Sleeping in armor question.

[jyster]

Any penalties for sleeping in armor? Like plate or chain shirt?

[Kajani]

Not official, as far as I know, but I would say this should reduce the possibility to heal wounds and injuries, and perhaps people who do so should be more likely to suffer from exhaustion – I mean, sleeping in a plate can’t be healthy…

[coldwind]

I wouldn't count it as no activity for injury and wound removal, but beyond that, maybe a point of fatigue per point of bulk?

And a lot of NPC ridicule/chastisement.

[Zorbeltuss]

Without a very good reason, you wouldn't be sleeping in armor. This isn't D&D with mithral pyjamas and such.

[Carriker]

Without a very good reason, you wouldn't be sleeping in armor. This isn't D&D with mithral pyjamas and such.

That would pretty much be my call, too. Sleep? What sleep? You mean "laying down in armor for no good reason," right?

[DaimosofRedstone]

Just imagine everytime you turn you jingle or even plink... and i don't even want to think about the chaffing...

[Kajani]

Ok, perhaps we should not ONLY mock about thei idea. It comes to my mind that I have read in a searious book (but don't ask me the title) that some crusaders (templars, for example - of course only some in the organisation) indeed slept sometimes in their mail, but this was more a show of strength and devotation to the principles...

[DaimosofRedstone]

The problem is that it is both bad for your armor and bad for you.
If you sleep in plate it will matter little to the 'plate' parts but you might tear or tangle or jam joints and chain mail used to protect weak points. You will also feel as if somebody beat you since the rigidity into which the armor forces your body will make you cramp and cramp badly.
With chainmail your main problems are chaffing, that is if the underlying shirt or whatever you use to cushion your armor moves and leaves your skin exposed, and the additional weight you body needs to move when moving in its sleep which will, again, lead to muscle aches and cramps.
So the problem with this is that it defeats the purpose of a good nights sleep. You will most likely wake up even more exhausted and hampered than you went to sleep.

[stew31r]

I have napped in my mail between melees at SCA events, but I would NOT recommend trying to get 8 hours of honest to god sleep in it.

[DaimosofRedstone]

Can you tell more?
Specify all the gruesomeness that happened?

[stew31r]

No gruesomeness, just if you lay on the ground in it long enough, when you go to get back up, it's difficult and you realize that you are even more sore than when you laid down. So now I nap with my back leaning against something, much more comfortable. But trying to sleep for 6 to 8 hours leaning against a tree, a hay bale, or a fort wall would undoubtedly suck!

[Kajani]

Ok, without insulting someone here, I think the notorious hedge-knight with routine of sleeping under trees and hedges could bear such dificulties better than we, even LARP'er
But sure he will not go well with doing so often...

[DaimosofRedstone]

Well, if he is clever he will not sleep in his chainmail at all, but rather store it in a barrel or at the very least a sack.
Otherwise it might quite literally rust off his body and since that part of clothing, apart from his sword, is pretty much his means of making a buck it would make sense to handle it as carefully as possible.

[Paedrig]

I would think sleeping in armor would only happen in special condition - especially in unsafe areas where you might not have enough time (some minutes) to get in your armor...

Certainly it is not very comfy (and this should be reflected - f. e. by increasing the difficulty of healing injuries) but not impossible. At least for a few days.
Of course if players tend to sleep every dammed night in their armour you should do something (f. e. extra penalty for exhaustion).

And of course it differs by the sort of armor. A padded armor should not be a great problem, but the armors which are real bulky...

[KristoffStafk]

Ok, without insulting someone here, I think the notorious hedge-knight with routine of sleeping under trees and hedges could bear such dificulties better than we, even LARP'er
But sure he will not go well with doing so often...

Don't confuse a member of the SCA with a LARPer. I'm not trying to be defensive here, there is a significant difference.
LARPers are people who pretend to swordfight, using game mechanics and sometimes safe props. There's nothing wrong with that, don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking it, just calling a foam spade a foam spade.
Members of the SCA actually swordfight, wearing armor, and using weapons (blunted weapons, generally, but weapons).

Now, I happen to be a LARPer, rather than in the SCA, but I think the difference is worth mentioning. Especially in some places where the SCA puts a lot of effort into their events. While, yes, they have day jobs, they still actually wear a bunch of armor and put themselves through the same physical exertions that warriors did in their day.

[stew31r]

My kit goes roughly about 60 pounds when I wear all of it for a melee. 18 gauge wire flat ring, riveted mail hauberk that hangs to just above my knee, a kidney belt(SCA safety requirement), a full sleeve arming jacket, vambraces with attached elbow cops made from saddle leather(the elbow cops are an SCA safety rquirement), a brigandine gorget with plastic plates riveted to the under side of the leather, stainless steel full clamshell guantlets, a 14 gauge steel spangen helm, cup(SCA safety requirement), hockey legs with a full knee cop under my pants(the knee cops are an SCA safety requirement), and knee and elbow pads(SCA safety requirement). A rig very similar to mine, minus the modern safety requirements like knee and elbow pads and the kidney belt that are there to satisfy lawyers and the stuff made of plastic, would have fit in in any European army from Rome to the 14th century, and any medieval fantasy gaming setting that I know of. Like I said, I've napped in it for 15 minutes to half an hour, but I'd never sleep in it.

[Lord Ben]

Do people even wear armor around on a random tuesday afternoon? Traveling down the road, heading from KL to Duskendale for a tourney are you going to be riding down the dirt path in full plate?

[Kajani]

Lord Ben: It depends on times (save or not), enemies (did your familiy have some people which are really after your blood) and personality (are you a little bit paranoid or not). And of course if you want to be seen as an knight in shining armor or not (to make an impression to people out- or inside your party), if your ,work' or simply travel (as sworn sword escorting your lord or as lord yourself with enough escort) and, and, and.
If possible, many people will wear no armor constantly, or only light one, i guess.

KristoffStafk: As I say, i do not want to insult any (and I am not aware of the differences between the groups. But I would still say, in BOTH cases it is a difference (from smaller or greater size) to people which actually LIVE on the road, wearing armor in real combat and sleeping under trees (as would be the hedga-knights, if Westeros would be reality).

[muggie2]

I have committed the crime of sleeping in plate armor. Well, mostly plate - I used 16-gauge steel for most of it, but had a skirt of 18-gauge scales over light leather under the 16-gauge breastplate, and a padded underlayer. Didn't wear the helm or the gorget. I was just so tired I lay down for a minute and woke up an hour later.
When I awoke, I was stiff and sore. You see, as I slept, I moved a little. The edges of the scales left lovely little lines in my flesh even through padding. The less said the better about the sides of my limbs, where there was little padding between the steel plate and the flesh. And somehow I had managed to pinch a bit of my flabby stomach between the breastplate and backplate, which left a nice purple bruise for a week or so. And my arms and legs were so stiff. You see, what I worked out at the time, as you sleep and move, your joints move too. The armor doesn't, not the same, so the joints tend to be held in uncomfortable positions, leading to muscle strain and stiffness. Your body is flexible, most armor isn't. And I only slept for an hour (perhaps a little more). Imagine a full night of it!
Now, that said, if a person slept in padded armor or *light* leather (not thick or hardened leather as used in most leather armors worthy of the title "armor"), there shouldn't be any ill-effects except the smell and a reduced lifespan of the armor. Mail armor is going to dig in and pinch, even through padding. Remember "The Princess and the Pea"?
Plate armors are going to be terrible to sleep in. Even if you can, you're going to be stiff, sore, not particularly good in a fight due to those let alone the effects of being not-even-vaguely-well-rested.
In my opinion (and it is only my opinion), people would tend to sleep out of armor. Maybe in padding, if they are worried. If they wake and need to fight, they'd throw on a mail shirt or something similar, something that can be donned alone and quickly, secured by tightening a belt. Possibly a plate cuirass, if it fitted well. Donning a mail hauberk would take longer, but also be relatively quick. Full plate armor? Well, there was a reason for squires. Several reasons in fact, but donning plate armor was definitely one of them, especially if you wanted to be involved in the fight in the first few minutes.