Usable by all classes. Magical bracers are protective items worn on the wrists or forearms. Unless otherwise specified, both members of a set of bracers must be worn for the set to be effective. By default bracers have no burnout. A character may use only one set of bracers (one on each arm) at a time.
Level variable. These bracers cause the wearer's armor class to be N, regardless of actual armor or shields carried. Any armor, even magical armor, and any shield, mundane or magical, is totally ignored regardless of bonuses; the bracers' AC takes priority. There are never weapon/armor interactions with the AC from the bracers. The bracers are considered magical armor for purposes of interaction with other protective items such as magical rings and cloaks. (For example, Bracers of AC 6 are regarded as +3 protection items for determining the wearer's armor class bonus for magical armor.) Dexterity bonuses (and penalties) do add to the AC. Other effects depend on N. Bracers of AC 9-12 are Cursed and cannot be removed without Remove Curse against level=AC. Bracers of AC 6-8 are level 1 items. Bracers of AC 4-5 are level 2. Bracers of AC 2-3 are level 3. Bracers of AC 0 or 1 are level 4. Bracers of Armor Class never burn out.
Level 2. These bracers completely prevent all forms of teleportation or dimensional transport within 10" of the wearer. Teleporting out fails, teleporting in halts at the boundary. A Dimension Door with any endpoint inside the affected area simply fails to form.
Level 3 M. One bracer of the set is worn by each of two mages. Whenever they are within 3" of each other, they may cooperatively cast a spell. One mage actually casts the spell; the other simply concentrates on helping. (This concentration must be declared and can be interrupted exactly as per regular spellcasting.) The "helper" need not know or be capable of casting the spell. The "helper" adds spell modifiers totaling 1/4 his level (round up to nearest half level) to the assisted spell. The helper expends no spell points, and, if there is any disagreement, it is the helper who decides exactly what the modifiers consist of (range, extra damage, etc.)
Level N/2 M. These bracers function much like a spell point ring, but have no internal energy source; the power they store must come from the wearer. Putting energy into the bracers takes 1 round of concentration but no overt activity. Power is stored at 1 for 1; that is, the wearer expends one spell point for every point put into the bracers. The wearer's personal reserve of magic recovers normally, but power put into the bracers can be stored indefinitely and used at need. Removing the bracers at any time causes all of the stored power to dissipate. The bracers can only store N spell points.
Level 2 M. These bracers amplify the magical effect of a mage's gestures so that the wearer may cast spells with gestures only. This eliminates noise, circumvents gags, and allows casting to proceed at normal cost in a clerical Silence prayer.
Level 2 M. These bracers produce invisible, intangible "phantom hands" the wearer may use for magical gestures. They allow the mage to cast spells with no visible movement at all, allowing spells to be cast with incantation only. The caster may cast while bound.
Level 4 M. These bracers are not quite cursed, but only a nasty person will use them. They allow the wearer to recharge spell points by "stealing" energy from magically capable beings (i.e., other mages and clerics). This theft is invisible and unnoticeable unless Detect or Observe Magic is used while it is actually taking place. (A mage or cleric who decides to "check" his reserve of magical power will realize that the points are missing, but otherwise his first clue will be trying to cast and not having the power.) Energy stealing has a range of 6" and takes 1 round per energy point; no activity other than quiet concentration is required. The wearer cannot steal more power if he is at full capacity, but if he keeps casting spells there is no limit to how much he can drain in a given day. The victim need not be ignorant nor unwilling; experienced wizards with such bracers have been known to convince their apprentices to surrender their power to regular draining on the grounds that "I know how to use it so much better."
Level 2. These bracers are somewhat larger than normal, completely covering the wearer's forearms. Their magic gives no AC modifier but allows the wearer to forearm-parry one physical attack per round with each bracer. The chance of a successful parry is 50% for a level 2 item, but some level 4 items with 90% rates have been found. A successful parry completely negates all damage from one missile or melee strike that hits the wearer. If the wearer attempts to parry a blow, any spellcasting requiring gestures is disrupted. The wearer may parry one blow and still melee attack with a one-handed weapon, but gets no melee strike on a round where he chooses to parry two blows. Attacking with a two-handed weapon prevents all parrying. The wearer only needs to declare a parry when an attack rolls a successful hit (the GM must tell him he has been hit). He may deliberately delay his own melee strike to see if he needs to parry an incoming blow. Use of a shield prevents one from using the bracer on one's shield arm.
Level 2. The wearer of these bracers gains a poisonous touch; any living thing he touches with his bare hands is poisoned. Treat the bare hand as a -2 dagger in combat, but armor (except for magical bonuses) does not actually protect aside from the weapon/armor interaction modifier---the attacker is not trying to deliver a blow, but only to make contact. Magical protection (e.g., bonuses from rings) does apply. Invulnerability (immunity to damage from nonmagical weapons) does not protect, but poison resistance applies normally. The poison does 1D6, followed by 1 point per round, if an initial physical save fails. Damage is incurred in the breath phase each round and interrupts all spellcasting. Additional saves to stop continuing damage are allowed every 10 rounds. VARIANTS: Continuing damage interval is 20 rounds instead of 10 (level 3); 2D6 initial damage, 2 points/round continuing (level 3); 5D6 one-shot damage (level 4); paralyzing poison (level 4) (no damage but target cannot move for 24/HD hours).
Level N M. These bracers allow the wearer to gather energy from the outside world to work his magic. To use the bracers the wearer must, during one round, gather power. This works exactly like spellcasting in that it must be declared, requires gestures and incantation, is subject to interruption, etc. Assuming the mage makes it all the way to the item phase the bracers then collect N spell points (or fewer, if desired) from the environment. Note that this, unlike regular spellcasting, can be interrupted in the mage spell phase by damage from other mages. On the very next round, the wearer must use the gathered energy in a spell, or it dissipates harmlessly. This spell is cast normally subject to all usual constraints, and the caster may add his own spell points as needed. If, however, the mage attempts to cast and is interrupted, the collected energy dissipates explosively, doing, for each spell point held, 1D3 to the caster and 1 point to everyone within 10 feet. (No saving throw applies to this damage, although magic resistance protects.) Each time the bracers are used, there is a 5% chance per each point being gathered that the explosion happens (in the gathering round).
Level 1. Cursed-14. A less obnoxious curse, these bracers cause the wearer to leave glowing fingerprints (or handprints) on everything his hands touch until they can be taken off (Remove Curse required). Gloves don't help. The prints glow for a week, but don't cast enough light to illuminate usefully, even if the wearer fondles the entire surface of a large object, like a shield or wall.
Level 3. The wearer of these bracers constantly emanates a 10' radius protection field against a broad class of creatures. Appropriate examples include lycanthropes, elementals, demons, undead, etc. Bracers that protect against a nonmagical class of being are unknown. The class of being protected against cannot enter the protected space nor direct any sort of ranged attack or ability at anything within the protected area. The protection field cannot be used to "crush" such a being into, say, a walled corner unless the wearer is physically strong enough to accomplish this by brute force; in such an instance the protection acts like a physical wall that the wearer is trying to shove into the victim. The bracers emanate no protection when not worn but cannot be touched by the class of being against which they protect. GMs should check with other GMs to make sure this item won't mess up other scenarios.
Level 3. These bracers usually act as some beneficial type. However, unless the wearer fulfills some condition, such as speaking a password or simply being the rightful and intended wearer (rare for PCs), after 1D6 days of use the bracers cause the wearer's hands to painlessly fall off at the wrists. (The bracers also fall off at this point, and cannot be securely seated on wrist-stumps without hands.) The hands cannot be restored by healing magic of lesser power than regeneration or Raise Dead, and a Ring of Regeneration is obviously useless. If Raise Dead is used, it will fully restore the wearer's hands if he makes a successful constitution roll, but only one attempt may be made as usual. These bracers are not cursed in the usual sense, since they can be removed at will, but their negative effects are generally not apparent until it's too late. If the possessor of the bracers removes them frequently, the GM should keep track of the cumulative time of use in order to determine when the 1D6 days have passed. This item is not recommended for con use if it is likely to result only in some character being irreparably disabled.
Level 3. These bracers give the wearer the protection of a mage's Shield spell. This is an AC of 2 against missiles and 4 against melee attacks, with complete immunity to Magic Missile and some other magical effects. Dexterity is the only thing which can improve this AC level; however, if the character has a better AC without the Shield spell, then use the superior armor class instead.
Last Modified on September 25,1995.
ammulder@princeton.edu