Effects On Dexterity Checks

Armor does interfere with a character's gracefulness in many situations. For this reason, we assign the character a penalty to Dexterity checks (and dexterity-based nonweapon proficiencies) when the character is in armor; those penalties are listed on the armor chart above.

These penalties are applied when the character is using all nonweapon proficiencies except Riding (Land-based or Airborne) or Charioteering, which are exempt from the penalty. (Why someone would be performing many of those skills in armor is a mystery . . . but it could happen.)

In addition, the penalty prescribed for the shields is applied when the character is using the nonweapon proficiencies Juggling, Tightrope Walking and Tumbling. (The DM may choose to disallow the shield penalty for certain examples of these skills' use. For example, a character who is juggling a one-handed technique won't be put off by having a shield on the other hand. But these exceptions will be rare.)

In the Campaign . . .

These dexterity-roll penalties are provided only for those gamers to whom the matter means something. If you don't care about such things, don't use these rules: they'd merely be an annoyance and extra complication for you.

But if you prefer for a character to be a little less graceful when in full plate or hide than in soft leather or no armor at all, these rules are for your campaign.

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