Chaosmancer
Legend
One thing I saw only briefly mentioned is something I'd like to point out. Though it is a corner case, all mountain dwarves get medium armor. I bring this up because that would not be a worthwhile racial benefit if medium armor was not decently usable by classes like wizards, who will not generally have higher end dex or strength scores.
On top of that, medium armor, as has been mentioned, is cheaper and lighter than heavy armor, while offering the average person better AC.
Out of curiosity (and to look into a hypotheses), I looked at the starting equipment for all the classes.
Barbarian: prof up to medium, starts no armor, gets a no armor bonus to AC
Bard: prof to light, gets leather
Cleric: prof potentially to heavy, can chose between leather, scale or chain
Druid: prof to medium, gets leather, is a caster with wildshape and weird armor rules
Fighter: all armor, gets either leather or chain
Monk: no armor
Paladin: All, gets chain
Ranger: prof to medium, gets either leather or scale
Rogue: Light and gets leather
Sorcerer: nothing
Warlock: Light and leather
Wizard: nothing
Assuming no feats, per optional rules, and no mountain dwarves to keep profs where they are at, we see some interesting things.
Anyone who gets armor gets at least leather, no one gets padded armor which is the weakest armor.
People who get heavy can start with Chainmail, leading to an assumption that our 1st level AC target is 16-19. Also, none of these characters would ever want Ring Mail.
Anybody who gets a medium armor is getting scale, there are only two medium armors better than scale, Breastplate (which removes disadvantage) is 350 gold more and Half-plate (which is +1 AC) is 700 gold more. +1 AC for light armor is only 45 gold total. The difference between chain to splint is only 125 gold more for +1 AC.
For a medium armor stealth character without feats, you either downgrade to studded leather (which if you have at least a Dex of 18 is the correct choice, since it also avoids rust monsters, heat metal, ect. in fact, wearing metal armor has no benefits other than higher AC) or buy Breastplate. So why do the other options exist?
Because we need stats for crappy armor. You can't build NPC's or list monster AC's using armor that is not available to the players. You need stats for it. So yes, a player trying to optimize their AC and armor choice will likely fall into heavy or light, unless they meet very specific criteria which makes medium armor their best choice, but that is okay because the majority of the time this information does not matter. You give players and monsters hide armor because it is a poor choice compared to some other options, that's why the bandits were wearing it and unless you get your gear back it is the best you can currently do.
On the flip side, the designers seemed to want getting better than a 16 or 18 (with shield) AC a cost, something you had to work for, either through gold, stats, or feats. Plate just cost gold, Studded leather needs great stats (and still falls short) and medium armor just sits in the middle, unless you invest and use options to make it better (the feat that allows an 18 AC with no stealth disadvantage from half-plate, making it better than Full Plate)
On top of that, medium armor, as has been mentioned, is cheaper and lighter than heavy armor, while offering the average person better AC.
Out of curiosity (and to look into a hypotheses), I looked at the starting equipment for all the classes.
Barbarian: prof up to medium, starts no armor, gets a no armor bonus to AC
Bard: prof to light, gets leather
Cleric: prof potentially to heavy, can chose between leather, scale or chain
Druid: prof to medium, gets leather, is a caster with wildshape and weird armor rules
Fighter: all armor, gets either leather or chain
Monk: no armor
Paladin: All, gets chain
Ranger: prof to medium, gets either leather or scale
Rogue: Light and gets leather
Sorcerer: nothing
Warlock: Light and leather
Wizard: nothing
Assuming no feats, per optional rules, and no mountain dwarves to keep profs where they are at, we see some interesting things.
Anyone who gets armor gets at least leather, no one gets padded armor which is the weakest armor.
People who get heavy can start with Chainmail, leading to an assumption that our 1st level AC target is 16-19. Also, none of these characters would ever want Ring Mail.
Anybody who gets a medium armor is getting scale, there are only two medium armors better than scale, Breastplate (which removes disadvantage) is 350 gold more and Half-plate (which is +1 AC) is 700 gold more. +1 AC for light armor is only 45 gold total. The difference between chain to splint is only 125 gold more for +1 AC.
For a medium armor stealth character without feats, you either downgrade to studded leather (which if you have at least a Dex of 18 is the correct choice, since it also avoids rust monsters, heat metal, ect. in fact, wearing metal armor has no benefits other than higher AC) or buy Breastplate. So why do the other options exist?
Because we need stats for crappy armor. You can't build NPC's or list monster AC's using armor that is not available to the players. You need stats for it. So yes, a player trying to optimize their AC and armor choice will likely fall into heavy or light, unless they meet very specific criteria which makes medium armor their best choice, but that is okay because the majority of the time this information does not matter. You give players and monsters hide armor because it is a poor choice compared to some other options, that's why the bandits were wearing it and unless you get your gear back it is the best you can currently do.
On the flip side, the designers seemed to want getting better than a 16 or 18 (with shield) AC a cost, something you had to work for, either through gold, stats, or feats. Plate just cost gold, Studded leather needs great stats (and still falls short) and medium armor just sits in the middle, unless you invest and use options to make it better (the feat that allows an 18 AC with no stealth disadvantage from half-plate, making it better than Full Plate)
