Real vs Fake Armor

Ok, I getcha, sorry, I think the whole chain shirt thing was what misled me.

ok i gotcha now. Yeah i know i have tried to make it look as authentic as i can, but not being talented at that aspect, all i could do was paint the edges to make it look as if they were silver edged plates, but i dunno, maybe my look that i thought was pretty "period" some one else looks at as lame as hell

[GM_Chris]

I cant picture your armor. Send me a pict with you in it so we can vote and help build the FAQ.

I was thinking on this last night and here is what I came up with.

1. All armor must look in period
2. You can always say certian armor is a lower armor category than it is, buit can't say armor is a higher armor category than it is.
3. keep the same armor location system
4. Special bonus for wearing rigid metal armor. You do not have to pay the basic armor upkeep. aka, you save 1 upkeep per location if it is covered with rigid metal armor.

Light armor - uses any flexible material, cloth, fur, etc... Does not restrict movement and does not weight very much.

Medium armor - uses any semi-flexible material - 6oz leather or lower, .5" or higher rings chain mail, swade, leather jackets, light gauge plastic's, etc... restricts movement some what and has some weight to it.

Heavy armor - uses any rigid material. 8oz leather or higher, .5" or lower rings for chain mail, metal plates, hard plastic, etc... restircts movement and has weight to the armor.

Helmets
1 Armor Point -
The helmet is made out of some type of semi-flexible material and covers the top of the head. A hat would be considered a fake helmet.
Also, if a helmet is made from a stiff, rigid material, but only covers 50% of head you get an armor point (hard leather bands, chain mail bands, etc...) Note: A dew rag is not considered a helmet.

Bonus's-
Helmet must be made out of stiff,rigided, hard material, looks in period, and covers a certain potion of the head. Typical materials are hard leather, metal, chain mail.
Points are awarded by coverage:
Covers top of the head – 1 Combat Reflexes
Covers top of the head and back of the neck – 1 Armor Point and 1 Life Point
Covers top of the head, back of the neck, and at least 50% of the face – 1 Combat Reflexes and 1 Life Point

I've got issues with the Medium category....

There is only so much I can afford for armor phys rep. I'm willing to throw something else on for my phys rep if I have to when I take those picture. I know my legs and arms are made out of super thick leather and are not very flexiable.

As for the body. Well it is thick and If I have to throw something else on to qualify for medium.

I guess this could be a moot argument until after I send in the pictures. None of it is thin by any stratch of the imagination is all I have to say.

Oh and Chris trust me when I say this is good garb...you know how picky I am.

Heh heh. I was going to point out that a full suit of heavy plasic is only going to weigh 15 lbs, while a full suit of real plate is around 60 to 80 lbs. Given that scale, plastic could never be considered heavy armor.

But Leif is right. FH is all about fantasy and imagination. Actual weight shouldn't be figured into the armor catagory at all - just rigidness and coverage.

Oh fyi what I'm wearing is heavier then my Kidwynn costume in terms of weight of outfit itself and the pieces as well.

Not to mention I either am buckled or tied into it...no cheating this time at all.

I have to agree, armor should be easy for PC to get and not cost a fortune to be at a certain armor catergory. If it looks good, in period, and meets certian criteria, it should be what the PC tryign to achieve.

Heh heh. I was going to point out that a full suit of heavy plasic is only going to weigh 15 lbs, while a full suit of real plate is around 60 to 80 lbs. Given that scale, plastic could never be considered heavy armor.

But Leif is right. FH is all about fantasy and imagination. Actual weight shouldn't be figured into the armor catagory at all - just rigidness and coverage.

Exactly. Voralen's armor weighed nowhere near real plate, but was identical in it's restrictiveness, which is why he didn't have to remove it for Repair.

Doug, your storm trooper armor will be classified as ultralight. It offers 0 points of armor, and prevents combat reflexes

Unless of course, you walk around like this, then you get 100 combat reflexes.

My theory on 'fake' armor is this:

If it looks period, and people look at it after you tell them what armor category it is and they simply nod and agree, it's fine to use.

[Out of Left Field] What if we change light/med/heavy to something along the lines of cloth & leather/ chain & combination/ plate?

Have cloth and leather be 1-3 per location (torso, arms, legs, head) based on quality. Likewise chain and a combination of leather and metal be 3-5 per location, and plate be 5-7.

For skill restrictions, say light is anything 12 and under. (3 armor {max 3 armor for cloth/leather and min 3 for chain} x 4 locations) medium is 13-20 and heavy is 21+ This system puts the best leather on par with loose chain, and tight chain on par with flimsy plate. It also gives a benefit or penalty for having individual parts that are better or worse than the majority.

Then you can count each region seperate, and say:
Your arms are hard leather bracers without metal, I'll give 3, your chest plate is plate metal, but flimsy, 5. Your greaves are leather with chain mesh, 5. You helm is a cloth circlet, 1. Total 14. The outfit was mostly med, with some light, some heavy. but total comes out med.

[/baseball reference]

The pluses I see to this are that judging comes to two questions per location A) what is the material, B) what is the quality (poor/average/good)

Secondly, players who have to build up their larp gear piece by piece get a benefit from each item they add. Constant reward without having to save up for an entire suit at once.

No more trying to decide between med and heavy.

The draw backs are that even the hardest, highest quality leather is only as good as a loose chain, and won't be considered heavy.

There is a cheese factor to crappy plate automatically being heavy. No system is perfect, but I say if it's obviously tin foil wrapped on cereal boxes, don't accept it as plate.

(NOTE: the example wasn't based on CJ's pics, just made up, in case you're trying to match them up.)

That is actually how the rules started out. It has slowly eroded/evolved (depending on outlook) into what it is now. Thus the clamor for a 'new' way.

[GM_Chris]

What kinda bothers me is I am not clamoring for a new way, but yet somehow everyone started posted suggestions for a change.

I started off asking for help to write up something to help clarify what is considered armor without a fake catagory.

I never wanted to get rid of how points are distributed or rules for covereage. Infact they wont be changing so people are really wasting their time "helping" in that way.

Now on the other hand if you want to help the GM's vote on the pictures that have been presented then hey that would be helpful. If you want to post picts of you in armor with a discription of how much it weighs and what it is made out of that would be even more helpful!