Line #19 PlayingWith/ArmorAndMagicDontMix


1	'''Basic Trope''': Spellcasting characters can't or don't wear armor.
2	* '''Straight''': Alice is a powerful sorceress but doesn't wear any armor.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** [[FullFrontalAssault Alice casts spells in the nude.]]
5	* '''Downplayed''':
6	** Alice can't wear any metallic armor.
7	** Alice can wear any armor, but they make her spells weaker in the process.
8	* '''Justified''':
9	** Casting spells requires too much time spent studying to learn how to use armor effectively.
10	** Armor's weight interferes with spells' [[MagicalGesture somatic components]].
11	** [[ColdIron Forged metal interferes with magic.]]
12	** Alice's [[BarrierWarrior defensive magics]] provide all the armor she needs.
13	** Alice specializes in casting [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts]] and the like, and a suit of metal armor has too much chance of causing an electrical backfire.
14	** Ditto for [[PlayingWithFire fire]] or [[KillItWithIce ice]] magic; metal conducts heat just as well as electricity and Alice doesn't want to burn or freeze herself.
15	** Alice is a young lady; armor is intended for big men. She can barely move wearing the stuff, never mind aiming fireballs and thunderbolts.
16	** Alice's magic is CastFromStamina, and wearing a heavy suit of armor would tire her quickly.
17	** Alice knows a spell that increases her physical defense, but it loses effectiveness the more armor she's wearing.
18	** Spellcasters are never employed in battle, so Alice has no reason to wear armor.
19	** Alice is trained specifically to fight other spellcasters. Since magic in this setting completely negates armor defense, armor would be more of a liability and she doesn't bother with it.
20	** Alice is wearing special AntiMagic armor that nullifies all magic used against her... as well as her own magic.
21	** Turns out that Alice has natural armor that's on par with regular armor types, due to having tough scales, or a shell, or other means.
22	** Alice has an item, perhaps a Magic Tattoo, that gives her an armor class equivalent to plate armor, without any of the drawbacks, like disadvantage on Stealth Checks. The reason as to why the more muscular fighters and such don't use them is this - the items cost a lot of money to get, and Alice needed the item's benefits more.
23	** The spellcasters have a set of vows that includes never wearing armor, and the PowersThatBe who grant their spellcasting powers have a strictly followed policy of taking all spellcasting powers away--forever--from anyone who breaks this vow.
24	** Alice's FullContactMagic makes it so that armor may possibly encumber her and get in the way of her casting spells, so she opts for lighter clothing to let her move without obstruction.
25	** Magic generates a lot of heat upon casting. Wearing armor would be like wearing an oven. Magicians favour breezy robes/dresses to avoid heat-stroke. Higher-tier magician "armor" actually has a lot of convergent evolution with professional sports clothing (ie, small and tight and made out of breathable, absorbent fabrics) for this reason.
26	* '''Inverted''':
27	** Alice wears so much armor she looks like a walking tank. She also summons explosions like one.
28	** Alice can only casts spells when she wears armor.
29	** Alice specializes in enchanting objects, so the more armor she wears, the stronger her powers are.
30	** TheRival of Bob, and TheBrute to Emperor Evulz, Clay, is a walking monolith of muscles, but he refuses to wear armor because [[ShedArmorGainSpeed he prefers bouncing around from enemy to enemy without armor hindering him]].
31	* '''Subverted''': Alice usually walks around in a RobeAndWizardHat, but puts on armor when combat is imminent.
32	* '''Double Subverted''':
33	** ... armor that proves to be [[ArmorIsUseless entirely decorative]].
34	** But when she has to cast a spell, she has to remove her armor first.
35	** Emperor Evulz manages to be both an EvilSorcerer and a TinTyrant in defiance of what was thought possible. It turns out he is exploiting a loophole like the power coming from [[DealWithTheDevil his dark master doing the casting]] or the armor actually being his body due to being AnimatedArmor.
36	* '''Parodied''': Bob is an intelligent mage, but when he wears armor, he suddenly becomes a DumbMuscle.
37	* '''Zig Zagged''': Certain types of magic are weakened by forged iron. Some are completely unaffected.
38	* '''Averted''':
39	** Alice is a MagicKnight.
40	** One of the classes that magic users take teaches them ''how'' to wear any armor, and ''use'' magic while wearing armor. As for using weapons ''and'' magic, that's yet ''another'' class, but is also advised to be taken, just in case.
41	* '''Enforced''':
42	** The costume designer thinks Alice looks better in robes than in armor.
43	** It's a matter of CompetitiveBalance meant to make mages {{Glass Cannon}}s.
44	* '''Lampshaded''':
45	--> '''Bob:''' You'd think Alice would get the hint and wear a BulletproofVest after being shot at so many times.
46	* '''Invoked''': An ancient sage cursed all magic users to be unable to cast spells when wearing armor so that any evil {{magocrac\|y}}ies could be defeated by mundane means.
47	* '''Exploited''': MageKiller Bob can spend extra time honing his magic-nullifying arts because he knows his quarry won't have the armor most warriors have to be trained to deal with.
48	** A suit of armour is used as a PowerNullifier on Alice when she's captured.
49	* '''Defied''':
50	** Alice enchants a suit of armor so it's practically weightless and doesn't interfere with her magical gestures.
51	** Alice enchants her RobeAndWizardHat to be as strong as steel, or otherwise uses magic to enhance her defense.
52	** Alice puts on a suit of armor, straps herself into a hand-truck, splints her arm out, and has Bob wheel her around like a field gun.
53	** Alice applies her intelligence to more "lowly" fields and manages to come up with [[BulletproofVest resin stiffened silk brigadine with hard ceramic]] [[GeniusBonus plates substituting for metal plates]], a very expensive armor that makes full plate look cheap but still a viable non-metal alternative.
54	** [[ColdIron Iron interferes with magic]], but bronze does not. Alice puts on some bronze armor so she can cast spells while protected.
55	** Since Alice can't wear armor, she decides to pick up a [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] instead.
56	* '''Discussed''': "Hey, Alice, how come you're not wearing any armor?"
57	* '''Conversed''': "Let's see: the show's party consists of Bob the heavily armored Knight, Jean the heavily armored Cleric, Peter the Rogue who wears leather, and Alice the Wizard who wears a RobeAndWizardHat."
58	* '''Implied''': Sometimes, Alice wears armor, other times, she doesn't. She only casts spells during the latter.
59	* '''Deconstructed''': Alice is badly wounded by an attack that armor would have protected her from.
60	* '''Reconstructed''': A knight is badly wounded by an even stronger attack that he could dodge without said heavy armor. Subsequently, Alice learns how to dodge moves.
61	* '''Played For Laughs''': Mages technically can wear and cast in armor but don't because they consider it too tacky.
62	* '''Played For Drama''': Alice is badly needed on the battlefield, but she is terrified due to her lack of armor.
63	----
64	Back to ArmorAndMagicDontMix.
65	----
66	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
67	%%
68	%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???

Context PlayingWith / ArmorAndMagicDontMix