Armor Construction Rules

From the V8 Rulebook

1. The Monarch, Champion and Guildmaster of Reeves rate armor.
2. Armor that is of mixed values across the same area will be averaged based on the percentage of each type of coverage of the area, rounding fractions to the nearest whole number.
   Example: An arm with a Plate bracer (5 AP) covering 30% of the arm and a Chainmail sleeve (3 AP) covering 70% of the arm will result in an armor value of (.3*5) + (.7*3) = 3.6 = 4 AP across the entire location.
3. Armor should weigh close to actual historical standards to receive full value.
4. Straps and other such material that hold your armor on do not count as part of the armor, for either coverage or averaging purposes, unless they are specifically built as such.
   Example: The leather strap across your back holding on your steel breastplate does not protect you from hits.
5. A gambeson must be at least equivalent to Cloth armor. A gambeson must be worn under all armor on a hit location in order to give a bonus. A gambeson which extends past the area covered by the armor it is supporting may be either treated as garb or averaged as Cloth armor at the discretion of the wearer on a per-location basis.
6. All armor must be safe, with no protruding edges that could injure someone.
7. All corners on any armor that will not deform under contact must come to a point no sharper than the radius of a penny.
8. Armor that is made from synthetic materials such as vinyl, plastic, etc may be used but may never be rated higher than 2 Armor Points. Foam can not qualify as Synthetic (or any type of) armor on its own.
9. Armor is considered to be of the type it most closely resembles.
   Example: Leather with small plates or studs attached at 1” intervals is still leather armor, it is not butted plate with a negative modifier.
10. Armor that is initially rated as zero points does not count as armor. Armor that has been depleted continues to be considered armor, but does not continue to stop wounds until restored.

See Also:

• Armor Types and Modifiers
• Armor Types
• Combat Rules
• Armor
• Weapons
• Weapon Types, Shields, and Equipment
• Equipment Checking