Overhauling Armor

[General Brewster]

Hello everyone,

I figured I'd take some initiative in overhauling armor, it's been bugging me since the start that we didn't adopt WotR's new take on armor and instead of complaining I'm being pro active for a chance. I'm including a list of stuff I've found online, if anyone wants the link's to the articles tell me so and I'll dig them up again.

Info

"Osprey book about 15th century English knights makes a mention of Sir Joh Cressy buying a Milanese armour in 1441, costing him £8.00 GBP 6s 8d, with armour for squires costing from £5.00 GBP to £6.00 GBP 16s 8d. At the time, an English man-at-arms employed on a campaign could expect to be paid 12d per day, so those prices given would be equivalent to 100-167 days salary for a man-at-arms." "The reputation of the armourer and the place it was manufactured (and what sort of quality control, if any, that the armour was subjected to - in places like Nurnberg inspected armour bearing city marks sells for more than unmarked armour). As one example, an order of 100 complete armours made by Antonio Missaglia (of the most famous family of armourer-capitalists in Milan) cost 200 lire apiece (for a total of 20,000 lire - the Missaglia's business was fabulously profitable), while 12 armours made by the less distinguished armourer Pier Innocenzo around the same time cost 32 lire each - around 1/7 the price. So, costs. On the low end ready made armours could be had for fairly modest sums - amounts that still amounted to several months wages! One of the lower amounts I have seen is the 5 marks (a bit over 3 pounds sterling) that Lord John Howard paid for an armour that was complete except for a helmet and gauntlets (presumably, this was an armour for his retainers, not himself!). The average cost for the large order of 100 armours mentioned above is a bit less than this. On the other hand, John Cressy paid between a bit over 8 pounds and a bit over 6 pounds for harnesses for himself and his esquires (and this was also from Milan), as u/Dashukta mentions. This is a good figure for the 'mid range' of armour - good quality, but not made to measure. Finally, truly custom armours from the London armourers could be as much as 20 pounds or more. Fine quality, custom armours from abroad (generally Milan or the Low Countries) would be similarly expensive. So, what do these numbers mean? In the early 15th century an archer in the English army made 6 pence, which is to say, half a shilling or 1/40 of a pound. This is similar to the wages of skilled (journeyman) artisans. So an armour that cost a bit over 3 pounds would cost more than 120 days wages for an archer. Men at arms made a full shilling, so the armour mentioned above would cost a bit more than 60 days wages for them. However, often armours would be bought by the man at arm's contracted employer (someone like Lord Howard), so this cost might not be born by the individual man at arms. On the other hand, a 20 pound custom harness would cost the equivalent of over one year's wages for a man at arms and 2 years wages for an archer."

Basically to summarize in my opinion, what this tells us is that, yes armor was expensive. It also tells us what about it was expensive and for who it was considered to be expensive. A Lord Paramount, even one as "poor" as the Greyjoys is still many times richer than a man-at-arms. Thus for him a plain full plated armor basically costs nothing.

Where I'm getting at is that 60.000 dragons for a Full Plate armor is madness when you can read that for 20.000 lire you could buy a 100 plain full sets of armor. Thus my proposal is about drastically reducing the prices. While I'm open to suggestions I was thinking in the ranges of: 20.000, 17,500, 12,500 and 7,500 dragons. Costliest being the Full Plate and the cheapest the leather armor.

I mean, for 2,5 full plate under the current rules you can also buy a T4 building...

Armor & Weapons

Armour sets are available to all characters and both genders, with certain ranks beginning with access to certain armour sets. The attire chosen for wear impacts the wearer's abilities in terms of movement and survivability. Armour Sets Studded Leather Armour (+5 hp, +2 Scout, +2 Assassin, +2 Capture) - The simplest armour in terms of creation and the weakest by way of protection, this armour nonetheless provides the user much better movement and is favoured by those who would rather be quick on their feet over having the ability to slug it out in a melee. A studded leather chestpiece with hardened leather vambraces, shinguards, thighguards and boots. This set of armour costs 15,000 Dragons. Chainmail Armour (+10 hp, +1 Scout, +2 Duels, +1 Survival) - The armour of choice for most freedmen, chainmail is affordable yet offers some protection on the battlefield. A mix of studded leather with a mail coat or mail worked into the leather. This set of armour costs 30,000 Dragons. Partial Plate (+20 hp, +4 Duels, +2 Survival) - The optimal trade-off between mobility and protection, partial plate armour is often worn by those of a knightly bearing. A thick and solid plate chestpiece protects the vital organs while segments covering the thighs, shins and forearms allow blows to be deflected or absorbed. Leaving the upper arms and legs largely unrestricted means that movement isn't too heavily constrained, allowing the wearer mobility for duelling. This set of armour costs 40,000 Dragons. Full Plate (+20 hp, +1 Battles, +6 Survival, +5 post-battle condition rolls) - Covering oneself from head to toe in the best plate available brings significant advantages and drawbacks. You become near-impossible to kill but also don't move much yourself. Favoured by knights taking to the battlefield, knowing their main role in such an event will be to present the heaviest possible mass atop a horse to plough through enemy troops in a formation of massed heavy horse, this is a set of armour for surviving a major battle rather than a set for everyday wear or single combat. This set of armour costs 60,000 Dragons. Weapons Weapons are divided into three overaching types: those used exclusively in one hand, those used with one or two depending on the context, and those large enough to require two hands at all times. Each comes with benefits and drawbacks. A single handed weapon and shield (+2 Duels, +4 Survival, +6 hp) offers the most survivability, allowing the user to shelter behind the shield and use it to further protect themselves, but at the cost of sacrificing the reach and power afforded by the larger, heavier weapons. This combination costs 30,000 Dragons. A bastard sword (+4 Duels, +4 Survival), the most common name for large single-handed weapons, are typically used without shields but are lighter and thus more mobile than greatswords, giving the user the ability to position themselves faster and exploit the situation with more agility, at the cost of reduced reach and less power than a greatsword, but superior reach and power to a single handed weapon. These weapons cost 25,000 Dragons. A greatsword (+7 Duels, +2 Survival) represents those swords that are the largest, heaviest weapons, be they swords, poleaxes, greataxes or warmaces. These weapons are sluggish but mighty: a solid blow from such a weapon, even to a shield, could break the arm of the target or outright shatter lesser weapons. The key to surviving such weapons is mobility, while the key to their masterful use is conservation of energy and the efficient application of it into well aimed, well timed strikes of immense power. These weapons cost 30,000 Dragons. Notes - Kingsguard may select any single armour and weapon set for free. - If a character with any of this equipment dies, their weapon may be inherited but the armour cannot be inherited: anyone can use any weapon, but armour was crafted to fit the user.

[Lord Dread]

For this, prize reductions on buildings, rescources and regional boni exist tbh.
I don't know if you remember it, but complete armour sets + the best weapon tended to cost 150k gold for one character.
Thus, prizes were already reduced heavily by a lot.

[General Brewster]

It's still an insane cost for the pieces of equipment that defined a class.. However I don't want to waste anyone's time on this so this can be closed as general opinion seems to be against it.