Rules for armor forging

[Alerad]

The rules for armor forging in 5e require unimaginable amounts of time.

Going from this link on Stackexchange (http://history.stackexchange.com/questions/20833/how-long-does-it-take-to-craft-the-kinds-of-armour-worn-by-typical-medieval-warr), time depends on the complexity, but in general:
- Leather - 3-7 days
- Mail - 1-3 weeks
- Plate - 2-3 days per part, up to few months for really complex ones
(which is why breastplates are so popular, as a single part they take 2-3 days)

I'm thinking of the following crafting rules for armor:

It requires a number of successes equal to the (Base AC - 10) - 2 for leather, 8 for plate etc.
Each day of work is an ability check vs DC = Base AC (12 for leather, 18 for plate, etc.)

As an optional rule the number of failures must not exceed the number of successes.

What do you think?

[JackPhoenix]

Only plate is a problem, then... in fact: D&D: leather, 2 days (though studded leather takes 9 days... but as it never existed in real life, no telling how long would it take), mail: 10-15 days. 80 days even just for a breastplate is too much.

[Batou1976]

From what I've read before, 2-3 days for a breastplate is right (long since lost track of the page where I saw that, though). Problem is, 1-3 weeks for mail is actually too fast. A hauberk can take several MONTHS. People who make mail today can do it in weeks because typically the links are butted closed. Historical mail frequently consisted of alternate rows of solid rings punched from a sheet of iron and rows of links RIVETED closed. Sometimes it was entirely riveted links. Either way, it was a time consuming process... which leads to the next point. Games often get the relative prices of armors wrong. A breastplate was not only faster to make than mail (because it's actually less complicated), they were also actually cheaper because they were far less labor intensive, AND they offered superior protection to mail, to boot.
Just some food for thought when house-ruling. ;)

[JackPhoenix]

True. Thing is, nobody would use mail if plate was both better AND cheaper (just like in real life). "Tiered" armor doesn't make much sense, but exists only to create game's power curve. Real problem is that D&D (and consequently, other RPGs) mix equipment from different periods. Mail and plate did coexist for a time (at first, plate armor really was more expensive, because it needed higher quality steel and more skilled armorers), but plate replaced mail as technology advances (water-powered hammers...dunno if there's a word for it in english, it's "hamr" in czech... and cheaper steel) and more expensive labor made it cheaper.

[Logosloki]

True. Thing is, nobody would use mail if plate was both better AND cheaper (just like in real life). "Tiered" armor doesn't make much sense, but exists only to create game's power curve. Real problem is that D&D (and consequently, other RPGs) mix equipment from different periods. Mail and plate did coexist for a time (at first, plate armor really was more expensive, because it needed higher quality steel and more skilled armorers), but plate replaced mail as technology advances (water-powered hammers...dunno if there's a word for it in english, it's "hamr" in czech... and cheaper steel) and more expensive labor made it cheaper.

Trip Hammer is the English equivalent.

I like it when there are a lot of options in armour because it is good for NPCs. For players though sometimes I wish they would just integrate AC into the classes and allow the players to wear what they like.

[Laurefindel]

The present rules are there to prevent players from creating 20 suits of full plate armor in their downtime and make ridiculous amount of money. They are designed to grant the same profit regardless whether you make bread or armours.

I don't think a suit of armor really takes that long to make, but making one probably involves more than one master craftsman, several journeyman smiths and a whole lot of apprentices. In other words, there is more than one person working on it, thus accelerating the process.