History: The actual time it took to create a harness.

[Ravellion]

Googel is your friend... but unfortunately, most mentions of armour are on D&D websites

I did manage to find this (linkie :

We don't know how long it took to make a harness. One of the boasts of the guild of Milan was that in two weeks it could supply armour to 200 condottieri, or heavy cavalrymen. How much was made 'off the peg' and how much was bespoke 'made to measure' we don't know.

I just need a guesstimate really: How much time would a single smith need to craft a single set of Full Plate? How much for masterwork (which is a harder question, I suppose)?

The Craft skill fails horribly in this. Only disgustingly high level characters would be able to make Plate armour with any kind of expediency.

Rav

 

[Planesdragon]

I just need a guesstimate really: How much time would a single smith need to craft a single set of Full Plate? How much for masterwork (which is a harder question, I suppose)?

Why not just call up / e-mail / send a letter to one of the MANY folk that actually make armor?

I'd peg it at five weeks, full out--which, as you've noted, is impossible unless you can manage 3,000 sp a week.

 

[Galethorn]

I think it should be kept in mind that there were very few armorers (or swordsmiths, for that matter) who worked alone....pretty much everybody worth their salt had a full assortment of apprentices and journeymen who would do different parts of the process...

For example: one guy roughly hammers out three or four elbow pieces a day...another guy does the detail work on three or four of them a day...and another guy spends all his time rivetting, and puts three or four finished elbow pieces onto three or four finished arm-harnesses a day.

Basically, this meant that making 'off the rack' armor in bulk was only a question of how many guys you could get working at once. For custom armor, I'd think it would take a little longer, but you'd still have the whole 'workgroup' thing going, where a different guy would do each individual part of the process...

From what I've read, it wasn't far-fetched to have 20+ people working in the same shop, so it wouldn't surprise me if a full set of custom-made plate armor could be made in 1-2 weeks rather easily.

 

[A'koss]

As it was pointed out, very rarely would a single smith be working on an entire suit of armor and unfortunately there isn't much historical information on the time it took. Apparantly there were huge armories that could produce several full suits *a day*. From what I remember, I'd say it would take about a 3-4 months for one guy to produce a single suit of regular D&D "full plate" armor. There is historical precident of some of the most lavish armors ever designed taking a full year to produce.

Hope this helps...

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Galethorn, that sounds like an extremely modern way to see armor making... It might be true, I have no real knowledge of medieval armorsmithing, but what you're describing is production line assembly

AR

 

[Ravellion]

That's useful information. The thing is, my player wants to make a set of full plate. He wants to hire access to an anvil and forge etc. If he's going to need apprentices, he simply must cough up a bit more.

Rav

 

[Saeviomagy]

In D&D terms, use the rules as presented, buy enough apprentices to help (unskilled labour without an int penalty, who just take 10 on "aid another) so that you CAN hit that 3000sp a week. If you can hit 20 on a take 10, then you only need 15 apprentices to get your TN and roll up in the 50s, which means 2500+sp a week.

 

[Stormrunner]

Why not just call up / e-mail / send a letter to one of the MANY folk that actually make armor?

I'd peg it at five weeks, full out--which, as you've noted, is impossible unless you can manage 3,000 sp a week.

Yes, find your local Society for Creative Anachronism chapter and ask them.

From my time in the SCA, I seem to vaguely recall a time frame of 3 months being quoted - of course, that's working on it evenings and weekends, putting full time labor into it would be shorter, but the "3 months" was with a fully equipped shop and two apprentices. Call it a month, plus another week or two if it needs to be custom-fitted.

Chainmail is fun in that, once you have all the rings, assembly goes quickly. It's making all the fiddly little rings that takes a while. (Yes you can wind a spiral and cut it, but then the ut ends need to be hammered flat and holes drilled for the rivets.) I knew guys who would carry around their latest coif or hauberk, a bag of rings, and a pair of rivet pliers, and whip it out to add a few rings every time they had a spare five minutes - like knitting, but more jingly. Could make a cute "character quirk".

 

[Hand of Evil]

It is one of those things that I think was common to make but we take for granted today because we don't do it day-in-day-out, a sweat shop can put out clothes rather quickly, I don't see why that would change as long as materials are on hand.

 

[Pbartender]

In D&D terms, use the rules as presented, buy enough apprentices to help (unskilled labour without an int penalty, who just take 10 on "aid another) so that you CAN hit that 3000sp a week.

[NITPICK]
You can never Take 10 on an Aid Another action.
[/NITPICK]

The basic premise is still valid, though. There's no reason a master smith (or carpenter, or leatherworker, or baker, or any kind of craftsman) wouldn't have at least a half dozen or so apprentices of varying skill to do all the grunt work, while the master concentrates on the really difficult parts. He may even relegate the entire production of an 'oridinary' suit of armor to his more experienced apprentices, so he can spend his time on the really fancy masterwork plate that the castellan just ordered.