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I was just wondering if a Ranger wearing any type of mail is bad RP. I always thought they wore leather armour specifically, but do please correct me if I am wrong.

Anyone who knows Ursan well, will know that he has several different outfits depending upon the circumstances. His main gear is a set of leather or hide armour, but he will wear metal armour for those big occasions (Dragons and such.... )

Many skills are affected by the type and amount of armour that you wear, and metal armour will almost always come into the heavier categories. ie have the most detrimental affect. It comes down to balancing protection against success. If you are practising swimming, or treking across a mountain, you dont want to be penalised by your armour.

RP-wise, many people will remark upon a ranger wearing metal armour. I know I am prone to quirking an eyebrow now and then. That said, it is harder for 'younger' (in play-time) characters or those of lower level to survive in the traditional garb. Hopefully allowances are made for this when people role-play.

There are some metal armours that are wearable and have less impact, but you will need to discover which they are ICly and also decide if they fit your RP. Anything heavier than maille would likely be regarded as odd though.

What about studded leather? Does that fall under leather or stuff heavier than leather. Yes I know it probabily is heavier and penalizes my rangers abilities but is it les outside the norm than chainmail or other forms of metal armour?

Rangers like to be self-sufficient. Wearing something like studded leather or chainmail MIGHT be self sufficient to some rangers, but not all. When a ranger has hides or animal skins, they can easily go kill and skin a deer or rabbit to get their pelt. After tanning the hide into a leather, they can mend their hide armour with such skins. Bam, they did all this themselves.

Chainmail and studded leather are a bit trickier. You don't just "find" iron ore in the forest. And if you do, you'd have to "find" a forge hot enough to melt it into a bendable material. Then you'd need to "find" equipment used in making smelted items, etc, etc, etc. And most ways of doing this, at least by human standards, equal mass production, cutting trees, destroying nature. So if a ranger does have a set of chainmail, they'd wear it only when they really needed it and have a hard time when they finally decided to repair any wear and tear it might have. Even in the studs in the leather there are different types of metal.

So, all in all, it's about self-sufficiency. They want to do everything themselves so they can be SURE not to let things go to waste, like mass production often does.

Yeah, my character doesn't wear any type of mail either. It is too heavy and he doesn't fancy the armour that doesn't move as much as he does. Plus, some leathers do provide excellent protection. Thanks for the advice. I really asked the question due to the fact I came upon some nice leafmale, and thought it best to ask the pros.

If you go by Handbooks, Chainmail is medium armor and wearable by rangers without penalty. Furthermore, if you want to be a really really cool ranger like Aragorn then you just buy a Chainmail Vest. It's protective, it's light armor, and it's stylishly lightweight and flexible.

I was wondering if this "no heavy armour" rule/guideline would apply to Sunite rangers, or rangers of other faiths that encourage followers to dress for protection. Is this an exception to the rule?

I've met a couple Sunite rangers in the game, and one wears heavy armour while the other wears leathers, so I'm just curious.


-El-
"He's the liveliest pair of socks I know."

There is really no 'exception to the rule' for other faiths. While a Sunite would consider wearing heavier armour to protect their good looks, they would be considered a rather poor ranger by the ones that judge such things.

I'd say if a ranger wears armour heavier than leather, then they probably would and should RP a loss of skills, if that isn't already coded, until such time as they return to leather armour.

In particular, this would mean no spells, or a high failure rate, although that might just be AD&D rules

What is the view for wearing elven chainmail for elven rangers? Or supplication items of Chainmail? Just a curiousity.

What about druids/druidesses? can they wear elven chainmail since it is so light?

For druids, I do not beleive its the weight of the armor, but the fact that its made of metal.

oh alright, I was told that it was made of hardened leaves

From the 3rd Edition Players Handbook Druid Entry.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Druids are proficient with the following weapons; club, dagger, dart, longspear, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, and sling. Their spiritual oaths prohibit them from using weapons other than these. They are proficient with light and medium armors but are prohibited from wearing metal armor (thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor). They are skilled with shields but must only use wooden ones.

A druid who wears prohibited armor or wields a prohibited weapon is unable to use any of her magical powers while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter. (Note: A druid can use wooden items that have been altered by the ironwood spell so they function as though the were steel. See the spell description, page ###)

Timaeus Valierius,
Warrior of Kelemvor.

From the 3rd Edition Players Handbook Ranger Entry.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields. When wearing light armor or no armor, a ranger can fight with two weapons as if he had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting. He loses this special bonus when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double-headed weapon (such as a double sword).


From the 3rd Edition Equipment Lists on Armor Types.
Light Armor
Padded
Leather
Studded Leather
Chain shirt (ONLY rest is other light types.)

Medium Armor
Hide
Scale mail
Chainmail
Breastplate (ONLY rest is other medium/light types)

Heavy Armor
Splint mail
Banded mail
Half-plate
Full-plate

Timaeus Valierius,
Warrior of Kelemvor.

What I believe Yonna is speaking about is the mail called Leafmail. This is a special type of mail, I believe and is made of leaves and is a medium armor.

Leafmail is merely a style of armor, the shape of the scales is that of a leaf. It can be metal or leather.

In the 3rd edition Faiths and Pantheons it describes leafmail under the Silvanus entry.
The ceremonial dress for both clerics and druids of Silvanus is a suit of armor made of overlapping leaves. For clerics, the leaves are made of metal plates and the suit functions as a set of scale mail. For druids the leaves are made of green-tinted leather and the suit functions as leather armor.

As for druids using the available leafmail in the game, the use of the examine item command will let you know the material and the type of armor be it light, medium, or heavy. If the leafmail in question is of leather or hide material and either light or medium armor type then yes a druid can use it. The use of the word mail can be decieving as not all items called leafmail are metal mail.

Timaeus Valierius,
Warrior of Kelemvor.

I was just wondering if the type of armour called 'leather scalemail' contradicted itself or not...Is it leather...or is it some sort of metal mail...the mystery begins (horror music plays in backround).

The main thing here is to get away from the thought that mail armour necessarily means metal.

The word 'mail' comes from the French 'Maille' and originally the latin macula which means mesh.

For those armours such as scalemail ringmail and leafmail the actual scales rings or leaves do not necessarily have to have been made from metal.

Hope this solves the mystery for you

Hmm...so, if a druid wears studded leather they should RP a loss of skills and spells? Or does studded leather count in the leather catagory? I wasnt sure if that was enough metal to disrupt them.

Also, Mielikkan druids can wear metal armor without a loss of skills and spells, correct? I thought I read that somewhere...