ON ARMOUR

[danielmn]

Taken from a 2nd edition DMG Rules Suppliment. I ran across this forgotten book last eve and grinned. Below are the descriptions of armour within said guide.

Padded Armour

"Padded armour, also referred to as quilted armour, is the simplest form of man-made armour. It consists of two or more layers of spun cloth stuffed with thick batting and quilted together. Padded armour typically covers the chest and shoulders, but full-length suits are sometimes seen.

Padded armour is mostly found among the poor and unskilled. Only the poorest excuses for armed forces would be caught dead in padded armour. The bulky and restirictive nature of the armour makes it a poor substitute for a stout set of leather. Village militias, neophyte bandit packs, urban street gangs, and primitive barbarian hordes are the most common users of padded armour. In short, this includes anyone who cannot afford leather armour (i.e.,the truly destitute) cultures without the technology to tan hide (i.e.,the truly primitive) or those that have no other option at their time of need (i.e.,the truly desperate).

Padded armour can be made by any race or nation. Thus, it is common protection for the poorer classes. Since making a padded suit of armour requires little more than a crude needle and thread, low-level or desperate adventures in need of additional protection can usually whip up a set of padded armour in less than two days. The durability and level of comfort afforded by the homemade suit naturally varies in direct proportion to the skill of the would-be armourer. For game purposes, several layers of heavy cloth or furs can be considered padded armour for the purposes of determining a character's base armour class.

Padded armour, being little more than multiple layers of clothing, tends to soil and wear out easily. Although newly fashioned sets may sell cheaply, padded armour must be replaced often, even if it is well cared for. Lice, sweat, dirt, fleas, and insects all take their toll. If the DM judges that a set of padded armour has seen its last days, the armour class of the armour drops one place. The armour, now rotted and torn, is little more than bulky clothing. Importantly, heavily soiled armour reduces the wearer's saving throws against disease and disease-causing spells by -2.

Under ideal conditions, a set of padded armour should be replaced monthly. However, when travelling through heavily infested swamps or in monster-laden forests, padded armour may require replacement as often as every few days. On any long journey, spare sets of padded armour should be taken along as if they were spare sets of clothing. Too much frugality before a journey can lead to much discomfort later.

Naturally, those who have no access to better armour try to make the best appearance whenever they can. Nobody wants to appear cheap or desperate, especially when they are. Therefore, decorating one's padded armour is the most common form of "upgrading" the appearance of one's forces. All armies and nations have banners and shields adorned with their own colors, and these colors are often repeated in intricate patterns on their padded armour. This is most often seen when the local king or noble quickly recruits the local farmers' militia to defend his lands or aid him in launching an assault. The wives, sisters, and daughters quickly whip up anything they can to protect their ill-trained husbands, brothers and sons. The colors of the lord are either quilted into the design of the armour in checkerboard fashion, or painted or dyed onto the hastily prepared protection.

In similar fashion, the most nefarious of evil knights have been known to use quilted armour to camouflage their own soldiers as peasents of the opposing ranks, taking devious advantage of the militia's known lack of combat training."

More to come.

[Brokenbone]

http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/love ... rmour.html

This link will save you a lot of transcription.

Curiously while I like the descriptions of some of the cheapest armours, things like a plate harness get a very surfacey treatment, i.e., "yay it's great" level of detail. If interested in say, information on historical armours in the real world, even Wikipedia is a decent source, just to get ideas about what certain shaped helms might be called (i.e., what's a bascinet look like?), or whether a pauldron or a greave or a codpiece goes on your shoulder or your ankle or your bum. Again, terminology someone deep into "martial" roleplay is out there everywhere, parts of a sword, parts of body armor, how you'd care for either, etc.