Leather armour

Leather armour (male, female)

Leather armour is a garment made out of boiled and sealed animal hide, designed to protect its wearer from harm during combat. It is available to characters from Ultima I through Ultima IX as well as Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II and Savage Empire.

Description

A full set of standard Britannian leather armour generally consists of a skullcap, a cuirass, legging, gloves and boots. At times, leather collars and arm extensions for a treated cuirass would also figure into the ensemble.

Throughout the Age of Darkness and into the early Age of Enlightenment, leather armour was presumably always sold as a set. As time progressed (and as the Ultima game engine grew more complex and better able to support differing armour slots), leather became a commodity sold by the piece, and it could take some shopping around on the part of an enterprising adventurer to assemble a full outfit. On Earth, leather armor was historically fashioned out of vegetable-tanned skins, as this processing method helped to foster the rigidity necessary for carving and shaping hardened body armour. It is not known what methods Sosarian and Britannian leather workers employed, but it seems likely that the process would be comparable. Once hardened, the stiffened hide should perform adequately in combat, at least better than a cloth gambeson – although it is far more yielding than metal armours, made into mail or plate.

Leather Armour on Eodon

In the strange Terran valley of Eodon, leather armour is the most protective body armour available, as the majority of stone-age inhabitants of this realm have not yet mastered the art of metal-working, with the singular exception of the Nahautla. In this location, the reinforced skins of animals stand out amongst flimsier protections wrought of bark or cloth.

Protective Value

In Ultima I, leather armor has a protective rating of 8 (blocking 3% of attacks)

In Ultima II, leather armour has a protective rating of 63% and requires a minimum strength of 11.

In Ultima III leather armour has a protective rating of 56% and can only be worn by fighters, rangers, paladins, clerics, barbarians, thieves and illusionists.

In Ultima IV leather armour has a defensive value of 144, an evade rate of 56% and can be worn by all professions but the mage.

In Ultima V leather armour has a defensive rating of 2 and the cap a rating of 1.

Ultima VI

In Ultima VI, the components and defensive values of leather armour were as follows:

Icon	Piece	Defense
	Cap	1
	Chest	2

Ultima VII and Part Two

In Ultima VII (BG) and Ultima VII Part Two (SI), a complete set of leather armour contains the following pieces. The numbers listed after indicate the relative effectiveness of the armour in both games and the warmth rating:

Icon	Piece	Defense (BG)	Defense (SI)	Warmth (SI)
	Cap	1	1	10
	Collar	1	n/a	n/a
	Chest	1	1	20
	Gloves	1	1	7–20
	Leggings	1	1	10
	Boots	1	1	85

Ultima VIII

All components of Pagan leather armour

In Ultima VIII the components and defensive values of leather armour were as follows:

Icon	Piece	Defense
	Chest	2
	Leggings	1
	Armguards	1

Ultima IX

In Ultima IX, the components and defensive values of chainmail were as follows:

Icon	Piece	Defense
	Cap	2
	Chest	5
	Arms	2
	Gauntlets	1
	Leggings	2
	Boots	3

Lore

“	The workhorse of novice travellers, leather armour is found throughout Britannia. Many of the professions are restricted to Leather as their best choice. A favorite among Bards, Druids, and Rangers. – from The History of Britannia (Ultima IV)

“	A cut above cloth, yet also fairly inexpensive, leather armour is made from thick leather hardened by boiling, often in parafin. – from Book of Lore (Ultima V)

“

Foolish is the adventurer who embarks on a quest without the best armour he can afford. Several different types of armour are available — everything from inexpensive and relatively ineffective cloth to costly but highly protective plate. The armourers of Britannia will gladly allow you to examine their wares. Take advantage of this and acquire the armour best suited to your abilities and fighting style. – from Compendium (Ultima VI)

“	Armor and shields made of leather outrank those made from tree bark, but either material offers greater protection than cloth. – from Ultimate Adventures Magazine (Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire)

“

There are six parts of the body that one does seek to protect: the head, the torso, the legs, the hands, the feet and the neck. All pieces of armour are specifically designed for the protection of one of these places. There are basically four types of armour: leather, scale, chainmail and plate. Leather provides the least protection, but it is exceedingly light and is relatively inexpensive. While scale and chainmail provide roughly the same level of protection, scale is the heavier and the less expensive of the two. The heaviest type of armour is plate; since it provides great protection it is also the most expensive. – from The Book of Fellowship (Ultima VII)

“

Armour is crafted from four types of material: leather, metal scales, chain mail (or chain links) and metal plates. For the most part, the thicker the material, the higher the level of protection. In addition, the thicker the material, the heavier and more expensive it is. Leather, being light and inexpensive, is useful for those less likely to face powerful foes. But were one to enter a war-torn battlefield without metal armour of some sort, I would assume the warrior poor, weak, or fatally foolish! – from Beyond the Serpent Pillars (Ultima VII Part Two)

“	Comfortable in most weather, a good suit of leather armor is boiled to harden it and sealed with paraffin to withstand the elements. A leather jerkin protects a warrior better than can the steelcloth of the Avatar. Leatherware can be purchased at most shops even by those on a modest budget. – from Journal (Ultima IX)

Trivia

• At the time of Ultima II, a minimum strength of 11 is required to wear leather armour.

See Also

• Armour values

References

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Armour

Basic Armour	Cloth armour ☥ Leather armour ☥ Ring mail ☥ Scale armour ☥ Chain armour ☥ Bone armor ☥ Plate armour ☥ Blackrock armor
Enhanced Armour	Magic armour ☥ Anachronistic armour ☥ Exotic Armour ☥ Mystic Armour ☥ Leather Vest of Flameproof ☥ Artifact armor
Other Armour	Armour in Martian Dreams ☥ Primitive armour ☥ Antique armour ☥ Armour of Beauty ☥ Winter gear ☥ Wyrmguard armor ☥ Pirate outfit ☥ Avatar armor
Head Protection	Helmets ☥ Viking helm ☥ Spiked helm ☥ Helm of Courage ☥ Caddellite helm ☥ Cap of Missile Protection ☥ Cowl of Valor ☥ Helm of Light ☥ Living toupee
Shields	Shields ☥ Shield of Monitor ☥ Shield of Valor ☥ Magic shield ☥ Jeweled shield ☥ Dupre's shield ☥ Mage shield ☥ Kiran shield ☥ Serpent Isle shields
Legs and Arms Protection	Swamp boots ☥ Boots of Bouncing ☥ Dragonskin boots ☥ Leather Leggings of Stealth ☥ Greaves ☥ Stocking ☥ Gauntlets of Missile Protection ☥ Gauntlets of Quickness
Other Items	Kidney belt ☥ Loriel's Gift ☥ Spiked collar ☥ Serpent artifacts ☥ Ring of Protection