HYPERBOREA / Monks & Magic

**Posted by joseph** 4/07/2014 10:01 am

Had a situation come up at the table last night in which a cleric in the party wanted to cast Magic Vestment onto the monk. The pyromancer in the group has Sorcerous Armor which offered good comparison. Basic question, do either/both of these spells stack with the monk's AC bonus?

Here's how I ruled it based on wording:
Monks are not trained with armor, nor do they have natural AC, but rather an AC bonus.

Magic Vestment read something like "creates a translucent suit of chain mail," which though weightless implies that it is a physical thing. It may have bulk without weight. So the monk couldn't benefit because he is not trained with armor. Though the spell could be cast on him, his bonus wouldn't stack and he would suffer other penalties.

I ruled that Sorcerous Armor would stack because it creates a "force field" equivalent to AC7. Special rules apply to characters with natural armor, which the monk does not have.

Has anyone else run into this?

Last edited by joseph (4/07/2014 10:03 am)

**Posted by mabon5127** 4/07/2014 10:24 am

I wouldn't let them stack per se . He would get the best of his own AC or the spell from MV or just a +1 AC from SA if his AC is 7 or less.

On a separate issue do you allow the monk to gain benefit from Dex or Str bonuses for AC or damage?

**Posted by Yora** 4/07/2014 10:35 am

Let's look at the exact original phrasing:
"To avoid and deflect blows and damage through physical and mental superiority (or qi power); hence the monk gains an AC bonus that increases as he advances in levels of experience. This bonus cannot be combined with an AC bonus derived from high dexterity; the better AC bonus applies.

I read this to mean, that monk AC bonus is a form of dodging. Since AC bonus from Dex stacks with Sorcerous Armor, I would rule that monk AC bonus stacks as well.

The rules for monks say explicitly that the monk damage bonus does not stack with the damage bonus from high strength, and the AC bonus does not stack with the bonus from dexterity. See the special abilities Accurate Strike and Defensive Ability.
If you want to change this for your game and make it stack, that's a different issue.

**Posted by joseph** 4/07/2014 10:55 am

mabon5127 wrote:
On a separate issue do you allow the monk to gain benefit from Dex or Str bonuses for AC or damage?

No I don't, that's one reason I am feeling like allowing the full benefit for Sorcerous armor.

Thanks for your input on this!

Last edited by joseph (4/07/2014 11:00 am)

**Posted by joseph** 4/07/2014 10:59 am

Yora wrote:
I read this to mean, that monk AC bonus is a form of dodging. Since AC bonus from Dex stacks with Sorcerous Armor, I would rule that monk AC bonus stacks as well.

This is pretty much where I came out as well. The more.. rulesy ...discussion was centered around magic vestment.

Thanks for the comments!

**Posted by mabon5127** 4/07/2014 11:03 am

I don't think we are disagreeing on SA. The monk either becomes AC 7 or gets a +1. Am I reading that right?

**Posted by joseph** 4/07/2014 11:16 am

mabon5127 wrote:
I don't think we are disagreeing on SA. The monk either becomes AC 7 or gets a +1. Am I reading that right?

I'm being a little more generous and allowing the monk his full AC bonus on top of the AC 7 granted by SA. We're on the same page.

Last edited by joseph (4/07/2014 11:17 am)

**Posted by mabon5127** 4/07/2014 12:07 pm

Gotcha! Thanks.

**Posted by joseph** 4/07/2014 12:11 pm

Thank you for the help!