You’re probably familiar with the Boots of Elvenkind (for good reason), but one magic item I rarely hear about is Elven Chain. Unlike it’s footwear and cloak brethren, Elven Chain has no bearing on your sneaking abilities; it’s a chain shirt geared more for our friendly neighborhood spellslingers.
A standard chain shirt is a Medium piece of armor that weights 20 lbs and has an AC calculation of 13 + PC’s Dexterity Modifier, up to +2. This means even the most dexterous Rogue would cap out at AC 15 while wearing the standard-issue chain shirt. Due to the +1 bonus, the highest base AC you’d achieve with Elven Chain (shields and support spells aside) is 16. The beautiful part of Elven Chain, however, is that you are considered proficient with it even if you lack Medium Armor proficiency.
This armor is incredible for all sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, and Arcane Trickster rogues (who are likely sacrificing some Dex for Intelligence). Because you must be proficient in the armor you’re wearing in order to cast spells, Elven Chain is a fantastic way to boost your AC without having to spend precious spell/attunement slots on Mage Armor or Ring of Protection, and with how multi-functional Dexterity is in 5th Edition, it’s likely your character has at least a +1 modifier which brings your AC to a well-padded 15.
I was originally torn on this being classified as Rare, but the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the idea of introducing this armor only as the PCs approach 5th Level and higher. By this point, you’ve probably thrown goblins, kobolds, and all sorts of smaller threats their way to test the boundaries of their AC. Perhaps the fight with an Ettin went awry, and the Sorcerer is now chomping at the bit to pick up an Abjuration spell or two. The more the players come into their characters’ strengths, the more they’ll feel the sting of their weaknesses. With the Elven Chain, one (or more) of your players can address those weaknesses (at least partially) and focus more on the character/class features which excite them more.
Conclusion
That’s a wrap on this first deep dive post. Moving forward, I want to keep these posts focused on magic items that are either underutilized or have incredibly unusual capabilities.
With that in mind, what magic items would you like to see? Have you used Elven Chain in your campaigns? How was it received?
Blessed be,
Matthew Wulf
Want to stay up to date with the latest happenings on Critical Hit Guru? Click the Follow button and type the email address you want to receive notifications for new posts!
We’re now on Twitter and Facebook! Search for @CriticalHitGuru on Twitter and the Critical Hit Guru page on Facebook to chat, ask questions, or just stay in the loop.
I’m Dungeon Master’s Guild official! For a thrilling military-themed heist all about saving a captured comrade, check out Rescue at Brightwell today.
Amethyst Wulf Games 