Skins, Materials, and Stats in RP

[Side]

With the appearance changer we can make our armor and clothing look just about any way we like. Thing is we can make armors appear to be made of a material that they are not actually made from. Does the material listed on the item really matter? Could the armor that looks to be made of dragon scale simply be a mundane version, with no magical effects?

How should this be handled when it comes to RPing your equipment?

[Eden]

The answer to your first question is yes, you can.
For a while I hanged around with a fullplate that looked like a robe, but that seemed acceptable since you can cover a plate with a dress.
But. Hide armors, such as dragon hide or umber hulk hides, have unique appearances.
This means that you cannot make an hide armor look like a fullplate.
Au contraire, you can (in the toolset, not in game) create any appearance you wish.
Rping it depends on you, as it is up to you rping every aspect of your toon.
Appearance is very important, still. I never want to compromise when it comes to it, for example.

[Passiflora]

I -really- don't like it, but yes, it seems to be the norm.

I wish we would RP real equipment, though.

[Eden]

I don't think it is the norm, it's just an exception.

[Baboonicorn]

If you really wanted to use an armour appearance that appears non-standard (i.e dragon scales) but only have iron (for example) armour, you could include a mention in your character description.

Her armor is shaped to resemble the scales of a great wyrm or other beast, though it is actually lacquered steel.

Doesn't work for things like the dwarven slayer full plate, but, well.

[Side]

That's what I was thinking of doing. I'm using simple cloth, but there's multiple appearances for stuff like leather or scale mail in the changer that would fit the look I'm going for far better than more clothing looking ones. It would be far easier to just say I'm wearing something else, but I figured I'd get a couple opinions on the matter before figuring out how that would work in game.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

[Hoihe]

On leather, don't forget that leather armour is not the same as the leather people wear today.


Leather armour, as in ARMOUR, uses a specially boiled and hardened form of leather. It isn't utterly flexible, but much more so than other types of ARMOUR. Still, thanks to its hardened form and the padding underneath, it can deflect cuts, slashes and dissipate the impact force. It is often worn under conventional metal armour because of its flexibility and ability to dissipate impact. This way, a person in full plate and enjoy mobility and protection by covering those parts of his body in chain and leather that aren't covered in metal [Armpit, inner-elbow, inner-knee for example]. Leather armour on its own can't do much against a well aimed stab [not as hard as with full plate, since leather armour is harder to properly shape and make it retain said shape] or a well aimed slash, but at least it can slow them down enough not to hurt an important organ. The difference between Hide armour and leather is the fact that hide armour is put together from multiple hides, limiting its flexibility but provides thickness [thus it is medium armour compared to Leather's light armour]. Studded armour is leather armour assisted by metal, bone or wooden studs that further help stop blades and impact. All types of leather armour can have a textile covering them, to hide it. Sort of like Kevlar vests usually are worn underneath a layer of clothing to hide it. .

Leather clothes, as in CLOTHES, use a specially boiled and prepared form of leather. It is quite flexible, but not as protective as leather ARMOUR. This type of clothing still is far superior to normal textile attire thanks to the durability of leather. Bikers often wear this form of clothing for it can survive even the harsh asphalt on high speed, protecting their body from the cuts that a fall on such a surface would cause. While it won't stop a proper blade or blunt surface, it will help avoid wounds from glancing blows and scratches. Wood elves and wild elves often wear leather clothing in their daily lives. Do keep in mind that they don't wear biker leather!