This is the impressive, high Gothic-style armor of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Full plate armor is the best armor a warrior can buy, both in appearance and protection. The perfectly-fitted interlocking plates are specially angled to deflect arrows and blows, and the entire suit is carefully adorned with rich engraving and embossed detail.
Suits of full plate armor are as rare as powerful magical items in most fantasy campaigns. Magical sets of full plate are artifacts to be treasured and hidden away, the objects of glorious quests.
In most campaigns, the number of sets of full plate armor can be counted as easily as the numbers of crown knights who owe their allegiance to the king. In many kingdoms, it is a crime to possess a set of full plate armor without royal permission, as a wise king keeps any armorer capable of such craftsmanship at his beck and call.
Full plate armor is one of the greatest gifts a great lord can bestow upon his followers. It is a prize as coveted for the status it confers as its monetary value. A suit of full plate armor will often be a gift presented to great knights upon great service to the realm, or as an incentive to attract a knight errant of unquestioned prowess to the king's private circle.
In addition, full plate armor is the most technologically advanced armor available in the later medieval and high chivalry settings. The special touches and custom enhancements added by the few living master armorers are what give full plate armor its increased armor class rating over the more traditional forms of field plate. At prices that start at 4,000 gold pieces for a simple, unadorned suit, full plate armor represents the crowning achievement of the armorer's ultimate goal—to forge for man a new skin of steel, as flexible as his own, but as invulnerable as anything in the land.
This increased protection comes only with a price. While full plate armor wears well when correctly fitted, it is cumbersome to don or remove without assistance. Herein enters the attendant.
For most knights, the attendant is a vassal or squire who tends to the knight's every need. He sharpens his lord's sword and brushes his horse. However, the great knight chooses his attendant carefully, for he knows his life may depend on this decision.
Without the assistance of a capable attendant, a knight requires 1d10+10 rounds to don his armor. An attendant cuts this time by half. As most combat veterans know, cutting the average armoring time in half can mean the difference between being at the battle and missing it entirely!
Warriors in a hurry can cut this dressing time by half again. The ramifications of this haste is that a knight and his attendant who are extremely lucky might, at best, be able to get dressed in only 3 rounds (i.e., best roll of 1, add 10 equals 11 rounds; 11 rounds cut in half for attendant's assistance equals 6 rounds; 6 rounds halved again for rushing
yields 3 rounds).
However, a knight hurrying in this manner suffers penalties in combat. His straps are not adjusted correctly, meaning his plates are too loose or too tight and will hamper his overall effectiveness in battle. The knights suffers a -1 to all attack rolls and his armor class likewise drops one place, meaning his hasty dressing has given him armor equivalent in protection to that of field plate armor.
If a knight discovers that his loose fittings are causing him to miss his mark or be struck by his enemies too often, he need only spend as many rounds tightening his straps as he neglected by rushing his preparations (twice that if unattended, of course).
Example: Sir Hujer rolls a 6 on 1d10 when attempting to don his armor, thus needing 16 rounds. An attendant reduces this to 8 rounds, and rushing reduces this further to 4 rounds. The rushing penalties would be removed if Sir Hujer took 4 rounds (attended) or 8 rounds (unattended) to readjust his armor.
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