D&D is very much stuck in the 1970s "I know arms & armour from the movies" mode, even today (*eyes Studded Leather*) so I thought I could share my armour, and try to match it to some D&D rules and how your NPCs should be depicted in game.
First, what can this picture represent: This is something a fighting footman in company of a knight (or low status nobleman) would wear in a fight (he is prepared for). The armour is "munitions grade", so in terms of the plated pieces not custom made for the soldier (or me in particular). The (chain) mail and padded cloak (or footman's gambeson, if you will) is fitted . Lets start from the bottom and work ourselves up to the top of the picture.
- The boots are contemporary ones, but they have almost no heels or thick soles, which makes them as close as possible to medieval turn shoes. For going out to battle they would have leather soles, perhaps with some nails for grip (on grass, in fields and in the woods). They would be quite slippery on stone tiles and quite noisy (think about stealth checks in D&D or difficult terrain if you want to dash or take full movement on a polished marble floor of a temple or the duke's ball room)
- The shin guards are mild steel and they cover the whole front of the lower leg. They are strapped to the leg by two leather straps each. Currently, they are not attached to the padded parts on the upper leg. this makes them quite uncomfortable when running and they would slow down movement. Cuts would be ineffective against this type of armour. Any stabbing attacks would most likely glance off to the side. Blunt force might deform the shin guards, but should not break bones. In D&D terms, those would be the cheapest plate armour thing you could get at an armourer or taken from a defeated foe. They work, but have some restrictions, because they are not made for you individually.
- The "Diechlinge" protect the thighs. They are like some chaps made out of padding (not leather). Historically that padding would be layers of linen with horse hair padding in between. They are attached to a belt, so they weight is on the hips (the shin guards should be attached to them as well at the knee to get weight off the leg for better movement and walking speed. Since the padding overlaps with the coat, this provides good protection against cuts (so many layers of cloth and hair) and a decent protection against blunt force. This is vulnerable to piercing damage though, like arrows, spears and other pointy things. D&D rules are quite bad with body part protection. While the lower legs are in plate (which translates more to heavy armour), the upper part falls more into the light armour category. You have a very good flexibility and almost no movement restrictions in the complete leg armour. I would not impose any stealth disadvantages to this part of the kit.
- The torso is protected by a gambeson with a chain shirt covering most of the torso and the upper arms. My shirt is butted mail, which would be the cheapest way to do it (but it is handmade by myself, which increases the emotional value to me). Good quality historical mail would be riveted. Padding and mail provide great protection against slashing damage and cutting, and decent protection against percussive weapons and piercing. Fitted mail doesn't dangle around like in cheap reproduction armour, where you can often see floppy sleeves. In D&D terms, this would be a medium armour, because you would always wear a gambeson or some arming jacked under the chain shirt for comfort. This is fine for temperatures between 10° and 15°. Fighting in this kit or summer times are horrible. You heat up a lot, you sweat a lot and you will lose a lot endurance if you don't drink enough to replace the loss.
- The arms show some "poor man's" compromise armour. The vambraces on the forearm are stripes of metal riveted on a leather backing. This is more effective than mail, but less effective than a full plate canon. It can be fitted to the arm very tightly though and also serves as a protection of the inner side of the arm, if you shoot a powerful bow. The hourglass gauntlets are a bit too wide for me (you can see that in my right hand holding the sword), but would be some "pick up part" from the battlefield, if your knight would allow you to keep it. Those simple gauntlets protect the wrists very well (without any articulation in the gauntlet), but leaves the fingers exposed. Taking a look at that from a D&D perspective, I would rate this section of the armour as medium again, because you have such a mix of types on the arm and the elbow has no protection except the gambeson. You could wield a spear (most likely the weapon of choice for the footman), a side arm as a backup (like the arming sword in the picture) or a dagger. You would not use javelins, bows or a crossbow with this. The rigid design of the hourglass gloves interferes a lot with precise body mechanics. The unexpected elephant in the room in terms of disadvantages is the noise the gauntlets make. You knock them into other parts of the armour, the hilt of the sword when carried and into each other a lot.
- Head protection. You have three layers again: a padded coif, a coif made out of chain mail and a kettle helmet. This is where the armour composition really is focused on the role of the foot soldier. The greatest threat than can come unexpected is ballistic missile fire and mounted foes hitting you from above. The rim of the kettle helmet provides excellent protection against these types of attack and your shoulders have two layers of padding and chain to protect you. The open face is a problem and would be addressed with either a flap covering the lower face or a plated piece of armour strapped to the neck covering the throat. I prefer visibility and the ability to breathe (and everyone who has every worn armour knows why). D&D rules pay no attention to the helmet being the first piece of armour a soldier would probably get. The head and face are perhaps the most vulnerable parts of the body and even a small cut, e.g. on the forehead will make you lose your vision, when blood trickles into your eyes.
Some rule shenanigans that came to my mind I wanted to add now: - It takes a very long time to get into the armour (you start from the bottom and you work yourself upwards). 1 minute for just donning the padded coat might be doable. 5 min for a medium set is impossible, even with help. all those buckles and things that need to be tied (twenty on my set) take a lot of time. It would be worse with a full plate armour set, which might not even possible alone (that's why you had squires) - Standing up from prone position in medium or heavy armour is difficult not only because of the extra weight, but because the center of gravity is shifted upwards a lot. It is very easy in the rules
If you have conquered the wall of text, I hope you liked this as some background information for you NPCs or armoured player characters.
D&D is very much stuck in the 1970s "I know arms & armour from the movies" mode, even today (*eyes Studded Leather*) so I thought I could share my armour, and try to match it to some D&D rules and how your NPCs should be depicted in game.
First, what can this picture represent: This is something a fighting footman in company of a knight (or low status nobleman) would wear in a fight (he is prepared for). The armour is "munitions grade", so in terms of the plated pieces not custom made for the soldier (or me in particular). The (chain) mail and padded cloak (or footman's gambeson, if you will) is fitted .
Lets start from the bottom and work ourselves up to the top of the picture.
- The boots are contemporary ones, but they have almost no heels or thick soles, which makes them as close as possible to medieval turn shoes. For going out to battle they would have leather soles, perhaps with some nails for grip (on grass, in fields and in the woods). They would be quite slippery on stone tiles and quite noisy (think about stealth checks in D&D or difficult terrain if you want to dash or take full movement on a polished marble floor of a temple or the duke's ball room)
- The shin guards are mild steel and they cover the whole front of the lower leg. They are strapped to the leg by two leather straps each. Currently, they are not attached to the padded parts on the upper leg. this makes them quite uncomfortable when running and they would slow down movement. Cuts would be ineffective against this type of armour. Any stabbing attacks would most likely glance off to the side. Blunt force might deform the shin guards, but should not break bones. In D&D terms, those would be the cheapest plate armour thing you could get at an armourer or taken from a defeated foe. They work, but have some restrictions, because they are not made for you individually.
- The "Diechlinge" protect the thighs. They are like some chaps made out of padding (not leather). Historically that padding would be layers of linen with horse hair padding in between. They are attached to a belt, so they weight is on the hips (the shin guards should be attached to them as well at the knee to get weight off the leg for better movement and walking speed. Since the padding overlaps with the coat, this provides good protection against cuts (so many layers of cloth and hair) and a decent protection against blunt force. This is vulnerable to piercing damage though, like arrows, spears and other pointy things. D&D rules are quite bad with body part protection. While the lower legs are in plate (which translates more to heavy armour), the upper part falls more into the light armour category. You have a very good flexibility and almost no movement restrictions in the complete leg armour. I would not impose any stealth disadvantages to this part of the kit.
- The torso is protected by a gambeson with a chain shirt covering most of the torso and the upper arms. My shirt is butted mail, which would be the cheapest way to do it (but it is handmade by myself, which increases the emotional value to me). Good quality historical mail would be riveted. Padding and mail provide great protection against slashing damage and cutting, and decent protection against percussive weapons and piercing. Fitted mail doesn't dangle around like in cheap reproduction armour, where you can often see floppy sleeves. In D&D terms, this would be a medium armour, because you would always wear a gambeson or some arming jacked under the chain shirt for comfort. This is fine for temperatures between 10° and 15°. Fighting in this kit or summer times are horrible. You heat up a lot, you sweat a lot and you will lose a lot endurance if you don't drink enough to replace the loss.
- The arms show some "poor man's" compromise armour. The vambraces on the forearm are stripes of metal riveted on a leather backing. This is more effective than mail, but less effective than a full plate canon. It can be fitted to the arm very tightly though and also serves as a protection of the inner side of the arm, if you shoot a powerful bow. The hourglass gauntlets are a bit too wide for me (you can see that in my right hand holding the sword), but would be some "pick up part" from the battlefield, if your knight would allow you to keep it. Those simple gauntlets protect the wrists very well (without any articulation in the gauntlet), but leaves the fingers exposed. Taking a look at that from a D&D perspective, I would rate this section of the armour as medium again, because you have such a mix of types on the arm and the elbow has no protection except the gambeson. You could wield a spear (most likely the weapon of choice for the footman), a side arm as a backup (like the arming sword in the picture) or a dagger. You would not use javelins, bows or a crossbow with this. The rigid design of the hourglass gloves interferes a lot with precise body mechanics. The unexpected elephant in the room in terms of disadvantages is the noise the gauntlets make. You knock them into other parts of the armour, the hilt of the sword when carried and into each other a lot.
- Head protection. You have three layers again: a padded coif, a coif made out of chain mail and a kettle helmet. This is where the armour composition really is focused on the role of the foot soldier. The greatest threat than can come unexpected is ballistic missile fire and mounted foes hitting you from above. The rim of the kettle helmet provides excellent protection against these types of attack and your shoulders have two layers of padding and chain to protect you. The open face is a problem and would be addressed with either a flap covering the lower face or a plated piece of armour strapped to the neck covering the throat. I prefer visibility and the ability to breathe (and everyone who has every worn armour knows why). D&D rules pay no attention to the helmet being the first piece of armour a soldier would probably get. The head and face are perhaps the most vulnerable parts of the body and even a small cut, e.g. on the forehead will make you lose your vision, when blood trickles into your eyes.
Some rule shenanigans that came to my mind I wanted to add now:
- It takes a very long time to get into the armour (you start from the bottom and you work yourself upwards). 1 minute for just donning the padded coat might be doable. 5 min for a medium set is impossible, even with help. all those buckles and things that need to be tied (twenty on my set) take a lot of time. It would be worse with a full plate armour set, which might not even possible alone (that's why you had squires)
- Standing up from prone position in medium or heavy armour is difficult not only because of the extra weight, but because the center of gravity is shifted upwards a lot. It is very easy in the rules
If you have conquered the wall of text, I hope you liked this as some background information for you NPCs or armoured player characters.