Armor Arcana
One of the hardest things about being a super-powerful mage is keeping up your AC so that you survive long enough to devastate everything with your potent spells. This is especially true if you don’t have a wealth of gp invested in every viable defensive item or access to unusual sources of extra AC. Even divine casters who can wear heavier armor tend to end up with uncompetitive AC. Of course, the answer to this dread problem is to cast a bunch of defensive spells on yourself in order to become an invincible engine of power. The problem with that, of course, is that it tends to take forever and those spells tend to do very little that’s even the tiniest bit interesting—which is why these new armor spells all come with a little something extra to make them more appealing.
ARMOR OF GRACE
School abjuration; Level cleric/oracle 1, druid 1, inquisitor 1, paladin 1, shaman 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
You are surrounded by an aura of shimmering radiance which protects against harm, deflecting weapon attacks and redirecting the energy as healing life force. You gain a +2 deflection bonus to AC, and whenever a weapon attack misses you, you gain 1 temporary hit point which lasts until the end of the spell’s duration. For every 3 caster levels after 1st, this spell grants an additional temporary hit point every time an attack misses you, to a maximum of 4 temporary hit points per missed attack at 10th level.
ARMOR OF HIDDEN FORCE
School evocation; Level sorcerer/wizard 4, summoner 3, witch 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a diamond shard worth 200 gp)
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
You are surrounded by a magical field of invisible force which conceals you and helps defend you from attacks. You gain a +6 armor bonus to AC, and because this armor is made from force, it applies to incorporeal attacks. This armor also renders you invisible, as the spell invisibility, except that if you end the invisibility (such as because you take a hostile action), it recharges after 1d6 rounds, rendering you invisible again until such a time as you end the invisibility again. Because the field of force surrounding you is large and causes minor distortions in the world around you, you gain only half the normal Stealth bonuses for being invisible (+10 when moving, or +20 while stationary).
DEMONIC SKIN
School transmutation; Level antipaladin 1, bloodrager 2, cleric/oracle 2, inquisitor 2, magus 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (a smoky quartz)
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
You are enveloped by a skin of black scales, which burn to the touch and writhe angrily, occasionally forming into clawed hands which attempt to grasp weapons and drag them back to the lower planes. You gain a +1 natural armor bonus to AC. Additionally, whenever you are hit by a melee attack with a manufactured weapon, you suffer damage as normal, but the armor attempts to grasp the weapon that hit you, making a disarm combat maneuver as a free action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The armor has a CMB equal to 10 + your caster level + your primary spellcasting ability score and counts as being unarmed for the purposes of disarming, imposing a -4 penalty on the check. If you have the improved disarm or greater disarm feats, these apply to the disarm attempt made by the grasping claws. If the disarm attempt is successful, the armor holds the weapon for 1d4 rounds before attempting to drag it to the lower planes (the armor may be disarmed of a held weapon as normal; for these purposes, its CMD is equal to its CMB + 10). You gain a +4 bonus on checks to disarm your own spell. When attempting to drag an item to the lower planes, the spell is dispelled and all items with a caster level less than or equal to your caster level (maximum caster level 10th) which are currently grasped by the item vanish, reappearing in the treasuries of a random lower plane. Magic items are entitled a Will save to avoid being transported in this way.