Silenced Armor

Silenced Armor (Elven Chain) Effect on Skill

Pick Pockets	-25%
Open Locks	-5%
Find/Remove Traps	-5%
Move Silently	N/A
Hide in Shadows	-10%
Detect Noise	N/A
Climb Walls	-25%
Read Languages	N/A

A special form of silenced elven chain is available to the thief. Such armor has each individual link of chain armor wrapped in thin leather or light cloth binding. This to some extent "silences" the armor, at the cost of increasing its encumbrance by one-third above that of normal elven chain. It is also fiendishly expensive, costing more than plate mail. Of course, it is even rarer than ordinary elven chain itself. Finding a craftsman and persuading him to make such a suit of armor could be a challenging adventure in itself for a thief. The total profile for silenced elven chain is shown in the table.

Bonuses for moving silently and hearing noise above those which apply for normal elven chain are somewhat offset by penalties to picking pockets and climbing walls. Silenced elven chain is particularly useful to a thief for whom subterfuge and sneaking around unobserved are very important, but who suspects that there is a high probability of combat at some stage during his mission!