[RPG] Propulsion Armor Infusion and Thunder Gauntlets

artificerartificer-infusionsdnd-5emagic-itemsstacking

Do the effects of the Thunder Gauntlets from the Armorer Artificer subclass stack with the effects of the Propulsion Armor gauntlets from the Propulsion Armor Infusion considering that they’re the same pair of gauntlets and thus a hit from the gauntlets triggers both conditions?

Some people have told me that it’s similar to AC calculations where you only choose one but that is an explicit rule for AC calculations that doesn’t have a counterpart for weapons and neither feature mentions being able to choose which effect occurs.

Also what would the damage be for a hit?

Best Answer

We can definitely make gauntlets having both properties.

The 9th level Armorer Artificer feature Armor Modifications states:

You learn how to use your artificer infusions to specially modify your Arcane Armor. That armor now counts as separate items for the purposes of your Infuse Items feature: armor (the chest piece), boots, helmet, and the armor’s special weapon. Each of those items can bear one of your infusions.

So we can definitely make this work.

It seems they both function.

This is congruent with the rules for Combining Game Effects, which state:

Different game features can affect a target at the same time.

Here, the target is the gauntlets, and the effects are the Propulsion Armor and Arcane Armor. We can stack different buffs on our characters, why not our armor? This should work just fine.

If they're both applying on a hit, then naturally, the damage would be 1d8 (thunder) + 1d8 (force) + int modifier, which doesn't seem terribly spectacular for a 14th level character (fire bolt the cantrip deals 3d10 at this level). Should be fine balance wise.