Certain types of armor are never worn.

[EPRock]

Other than at very low levels where the characters have little or no money, why would a character ever wear the following types of armor?

Padded
Leather
Hide
Scale Mail
Chainmail
Splint Mail
Banded mail
Half-plate

If I was a fighter with a +0 Dex bonus to AC I would be wearing Full Plate. The only reason that medium Armors are worn in our game is because we have house rules where medium armor is considered light for movement penalties.

 

[Gez]

I've seen all these used:
Padded
Leather
Hide
Scale Mail
Chainmail

For style or because they were more interesting.

Fighters are not the only armor-bearers, bards, rogues, rangers, barbarians, warmages, etc. are also interested in these stuff.

 

[pawsplay]

A vegetarian ranger or rogue would wear padded armor. Half-plate still looks very cost effective compared to plate for 2nd or 3rd level characters. Hide is good druid armor. Leather has no armor check penalty. Etc.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Reasons why people would wear substandard armors:
1> If they're stupid
2> If they find a +5 suit of half-plate, it's still better than their +2 Full Plate. (Which still doesn't explain why the creator of that armor chose it in the first place).

There really isn't any other reason.

But, not all the ones you listed are substandard. Leather, for example, is the optimal choice for someone with a +6 Dexterity bonus. Padded is the optimal for someone with a +7 or higher. In addition, armor with no Armor Check Penalty can be worn by someone without the feat at no penalty (really important for Psions).

The fact is, there just aren't enough variables. It's too easy for one type of armor (like a Breastplate) to be utterly superior to a very similar one (like Chainmail). In some of the House Rule threads, people have mentioned ways to get around this by adding another variable to armor. What if, instead of both giving +5 AC, the Breastplate gave +2 AC and DR 1d6/-, while the Chainmail gave +3 AC and DR 1d4/-? What if Chainmail had a lower ACP and Arcane Failure than the BP (instead of higher)?

 

[pawsplay]

While a PC may think nothing of paying a little extra for taking a breastplate over chainmail, a baron might balk at an extra 10,000 gp to equip his two hundred regulars thusly. And if it exists in the gameworld, it must have stats. Just like goblin warriors or orc adepts.

 

[jgsugden]

There are lots of min-max reasons for each of the armors, though some are far stronger than others in *most* cases. If you consider weight, ACPs, cost, dexterity, etc ... you'll see why you *might* select these armors.

If you look at the random armor table, you'll see that the 'sensible' armor types are given a heavier weight and the 'odd-ball' choices are given a lesser weight. That is because in most cases, the armors you left off your list are the obvious choices.

 

[Aristotle]

I see two very good points here. The armor would exist and there are situations (maybe not for the PCs themselves) where cost becomes a factor. Also, some characters wear lesser armor because they player feels the armor just makes more sense for the character or certain situations.

I had a Paladin character that was very much a "knight in shining armor". But in, non-combat, urban environments his shimmering full-plate stuck out and made it difficult to maneuver. That particular character kept a suit of well-crafted padded armor which he would use for such situations. It was also the armor he would go for if he was not in armor and suddenly foundhimself needing to be ready for combat... it may not have had the protection of the larger armor, but he could get into it fast.

 

[kirinke]

hmmm

as far as choosing 'substandard armor' goes, you also have to take into account the character's strength and ability to carry stuff.

i mean, plate armor weighs a ton and it's hard to sleep in, hard to disguise, hard get in and out of etc.

chain mail, leather armor, etc is lighter and easier to get in and out of and still provides some protection. like the man says it's better than nothing. And adventurers are likely to choose light-weight armor vs the heavy stuff, which they'd keep aside for going straight into battle.

 

[Grog]

Actually, if your Dex is high enough, padded armor gives you a better AC than any of the other armors (except for full plate, but a high-Dex character probably wouldn't want to wear full plate).

 

[Angcuru]

I see many reasons to wear what you call 'lesser' armor.

Not everyone has a Dex bonus of 0. If you're more agile than the average joe with a +3 or above, you'll be going with something like leather or a chain shirt, because in total you have the same amount of protection of a less agile person wearing plate steel.

Point. Set. Match.