Q on Armour Rating

[KillingMoon]

Sorry for my noobiness, but this puzzles me:

I have a hero, not proficient in any armour, his armour rating is 4.
He puts on hemp sandals, base armour rating 1, condition very good.
Now his armour rating is 3!

The 3 is in yellow, I assume this is because my hero is not skilled in the use of armour and there will be a penalty, but to go down from 4 to 3 when putting something on?
Can someone point me to an explanation of the mechanics for armour rating? Or is this a bug?

[okashii]

Your 4 armor rating is your base armor from stats [dex+speed/5 I think]
When you put on armor that you are not skilled with [light or heavy] you get a penalty - it is displayed on your right in the effects window, just click on if for description.

[CrazyBernie]

You get an initial penalty for wearing armor, but it's only for the first piece, IIRC.

[KillingMoon]

Your 4 armor rating is your base armor from stats [dex+speed/5 I think]

Check: dext 10 + speed 12 = 22/5 = 4.2; that seems correct.

When you put on armor that you are not skilled with [light or heavy] you get a penalty - it is displayed on your right in the effects window, just click on if for description.

'(natural armour rating reduced by 30%)'; I hadn't thought of clicking on that before.

But is that 30% now coming off my base armour rating from attributes? There's a bigger penalty than just a diminished effect from the sandals, that's for sure. Or there could indeed be more than 1 penalty in place:

You get an initial penalty for wearing armor, but it's only for the first piece, IIRC.

Thanks for the answers. I'm still a bit hazy about this, but it seems it's at least not another bug or error. I just need to keep an eye on those stats, to make sure 'adding' doesn't mean 'substracting'!

[realmzmaster]

If you do not have the necessary skill with the armor or weapon you will be assessed a penalty. Example if you never wore armor before it will seem very unnatural to you. Training and experience allow you to raise your capability.
If you never used a sword you would have trouble using it effectively. The penalty reflects that lack of expertise.

[KillingMoon]

I see the real life analogy.

In game, walking around a bit more, I also found a jerkin. Sandals + Jerkin bring my rating back to 4. Found also a shield, this would bring it to 5.
I would still not wear the armour then, as the gain in protection is minimal, while I need to pay for the damage they receive.
Also there's usually still the option to run away from a battle...

I like this as a game mechanic! It's easy enough to find a few pieces of junk, but that doesn't do anything for you. It only starts to get interesting when you get a complete kit - or nearly complete - and/or when you're investing skill points. Now that I'm getting my head around it, it makes perfect sense to me!