Chain Mail (AC 5)

Description: Chain mail is made of interlocking metal rings. It is always worn over a layer of padded fabric or soft leather to prevent chafing and lessen the impact of blows.

Campaign Use: Chain mail is the standard medium armor in most fantasy campaigns. In many places, it is so common that the price of a good suit of chain mail may actually be cheaper than less sophisticated armors like scale mail and brigandine. This makes the appeal of chain mail armor very high indeed.

Chain mail is only slightly heavier than hide or brigandine armor and much lighter than any of the plate armors. Important to the wearer, however, is the fact that the weight of a suit of chain mail does not rest evenly upon the body. Rather, most of the burden of a chain suit rests upon the shoulders, making chain armor feel heavier than it really is.

In game terms, this means chain mail can be worn for only about a day before the shoulders of even the strongest warriors begin to fatigue. Experienced warriors usually carry a second set of lighter armor (often leather or studded leather) for use when traveling or at night when not on watch.

Optional Rule: Prolonged shoulder fatigue from wearing chain mail more than one day at a time affects combat (-2 to hit) and leads to headaches and backaches.

In general, chain mail is worn by mid-level fighters, guardsmen, mercenaries, and men-at-arms with some official capacity. The price of chain mail is equivalent to many years income for most peasants, and is thus out of reach for most common folk. However, some middle-class families have a set or two of heirloom chain mail armor handed down from glorious days past for use in dangerous days to come.

Typically, town guards and noble patrols are bedecked in chain mail armor. It is perfect for short duty tours and gives the noble warrior a great advantage over the local rabble. Just the difference between chain mail and leather armor alone can give the officer a significant advantage over most ruffians. Anyone wearing chain mail armor with any sort of heraldic crest or uniform is usually assumed to be a local official of some kind by the experienced and perceptive traveler.

In general, chain mail is the basis for all of the more advanced and more protective armors found in most AD&D® game campaigns. The potentially low cost of chain mail is a reflection of the fact that many sets of chain mail are bought as a base for banded mail and the more sophisticated plate armors.

Because chain mail armor is not usually worn for long periods at a time, its underlying padding rarely suffers the problems of padded armors. The metal mail, however, will rust if not oiled and scrubbed with a wire brush weekly. After a month of neglect, chain mail armor loses one level of armor class since it is no longer as flexible and links may have begun to rust. (Naturally, this applies only to ferrous armor mail and not to chain mail constructed of non-ferrous metals).

Chain mail is certainly the best armor value for adventurers who cannot yet afford the heavier armors.

Table of Contents