Mage Armour

Mage Armour is a level 1 abjuration spell. It allows spellcasters to surround an unarmoured creature (including themselves, if unarmoured) with magical protection.

Description

Surround an unarmoured creature in a protective magical force. Its  Armour Class increases to 13 + its Dexterity modifier.

This effect does not stack with Unarmoured Defence.

The target can't be wearing Armour.

Properties

Cost

 Action +  Level 1 Spell Slot

Details

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft

At higher levels

Casting this spell at a higher level grants no additional benefit.

Technical details

UID

Target_MageArmor

Spell flags

HasSomaticComponent, HasVerbalComponent, IsMelee, IsSpell

Condition: Mage Armour

 Mage Armour

Duration: Until Long rest

• Base  Armour Class is 13.

How to learn

Classes:

• Class level 1: Sorcerer, and Wizard
• Class level 3: Arcane Trickster, and Eldritch Knight

Granted by features:

•  Magic Initiate: Sorcerer
•  Magic Initiate: Wizard

Granted by items:

•  Moon Devotion Robe

Other ways to learn:

• Wizards can scribe a  Scroll of Mage Armour to their spellbooks.

Notes

• Also granted to Warlocks who choose the Eldritch Invocation  Armour of Shadows at level 2+. This version of the spell only targets the caster, and does not expend a Spell Slot.
• This buff persists if the caster is removed from the active party, even if rejoining later.
  • If cast by a Wizard, this spell must remain Prepared by the party member who cast it; removing Mage Armour from the caster's Prepared Spells list immediately removes the buff from all party members whom the caster applied it to. If applied by using (not scribing) a scroll, the caster need not keep this spell Prepared to maintain the buff.
• If a party member who has Mage Armour equips a piece of Armour, the buff is removed. Mage Armour is not be reapplied when unequipping that Armour; it must to be cast on them once more.
• The normal base  Armour Class is 10 + Dexterity modifier; this spell changes it to 13 + Dexterity modifier.
  • The recipient still get bonuses from other sources that do not change their base armour class, such as +1 AC robes,  Bracers of Defence,  Shield of Faith, etc.
• Gloves and Helmets marked as  Light,  Medium or  Heavy Armour count as armour, and prevent Mage Armour from working.
• Mage Armour works while a  Shield is equipped.
•  Mage Armour,  Draconic Resilience,  Unarmoured Defence (Barbarian),  Unarmoured Defence (Monk) and  Barkskin all change base armour class and therefore do not stack.
  • If the recipient has multiples of these they only get the benefit that which provides the best  Armour Class.
• Mage Armour works in  Wild Shape as long as the user has no armour equipped before transforming.
  • This effect only works on forms with a base  Armour Class of less than 13.
• Mage Armour does not count as wearing armour for things like  Unarmoured Movement,  Become the Bulwark and  Defence.
• The incantation for Mage Armour is Mactē Virtutē, Latin for "With great virtue".

External links

• ⁠Mage armor on the Forgotten Realms Wiki