Help with naming armour categories

[Gray-Philosophy]

Not sure if this belongs here, but here goes.

I'm trying to come up with an armour system for a game. It has several categories of armour that each have their own pros and cons and so on.

But.. I'm at a loss as to what to call one of the categories, and I'm hoping the collective creativity of multiple people can help me out.

So far the list goes like this:

- Plate (Typically rigid material like metal, in plates)

- Scale (Typically rigid material fastened to a flexible undercoat in scales)

- Mail (Rigid material, linked together for flexibility)

- leather?
this is where I'm at a loss. The category is supposed to be any kind of flexible fabric/leather-like material. But I'd rather not call it leather because I intend to have multiple different materials for each type of armour class. So simply calling it "leather" may conflict with X material that is definitely not leather but some other similarly flexible material.

Another placeholder name I've been suggested is to just call it "Flexible", but mail is flexible too.
So the question is. Which word do I use to classify materials that are flexible, fabric or leather-like?


Edit:
Quite a few have suggested using Heavy/Medium/Light as categories instead. In my original post I failed to describe the complete list of armor categories.
Weight categories are also included, but seperately from armour type. Not all plate is heavy, and not all leather/soft armour is light. So, for context, here is my current complete list of armour classifications.

Spoiler

Armour class properties:

Heavy
- Pros: Very durable and damage resistant
- Cons: Weighs you down, impairs mobility

Medium
- Pros: Quite durable, well-balanced protection
- Cons: Impairs mobility slightly, Less durable than heavy

Light
- Pros: Lightweight, no mobility impairment
- Cons: poor protection value and durability

Armour type properties:

Plated
- Pros: Highly resistant to slashing damage.
- Cons: Vulnerable to bludgeoning damage.

Scaled/Lamellar
- Pros: Resistant to slashing and bludgeoning damage.
- Cons: Less durable than plate, vulnerable to piercing damage.

Mail
- Pros: Resistant to slashing damage, decent overall protection.
- Cons: Very vulnerable to piercing damage

"Leather/Quilted/Flexible/Soft materials" (Placeholders)
- Pros: Resilient, resistant to light damage
- Cons: Limited protection against most weapons, highly vulnerable to slashing damage


Armour class and type can be mixed and matched depending on the material its made of. Chitin plates for lightweight plate armour or layered rawhide, or similar materials, for heavy leather armour and so on.
My intention is to make a system that tries to replicate realistic protective properties within reasonable boundaries, but an extensive list of numbers, accurate values etc. has yet to be produced.

Suggestions are also welcome

 

[Spambot 3000]

I checked out an online thesaurus for some good words and maybe you could try 'Fibers' or 'Textiles'.

 

[Aeshi]

Failing that, you could always try classifying armour by weight instead (Superheavy, Heavy, Medium, Light)

 

[Recusant]

I don't know if it would work for the system you're using, but when I found myself having to develop a long list of starship weapons, I abandoned the 'what principle does this work on' system favored by most people (I fire my neutrino cannon! And watch as absolutely nothing happens, since neutrinos don't interact with most normal matter!) and switched over to just naming the next gun after whoever invented it.

 

[Mister K]

Maybe you could give them flashier names, like Titan, or Lynx, or something.

 

[Jamash]

Leather and fabric armours aren't necessarily flexible, and historically a lot of leather armour was boiled in oil or was to make hard scales or carapaces, while there are some examples of linen armour made out of many layers of linen glued together, which while fabric, would be quite heavy and cumbersome but provided good protection against cutting (but less so against piercing or bludgeoning).

Also, if we classified armours solely by material, then modern ballistic armour used by bomb disposal experts would be classed as fibre, fabric and ceramic armour, although it would offer a lot more protection than plate or chain armour.

Perhaps it would be easiest to just classify the armours in terms of the protection they offer (presumably at the expense of weight and encumbrance), for example heavy, medium, light, because classifying them after the material used doesn't distinguish them accurately and there would be many exceptions depending on the design of armour, and perhaps to be even more accurate and informative, give each armour a rating for the different types of physical damage e.g. cutting, piercing and blunt force, and which areas of the body the armour protects, then you could have free reign to have a creative variety of many different armours and materials.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I would just go for the standard heavy, medium, light, possibly with some extras and modifiers in there, also usually a good idea to come up with novel names. That way you really do have categories that can cover any material or build type, where as plate, scale and mail already make things very specific.

 

[Gray-Philosophy]

I checked out an online thesaurus for some good words and maybe you could try 'Fibers' or 'Textiles'.

Fibers might be usable, but I'm not sure if it covers the full spectrum of applicable materials.

Failing that, you could always try classifying armour by weight instead (Superheavy, Heavy, Medium, Light)

The list above is only a fraction of the armor categories. I also plan to include weight classification next to the type of armour. An armour could be plated, but only medium or even light in weight due to the material it's made of. While an armour made of thick, padded but flexible cloth material could end up being in the heavy category, but still have completely different qualities than plate armour.

Maybe you could give them flashier names, like Titan, or Lynx, or something.

I should have perhaps made clear it's a fantasy setting. I'm not sure flashy names like such would make a lot of sense with the style that I'm going for. Otherwise good idea

Leather and fabric armours aren't necessarily flexible, and historically a lot of leather armour was boiled in oil or was to make hard scales or carapaces, while there are some examples of linen armour made out of many layers of linen glued together, which while fabric, would be quite heavy and cumbersome but provided good protection against cutting (but less so against piercing or bludgeoning).

Also, if we classified armours solely by material, then modern ballistic armour used by bomb disposal experts would be classed as fibre, fabric and ceramic armour, although it would offer a lot more protection than plate or chain armour.

Perhaps it would be easiest to just classify the armours in terms of the protection they offer (presumably at the expense of weight and encumbrance), for example heavy, medium, light, because classifying them after the material used doesn't distinguish them accurately and there would be many exceptions depending on the design of armour, and perhaps to be even more accurate and informative, give each armour a rating for the different types of physical damage e.g. cutting, piercing and blunt force, and which areas of the body the armour protects, then you could have free reign to have a creative variety of many different armours and materials.

I think you misunderstand. I don't want to classify by material, but by type.

Plate could be made of anything from metal to chitin or hardened leather, same goes for scale, and so on.

I use the words fabric and leather because I'm not sure what else to call it. Soft sheets of material with qualities similar to soft leather or regular thick fabric that is sewn together to make armour/padding/protective clothing or whatever one might want to call it.

As for the weight thing, this is also something I've includede seperately (see above quote to Aeshi).

Exactly as you mentioned, different types of armour have different protective qualities. Plate is good at deflecting bladed weapons but vulnerable against heavy piercing and blunt weapons, while scale or mail might be more resistant to blunt force due to its added flexibility and padding and so on.
All the while, the overall weight class of the armour has seperate qualities of their own that affects durability, mobility and stamina use, allowing for a (hopefully) interesting way for people to make armour in different combinations of type and weight class.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I typically go with

Light/Padded

Medium/mail/Reinforced

Heavy/Plate

When I make games that require different armor classes.

 

[Mr Jack]

It sounds like you are describing a Gambeson. I would suggest either Quilted or Padded armour as a name/type.

Some links that may be useful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUPIUHpkK88

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9fHmXxaXqQ

 

[Combustion Kevin]

You might wanna do away with armour catagories entirely and just seperate them by differing stats and qualities.

Other than that, weight catagories, as mentioned above, are usually a good indicator of what qualities were typically associated with what weight class, with heavy armour offering better protection and resistance against stunning and staggering attacks, and light armour offering better mobility, regeneration or stat benefits.

Just as a side note, out of all armour classes, plate armour is probably the best to deal with piercing attacks out of the one's given.

 

[Boolanger]

Hmm all I can think of is Hide(s) but I'm not to sure it will fit

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

How about "Soft" armour? That doesn't necessarily imply weakness, just that it's not hard/rigid.

Or, if the fact that the armour is stitched together is the common thread (no pun intended), you could go with something like "Tailored Armour" or "Jacket". Maybe "Hide", which would cover different kinds of leather, fur, etc?

I dunno, you're right, that's a tough one to pin down. Hope my suggestions help.

 

[pearcinator]

You could use other names such as;

Chestplate/Platelegs (Heavy, Warrior)
Hauberk/Greaves (Medium, Warrior)
Chainmail (Light, Warrior)
Robes (Heavy, Mage)
Coat (Medium, Mage)
Silk (Light, Mage)
Hides (Heavy, Rogue)
Jackets (Medium, Rogue)
Thread/Cotton (Light, Rogue)

 

[Thebazilly]

It sounds like you are describing a Gambeson. I would suggest either Quilted or Padded armour as a name/type.

I'll second this, Quilted or Padded armor would make sense to me. Although it wouldn't work for mage robes or anything flimsier than what normally counts as a "leather" armor. Maybe you could have a "Clothing" category, too?

 

[Gray-Philosophy]

It sounds like you are describing a Gambeson. I would suggest either Quilted or Padded armour as a name/type.

Some links that may be useful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUPIUHpkK88

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9fHmXxaXqQ

Something like that might work. Thanks for the videos, very informative indeed!

How about "Soft" armour? That doesn't necessarily imply weakness, just that it's not hard/rigid.

Or, if the fact that the armour is stitched together is the common thread (no pun intended), you could go with something like "Tailored Armour" or "Jacket". Maybe "Hide", which would cover different kinds of leather, fur, etc?

I dunno, you're right, that's a tough one to pin down. Hope my suggestions help.

I actually do kind of like the sound of "soft armour". It covers the overall characteristic of the armour type without defining a specific material. Lovely!

It sounds like you are describing a Gambeson. I would suggest either Quilted or Padded armour as a name/type.

I'll second this, Quilted or Padded armor would make sense to me. Although it wouldn't work for mage robes or anything flimsier than what normally counts as a "leather" armor. Maybe you could have a "Clothing" category, too?

There will be clothing, but I figured it'd be a category of its own and not count as an armor type, but rather purely cosmetic apparel with protection against the weather or something like that.

 

[aozgolo]

You could call it "Natural Armors" since most of the material comes from natural sources like animal hides, plant fibers, shells, and the like as opposed to inorganic sources like metal. They could also be considered "Artisan Armors"

 

[Lilikins]

Im going to chime in with Shaun Kennedy, I dont know what kind of 'mobs' you have planned, but you could also use that mobs properties of skin as a type of armor. For instance any bug mob would have Chitin, reptiles would have a more scaly attribute...etc.

Natural armor in many different forms would give a good feeling though, seeing as that can be quite full of immersion. What you skinned actually made that armor etc.