Light armor is kept deliberately vague. It could be hardened eather. It could be gambeson. It could be a metal breast plate covering the torso but leaving the character's arms and legs exposed.
Realistically, this makes a difference to how well the character is protected in certain situations, but the Rule of Playability says I don't believe most Game Masters or players want to slow combat down with a randomizer table to determine
where a character is hit every time a blow is struck.
Realistically, I believe gambeson is the most practical light armor in a setting such as Scarterra, but the Rule of Cool shows that a lot of characters prefer their characters wear something else.
Likewise "Medium Armor" and "Heavy Armor" are up to interpretation as to what exactly the armor is.
The Rule of Playability means I as a game creator and Game Master don't want to keep track of the difference between chainmail, brigandine armor, composite armor, and the like.
The Rule of Cool means that I want PCs and important NPCs to not be penalized for wearing distinctive armor unique to them. Hence the broad abstract categories of "light armor", "medium armor.", and "heavy armor."
Full Plate armor has much less room for creative interpretation. Full plate armor represents heavy metal plate covering as much of a warrior as possible and only minor weak spots along the joints. Full plate armor assumes your character is wearing gambeson under the main armor as padding and to provide a layer of protection against vulnerable joints, including a gambeson cap under the helmet.
Armor Fitting
Full Plate armor
must be individually fitted to a specific wearer either at the moment it was created or a captured set of armor needs to be carefully resized by a skilled armorer. Light armor is pretty interchangeable. Medium and Heavy Armor falls in between, generally able to passed to a new owner with minor adjustments unless you are talking two people with very different body types.
The above paragraph just assumes humans are transfering armor between humans and elves or dwarves can be a huge hassle. To say nothing of
tengku who have different body shapes,
satyrs who require helmets designed around their horns and specially fitted leggings.
Gnomes generally need armor made for gnomes because they are too small to wear other races' armor even with a very skilled armor smith making an alterations. There are other small races besides gnomes but
goblins,
kobolds, and
kalazotz all have differing body types that they cannot easily use the armor of other races. Kalazotz and other flyers need armor that can accomodate their wings.
Helmets
My friends and I have made a lot of character portraits with
Hero Forge. We usually don't give characters helmets. It is generally because we don't want to obscure the character's facial features and hair.
Thus far, I have only comissioned a
small number of professional illustrations, and most these aren't wearing helmets either (or hats). Same reason, I don't want to obscure a character's facial features and/or hair. I guess this is the
Rule of Cool in artwork.
In practice, As a Game Master, I am assuming that most PCs and NPCs alike who are taking the precaution of wearing armor are wearing helmets most of the time. Realistically, a warrior expecting trouble would probably rather wear a helmet with no body armor before he would would body armor with no helmet. Brains are important and you don't want yours spilled over the ground.
Day-to-Day Wear and Formal Wear
Most PCs are adventurers. Adventurers understand that trouble can find them at any time, but even then, most of the time adventurers are not being attacked, and it can be inconvenient to wear their best gear all the time.
In playtesting, most PCs wear light armor pretty much all their waking hours unless they are at a formal state banquet or in their own workshop, or a religious service. Places that are either very formal or considered to be
home.
Traveling overland, most PCs wear light armor, it is up to player choice what the player is wearing. Characters with comparatively high Strength and Stamina scores generally prefer wearing medium armor and everyone else wears light armor. Players should communicate to their Game Master what their character is normally wearing in these "normal" circumstances.
If a character is marching is into battle or otherwise knows with reasonable certainty that he or she is going to be launching an attack or is about to be attacked than that character is going to wear the best armor he can afford that he is also strong and hardy enough to wear. It probably goes without saying, but just in case if your character is going into an abnormal situation, you should specify what your character is wearing.
Assuming your character has a pack animal or is wealthy enough to have
Bags of Holding, it is not especially difficult to change between types of armor unless you are caught by surprise when not wearing armor.
Without getting into the specifics, heavier armor takes longer to don and remove than lighter armor. It is difficult but not impossible to put on and remove full plate armor without an assistant.
Sleeping in Armor
Characters who wear relatively heavy armor are going to need to change their underclothes relatively often for sanitary reasons as they will probably sweat a lot. Partially for this reason, even paranoid people rarely sleep in their armor.
If your character is sleeping somewhere patently unsafe such as a active dungeon, it is feasible that your character
is sleeping in armor. Otherwise it is assumed your character is not sleeping in your armor unless you tell your Game Master that this is normal.
A seasoned adventurer can probably grow accostomed to sleeping in light armor when traveling. A seasoned adventurer who is paranoid and has a high base physical attributes can probably sleep okay in medium armor. Assuming your character is trying to sleep in heavy armor or plate, you character should probably make a Stamina roll or Willpower roll (or both) to pull this off and still wake up feeling rested.
Armor and Heat
If your character is adventuring in one of Scarterra's hotter climates, he or she may be proverbially cooking in their armor. Not only your character carrying more weight and likely wearing metal that conducts heat from the sun, even light armor makes it harder for sweat to wick away.
Characters that insist on wearing armor in tropical or desert enviornments for long periods of time, especially heavier armor, should expect to need to pass frequent
Fatigue checks. Generally soldiers and adventurers in very hot environments only wear heavier armors when combat is virtually guaranteed.
Cold environments have their own problems, but assuming a character has reasonable under and over clothes, wearing heavy armor in a chilly climate is not a huge problem.
In armor or out of armor, the
Abjuration spell "Endure Elements" can be highly useful for adventurers traveling through hot or cold areas and the spell lasts fairly long.
Divine Augmentation ●●● can mimic "Endure Elements" but relatively few bother with this as it is generally not an efficient use of mana.
Armor and Water
Light armor is inconvenient to be wearing while swimming. Medium armor is very dangerous to wear while swimming. Heavy armor and full plate are functionally suicidal to wear while swimming.
Even if there is a relatively small chance of being knocked into a body of water, most adventurers and professional soldiers make it a point
not to wear heavier armors when fighting near water. Most sailors sailing in potentially hostile waters wear light armor on a routine basis and only wear heavier armor when making landfall. If your character wants to risk wearing heavier armor near water, let the Game Master know. Likewise, if an NPC warrior is wearing heavier armor, the GM should let the players know.
What a great topic