Pyramid #3/52: Low-Tech II

[scc]

OK, got a problem with the armor stuff. In another thread someone says that they e-mailed the author about mail and scale being flexible, the response they got back was that those armor types should be if they had less then 25% of the DR/inch value for the material, if they do there's a problem.

Cheap Iron and Bronze have lower max DR figures then the good versions of those materials, this means that at certain DR values of the armor types in question for the materials in question something interesting happens, namely that the cheap material will be inflexible, but the good material will not. Which personally I find rather odd

[Langy]

Originally Posted by scc

OK, got a problem with the armor stuff. In another thread someone says that they e-mailed the author about mail and scale being flexible, the response they got back was that those armor types should be if they had less then 25% of the DR/inch value for the material, if they do there's a problem.

Cheap Iron and Bronze have lower max DR figures then the good versions of those materials, this means that at certain DR values of the armor types in question for the materials in question something interesting happens, namely that the cheap material will be inflexible, but the good material will not. Which personally I find rather odd

I don't - in this case, the cheap material is thicker than the good material. If it's thicker, I see no reason why it being inflexible is a problem.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by scc

OK, got a problem with the armor stuff. In another thread someone says that they e-mailed the author about mail and scale being flexible, the response they got back was that those armor types should be if they had less then 25% of the DR/inch value for the material, if they do there's a problem

I was the author of that chapter of Low-Tech and don't recall ever saying that to anyone. Flexbility is more related to the way it is constructed. Mail, in particular, doesn't lose flexibility until it is very dense. Use the stats for jousting mail.

[scc]

Dan, here's the thread: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=119010

So for Mail to be non-flexible at must have at least DR6?

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by scc

Dan, here's the thread: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=119010

So for Mail to be non-flexible at must have at least DR6?

The DR is irrelevant. Mail is inflexible if the weave is dense enough. I have butted mail made from 0.8mm wire and 4mm links that can't flex. It would probably be DR2 or DR3. Why do you need inflexible mail? The main place it was used historically was in collars to protect the neck.

[scc]

It's more that I'm asking at what point it becomes inflexible, you can only have one layer of inflexible armor if you start layering, so knowing the limits of that is useful

[DanHoward]

Scale and lamellar can be made rigid just by adjusting the lacing. It wouldn't affect the DR at all.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by scc

OK, got a problem with the armor stuff. In another thread someone says that they e-mailed the author about mail and scale being flexible, the response they got back was that those armor types should be if they had less then 25% of the DR/inch value for the material, if they do there's a problem.

That rule is really just saying "It's flexible so long as it's a quarter-inch thick or less." Of course, Dan's comments indicate you can easily have mail and scale that is thinner than this yet still rigid, so I'd further interpret that as "It can be flexible..."
Of course, 25% may be a bit too high. Notably, there isn't a single armor material that can be made into mail where 25% is actually less than the maximum DR (metals tend to hover around maximum DR of 20% DR/Inch). There are some options with scale, but with the possible exception of adamant those aren't that great of armor materials to start with.