Physically Worn Armor

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Physically Worn Armor

Weapons and Armor

Any player willing to invest in armor can wear it during play. It is an important part of the genre and a desirable aesthetic.

Armor Rules

Armor is a prop that a character wears to gain physical armor points from. Any player may bring mundane armor into the game at any time, after it has passed a safety inspection from a member of the player outreach and education staff. This is to ensure safety for both the user and for other combatants. It is also to make sure the armor will not cut into weapons that hit it (which would then make those weapons less safe).

Armor does not occupy a slot unless it is a magic item. Using ornamenting, armor can be crafted into a magic item. In this case it will take up a slot and gains the features crafted into it.

Characters in armor must still wear appropriate costuming. This includes wearing species required costuming under helmets.

Physical armor points only apply to where the armor actually is located on your person. Damage from a hit to a spot where the armor is not covering cannot be applied to your physical armor points. Helmets and some rare rules sometimes give "floating" or "universal" coverage which covers places armor does not.

Wearing multiple pieces of armor at once will only give you the bonus of the best type of armor. Armor does not stack with other armor, use the highest value of any armor you are wearing.

Example: You are wearing a chain shirt and a light leather vest at the same time because you heard that was stylish. The chain shirt provides 3 points of physical armor, while the vest only provides 1. You have 3 total points of physical armor that apply to any hits against any of the armor you are wearing. If an attack hits the leather armor in a spot not covered with chain, you still have exactly 3 physical armor points to defend against that hit with.

Different armors grants between 1 and 4 points of protection in the form of armor points, also called physical armor points. Should armor be made of ineffective material or be visibly damaged it may have the number of armor points it provides downgraded. Player Outreach and Education staff will determine how many physical armor points a piece of armor provides.

Your total physical armor is based on the armor you are wearing plus any effects that improve your armor's physical armor points. Things that might improve your quantity of physical armor points include: helmets, spells (like Enhance Armor), or magic items.

It is the responsibility of those wearing armor to know when a legal hit takes place even if the thickness of the armor stops them from feeling it.

Plate and Half-Plate

Half-plate and plate armors count as monstrous armor. This benefit only applies in hit locations where you are wearing the half-plate or plate armor. If at least 75% of the hit location is covered by half-plate or plate the entire hit location counts as covered by that half-plate or plate.

When less than 75% of a hit location has plate or half-plate and some of the rest of that hit location is covered by other types of armor, a hit to that other type of armor will not benefit from monstrous armor. Damage in full will be subtracted from physical armor points, which is likely disadvantageous.

Limbs cannot benefit from monstrous armor if the armor on a player's torso isn't also monstrous armor.

Players wearing plate armor are required to wear some form of padding or safety equipment that is hidden (such as modern safety equipment like elbow pads) or props staff () approved (such as a padded gambeson or arming jack).

Armor Values

One point armors include:

• A full costume approved by props staff ().
  • This does not count as 'wearing armor'. It can't be improved (such as with Enhance Armor), may not be combined with a helmet, or in any way count towards mechanics that require you to wear armor.
• Studded Leather (Leather too thin to count as light leather must have studs to count as anything)
• Light Leather
• Fur (Real animal hides with the fur on, unless the leather itself counts for a higher value)
• Brigandine (Light leather backing with light plates)

Two point armors include:

• Studded Light Leather
• Heavy Leather
• Scale Armor/ Lamellar (Overlapping light leather pieces)
• Brigandine (Leather or light leather with heavy leather plates)
• Riveted Aluminum Chain Mail

Three point armors include:

• Studded Heavy Leather
• Scale Armor/ Lamellar (Overlapping heavy leather pieces)
• Chain Armor (Interlocking butted or riveted metal wire, note that aluminum is only 2 points)
• Metal Scale or Lamellar Armor
• Brigandine (Heavy leather backing with heavy leather plates)
• Brigandine (Any backing with metal plates)
• Half-Plate (Metal armor, no articulated joints, up to 25% chain/leather)
  • Lorica Segmentata is half-plate armor.
  • A 2-piece back-and-breast is half-plate armor
  • Half-Plate armor counts as monstrous armor.

Four point armors include:

• Articulated Plate Armor
  • Plate armor with flexible joints that can bend and move with the movements of the player while still providing complete coverage. Must be a complete harness. For example articulated arms would contain a full vambrace, articulated elbow, rerebrace, and pauldrons.
  • Wearing incomplete articulated plate (such as wearing a back-and-breast without fauld, tassets, and a gorget) make it half-plate armor.
  • Plate armor counts as monstrous armor.

Armor Props

There are requirements for the armor that can be worn in the game. All armor must be inspected by player outreach & education staff for safety and by props & atmosphere staff for aethetics.

Armor must never impede normal movement in a fashion that endangers the wearer or prevents the player from following the rules of the game.

Armor must be attached or fitted on the body with proper integral closures such as buckles, laces, or snaps. Players are not allowed to attach armor to their body with tape, string, or similar temporary means.

Armor made of non-period materials (plastics, kydex, nylon, etc.) are not allowed. Non-period metals or alloys, such as aluminum, titanium, galvanized steel, stainless steel, nickel-plated steel, or anodized aluminum are allowed. Pleather, vinyl, or other synthetic leathers are not acceptable.

Armor that consistently causes unreasonable damage to weapons will be removed from play.

Metal Armors

Metal plates must be at least .0478 inches thick. (18 gauge or thicker for ferrous metals, 16 gauge or thicker for non-ferrous metals). All edges of metal plates should be safely blunted or rolled.

Chain mail rings should be of no greater than one-half inch inside diameter.

Metal scales must be of at least .015 inch thickness (28 gauge or thicker for ferrous metals, 26 gauge or thicker for non-ferrous metals) and must overlap to provide armor value.

Metal brigandine is armor constructed of non-overlapping metal plates on a backing material. Brigandine plates must be within one-half inch of each other. Brigandine plates must have multiple points of attachment to the backing or to each other, or be held in individual pockets. Non-leather backing materials generally reduce the armor value of metal brigandine armor. These plates may be inside or outside the backing material.

Leather Armors

Leather brigandine is armor constructed of non-overlapping leather plates on a backing material. Non-leather backing materials do not contribute to the armor value of leather brigandine armor. Leather brigandine plates must equal or exceed the quality of the backing leather to be counted as armor.

Leather armor must be constructed of real leather of any thickness (unless otherwise specified). Studded leathers may be studded with metal spots, rings, washers or rivets. No bottle caps, brads or plastic may be used. Studded leather should have no more than 1 inch of un-studded leather on any part of it. The simple test used for this will be to try and place a US quarter dollar coin between studs. It should fit with a small bit of wiggle room, but no more. Leather scales must overlap to provide armor value. Light leather is leather of at least 6 ounce weight (3/32 inch). Heavy leather is leather of at least 12 ounce weight (3/16 inch). Leather is a natural material with natural variations that may result in irregular measurements. Players are free to request an average of multiple (up to five) measurements when their armor is measured for its armor point value. No layering of leather is permitted in any area being measured for armor point value.

Helmets

As long as you already have any physical armor points from wearing armor (the one point from full costuming does not count), you gain an additional universal physical armor point for wearing a helmet. Because the head is not a legal hit location, the point of armor from a helmet works like magic armor points, in that it covers any possible hit location. The point from a helmet breaks the cap on physical armor points and stacks with other sources of physical armor points.

Leather helmets must have 3/4 head coverage. Metal helmets need a minimum of cap coverage. Regardless of material the helmet must meet the normal armor thickness requirements as mentioned previously in this page.

References

Physical Armor Points

Monstrous Armor

The Enhance Armor Spell Effect

Armor Crafting Features

Example: One of these features is placed on light leather bracers. The bracers by themselves would provide 1 physical armor point. However, the character also is wearing a chain shirt which provides 3 physical armor points. The character therefore has 4 physical armor points.

Categories: Gameplay Rules | Item Types | Physical Armor

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