Anyone who thinks that Wearing soft leather compared to chain is a similar enough experience, to make them the same skill, has not actually ever worn either of them for extended periods of time.
As for Rigid Leather Armour compared to Plate... the differences are even grater than the former 2.
In all honesty, I have to disagree with this. Did you miss these parts (quoted below)?
During a recent LARP event back in June here in Albuquerque, I had the opportunity to wear some of the different types of armor in the original categories in Rolemaster: Soft Leather, Rigid Leather, Chain, and Plate.
and (emphases mine)
I found that maneuvering in rigid leather or laminated armors is so much like maneuvering in plate, except for mass (weight) to not warrant separate skills between these types. Maneuvering in chain is so similar to maneuvering in padded/studded leather, except for mass (weight), to not warrant two separate skills between these.
I do have experience in both soft leather and chain. I own a chain shirt and a soft leather shirt. In actuality, I purchased the chain shirt about 30 years ago. In the LARP events, I tend to wear the chain shirt since it does protect somewhat better than the leather shirt. Sometimes, I even wear the chain shirt over the leather shirt over the padding, but only in cold winter days.
I was covering
only the maneuvering in these armors in combat situations. Although I probably should have, I did not cover the mass differences except to say "
except for mass." I also did mention that all armors cause some form of encumberance.
I will be the first to admit that an armor's mass has an effect on Maneuver in Armor skill, but usually only when dealing with exhaustion (Fatigue) and quickness of movement (Qu Penalties). Basically, the only difference between a soft leather shirt and the chain shirt I own is the mass. The chain shirt will definitely wear me down (exhaust) me faster than the leather shirt. However, MANEUVERING is so similar in either that I feel that both would fall into a single category of Maneuver in Soft/Flexible Armor.
I do not have as much experience with rigid leather, laminated, and plate armors, However, from the little bit I was able to learn in the LARP event mentioned in my initial post, it seemed to me that the only major difference between the rigid leather, laminate, and plate is the mass. Of those three, the laminate
seemed to be the lightest in respect to mass. Of course, due to its density, plate armor is the heaviest. What was the weight of some those full plate armors in history? About 50 to 70 kilograms? Maybe more? The guy's full plate I tried probably weighed at least 80 to 90 pounds. Oof.
However, as VladD pointed out...
Armor is basically well-distributed weight. The weights of different armors are not so far apart (around the 40-70 pound mark)...
And because the weight is distributed, it is not as difficult as carrying a sack of taters of the same mass. But it still does encumber and slows a person down, thus the Qu Penalties.
As said, from
real life experience, there is not that much difference between the armors except for the differences between soft/flexible armors and rigid/inflexible armors. The only other major difference is the mass. Additionally, plate metal armor did seem to be slightly less flexible than the other rigid types, but not so much so as to put plate into a separate skill.
Thus, I still say, even with the new RMU system, there should be two Maneuver in Armor skills:
Maneuver in Soft/Flexible Armors
Maneuver in Rigid/Inflexible Armors
On a further note, I am definitely living proof that chain armor does nothing to stop the Krush criticals. Although the weapons used in these LARP events are not as true as real weapons, they still do have some reality. At a LARP event this past weekend, I took a hellacious blow to my left shoulder from a hammer club. Now my left shoulder is immobilized due to the quite unintentional injury. I just moved wrong as he swung and missed his intended target, and I later "died" due to this "real life" injury. In our LARP events here, we do not use the plastic or "Nerf"y type weapons. We use real wooden weapons, some weighted with metal, that can still injure. We do
NOT LARP with the intention to cause injury, but by its very nature, large scale combat reinactments can cause injuries.
your level 1 character isn't a Full Fledged Hero with decades or even Years of experience in their chosen profession.
Think about how this works in game terms though. You train for years in chain. One day you finally have earned your plate armor. Suddenly you are effectively a cripple on the battlefield because you've never trained in plate armor. And by cripple I mean -80 or worse maneuver penalty. Do you keep wearing chain, even though you've earned plate, for years, while you train up the skill? Or do you imagine that you spend years in which you put on plate armor, train in it, but then aren't allowed to wear it on the battlefield? Just so you will have the skill when you finally get there? In RMSS/RMFRP, plate and chain aren't even in the same category, so you get literally no benefit whatsoever from all your training in chain when you finally switch to plate.
Thus, a good reason to have just the two skills. As one goes up through the army or as an adventurer, you may start with soft leather, learning Maneuver in Soft/Flexible Armor. Eventually, you may warrant or find/buy the more costly rigid leather and begin learning to Maneuver in Rigid/Inflexible Armor. Later on, you move up to chain and have to learn more Maneuver in Soft/Flexible Armor mainly due to the mass difference. And finally, you earn that Knighthood and get granted plate armor. Since you already have some Maneuver in Rigid/Inflexible Armor, you won't be the "cripple" and just have to learn more Maneuver in Rigid/Inflexible Armor. What think?
The problem is that most fantasy game worlds allow Plate armor to be sold next to Leather armor. This makes the choice not so hard for players. I think the skill has been divided up in more skills to disallow people to switch from their starting armor too easily.
Which is something I have never done. I rarely have Plate Armor for sale in the shops. Mostly there may be soft leather, rigid leather, studded leather, ring mail leather, and maybe scale. Almost never would one find chain or plate in the shops, except for high-end (read as wealthy/noble) shops where regular player characters would never be allowed (unless they are renowned).
Some people like a fun game with less rules. For others a fun game is where weapons and armor have that touch of realism, that is lacking in other games.
Niiice. How true.
An approximate simulation and fun trumps real life for us.
Also very true. Although I try for realistic believability, I also trim rules to keep it fun, and to not bog the game down with constant table look-ups.
rmfr