[LT] How heavy should plate armor be?

[Valadrim]

I am getting ready for a TL 3/4 fantasy game and have some questions about armor.

Low Tech provides a cap for heavy plate at DR 14 for head and torso, and frequently points out that other body parts should have less, but how much less? Looking through the forums I have found suggestions that every thing else should cap out at DR 6, or that gauntlets and solerets should cap out at DR 4.

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Valadrim

I am getting ready for a TL 3/4 fantasy game and have some questions about armor.

Low Tech provides a cap for heavy plate at DR 14 for head and torso, and frequently points out that other body parts should have less, but how much less? Looking through the forums I have found suggestions that every thing else should cap out at DR 6, or that gauntlets and solerets should cap out at DR 4.

Looking at the antique armours in the Wallace Collection, suits of full plate on average weighed a total of around 50-60 lbs in the 15th century, and around 60-70 lbs in the 16th century (when firearms were more common). If everything was DR 6 that would weigh 61 lbs, +3 lbs for arming clothes.

As a rough guideline, anything heavier than DR 6 or 7 is going to be specialised jousting armour. I hope that answers your question.

If what you are looking for is just how thick one can make their armour (since a vampire can carry more weight and probably wear thicker armour as a result), a point of reference is that DR 9 is around 4 mm thick, which would probably make articulation of the joints difficult.

Note this is based entirely on the thickness of the metal, you could get +1 DR for hardened steel without it affected whether you can wear it.

[Polydamas]

The forthcoming GURPS Low-Tech: Instant Armour will suggest limits to the DR of Plate for various body parts based on armour in historical earth. Historically, plate with more than about +200% of Heavy was only commonly available in 16th and 17th century Europe and Japan, due to the threat of muskets, but how heavy plate is available in your setting is a matter of culture and has no generic answer.

[DanHoward]

Historically, DR 7-8 is going to be the max that you'd have even on chest armour for everything except firearms-proofed and tournament armour.

[Valadrim]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Historically, DR 7-8 is going to be the max that you'd have even on chest armour for everything except firearms-proofed and tournament armour.

So would it be fair to posit that a typical suit of plate armor for well equipped, pre-gunpowder, battlefield ready knights would have DR 8 for head and torso, DR 6 everywhere else except hands and feet which would be DR4?

I am trying get an idea of what the top end of mundane gear made to deal with mundane problems would look like before I figure out what mundane and magical lengths people will go to respond to more fantastic threats.

[gilbertocarlos]

Originally Posted by Valadrim

So would it be fair to posit that a typical suit of plate armor for well equipped, pre-gunpowder, battlefield ready knights would have DR 8 for head and torso, DR 6 everywhere else except hands and feet which would be DR4?

I am trying get an idea of what the top end of mundane gear made to deal with mundane problems would look like before I figure out what mundane and magical lengths people will go to respond to more fantastic threats.

A typical suit would probably have DR5-6, DR7 in the head.

If someone was strong enough, maybe they would have DR7-8 in the head and torso.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by gilbertocarlos

A typical suit would probably have DR5-6, DR7 in the head.

If someone was strong enough, maybe they would have DR7-8 in the head and torso.

The legs would very often have less DR and the hands and feet, if they were armoured, would almost always have lower DR than the chest.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Valadrim

So would it be fair to posit that a typical suit of plate armor for well equipped, pre-gunpowder, battlefield ready knights would have DR 8 for head and torso, DR 6 everywhere else except hands and feet which would be DR4?

I am trying get an idea of what the top end of mundane gear made to deal with mundane problems would look like before I figure out what mundane and magical lengths people will go to respond to more fantastic threats.

Yes, in a world with ST 20, 180 lb warriors who fight dragons it is very likely that heavier armour is available. One of the biggest issues with heavy armour for the limbs is that it slows and tires a warrior. But if the warriors are inhumanly strong, and face threats greater than in our world, that is less of an issue.

That is very heavy armour. Lots of plate armour about the year 1400 had about DR 3-4 but was layered over mail and Padded Cloth. Even that plate protected better than it does in GURPS because GURPS over-rates the ability of muscle-powered weapons to penetrate armour. In the middle of the 15th century plate got heavier and the mail and Padded Cloth were replaced by voiders and an arming doublet.