Armour check penalty ... please explain? is a high number good or bad how does it affect things.

Shield bonus, is it the same as armour bonus? -what are they and how do things affect them?

*confused from Sydney* [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

I believe that an armor check penalty affects all abilities rolls, but is negated if you have proficiency in the armor. There may be more to it, but you probably won't ever encounter a penalty, as warriors start with heavy proficiency.

Shield bonuses are armor class bonuses. The classification "shield bonus" is there since armor bonuses don't stack (eg. bracers and armor).

If you are proficient with the armor, in IWD2, you only take the armor check penalty to pick pocket, hide and move silently. If not, it also applies to Pick locks, Disarm and Attack Rolls. The lesser the better.
There is also a thing called Max Dex Bonus. It is the biggest allowed dexterity that you can benefit from. If you have 14(+2 bonus) dex and an armor of Max Dex Bonus +1, only 12(+1 bonus) of your dexterity is applied to things that dexterity applies to.
Shield bonus is another type of AC bonus, it stacks with everything else except for itself.

So a shield with an armour check penalty on my ranger of -2 would hinder the chances of him hiding in the shadows / move silently even though he is proficient with a shield, yes?

[ 03-11-2005, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: wellard ]

Yes. But were he not proficient with a shield, he'd get the penalty to a whole bunch of other stuff. I think it even applies versus Concentration checks while casting spells and being hurt.

Thanks Bozos, it makes sense now. Wow! its a long time since I played D&D 3rd edition [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]