Are Bracers "Body Armor"?

[Super Saiyan Musashi]

I couldn't hep but notice that equipment pieces make mention of how Plate Mail, Chainmail, Borin's Armor, and Bracers can each be combined with Helmets and Shields, while clearly Chainmail can't be combined with Plate Mail, and same for Borin's Armor and either of those. But can Bracers be combined with body armors or no? I would think the Wizard's Cloak counts as Body armor for sure too, so that does raise a few questions about max defense for the Wizard too.

[Kurgan]

These body armors each say they can be combined with helmet and/or shield, no mention of other types of armor so that excludes the Bracers.

But good point about the Wizard's Cloak. In the EU game you could combine the Cloak of Protection and Bracers, but there's no explicit mention here, so they probably should have clarified that. It doesn't say what can be combined with it, so it would seem not to pose any restriction (the Cloak that is).

I think we figured it was 5 Defend for the Wizard (if you add Crown of Shadows).

In the EU these pieces of equipment were only for the Wizard so this never came up (there was no Wizard's Cloak in that edition).

[manaknight14]

I have been having the same thoughts as SSM. I actually wondered if the bracers card’s reference to shield/helmet combination was meant to say “armor/helmet.” Not only does this make the stacking with the Wizard’s Cloak more logical, but it also gives the non-wizard characters a reason to use it. As a body armor item, it’s just more expensive chain mail for them. However, if it can replace the shield without occupying a hand then it has unique applications. “Oh, you want 6 defend dice AND a battle axe? Okay, but you’ll have to swap your shield for this thing that costs almost 4x as much.”

[Kurgan]

Wizard:

Base defense (2) + Bracers (1) + Wizard's Cloak (1) + Crown of Shadows (1) = 5 defend dice

Hypothetically for Barbarian/Dwarf/Elf/Bard:

base defense + Bracers + Shield + Helmet + Chainmail = 6 defend dice (normally you'd need Borin's/Plate for 6 other than temporary effects of a spell/potion)
base defense + Bracers + Shield + Helmet + Plate/Borin's Armor = 7 defend dice!

Potion of Defense adds 2 defend dice for one turn (you can drink more than one potion on your turn)
Rock Skin adds 1 defend dice (potentially for the entire quest if you never take damage)

Nice of them to include all those extra dice in Mythic tier, eh?

[HispaZargon]

I have been having the same thoughts as SSM. I actually wondered if the bracers card’s reference to shield/helmet combination was meant to say “armor/helmet.” Not only does this make the stacking with the Wizard’s Cloak more logical, but it also gives the non-wizard characters a reason to use it. As a body armor item, it’s just more expensive chain mail for them. However, if it can replace the shield without occupying a hand then it has unique applications. “Oh, you want 6 defend dice AND a battle axe? Okay, but you’ll have to swap your shield for this thing that costs almost 4x as much.”

I mostly agree. Although it is not explicitly told in the card, I think Bracers may be combined with a chain mail armour since that's the only reason a non-wizard hero wanted to buy the Bracers.

Bracers + Chain Mail could provide to non-wizard heros +2 Defence dice per 1050 gold coins, which has sense since Plate Mail per 850 gold coins also provides +2 Extra Defence dice but with -1 Movement dice reduction. Price difference between both options is quite proportional.

[Kurgan]

Ah, so spend more money (200 gold) to bypass the movement penalty...

[HispaZargon]

Ah, so spend more money (200 gold) to bypass the movement penalty...

Yeah, that's the idea... anyway a clarification from Hasbro for Bracers compatibility would be welcome. Maybe 200 gold coins is not enough price for 1 dice of movement.

[Super Saiyan Musashi]

Ah, so spend more money (200 gold) to bypass the movement penalty...

Yes, but at the same time I would think that if Chainmail can be combined with Bracers so can Plate Mail, opening up the possibility of tank-grade defense.

When I host I'll also be offering a 2-dice grade Tower Shield, which comes at a 50% movement penalty except when carried by my Sentinel hero.

[Daedalus]

I'm for playing RAW, so bracers can't be combined with chain mail or plate mail the same way chain mail can't be combined with plate mail. Aside from the armor-restricted Wizard, Sorcerer, and Druid benefiting from bracers, so too does the Bard. His special +1 Defend Die works with Bracers, both providing him with a rust-proof chain mail and helmet equivalent while saving 75 gold coins. That can buy one fancy hat!

[Kurgan]

Yeah my thought would be to play it as intended as much as possible.

Prior to the Remake release was that my homebrew armory sold Bracers for 300 (only Wizard and some other weak characters could use them) and Cloak for 600 (anyone could use it). I allowed bracers and cloak to be combined (as in the EU 2nd edition) and Wizard Cloak can sub for Cloak (for Wizard/Alchemist or possibly Mystic class only).

The idea would be yes, the magic users could get extra protection but would have to pay more for the privilege. Cloak does have benefits over Chainmail (Pit of Darkness damage is less) and can't be rusted by (WOM version of) Rust spell.

More options!