Dashtego

People taking issue with armor types that did not coincide or appear historically should realize that this is a fantasy world and that such considerations should not necessarily matter. I honestly couldn't care less if two armor types that would never have been seen side-by-side in European history can be seen side-by-side in PE since, thankfully, PE is not set during our history or even in our world. Same deal with armor in PE behaving just as a rough counterpart in the real world would have. Those same people should be taking issue with the existence of magic, mythical creatures, invented worlds, and combat that allows players to take many hits, if they're so hung up on realism. You either accept this is a fantasy realm with its own rules and laws, or you call for realism. Being nitpicky and saying "ooh, but armor type Y was slightly more cumbersome and also was found 75 years before armor type Z in the 16th century so that better be how they work here" simply doesn't make any sense. Make armor cool, have a lot of variety and incentive travel but having new (not simply "better") armor in different parts of the world, make armor choice a matter of strategic consideration, and have a variety of clear statistical information provided to players on the item info screen/box-out that allows those considerations to be made without guesswork. Armor choice should really matter, and "better" and "worse" armors should be more complicated designators than a single AC variable. Those are the big, very general things I will be looking for. "Realism" is more or less irrelevant.

Adding to my previous post, the "material tier" system would work for all armor types. Having a variety of metals would be cool. Having regionally/geographically/culturally unique armor would be great, would incentive travel and exploration, and would just make a lot of sense. What would be REALLY cool is having levels of blacksmiths. Maybe there are two or three really famous blacksmiths, 8 or so pretty famous ones, a dozen regionally renowned ones, and then a bunch of averages ones (those particular numbers are arbitrary, of course). It would be assumed that blacksmiths were making most of their own wares (which makes sense) and the more famous the blacksmith, the better his armor and weapons would be. Of course, they would also be a heck of a lot more expensive. If the most famous blacksmith of all is named Peter, you could buy "Peter's Platemail," which would be lighter, stronger, maybe have some special featues, be more durable, etc. It would also cost a fortune. Players would hear about blacksmiths of varyng talents from NPCs, and having a suit of armor or a sword from one or another famous blacksmith would make people think more highly of you (thanks to some kind of quantifiable positive reaction modifier, or charisma enhancement). Players would have to choose between dropping a ton of gold on a really amazing piece of armor, or spending less on a less well crafted piece. Of course, excellent armor could still be found as loot (and maybe some of the special loot could have been crafted by the ancestors of the really famous blacksmiths in the game - this would make the world that much more believable)

Damn, for some reason only part of my post was saved. To sum up the first half briefly: I dislike the "+1" system since it felt arbitrary. Having a more nuanced material system and various sub-categories therein makes a lot more sense. So, for example, you have deer hide, bear hide, dire wolf hide etc. Each hide type is different in some way - you could have some that are slightly heavier, others that are more pliant, and so on. Armor should also be modifable - if I want to add a light sheet of chain links beneath my hide, I should be able to do that with the requisite skill or at the appropriate shop. That would make the hide sturider and have a better AC without jumping completely up to the next tier of armor, only sacrificing some of the beneifts of light armor in the process. There should also be a socketing/enchating system. Gems were largely useles in a lot of the old IE games. It would be cool if socketed armor utilized gems in interesting ways, or if armor could be enhance through magic. That way, light armor could be greatly improved over time but the character could still maintain the desired aesthetic appearance and still have an armor type appropriate to his abilities and strengths. It's easy to let armor get ridiculously amped up with this kind of system, so some kind of strict enchantment cap, or a system wherein enchantments are temporary or socketed gems are breakable, would be a possible solution. Heavier armor should negatively effect movement speed, agility, and sneaking/pickpocketing/back stabbing. Having a thief skulking around in heavy plate makes no sense. The benefits of light armor need to be tangible, however. You should be proportionally more likely to avoid being hit when wearing light armor as you would be able to absorb a hit in heavy armor. In heavy armor, you get hit more often but take less damage. In light armor, hits hurt a lot more but you're able to dodge out of the way more often and flee from immediate danger more easily. It would make sense for thieves, archers, and non-fighter mages to be in lighter armor so they could do their thing (sneaking around, running around and peppering enemies with arrows/spells etc.) much more easily. This, along with my thoughts on armor materials, also speaks to the issue of the "mid-level armor" conundrum. A ranger wouldn't have to give up his ultra-light hides that don't protect at all against the attacks of upper-level creatures in favor of cumbersome heavy armor, because he could improve his hides with metals, gems, charms, etc, or even take the hides of the increasingly powerful creatures he encounters to make better and better hide armor. .