I like this idea, and I think it adds more depth to the paper making profession!

Also, Chinese paper armor usually looks cool!

So... cardboard?

Very interesting concept! Mythbusters actually did a segment on this, where they found properly-made paper armor to be almost as resistant to ranged attacks as metallic armor. It was a little tricky to find good images of what it would have looked like, but with some crafty Googling, I was able to find some decent examples of the Chinese and Korean adaptations of the technology. I'm sure paper-making will already be a crucial industry in CoE, especially for scribes, but having it be a viable material for light armor could be an interesting way to boost its value and attract more people into the craft. Cool idea!

Posted By Scheneighnay at 1:57 PM - Fri Aug 11 2017

So... cardboard?

Essentially yes.

The problem with paper armor is not that it isn't very resistant, but that it is pretty much useless after absorbing a few cuts.

Paper Armor could be really resilient. It was mainly crafted with Resins that helped reinforce the plates of paper. So a few cuts wouldn't be that bad for it, and if the plates were not destroyed could be repaired with more resin and paper.

It might still catch arrows or protect from thrusts etc., but to repeated cuts paper armor proves quite vulnerable. It is a bit ironic how people argue in favor of all sorts of armor, as long as it is not made from steel plates.

Nonetheless, there are advantages to paper armor, namely that it is cheap, quick, and easy to make, aswell as it offering decent protection for short engagements.

A lot of the paper armors were also segmented so that you could just repair ruined segments as needed.

It would definitely be a good idea to have as it would add some diversity to armor, and allow more competition on the crafting side of things, with the paper and resin having higher demand, not to mention the crafters who would make the armor itself.

It would provide different feels to the various cultures in game; not only with the different tribes, but some Kingdom's might find that paper armor is suited to their needs more, while another might choose leather, and another might choose metal armors.

Granted, this would add more demands on the developers so while this all might be nice, obviously the devs would need to consider the development time it would take to put this into the game so that might nix this idea for launch at least.

Still, worth a think!

I don't think anyone is arguing that this is better or anything. Each type of armor has its place, as some tribes won't have access to as much metal to make plate armor.

Paper armor is a good substitute for that. As you said, its cheap, light, and good for what its designed to do! :)

even in societies like Korea and Japan who used paper armor, it was used more for the militia and common soldiers due to it being cheap and relatively speaking fast to manufacture.

Your leaders, and special troops would have more expensive and hard to produce leather and\or metal armor.

in some cases they would even wear the paper armor over their more expensive armor. as it would add relatively speaking negligible weight while adding a nice bit of extra protection.

Posted By bayun at 5:53 PM - Fri Aug 11 2017

It's perfect for an adventurer. Was the helmet out of paper too?

Typically and by far majority of the time; it was just a Cuirass and possible additionallyr leggings or skirt.

But there were examples of helmets as well.

Also, keep in mind that the paper armor was only good against light/medium slashing/piercing weapons. Once you started getting the heavier weapons, longbows with clothyard arrows with blunt head tips for shattering the armor and Katanas/broadswords/heavier longswords/bastard swords/greatswords that would basically shatter/crack in half the paper armor, paper armor was, as said previous, only good for light/short combat.

Posted By Blankwindow at 1:10 PM - Fri Aug 11 2017

Posted By Scheneighnay at 1:57 PM - Fri Aug 11 2017

So... cardboard?

Essentially yes.

Essentially, no.

Paper armor is pieces of paper that are folded over many times to give it toughness. If you've never done it as a kid, take a piece of paper and fold it as many times as you can in one direction, then fold it in half the other direction. See how hard the new folded side is? That's how the entire armor set is. It's light, durable, and you make scales out of paper so the scales can be replaced instead of having to remake the whole suit of armor. Wax keeps it strong in the rain and each scale can effectively take one arrow. They wont fall out, but successive shots on a scale is not only difficult but severely weakens the area. It can take slashes as well, but like all non-plate armor it can't take a bludgeoning strike of a morning star or heavy axe. You can still expect to get broken bones from that.

The benefit of such armor is that, like what was said, it's easy to make, cheap, lightweight, and doesn't hinder your movement very much. Perfect armor for adventurers, bards, explorers, etc.

High quality reference images please!