Hey everyone. ill be attending empire larp in June/July 2026 and have a question regarding heavy armor. I’ve had a look at the guidelines and am still confused. i want to get the most hp armor wise for my character and essentially the armor coverage that i have is almost exactly the image linked below. the rules state at least 2 parts covered eg: torso and legs/arms. i already have a full helmet but regarding the coverage below, does this count as heavy or does the coverage mean full coverage limb wise like that of a full plate knight?
Welcome along pday890, to the game and the forums 
Armour is one of these areas that can get a little tricky to define. First, let me caveat by saying that the final ruling on this is by the in-field referees.
I can, however, give guidance.
As the rules state, for the heavy armour to count as a suit therof, you need 2 locations covered; torso+ another.
A frequent model is torso + 1/2 arms + 1/2 legs (large greaves + large armguards), making 1 + 0.5 +0.5 = 2.
As I understand it, torso + helmet is full coverage as well.
As noted on the wiki:
If the phys-rep is a robust helmet that contains padding that protects your head then your character gains one additional body hit
So if you have torso coverage + a full helmet, you should have enough to count as “a suit of heavy”. That will get you +4 hits and allow you to ignore IMPALE calls on those locations. Oh, and the helmet will give an extra +1 hit, for a total of +5 hits.
So you don’t actually NEED full limb coverage for the bonus hits.
However….
I would reccomend wearing something else on limbs anyway.
(a) It looks cool and round out the look.
(b) Your arms and legs will get targetted. An arrow hit to the thigh that brings down a knight is embarassing.
thanks for the quick reply! i should probably check then about the torso bit because i already have a helmet in production you mentioned i need torso and helmet for full coverage. my torso armour is a curass like the image shown so it coveres my rib cage upward to allow for movement. does this count as torso coverage or do i have to add chainmail for my ribs to my waste?
If the majority of your torso is covered then that will count. Some torso armour is only on the front, for example.
Heavy torso plus heavy helmet will (I am 100% sure) give you the hits for heavy. However, you only get protection from cleave and impale if the blow hits the heavy armour.
so i have the minimum requirement for the hp but lack coverage for safety?
Correct.
Medium armour (thick leather) will protect against cleave but you need heavy (metal or fake metal) to protect against impale.
fantastic. I’m assuming scale mail counts as heavy i can use that to cover the areas where i need mobility?
Correct. Scale mail and brigandine are both heavy.
amazing thank you so much
You’re welcome.