I Hate Mage Armor

So, I hate Mage Armor! Well, I don’t hate it, I just hate that I keep forgetting to add my AC bonus when I cast it.

If you’ve had trouble keeping track of Mage Armor’s AC Bonus on D&D Beyond, let me show you how to create a magic Item that you can add to your inventory that will act as a toggle to Mage Armor’s AC Bonus.

D&D Beyond is the official repository for all things D&D, including more than 800 magic items at last count granting all sorts of boons and banes. D&D Beyond also allows you to create and share Homebrew items. There were over 500,000 magic items in the Homebrew Magic Items section of the website last time I looked, and you can add your own and share them with your own an account.

So, let’s solve that pesky AC issue and get your personalized magic item into D&D Beyond’s Homebrew listings.

Creating Add Spell Effect – Mage Armor

We’re going to create a Spell Effect called Add Spell Effect – Mage Armor (I know, creative).

Create the Magic Item’s Shell

First, navigate to D&D Beyond and open the Collections menu. In the Homebrew section there is an option for Create Magic Item. Clicking on the link will open the Create Homebrew Magic Item page, where you’ll see options to filter existing Magic Items to use as a template for your item. I’m going to create an item from scratch, but you can much more easily create one from a templated base item.

First, we’ll fill out the required basic information. We’ll give the item a name, indicate its Rarity, Base Item Type, and Magic Item Type. We’ll name it Add Spell Effect – Mage Armor, give it a rarity of Artifact. We’ll give it a Base Item Type of Item and make it a Magic Item Type: Wonderous Item. For the description we’ll enter the following:

This item is to replicate the effects of the Mage Armor spell. Simply equip it when the spell is cast and unequip it when it ends. Spell details:

You touch a willing creature who isn’t wearing armor, and a protective magical force surrounds it until the spell ends. The target’s base AC becomes 13 + its Dexterity modifier. The spell ends if the target dons armor or if you dismiss the spell as an action.

DURATION 8 HOURS

After completing these fields. click on the Create Magic Item button to save your creation. The page will reload, and you will see additional options for the item available to you now.

Add Modifiers

Now we create the spell effects for Mage Armor. In the Modifiers section, click the Add a Modifier button which will bring you to a screen to Add a Modifier to Add Spell Effect – Mage Armor. The Modifier Type will be Set, and its Subtype Unarmored Armor Class. We’ll use a Fixed Value of 3 for this effect since Mage Armor increases your base Armor Class from 10 to 13. You can also enter a Duration Interval of 8 and Hour in the dropdown menu. Click Save and this will add the damage modifier to the item and return you to the Edit screen. You should see your modifier in the list now. You can repeat this for why additional modifiers you need to meet your customization needs.

Congratulations! You’ve just created your first homebrew magic item on D&D Beyond! You can view your creations under Collections > My Homebrew Collection.

Next, add the item to your inventory and watch your AC increase as you equip and decrease as you unequip the item.

Viola! Problem solved!