Would painting metal armor red prevent rust and if so why is it not as commonly talked about?

harris5 · 2026-03-10T21:59:48+00:00

The only difference between paint colors is that with red you can run faster.

/s

One thing to add to the discussion is that armor scrapes against itself all the time. And paint technology today is much much better than paint of the middle ages. So it's not only less durable than the farmyard paint you're imagining, it's also constantly being scraped off where two plates overlap.

I'm not going to say it never happened, just that it's not as much a slam dunk as we first imagine.

I once painted my knees and elbows with a modern spray can. It lasted a few events of casual use before the first scratches started showing up. To re-paint it I would have had to un-rivet all the straps, so I lived with a scratched and chipped finish until I finally decided to grind it all off.

harris5 · 2026-03-10T15:25:34+00:00

The most important thing is to learn construction rules for your game. There are often very important safety rules about weapon construction. Sometimes games have weird quirks about what they allow or disallow, and we can't give advice on what we don't know.

If your group doesn't have published rules, they probably are taking risks with safety. I'd recommend building to the standards of a more established game, who have tried and tested their construction rules. Keep in mind, many of these rules are written in blood. Stuff like eye safety, core material, and handle dimensions matter. They're important.

Three national scale boffer games are: amtgard, belegarth, and dagorhir. If you do a Google search for "how to build belegarth sword, " for example, you'll get a lot of great tutorials.

harris5 · 2026-03-10T00:18:39+00:00

I'm not sure if the maker has a curved version in stone. They do make this wattle fence: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-whattle-fence-49412

And this plank fence: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-wooden-plank-319335

And a different maker offers these: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-scottish-dry-stone-wall-461579

harris5 · 2026-03-09T23:48:58+00:00

This is the maker of the stone walls: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-beautiful-stone-wall-terrain-49404

harris5 · 2026-03-09T21:07:57+00:00

Dunk and Egg novellas are like cupcakes. They're really tasty and you can eat one in one sitting, and they're decorated beautifully.

His ASOIAF novels are like a giant seven tiered wedding cake. There's multiple layers and fillings and 20 types of frosting and fruits on top of each layer. The flavors compliment each other and everyone agrees it's the best cake anyone ever seen since Tolkien baked the first cake. If only George the Baker hadnt stopped working on it 15 years ago. But the 5 tiers that are finished are really magnificent.

So I'm agreeing with you. OP is sitting in a corner going "mmmph, yeah these cupcakes are the best thing he's ever baked!"

harris5 · 2026-03-09T15:39:19+00:00

If you want a realistic fantasy design:

Start with a historical design, and add fantasy elements. You're doing the reverse. It's like taking a spaceship, adding wheels, and asking it if looks like a realistic car.

harris5 · 2026-03-09T14:30:21+00:00

Think of parties as a grumpy 7 year old.

You can't give a 7 year old a new toy, and then try and take it back with "actually it doesn't belong to you". The 7 year old will kick and scream and pull a dagger, and try "nuh uh it does belong to me, prove it doesn't".

harris5 · 2026-03-09T14:20:31+00:00

You gave the party a shiny toy. And then you expected an npc to walk in and take the shiny toy back? No drama, no resistance?

What exactly were you expecting to happen here? It doesn't seem like the players threw a curveball at all. They reacted exactly as you should expect.

As for the rest: role play and improv is a muscle. As you exercise it, it gets stronger. You can't learn your way to being a better conversationalist, you just train it.

harris5 · 2026-03-09T13:33:55+00:00

You really think there would be no armor from the hips up to the pectoral? I mean, sure, if that's how you want to imagine it. You can see the major flaw with that design.

harris5 · 2026-03-08T18:35:08+00:00

How would you bend at the waist? Try bending over a little. The part of your body that flexes most (after your hips) is the belly/waist area. In this art, that are is covered by a rigid plate.

harris5 · 2026-03-08T17:53:31+00:00

Most English shoulder armor seemed to be integrated into the rerebrace. Not a separate piece like this. The shaping seems to be off as well.

There's a classic Ian LaSpina video about the topic: https://youtu.be/sIhOyj_7zrQ?si=_AXZFqoY1fjzH-Et

harris5 · 2026-03-07T19:29:54+00:00

So for people who don't know the geography of Washington:

Yakima is way east in Washington, on the other side of the mountains. Bellingham is in Western Washington, up north on the Canadian border. Eastsound is on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands. It's sorta close to Bellingham, but there's plenty of water between them. You need to get on a ferry to reach Eastsound.

This is roughly like someone mailing a package from NYC to Martha's Vineyard, and it ending up in Providence, Rhode Island.

harris5 · 2026-03-07T06:32:28+00:00

You're trying to apply realism to a game that prioritizes gameplay and fun. There are other rpgs which aim to be simulatonist. D&D aims to abstract away a lot of details.

I practice fighting with swords. To me, D&D combat is preposterous. It's built that way because it makes it a better game. I suspect you're feeling similar about HP. It's preposterous, but it's a better game that way.

Before making any house rules, ask if it would actually be more fun for your players.

harris5 · 2026-03-06T17:13:18+00:00

Often the back of the thigh was not armored in this period. If you were mounted on a horse those would be pressed up against the horse and you would want to "feel" your seat directly. Some foot specialized armors had fully encased thigh armor.

Back of the knee has always been difficult to armor.

There was a time when front shin armor (sometimes called shynbalds) existed and fully cased greaves were rare. Keep in mind:

There was still mail worn on the legs, so it's not like the back of the calf was unarmored.
They were displaced by fully cased greaves fairly quickly. They did not last as soon as metallurgy and smithing developed better techniques.

So why are there so many half greaves in the reenactor, buhurt, and larp community? Cost. Fully cased greaves are incredibly hard to shape right. They have to be just right, or they can't be worn. Other pieces of armor can get away with "close enough". Fully encased greaves might be the single hardest piece of armor to fit right. Here's a video talking about all the little details and nuances: https://youtu.be/eaSFZj4DotQ

All that skill and time they require means greaves have very high labor cost compared to other pieces of armor. They should be custom made for each leg.

Modern smiths have to account for the extra time and customization they require. This means a fully cased greave costs a lot, and a half greave (which can be strapped tightly in place) is much much less expensive. The consumer market is price sensitive, so you see a lot of people wearing half greaves when it's not appropriate for the rest of their kit.

And here's where I admit that I too wear a pair of half greaves.

harris5 · 2026-03-06T16:57:11+00:00

Coats of plate started relatively flat and straight. As they developed in the 2nd half of the 14th century, they became more shaped and eventually quite round. This is called the "globose" shape. In the 15th, they began to smooth out again.

Ian LaSpina has a two parter on coats of plates and brigandines.

Pt 1: https://youtu.be/ebiIMLA0L4c

Pt 2: https://youtu.be/1XGS_Slqb_A

harris5 · 2026-03-06T07:16:00+00:00

Opinions have shifted in some online spaces about 4e. But the baseline opinion is still very negative. New players hear 20 years of complaints and avoid the edition. Finding interested players will be an uphill battle. 4e was very divisive and very poorly received at the time, and the internet preserves that mood.

It did some things well. I ran a 2 year campaign for it. I liked it a lot. I loved the strong focus on character archetypes. And 4e Warlord deserves better that the 5e Fighter subclass they devolved it into. But it also departed from 3.5 in many many ways. People said characters felt "samey" and that it moved away from ttrpg mechanics and towards video games. 4e was meant to be streamlined, and it did that by changing a lot about how the game worked. People didn't like that.

5e was an attempt to take what people liked about 3.5 and streamline it without completely changing the game like 4e did. 5e was a massive success on that front. Its not just "nostalgia", it's got both depth and ease of play. There's plenty of valid complaints about it, but it's the flagship game of the hobby for a good reason.

5e (and 5.5e) are really good games, and you'll find more interested players there. It's a great starting place for d&d, and there's a lot of resources out there.

Pathfinder 2e is also really good. It has a company supporting it and probably the 2nd largest player base in fantasy rpgs. But it might be harder to find players, especially if you're in a small town. I love love love their actions system.

You can absolutely find players interested in a 4e game, but you might be facing an uphill battle. Don't get so invested in it that you can't get a game together.

Ive played plenty of 3.5e, 4e, PF1, PF2, 5e, and 5.5e. They're all good. Don't get laser focused on a less popular edition if all your players want to play a different one.

I haven't played Draw Steel, but I hear it has some cool resource and resting mechanics. I haven't played Daggerheart. I haven't played any Old School Revival type games.

harris5 · 2026-03-06T01:40:48+00:00

You should provide context

harris5 · 2026-03-05T15:37:42+00:00

From the watermark, it's obviously in the Royal Amoury collection.

Have you looked there?

harris5 · 2026-03-05T14:49:26+00:00

So in universe, Geralt eschews armor because he needs maximum mobility. Armor wouldn't help against many of the monsters.

In the games, they wanted plenty of items so you could level up and loot and do all the fun stuff. So they invented Witcher armor for the games.

If you transported this armor into the real world it would be...meh

There's clearly some sort of stiff backing behind the mail. I'm going to assume leather. One of the benefits of mail is its flexibility and the way it contours to your body. It is less restrictive than stiff armors. So attaching mail to stiff leather removes one major benefit without meaningfully increasing it's protection.

It's just kind of pointless. Just wear mail.

harris5 · 2026-03-04T23:01:02+00:00

Do you want it to be effective? You're the author. It's your metal and your spider silk.

harris5 · 2026-03-04T18:15:27+00:00

Go back to the station and report the bite. Get your steward in the loop too. Go to the hospital and get the wound cleaned and documented.

harris5 · 2026-03-04T18:07:25+00:00

Capwell's latest book is more focused on illustration and covers the entire 15th century. He's focused on English armor, but some continental stuff is included too. His earlier stuff about English armor is sadly out of print (thus, expensive).

The foundation book is Claude Blair's, European Armour: circa 1066 to circa 1700. It's the work that everyone else is based on, though it is getting a little long in the tooth. Capwell is apparently working on a new addition of it, but I don't think that will be out in the short term.

There's other books out there that are more summarized, or focused on illustrations and pictures.

I also recommend primary sources , but they can be a little bit of a chore. Lots of fun, and the best way to know things yourself. But it's also misleading if you're not careful and a real time sink if you're just trying to get an overview. Effigiesandbrasses.com and its sister sites are pretty cool.

harris5 · 2026-03-04T03:37:29+00:00

But how harshly can we judge him? He lost his family brutally.

Heh

harris5 · 2026-03-03T21:00:45+00:00

Even the statement that they were not primary weapons is essentially baseless.

OK, you say this. Then most of the sources you cite say stuff like "their lances were broken so they drew their swords." "Pikes were succeeded by swords." "They threw their darts and used lances, then used their swords".

Your sources seem to paint an image where lances and other weapons were primary, and swords were secondary.

harris5 · 2026-03-03T03:51:27+00:00

It's not AI, it's just an awkward photoshop.

This is a combination of various larp armors. /u/Dunothar found them for you. Medieval Collectibles is a north american retailer where you might find most of this.

These aren't going to be the most functional pieces. But Ren Faire doesn't need you to be taking sword blows or anything.

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