Armor is now evaluated based on its appearance, not on its materials – though material still plays a part. When a suit of armor is evaluated, the evaluation takes into account what the base material (whatever it is) looks to be. Note that this does not mean shoddy craftsmanship will be accepted! A coarsely knitted silver shirt is unlikely to count as chain mail, but a well-made latex breastplate may now be counted as plate mail. Remember also that costuming does *not* provide armor points – the 1 point per location level is intended for thick gambesons or protective leather that doesn’t meet the 2 point level.
Appears to be leather or thick cloth: 1 point per location
Appears to be thick leather: 2 points per location
Appears to be chain, scale, or brigandine: 3 points per location
Appears to be solid plate: 4 points per location
Multiple types of armor may now be layered, though even with layering no location may surpass the 4 point per location maximum and no location may get multiple bonuses for the different layers. There is no longer a 40 point maximum, though the base class limits have not changed.
Most other parts of the system remain as they are today – head and torso locations are still doubled in value, bonuses may be given for Master Crafted and In Genre, the same 8 locations exist as before, etc. Note that there is one further bonus which can be given: Actual material (such as metal for 3 or 4 point location armor or real leather for 1 or 2 point per location armor) gives an additional bonus of +1 point per location. Note that all bonus points are applied after the rest of the evaluation is done, meaning it does not double for head and torso locations.