Leather Armor

Game Stats

• Type: Under Armor
• Slashing Resistance:
• Crushing Resistance:
• Impaling Resistance:
• Burn Resistance:

Description

The hides of animals have been worn as protection presumably since the dawn of warfare, but boiled leather armor is a relatively recent invention in the Circle's history, first appearing only about the year 500 P.E.  Boiled leather consists of leather which is boiled in water, shaped, and allowed to dry.  The material swells with hot water, and as it dries and cools contracts so that the fibers are closer together than they were before.  By varying the amount of time spent in water and manipulating the drying process, an armorer can produce boiled leather of varying flexibility and stiffness, from relatively light and supple piecesto super-dense leather that is hard and stiff as wood.  In the modern era, "leather armor" is used to describe boiled leather that has been left relatively flexible.

Leather armor may be worn alone as a stand-alone garment, as a separate piece beneath another type of armor, or as the backing material that forms the foundation of a single piece of hybrid armor, such as leather armor with scales or studs sewn into it.

Advantages

Leather armor is cheap and easy to make with some practice, as the material is easily molded into any shape while it is still hot and wet.  It requires no special materials other than an adequate amount of leather, the appropriate sewing materials, and hot water.  It is also relatively weatherproof.  Because leather is still relatively flexible, it provides somewhat less protection against most attacks than does linen armor, though it is a better insulator against burns (and for this reason is often worn by witch hunters).  By the same token, however, leather armor is considerably more comfortable than most linen armor.

Disadvantages

The chief disadvantage of leather armor is that it does not provide very much protection compared to other armors.  For this reason, leather armor is rarely worn as a stand-alone garment except for economic reasons.  Contrary to popular stereotype, leather armor is not much favored by thieves and assassins, as the leather creaks too much to be stealthy.  Such individuals most often wear no armor at all, or else employ quilted linen.

Regional Variants

Leather armor comes in a great many varieties and may be found in one form or another throughout the Circle.

Party Associations

None.