In the real middle ages, plate mail was prohibitively expensive.
A roleplay posted by a player today gave me an idea. What if new characters started out with only, basic armour, and you had to acquire better armour over time? It would mean players need to split their money between troops and personal armour, and a full set of plate mail would be a symbol of prestige. It could have various "levels", as in cheap, regular, well-crafted and excellent or whatever.
It shouldn't be a major money drain, and it should be visible to others on inspection of your character. It would have an in-game effect, namely affecting your chance of getting wounded in battle.
