Need advice on Dark Elf Armor

A

AllianceCHI

Baron
Hello,

I am working on an oriental style dark elf costume for an alt and am somewhat set on finding a way to flexibly and cheaply provide armor for myself. I know the most often overlooked armor piece is the head but I find myself at an impass. As a dark elf, I want to make sure to be displaying my racial traits as per the rules (IE black makeup white hair and long black ears) but I find it difficult to come up with something for a helmet that will show my already short hair and/or not cover my ears.

So far I have:

2pt mail on belly, chest, back, shoulders=14 (12 for 2x3x2 for doubled locations +2 for shoulders)
2 pt boots=16
2 pt leather or cloth+ rivets war skirt=18
Leather Bracers=20
I'm guessing all 6 master craft but that's up to marshals discretion if so=26
As a fighter its critical I make sure I have a headpiece for 2 pts so I can rep a 30 suit without giving up much more mobility. Yes I know the drawback of armor is supposed to be that decrease and so far this load out will add about 20-30 pounds over my current Hobling Rogue who just wears padded armor/bracers and boots and has a nice set of arcane. I'd prefer to avoid just breaking down and getting arcane on this guy so I'm turning for help.

I'm asking players to weight in on Dark Elf acceptable, Asian style head armor, any ideas?

I had though of going for 50% coverage on a leather/rivet headband with a sharkmail chain neck piece but I am unsure if that would defeat the whole... Asian theme.
 
Hey Paul,

I would think a Kabuto would work really well for showing the hair and ears, while giving enough protection. Traditional leather or even a Hachi style (metal bowl) would work also. I'd probably go with the leather, as I think it would be cheaper to make. Or you could always go an Asian Sun Hat. Straw/Bamboo isn't listed in the book, so I'm not 100% sure if it counts as a 1 point armor or not, but it would fit the theme you're looking for.

http://thunderclam.files.wordpress.com/ ... 50-432.jpg



While 26 isn't bad, you could just do a cloth one for 28 points.
 
I might just buy a metal skull cap that fits the right dimensions, then use craft foam or pleather to decorate it however you want. The metal skull cap would cover the right portions of your head, but not the ears. The craft foam or pleather (craft foam is my preference) gives you a very authentic seeming leather look, without the expense and difficult skills involved.

Denise made a very nice set of craft foam leather shoulder pads that she painted to look like leather, but she never wore them because, well, they give no armor per our rules.
 
I wonder if you would be able to work with Briar (SoMN Player) to make a heavy leather cap (like linked above) and use scales to add to the neck area and a little on the side. Depending on the coloration you went with it could look REALLY nice, and accent the rest of our outfit to really bring the costume together.
 
Brent, I toss Hobby Lobby scrap leather together with pop rivets and occasional stitching, I'm far from an expert. I can think of at least four people off the top of my head who would be better leather resources at SoMN. :p That said, I think a Kabuto style helmet with lamellar trim around the back of the neck would look good if you don't mind a little bulk. I saw a pattern for an all leather kabuto-esque helmet a while back, I'll post the link if I can find it again.
 
I was simply roping you in for your scales sir, which you are rather good with from what I have seen. The leather portion can be done by someone else if need be, kinda a co-op project!
 
This may or may not be what I'm thinking of, I honestly don't remember. Looking at it now, it's more like a spangenhelm made to look vaguely like a kabuto. I think if you modified this a bit and stuck a big crest on the front, it could work. By The Sword sells a similar item if you wanna shell out $236, and they also have this one which looks a little more authentic for just under $300. I know you probably don't want to spend that much, but you can use those for inspiration if you want to make it yourself or find someone local who can make you a cheaper version.
 
I really like the looks of the second one. That should be fairly reasonable to make it looks like, and would have good mobility. The best part is this does not ACTUALLY have to be armor, so as long as the thickness is there for 2pt, and the look is there you can work soles on comfort and mobility.
 
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