Leather Armor

[TheFirstFoxx]

Does different leather armor have different properties. Like is there any point in making leather dragon armor vs just regular leather armor?

[cosmic librarian]

A search on the df wiki revealed this at the bottom:

Originally posted by 'https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Leather#Leather_armor':

The source animal of the leather (e.g. "dog leather" or "roc leather") does not alter the weight or protection of the armor, though the item quality likely does.

Though this doesnt inspire much confidence in itself, and could be room for some !!SCIENCE!! if you navigate the df forums and dont find any research already done.

[Terminal]

The only nominal difference AFAIK is that the value of the leather - determined in part by the value of the animal it was harvested from - affects the value of the leather armor.

The only leather with interesting properties worthy of merit is Fire Imp and Dragon leather, which both a tag attached to them that makes them magically Dragonfire Proof. Their combustion/melt/boil temperatures are far too low to actually withstand dragonfire so it is very much some kind of 'Do not touch me' chicanery. Fire Imp Bones, likewise, are Dragonfire proof in the same way.

That said, even if you made a full set of armor and clothes from Imp Leather/Bones, it would do distressingly little to actually protect your Dwarves from Dragonfire. If Dragonfire plumes are not blocked with a shield, they encompass the entire Dwarf on hit and tag every single part of their body, and inevitably there will be at least a tiny bit of skin not covered by armor which means the entire Dwarf will go up in flames, followed by the fat in their skin melting and them bleeding to death from every pore.

You would wind up with a smoldering pile of rapidly flash-vaporizing Dwarf slop inside a mound of steaming, slick, miraculously undamaged leather gear.

[TheFirstFoxx]

I feel like what you make the leather out of should determine how strong the armor is like how it matters what metal you use.

[Terminal]

Maybe, but not presently. Even Clown Leather cannot fend off sharpened Steel, after all. If it did that would be problematic.

Though, speaking of Clowns,

Procedurally generated entities - Titans, Forgotten Beasts, Clowns - with abnormal skin that can be butchered to produce leather might be worth experimenting with.

We would need a NONSENTIENT Procedural Entity made of a nonstandard material, that produces skin when butchered that can be tanned.

AFAIK, most Procedural Entities made of harder substances - stone, gems, metals - cannot be butchered for leather this way. Other entities may be fair game though. Blobs made of some reasonably durable organic material.