Banded Mail (AC 4)

Description: Banded mail armor is made of overlapping horizontal strips of laminated metal sewn over a backing of normal chain mail and soft leather backing. Lamination in this context refers to a process in which many thin sheets of metal are hammered or riveted together to form each individual metal strip.

Campaign Use: This type of armor is most commonly worn by eastern warriors and would be as common as plate mail in a culture based on the Turks, for example, late period Mongols, or the Japanese.

In a western campaign, banded mail can be considered to be the precursor of plate armor. Since banded mail inevitably will have gaps between the metal strips, however, the total protection of vital areas is not quite as good as heavier plate armors. The result is the slightly poorer armor class rating of banded mail.

The strength and flexibility of chain mail makes it ideal for protecting the jointed areas where large metal plates are traditionally incapable of providing adequate protection.

One advantage of this metal-and-chain arrangement over chain mail alone is the fact that the construction of banded mail naturally restricts movement of the metal plates across the torso. The beneficial side effect is that the weight of the armor is more evenly distributed on the wearer, making it easier to wear banded mail for longer periods of time.

In game terms, while banded mail does have an overall higher level of protection than normal chain mail, the durability of banded mail, especially at the joints, is about half that of a standard suit of chain. While a fine set of chain armor might last six months or more, a set of banded mail rarely lasts three months, even with constant upkeep.

Much like chain mail, ferrous metal bands are subject to rust. However, since the metal strips found in banded mail are already inflexible and designed to remain that way, the armor class of rusty banded mail is no different from that of a new suit. However, the estimation of one's peers would certainly be diminished, as a well-tended suit of banded mail can gleam most beautifully if cared for properly.

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