[LT] Two Armor questions

[Ultraviolet]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

1. Mail remains virtually unchanged from when the celts invented it right through its entire history of use on the battlefield. You can make it out of hardened steel at TL4 and more modern alloys at TL 6+.

2. Yep. That's why there have been many threads discussing alternative rules for blunt trauma for low-tech armour. Low-Tech settled on a split DR with more flexible armour such as mail and scale having reduced DR vs crushing damage. A good mechanic should incorporate the edge protection rule, blunt trauma, and crushing damage all in one concise and consistent set of rules.

I like the edge protection rules, and we use them in our Song of Ice and Fire campaign. But is it balanced to have only Cutting weapons work this way, while retaining the normal mechanics for Imp?
I know that the odds of penetration are greater when the force is applies on a small area compared to a large area - that goes for a lot of engineering work as well.
Also, testing shows that arrows and spears almost never penetrate if you use the same mechanics as edge protection, because thrust damage is always lower than swing.