I'll preface this by noting you might want to pick up the armor design Pyramid articles, which take a slightly different approach (and have more materials) from Low Tech. "Low Tech Armor Design" is in Pyramid #3/52, while "Cutting Edge Armor Design" (for TL 6-9 armors) is in Pyramid #3/85.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rasna
One thing which disappointed me is the bad efficiency of some metal armors in the table like Scale and Segmented Plate.
According to the current table, Heavy Layered Cloth is better than Medium Scale (both 28 lbs for torso armor, but Medium Scale has DR 4 [DR 3 vs. crushing] and Heavy Layered cloth has DR 4 vs. all damage) and Segmented Plate is two times less efficient than solid Plate armor.
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I hadn't notice the scale issue. Yeah, that's a bad one. The armor design articles I linked above actually have scale being markedly better than cloth of equal weight (DR 4/3 scale made of good iron would weigh 18.5 lb for torso, while DR 4 layered cloth would weigh 28.5 lb for torso), but actually makes scale better than segmented plate both in terms of weight (DR 4 segmented plate made of good iron would weigh 24.4 lb) and cost (that scale costs $370, while the heavier segmented plate costs $915). Reversing the given CW* (but not CC) values would give you something more logical - DR 4 layered cloth is 28.5 lb, DR 4/3 scale is 24.4 lb, DR 4 segmented plate is 18.5 lb, DR 4/2* mail is 15.1 lb, and DR 4 plate is 13.5 lb. Interestingly, the scale and segmented plate values actually match up pretty darn close to what you've suggested (although they scale up and down a bit differently, due to Low Tech and the article using different assumptions).
*CW is Construction Weight, CC is Construction Cost; these are modifiers that the article uses to determine an armor's weigh and cost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rasna
Modifies on weight (Single-Piece Helmets, Fluting, Expert Tailoring and others):
-10% weight = +1 CF
-15% weight = +2 CF
-20% weight = +3 CF
-25% weight = +4 CF
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That's really quite generous. The values in LT are meant to be fairly realistic representation of the difficulty of making (and thus the rarity of) such pieces. Your prices are still high enough that better base designs (upgrading from brigandine to plate, for example) are preferable to using the lesser design and tacking on weight reductions.