Unlike many fantasy LARPs, Jaeger wishes to exploit the ‘fantasy gothic’ look with the 17th-18th centuries as a reference point.
When looking at inspirational sources, armour is often worn underneath clothing or as more accented pieces rather than full armour. This is the look we want to achieve more than full coverage.
However, 3/5 locations (torso, legs and arms) need a piece of armour for your kit to be considered as armoured – but there is no ‘minimum’ for a location. A vambrace will give the same armour coverage as a full gauntlet, vambrace and pauldron to an arm. With this in mind, a thick leather trench coat counts as Light Armour as it generally covers all locations.
As a rule of thumb, at least half of armour worn determines the category of the armour, and it does not stack. For example, splint mail (Medium) over padded fabric (Light) bracers on both arms and legs would be Medium Armour. However, changing out splint mail on one arm for a single metal pauldron is not enough to bring the armour up to Heavy. Therefore, a second pauldron would be required to raise the armour to Heavy.
There is one exception, which is Heavy Armour worn on the torso. Chain or plate chest armour will always grant Heavy Armour to the wearer, regardless of other armour worn.
You are of course welcome to wear any type of armour as you please, so long as it fits the setting. For example, a full plate chest piece with a highwayman style coat will achieve a strong Jaeger look, but a full suit of plate armour is not appropriate.
In terms of armour construction, we welcome alternative materials to create armour pieces. However, we expect those alternatives to be high quality. For example, a pauldron cut and carved of foam should be properly finished to look like steel as much as possible.
There are a number of patterns and tutorials out there by cosplayers and prop makers on how to make excellent quality alternatives. More accessible armour is steadily becoming easier to create and purchase.
This one is one of our favourites for smaller pieces of chainmail.