Two quick armor questions.

[Cade]

First Question:

I would like to look into building a set of banded armor grieves They will be a composite armor because they will consist mostly of leather and strips of steel. My question is...does the following rule preclude me from using non period materials in their construction. I.E. polyester ties, or closed cell foam for padding. Basically any part of the piece that's not actually armor.

2.2.2. Armor is protective body covering, consisting of period materials.

Does this rule apply to ONLY the armor component I.E. the metal or leather that actually makes up the armor, OR does it apply to the entire piece as in the entire thing must be made of period materials.

I mean obviously the entire thing will look completely period, and no one would ever question it unless i brought it up, but id rather not be skating the edge of the rules here.

Second Question:


3.6.1.4. A Combatant wearing plate Armor may not initiate a Grapple.

Also...how does composite armor count when it comes to grappling? The armor component will be steel strips about an inch wide and however tall my shin is. The only thing i can think of is that it would be classified as plate, but only because there isn't a rule covering it otherwise. The thing is that it doesn't really fit the spirit of the rule when it comes to plate because strictly speaking, its not plate armor. It has strips of metal...but its not Plate as defined by the rules.

3.1.2. Metal - Armor constructed of metal. Includes chain and plate.
3.1.3. Rigid Metal - Armor constructed of discrete or continuous metal plate.

It is Composite as defined here.

3.1.7. Composite - Armor constructed of both metal and leather.

However, composite armor is not defined as plate...it says metal. So obviously it can contain chain, rings, washers, scales, strips of metal, or plate...but what do you classify the rest of it as? Chain is classified, and so is plate...but scales, rings, or strips of metal aren't. Do we just classify all of that as plate for the sake of simplicity?

[Slagar]

For your first question, I'd say it's fine. As long as it's armor on its own, non-period conveniences like ties and extra padding are completely cool. Basically, if you were to strip off everything non-period, would you still be holding armor? If yes, then you're pretty much fine. Cheesery may be nixed by a martial, if attempted, however.

For your second question, thats kind of a difficult one. If I were heralding, I'd have to call it plate, and forbid you grappling. Because it's obviously metal, and obviously not chain, I'd say that splinted greaves like you describe fall under plate rules for grappling. Other marshalls may disagree, but I tend to default in favor of safety over game advantage. If grappling is too integral to your fighting style to give up, I'd say just ditch the splints. YMMV.