Linens - the ultimate low end armor?

[Nickbergquist]

My newly minted group of RQ2 players noticed that it seems like there are no down sides to wearing linen armor over hard leather. It is cheaper, lighter weight (as seen from the newly released errata with armor encumbrance) and offers the same protection.

Is there a down side? The only piece-meal armor options listing linen offer cover in the area of the chest/abdomen (cuirass) and legs (pants) only, but I presume the armor piece list is only a sample, as it appears one could buy a full suit of the stuff.

So, I guess the big question is, what's the downside to linen? Off-hand I suspect that quilted armor was more popular than many gamers realize historically (hell, entire cultures used it almost exclusively, such as the Aztecs), but several of my new players thought it was really odd that that was the preferred way to go, so just curious if anyone has thoughts or suggestions on the matter.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

Is there a down side?

Only the availability of the raw material for that type of armour to a particular culture. So making/buying linen armour might be difficult in the highlands of Sartar where agriculture is limited and no land is spare for growing plants for fabric. Whereas animal hides are plentiful from herding.

Also, historically Linen armour was created and used in hot or fairly arid climates. Due to the susceptibilities of early glues, it tends to go soft when wet. So its not so good for damper countries.

As with many other aspects of the rules, the option is there for setting/culture adaptability.

 

[NulSyn]

Other than cultural and regional reasons, the only downside I see is no helm.

 

[Nickbergquist]

I'm sure you could have a "I'm special" sort of linen cap...

Okay, thanks for the follow-up. I suspect that the players in my group are merely adjusting to the shock of "armor in practical use" vs. "armor depicted in modern fantasy fiction" that is otherwise normal when moving from video-gameesque fantasy RPGs to a game like RQ where a sense of historical precedence clearly rules.

 

[almightygm]

While there may not be rules around this, throw a few fire oriented spells your players' way and watch their enthusiasm for linen go up in smoke.

 

[Loz]

While there may not be rules around this, throw a few fire oriented spells your players' way and watch their enthusiasm for linen go up in smoke.

Plus, it'll absorb water, which leather won't. They might think they can swim in the stuff, but it'll get heavy rapidly leaving them, at best, encumbered when they climb onto dry land.

Plus it'll get heavy if caught in a torrential downpour. Metal and leather won't. I'd be tempted to up the Armour Penalty by a point or two if any characters were wearing sodden linen...

 

[Vile]

The main issue is probably cost and climate - you should really make linen more expensive than hard leather in 'barbarian' areas. I'm not sure I'd go as far as adding more complexity than that, but that's just personal preference.

 

[soltakss]

There was a discussion on the RQ Rules Digest (I think)and Alternate Earth RQ Yahoo Group about the linen armour that Alexander the Great's Macedonians wore.

I'm not sure whether the Macedonians count as Civilised or Barbarian, probably somewhere between the two, but they definitely used linen armour to great effect.

 

[Simulacrum]

I'll try and get round to looking up the reference if anyone is interested - but apparently linen continued to be favoured into Roman times for hunting armour - very good for stopping claws and teeth it seems and presumably reasonably light weight. But it also acted as a base for other forms, so portions of it might be covered in scales, for example. I' do believe that classic Greek-style linen armour (linothorax), made of glued layers of linen,certainly not a form of padding - was fairly rigid. for game purposes more like cuir boilli. And of course it could be nicely painted too.

 

[Shottglazz]

Plus, it'll absorb water, which leather won't. They might think they can swim in the stuff, but it'll get heavy rapidly leaving them, at best, encumbered when they climb onto dry land.

Plus it'll get heavy if caught in a torrential downpour. Metal and leather won't. I'd be tempted to up the Armour Penalty by a point or two if any characters were wearing sodden linen...

Hey! Don't take this train of thought any farther Loz!

 

[Loz]

Too late.

Baaaaaaah.... :wink:

 

[Draconis13]

I simply took a look at the construction required to make a linothorax suit of armor. It took layers of hand made linen cloth quilted or laminated together in a labor intensive process. Thus I adjusted the cost to 175 a location to bring it in line with the scale of armor types.

I thought about perhaps even 200 or 250 as you are making armor out of a luxury fabric.

Also who uses Linen armor in Glorantha? I can see it being used by the Dara Happa hoplite brigades. I recall seeing 3rd age artwork that depicts the lunars to using something to a greek linothorax as well.

 

[Nickbergquist]

While there may not be rules around this, throw a few fire oriented spells your players' way and watch their enthusiasm for linen go up in smoke.

Stellar idea!

By the end of game #2 they were all effectively trying to upgrade, anyway, except for the ranged attackers who are trying to stay as far from the center of battle as possible, anyway.

 

[Nickbergquist]

While there may not be rules around this, throw a few fire oriented spells your players' way and watch their enthusiasm for linen go up in smoke.

Plus, it'll absorb water, which leather won't. They might think they can swim in the stuff, but it'll get heavy rapidly leaving them, at best, encumbered when they climb onto dry land.

Plus it'll get heavy if caught in a torrential downpour. Metal and leather won't. I'd be tempted to up the Armour Penalty by a point or two if any characters were wearing sodden linen...

Good idea. The background in the campaign (homebrew, not Glorantha) established that the region is a fiarly wet environment (the region's climate and geography is not unlike Colorado) and that linens are simply damned uncomfortable due to the regular rains. A couple players are struggling along, though...