to go with a different set of stuff.


No real point to it until the OP responds to the suggestions that have been made.

Sure there is! Others might like the idea of brilliant energy armor, for instance. Remember that whatever I decide on is what I think will work best for my game, and is heavily influenced by what I think is cool and fair. Someone else could easily get something else out of other stuff!


Ok, so anyway, back to my eventual implementation. The passive +2 bonus won't really sell the armor, but will help when you are up against a monster with claws, or a monk, or an enemy with a brilliant energy weapon- the last of which is likely the rarest. The other ability is a powerful cooldown for other situations. Perhaps too powerful. Does anyone see a power level problem with that cooldown? I made it a free action (not a swift), but only on your turn (so you COULD respond to an attack of opportunity I think or something, but not to anyone's normal stuff). I figured 10 rounds is long enough that you will normally use it once an encounter, but maybe twice if the battle is stunningly long.

So it has something for you no matter what your opponent is. It's better against things with manufactured weapons in general because of it's ability to turn you (partially) into brilliant energy.

Logic-wise, I don't mind the idea of someone using this trick to phase through a chair, but not say, the floor. Or a wall. The idea is that there's some amount of volume of non-living matter that you can ignore in this form. But, maybe it's ok if it lets you do those things.


My final point is on the topic of Tura Gems. I call them that because in one of my game worlds (Tanna), there's a city called Tura, and that's where the gems were first created. They are essentially a magical gemstone that's moderately common (think quartz), but of course, to apply these benefits takes the normal amount of magicing costs that you would expect for the weapon properties or enhancements. The games I have run in the past have only allowed them for weapons, so you could have your weapon enchanted normally, or you could have a socket for a Tura gem (or both, though these would not stack: the Tura gem would override the magic of the weapon if it was more powerful, or lie dormant otherwise). This worked good for several campaigns. But this time, I want to be able to make it work with armor. Obviously, this is much harder! If you don't want it to work with armor, then just do what I always did in the past, with the following caveats:
1)- It becomes much easier to switch around the bonus from one weapon to the next.
2)- Everyone in the party will mix and match these things with much greater ease than they ever would a magical weapon. If you hand out a magical greatsword, you are pretty sure who will use that. Hand out a +3 Tura gem, and it'll be used by whomever gets the first pick at it, and he'll bargain it on down the line until the wizard has it on his auxillary staff at 18th level or something.
3)- Sunder becomes a combat-length debuff instead of a wealth destruction tool.

To me, these are all benefits. To you, they might not be. I love that when someone sunders the PCs weapon, his thoughts are “crap, I'm out a weapon this round, and I don't have a great replacement in my bag” instead of “I WILL POISON YOU, ACCURSED DM OF SUCK”. I'm also a big fan of being able to make NPCs with exotic weapons and not have everyone go “Oh super, another guy with some stupid weapon none of us can use.”. Likewise, the PC who chooses some bizarre weapon to specialize in is pretty much relegated to commissioned weapons his whole life, but now, he's not (or you just happen to slip him a mercurial longsword, which makes the whole table roll their eyes- why would TWO people in the world want such a thing?).

I have the Tura Gems come in colors. In the past, I've had the elemental ones be only usable on their weapons. Mostly this is because when I describe the gem, it has to be somewhat visceral or it risks being a ball of stats- which, of course, it is, but I want the players to see their characters holding the gem and thinking “this is gonna be BALLER”. Anyway, assigning meaning to the type or color of Tura gem is pretty optional.

I'll make a topic on the Tura gems once I have my “v2” done and I have their equivalents if you stick them in shields, armor, melee weapons, ranged weapons. The basic stuff I did before doesn't need any more explanation, and if you like the idea you already have the entirely of it having read this far. I will say that my workaround for the cost difference on armor and weapons is so simple that you might dislike me for it: armor just have two slots, and they stack :P

The restriction is that you can't get above +10 bonus- if it goes over that, the remainder is ignored. I'm pretty sure it'll just be like, count the right slot. If you aren't at +10, count the left slot. If your enhancement bonus is above +5, it's only +5. You'll notice that any even + equivalent costs the exact same as if you had it enchanted (+4 armor would cost 16000, two +2 tura gems are 8000 per). Any other combination (+3 and +1, or a single +4) costs more than the armor. Players will still be free to enchant their armor, of course: I just anticipate them having extra Tura gems like they have in preceding times, and turning them into minor +armor in the field by just plugging in the things. Note that while the weapon-only stuff is pretty well tested, the armor thing is new, and it could disrupt your game, so caveat emptor.

Popertop
2011-04-27, 08:36 PM
You can go ahead and call me a fan of your work.

I love this idea, Tura Gems I mean.

It makes sundering not the worst choice in the world :smallbiggrin:


I have a few questions though.

When a weapon gets sundered, where does the Tura gem go?
How do you handle the PC taking out their backup and slotting
in a new gem?

This is something more for myself, but if you had the Fortification Tura Gem, what would it do when placed in a weapon?

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-27, 08:48 PM
Armor: Your armor glitters with a shifting web of brilliant energy. This glowing energy sheds light as a daylight spell, and increases your enhancement bonus to AC versus brilliant energy weapons, natural and unarmed attacks by 2. Your AC bonus from your armor also applies as normal to brilliant energy weapons. Once every ten rounds, you can issue a mental command to the gem on your turn as a free action. You are immediately suffused with brilliant energy, gaining some of the qualities thereof: manufactured weapons pass through you (unless they are also brilliant energy). Attacks from undead and constructs pass through you without harm in a like manner. You do not gain the ability to walk through walls, nor do you fall through the floor. The effect ends at the beginning of your next turn.

I don't like this for a +4 bonus, honestly. It's a +2 bonus in about 50% of circumstances, with what amounts to a 1/encounter ability to avoid attacks for a single round...I might get that as a +3 bonus, or a +2, but as a +4 bonus I'd likely let it slide completely.

cfalcon
2011-04-27, 10:14 PM
When a weapon gets sundered, where does the Tura gem go?

Normally the gem would be in the hilt or handle, so you would still have possession of it.


How do you handle the PC taking out their backup and slotting
in a new gem?

Thus far, I've been doing full round to unslot, and move action to slot. It doesn't happen all that often, so I can't say if it feels too strong yet.


This is something more for myself, but if you had the Fortification Tura Gem, what would it do when placed in a weapon?

Right now, I don't have an enchant that does that- but I'm still going through. Remember, I only did weapons in the past, and I'm going through trying to create enchants that have one effect in a weapon and another in an armor. So, perhaps I will pair it with, say, defender (light fort that is). In other words, what I have here isn't a "brilliant energy" tura- it's a glyph that grants brilliant energy weapon when put in a weapon, and this new brilliant energy armor cooldown when put in an armor.

I will likely have to create a few new features, or pull from non-core sources, before I'm done. I don't think it will be as balanced a solution as the weapon only one, but it's ok if it's a *dash* on the weak side- players can still get custom armor, after all.


I don't like this for a +4 bonus, honestly. It's a +2 bonus in about 50% of circumstances, with what amounts to a 1/encounter ability to avoid attacks for a single round...I might get that as a +3 bonus, or a +2, but as a +4 bonus I'd likely let it slide completely.

The real issue is that I don't want to up the passive +2 bonus, because it stacks with other stuff and could make an AC bonus a good chunk higher than the +5.

That particular cooldown seems like it could be put to good use- for instance, to largely ignore a full attack. It should probably grant you brilliant energy weapon effect during that round too, but that's only useful if you are an attacking type, and that's not the only folks who wear armor.

Anyway, I think something that grants a partial immunity is pretty powerful. I'd rather it start out underpowered and then go up than the other way around, especially given that I'm still experimenting with the whole gems-in-armor thing.

Veyr
2011-04-27, 10:18 PM
You should specify that the activation of the gem as a free action can be taken out-of-turn (free actions usually cannot be), that would make it a lot more useful, since you know you'll be getting out of a full-attack.

Ziegander
2011-04-28, 12:08 AM
*The basic idea here is to combine the idea of "reflective damage" with Djinn's concept of weightless armor, and then throw in some elements of Gaseous Form. I like it anyway.

Brilliant Energy Armor
Price: As +4 armor

The wearer of Brilliant Energy Armor, along with any gear it is wearing, becomes partially insubstantial, its form becoming misty and translucent, engulfed in a hazy, golden glow. The wearer benefits from 50% concealment against non-magical manufactured weapons and against the natural attacks of undead and constructs, but also 20% concealment against magical manufactured weapons without the Ghost Touch property. Whenever an attack fails to hit the wearer because of this miss chance the weapon is dealt 4d6 damage of an unspecified type. Wielders of melee weapons (natural or manufactured) are also dealt this damage when their attacks fail to hit. This damage deals full damage to objects but does not ignore damage reduction or hardness.

The wearer ignores the armor check and speed penalties of their Brilliant Energy Armor, may pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, and finally may fly at speed of 10ft per round (poor maneuverability) for up to 10 rounds each day.

The armor sheds light like a fire the size of its wearer and bestows a -40 penalty to the wearer's Hide checks. The wearer may speak a command word to turn all of the effects of the Brilliant Energy Armor property on or off at his discretion.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2011-04-28, 12:14 AM
The wearer of Brilliant Energy Armor, along with any gear it is wearing, becomes partially insubstantial, its form becoming misty and translucent, engulfed in a hazy, golden glow. The wearer benefits from 50% concealment against non-magical manufactured weapons and against the natural attacks of undead and constructs, but also 20% concealment against magical manufactured weapons without the Ghost Touch property. Whenever an attack fails to hit the wearer because of this miss chance the weapon is dealt 3d6 force damage. Wielders of melee weapons (natural or manufactured) are also dealt this damage when their attacks fail to hit.

The wearer is immune to disease and poison, ignores the armor check and speed penalties of their Brilliant Energy Armor, gains a fly speed of 10ft (perfect maneuverability), and finally may pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands.

This is MUCH better than +4 armor, and especially much better than 16,000 gold.

Ziegander
2011-04-28, 12:17 AM
This is MUCH better than +4 armor, and especially much better than 16,000 gold.

Probably so, but by how much?

Immunity to disease and poison can be removed entirely (not really necessary). The flight can be limited to 10 rounds per day. That should make it more reasonable.

EDIT: Also made subtle nerfs in other places and a functionality tweak.

ericgrau
2011-04-28, 01:24 PM
I'm in the boat with armor AC applies to touch AC except against undead and constructs. Yeah, brilliant energy weapons are useless against these things too. So likewise there's a pro and con. Even if undead and constructs hit you more often, it's not the end of the world and that's a ridiculous bonus to touch AC. Touch effects will almost never hit you again. The main drawback there though is that most incorporeal things are undead.

Let's see, most things don't use your touch AC, it has a drawback sometimes, and it's not swappable. Though with all the gold you put into a brilliant energy weapon, your backup isn't going to be so hot there either. But when it works it's ridiculously good. I'd put the cost at about +2, maybe +3. Remember, it's optional: Players won't dare take it in an undead campaign, perhaps not a general campaign. They'll take it in a specific campaign and you must balance accordingly. Otherwise they could get X about for Y campaign, and Z ability for W campaign, etc. and it'll get broken.

Veyr
2011-04-28, 03:11 PM
Why would it apply to Touch AC, though? I mean, are spell effects "living"? Are alchemical potions?

cfalcon
2011-04-28, 03:52 PM
Touch AC almost always affects your ability to, say, hit something with a laser pointer. Becoming brilliant energy doesn't seem like it would help with that.

Ziegander
2011-04-28, 09:27 PM
@cfalcon: Maybe you've already hit exactly what you want for the Brilliant Energy Armor effect, but what did you think of my idea a few posts up?

Tvtyrant
2011-04-29, 12:36 AM
God just make it so it explicitly adds AC against natural attacks since they would touch it. Make it a +6 deflection against natural attacks as a +4 enhancement to the armor but it adds nothing to the AC against held weapons. It adds a veneer of brilliant energy to the outside of the armor that blocks natural attacks.

It would only be +4 because it doesn't help against anything but natural attacks. That work?

Epsilon Rose
2011-04-29, 01:11 AM
Before I make my suggestion, I want to say that I really like this gem idea, would you mind posting a full (or mostly full) list once you have it worked out?

Brilliant energy armor: This armor can be activated or deactivated as a free action. When activated the armor no longer imposes armor check penalties, acf, or encumbrance (though non-proficiency penalties still apply), however it also stops granting a bonus to ac. Instead it imposes a penalty to hit equal to the the bonus it normally grant to AC on all foes with in thirty feat who target the wearer of this armor and rely on sight for aiming. This bonus is halved for each range increment past 30 feat (round down). Additionally the armor sheds light as a torch.

Right, that probably needs to be retooled a bit, but the basic idea is for it to stop acting as armor in the traditional sense and start affecting the enemy directly (so more like an ecm). Also, if I worded everything properly that should have the rather interesting effect of allowing any armor under the brilliant energy armor (most likely natural) to give it's bonus to ac.

Qwertystop
2011-04-29, 09:25 AM
Is this game a PbP? If so, can I sign up for it?

Veyr
2011-04-29, 12:08 PM
When activated the armor no longer imposes armor check penalties, acf, or encumbrance (though non-proficiency penalties still apply)
Brilliant Energy explicitly does not do this for weapons, why would it for armor?


however it also stops granting a bonus to ac. Instead it imposes a penalty to hit equal to the the bonus it normally grant to AC on all foes with in thirty feat who target the wearer of this armor and rely on sight for aiming. This bonus is halved for each range increment past 30 feat (round down). Additionally the armor sheds light as a torch.

Right, that probably needs to be retooled a bit, but the basic idea is for it to stop acting as armor in the traditional sense and start affecting the enemy directly (so more like an ecm). Also, if I worded everything properly that should have the rather interesting effect of allowing any armor under the brilliant energy armor (most likely natural) to give it's bonus to ac.
On the other hand, I do like this idea. I'd maybe go further, though.

"Brilliant Energy armor applies its AC bonus only against the natural attacks of non-living creatures. However, all creatures are considered Dazzled when targetting any square, object, or creature within 30 ft. of you, except that the penalty taken is equal to the AC bonus of the armor. A creature may avert his eyes to halve this penalty, but grants Concealment to all creatures, objects, or squares within the same 30 ft. A creature may close his eyes to avoid the penalty altogether, but then grants all creatures Total Concealment."

Epsilon Rose
2011-04-29, 12:49 PM
Brilliant Energy explicitly does not do this for weapons, why would it for armor?
Mainly because saying "a weapon enchanted with brilliant energy no longer imposes an armor check penalty": seems kind of silly. :smalltongue:
Honestly, it more my trying to extrapolate and assuming different energy conversion levels.
Basically when you create a brilliant energy weapon it's less briliant energy than an armor. Why? because a weapon requires weight and some physical presence to be effective but the armor I described does not. Conversely the armor needs to output a lot more energy to create the dazzled effect so more of the matter needs to be converted than is required for a weapon.


"Brilliant Energy armor applies its AC bonus only against the natural attacks of non-living creatures. However, all creatures are considered Dazzled when targetting any square, object, or creature within 30 ft. of you, except that the penalty taken is equal to the AC bonus of the armor. A creature may avert his eyes to halve this penalty, but grants Concealment to all creatures, objects, or squares within the same 30 ft. A creature may close his eyes to avoid the penalty altogether, but then grants all creatures Total Concealment."
Yeah, so this looks good except for a few problems: First why does the armor only work on the natural attacks of non-living opponents? That's
a rather specific and tiny subset of attacks, it's also a set that wouldn't be effected by normal brilliant energy. The dazed thing is fairly similar to what I was doing, and probably a better wording, but it has two unfortunate side effects. First, since it causes a penalty to spot checks it could theoretically make sneaking easier for the wearer. This isn't that big an issue since it relies on raw over rai and it would allow the wearer's allies to sneak more easily, which imo makes a lot of sense (wearing a blindingly bright armor is an excellent way to keep the guard from noticing your more reasonably dressed rogue friend). Second, and more importantly, your version would also affect allies, which would force you to fight all of your opponent one on one and make you fairly useless for flanking. That doesn't seem to encourage teamwork or effective strategy so much as a "you fight those guys and I'll fight these guys" attitude, which only looks like strategy (and makes,rogues and rangers cry). Third, this means that every one within 30 feet of you is getting a bigger benefit from your armor than you are. After all any one targeting them is subject to the same dazzle effect they'd get if they targeted you, but the other guy still has their armor working as normal.

Veyr
2011-04-29, 01:07 PM
Mainly because saying "a weapon enchanted with brilliant energy no longer imposes an armor check penalty": seems kind of silly. :smalltongue:
Honestly, it more my trying to extrapolate and assuming different energy conversion levels.
Basically when you create a brilliant energy weapon it's less briliant energy than an armor. Why? because a weapon requires weight and some physical presence to be effective but the armor I described does not. Conversely the armor needs to output a lot more energy to create the dazzled effect so more of the matter needs to be converted than is required for a weapon.
This does not match Brilliant Energy Weapons as described. For one thing, they pass straight through non-living matter, no interaction at all: they therefore do not seem to have matter, as usually defined. Secondly, they retain their weight (physics is crying now but ignore it). It therefore makes no sense to have the armor lose its weight when the weapon does not, or lose its ACP when the weapon does not change handedness.


Yeah, so this looks good except for a few problems: First why does the armor only work on the natural attacks of non-living opponents? That's
a rather specific and tiny subset of attacks, it's also a set that wouldn't be effected by normal brilliant energy.
Did I typo that and say non-living? I meant living. Whoops.


The dazed thing is fairly similar to what I was doing, and probably a better wording, but it has two unfortunate side effects. First, since it causes a penalty to spot checks it could theoretically make sneaking easier for the wearer. This isn't that big an issue since it relies on raw over rai and it would allow the wearer's allies to sneak more easily, which imo makes a lot of sense (wearing a blindingly bright armor is an excellent way to keep the guard from noticing your more reasonably dressed rogue friend).
I know; I was intending the Spot penalty to be for preventing them from seeing details about you — the penalty to Spot makes sense opposing a Disguise check, but not a Hide check (unless you're somewhere really bright in general). But I think that can easily be a Circumstance penalty given by the DM to Hide checks in such areas.


Second, and more importantly, your version would also affect allies, which would force you to fight all of your opponent one on one and make you fairly useless for flanking. That doesn't seem to encourage teamwork or effective strategy so much as a "you fight those guys and I'll fight these guys" attitude, which only looks like strategy (and makes,rogues and rangers cry).
Sundark Glasses would work, I think, against being Dazzled, and therefore protect your prepared teammates.


Third, this means that every one within 30 feet of you is getting a bigger benefit from your armor than you are. After all any one targeting them is subject to the same dazzle effect they'd get if they targeted you, but the other guy still has their armor working as normal.
That's an excellent point. Hrm. Yeah, probably best to just restrict it to yourself, then.

Fixed, then:
"Brilliant Energy armor applies its AC bonus only against the natural attacks of living creatures. However, all creatures are considered Dazzled when targetting you, your square, or any object or creature in your square or on your person, except that the penalty taken is equal to the AC bonus of the armor. A creature may avert his eyes to halve this penalty, but grants Concealment to you (and your square etc.). A creature may close his eyes to avoid the penalty altogether, but then grants all creatures Total Concealment.

Your armor also sheds light as the Daylight spell. This light causes Circumstance penalties to your Hide checks that at least cancel out the Spot penalties due to the bright light of creatures looking for you, unless the area in which you are hiding it already extremely bright."

I think that about covers it?

Epsilon Rose
2011-04-29, 07:09 PM
This does not match Brilliant Energy Weapons as described. For one thing, they pass straight through non-living matter, no interaction at all: they therefore do not seem to have matter, as usually defined. Secondly, they retain their weight (physics is crying now but ignore it). It therefore makes no sense to have the armor lose its weight when the weapon does not, or lose its ACP when the weapon does not change handedness.
I think you might be a little too attached to the brilliant energy weapon text at this point , but meh.


Sundark Glasses would work, I think, against being Dazzled, and therefore protect your prepared teammates.
I really don't like the idea of having a basic armor enchant that requires you're party to buy extra items just to work with you. Espesially if it's not doing something extra special or taking a steep discount. Of course this doesn't seem to be an issue with your new fix so...


Fixed, then:
"Brilliant Energy armor applies its AC bonus only against the natural attacks of living creatures. However, all creatures are considered Dazzled when targetting you, your square, or any object or creature in your square or on your person, except that the penalty taken is equal to the AC bonus of the armor. A creature may avert his eyes to halve this penalty, but grants Concealment to you (and your square etc.). A creature may close his eyes to avoid the penalty altogether, but then grants all creatures Total Concealment.

Your armor also sheds light as the Daylight spell. This light causes Circumstance penalties to your Hide checks that at least cancel out the Spot penalties due to the bright light of creatures looking for you, unless the area in which you are hiding it already extremely bright."

I think that about covers it?
Yeah, I'm not sure this is actually much of an improvement on normal armor. You're getting daylight and ac to touch attacks... sometimes... and no AC from armor other times. that doesn't seem even remotely equivalent to soulfire (+4) or magic eating (+3), though it might barely be equivalent to ghost touch(+3) in that it technically affects a few more things, but it's much easier to circumvent.
You're taking allot away from them with that first line, but not actually giving much back.