Medium Armor (AEG)

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== Hide Armor (AC 6) ==
Description: Hide armor is made from the thick hide of a very large animal (an elephant, for example) or from many layers of normal leather from common animals, like cows.
Campaign Use: Hide armor is much too thick, heavy, and inflexible to be used much in the advanced human cultures. Its weight is comparable to chain mail, but its protection is less. However, among the barbaric humanoid masses throughout the dark forests and misty jungles of the world, hide armor is common.
Because of its simple construction, any race with Low Intelligence or better can make suitable hide armor. All that is required is a dead animal and someone to wear its skin. Since no effort to tan the hide is necessary to get basic protection, creatures with a desire for excellent protection at a fair price (i.e., usually free) find hide armor ideal for everyday use. Proper tanning, of course, improves the armor's life (and acceptance in polite society).
The smell of untanned armor, as any ogre can testify, is something a warrior must get used to.
As mentioned in the section on leather armor, the stiffness that results when hide armor dries completely isn't considered a drawback by humanoids. (In fact, without that stiffness, the hide would lose one level of armor class protection.) For only a little bit of work, any humanoid worth his hit dice can start adventuring at AC 6 and begin hunting for a shield.
Ironically, while leather armor may allow greater freedom of movement, durability, and a more pleasant appearance and smell, hide armor is actually two levels of protection better (AC 6 instead of AC 8). It illustrates that humans trust their dexterity and intelligence to aid in avoiding wounds during combat, while less-intelligent humanoids typically rely on reducing the chances of a vital strike with a thicker armor.
Like padded armor, hide armor is often decorated to show tribal allegiances.
Commonly, the type of creature used to make the armor is sufficient to denote clan alliance, as with the Hydra clan fire giants or the Black Bear ogres.
Unique to the humanoid races is the habit of affixing some part of one's notable kill to one's hide armor. While this doesn't affect the armor class rating of this armor in any substantial way, it does tend to make one less popular around the civilized campfire but more important around the humanoid or barbarian camp. Importantly, these trophies, which often include such grisly things as skulls, scalps, teeth and claws, are considered a sign of ferocity and ruthlessness and are therefore seen most commonly among high leaders and shamans.
The equivalent of hide armor among humans and demihuman races is layered leather armor, wherein many layers of normal leather armor are bonded to one another to form a heavy, thick plate of protection. This armor is considered hide armor with regard to weight and cost, but does not suffer the problems of odor and disease seen in hide and padded armors.
Few human cultures employ hide armor extensively. Most notably, certain northern barbarian tribes commonly wear thick hide armor. Some of these tribesmen actually believe that the hide armor gives them animal-like strength and powers, and that human armors like chain and plate mail actually rob them of their innate combat instincts. While this may be dismissed as ignorant superstition, there are shamans of the northern wastes who tell great tales of famous suits of hide armor, blessed with the spirits of the animals from which they came.
Whether or not special hide armor exists (like the White Skin of Umpluutu, which allows the wearer to shapechange into a polar bear) is up to the DM, but hide armor offers unique avenues in a barbarian or primitive campaign.
== Scale Mail (AC 6) ==
Description: This is a coat of soft leather covered with overlapping pieces of metal, much like the scales of a fish. It is just as heavy as chain mail, but offers slightly worse protection. It has no significant advantages over hide or brigandine armor.
Campaign Use: Scale mail is an old type of armor, much like splint mail (described later). It never became popular in western medieval culture for very long; its production was found to be too time-consuming and thus less efficient to make in comparison to other armor types. In the AD&D® game context, scale mail is most common in Dark Age periods, in foreign cultures, or in those areas where its materials are unusually plentiful.
Some human cultures, notably those similar to the Byzantines and other eastern and southern kingdoms, did not pursue the evolution of armor made of large plates, but rather
chose to make use of small plates. Where metal is not forged but is instead cut from sheets of malleable metal ores, the technology of scale mail and its successors (splint, brigandine, and banded armor) predominates.
This is not a matter of primitive versus civilized, but rather two separate approaches to the same problem. Where western cultures stress protection, eastern cultures seek to maximize flexibility (and ventilation in the hotter climates).
The scales in scale armor are made smaller in order to make the suit more flexible and comfortable when worn. Indeed, in this respect, scale mail far exceeds either plate or banded mail.
However, all those scales require more maintenance, as the more items attached to an armor's backing, the greater the chance some will fall off. Scale armor not properly maintained loses one level of armor class protection.
Scale mail suffers the same problems of dirt, grime, lice, and odor that studded leather and padded armor suffer.
Scale mail does offer protection as good as that of brigandine for the same price and at a comparable weight. The choice between scale mail and brigandine armor is likely to be determined by the nature of the cultures in the DM's campaign world.
== Sea Elf Scale Mail ==
The most intricately constructed demihuman scale mail is found in the undersea kingdoms of the sea elves. More as a matter of appearance and ceremony than for additional protection, the sea elves adapted the idea of scale mail to their own peculiar designs. Their armor can be worn underwater, as it is made of metals that do not rust, and the scales are affixed to a backing of eel-skin, which does not disintegrate as leather does in salt water. Brought forth only in times of war or of great ceremony, this expensive armor is worn only by the noble elven elite.
This scale mail is unique among others for its beautiful silver coating. Some armorers wonder whether this coating is silver, platinum, or even mithril. It is generally agreed that the rare scale mail of the sea elves is nearly as valuable as elven chain mail (q.v.).
== Coin Armor ==
A variant of scale mail is armor made with the common coins of the realm. This coin armor is seen only rarely, and then usually among dignitaries and high generals. Each set of armor can stock a large quantity of coins (up to 1,000!). Rarely are they stolen, however, as the people who are rich enough to wear them are also rich enough to see to their personal security.
There are many variations possible, from armor scaled wholly of gold or silver coins to mixed suits wherein the coins themselves are arranged in a personal, family, clan, or other heraldric pattern.