question on Attributes of magical items

[timberwolf]

I have some stupid question on the magical items.
(1) How to determine the item is + 2 / +3
It is the enchament or attack bonus.
Also what does it means by
(2) Damage reduction 5/+1 means?
(3) Resistence 1/- slash / pierce etc means?
(4) Max dex bonus (armour) + 1 ?
(5) Armour check penalty?

Is it all in the manuals? Having played BG series I thought I knew about its description so I left them back in my home country?

[Kalak]

1.) The item's attack bonus is listed under attack: +?, the damage modifier if any is listed with the weapons damage...certain creatures are immune to magical items that don't have a certain enchantment rating...the reason for the enchantment rating is to have a fair way of determining an items ability to hit these creatures without relying on the attack or damage bonuses. This makes sense when you realize a +4 longsword under the old rules could hit an undead creature that required a +4 to hit, but a sunsword which is only +3 to hit could not.

2.) Damage reduction of 5/+1 means that you get a damage reduction of 5 for every physical attack including spells that require a physical component to their attack as long as the enchantment bonus of whatever hitting you is +1 or less.

3.) Resistance of 1/- slash etc means you get a damage reduction of 1 for unenchanted versions of this form of attack.

4.) Max dex bonus means that you can only use up to a +? whatever that is. i.e. Full Plate Mail has a max dex bonus of +2...that means a character with an 18 dex and a +4 dex bonus only gets +2 dex bonus while wearing that armor. It is important to note that any armor that list a none in the max dex bonus will allow you to have as much of a dex bonus as you can accumalate.

5.) Armor check is kinda funny...if you are proficient in that set of armor (heavy, medium, or light) then the armor check penalty only applies to dex based skills like pick pockets, hide in shadows, etc. However, if you ARE NOT proficient in that armor (i.e. barbarians aren't proficient in heavy) then the armor penalty applies to everything you do that requires a roll, including attack, damage, savings throws, and any skill checks. Two things it is important to note is that this also applies to shields, and that the arcane spell failure check means that even wizards if they are proficient can cast spells and wear armor decently.

[timberwolf]

thanks a million,