The Walker's Armors

The Ashwalker, Bloodwalker, and Wildwalkers are the three sets that together form our Walker collection. Using the same chassis with different finish and patina, the three armors have a distinct personality and each bring their own flavor of dark fantasy to your LARP characters.

⸶ Early Development

The design phase of the Walker's armors started in 2019 as a project to update and improve our old Necromancer armor, especially the design of the iconic molded leather skulls, which have proven to be less durable than what we would have liked, especially with older armors kept in cramped storage.

Wanting skulls that would resist the test of time and provide the same level of sturdiness as our standard products, we studied many options and ended up collaborating with Calimacil to create foam skulls as well as spikes that would decorate the new design.

At this point in time, the Walker's set was still simply going to be the new version of our Necromancer armor, but this is when our goal changed. The earlier designs were so promising that the whole project went from a revamp to a new collection of highly customizable armors.

⸶ Design

The Necromancer's armor was occupying a narrow niche for dark magic users, undeads, and death cultists. This time, the armor was going to touch a much wider array of LARP characters, while keeping a grimdark or dark fantasy edge.

The Walker's armor main design goal was to reach a diversity of themes through multiple color palettes and finish, while at the same time making it one of, if not our most modular armor set. That means that the Walker's armor is our most customizable standard creation to date.

Following in the path of the Destroyer armor, we offered more options for various pieces, but we went much further than letting the clients pick among an asymmetrical pauldrons from a short selection. With the Walker's armor, single pauldrons, head piece, breastplate, and belt all have variants.

For instance, one set can feature skulls and pikes with a full body armor, while the other will leave the midsection exposed, have no skulls and go with a leather hood instead of an helmet. On top of the multiple color themes and the variations coming from the patina, this level of customization means each of these sets will be pretty much unique.

⸸ Innovations and Features

The Walker's armor also features many innovations, some entirely new, others converted from our experiences with custom projects. The full helmet is inspired by the Dark Souls franchise and uses a subtle mesh inside the visor to hide the wearer's features and give a darker, more ominous presence to the wearer. This feature has little effect on visibility, but it makes a big impact in terms of fear factor.

Alternatively, the helmet can be swapped with a sinister leather hood, an improved product inspired by both our Outlaw and Necromancer sets. Using the general shape of our stunning Outlaw hood, it is fixed directly on the armor with laces so it cannot slip or spin, while also displaying hanging stole-like appendages going down from the edges of the hood and providing some weight to keep the hood in place. Finally, the bottom of the hood is doubled to keep the volume that makes this piece so impressive, but without letting the wearer's head sink too deep inside, something that could be fairly detrimental in combat otherwise.

Removable leather sleeves can be added under the pauldrons to give a more seamless appearance to the armor, a clever design idea we picked from our cosplay projects involving the Witcher franchise. These pieces create the illusion of some sort of gambeson worn under the armor and avoid the often stark contrast between the bulky leather armor and the wearer's bared of lightly clothed arms, a perfect compromise for LARP.

The pauldrons themselves are sold separately, making it possible to go for a single pauldron design or asymmetrical pairs. The options from this set are also the best choices to go with a Y harness and cover a single shoulder without any chest armor.

Since this armor has a rough, used finish to it, it also plays a role in our workshop's effort to reduce waste. Imperfect hides and lightly damaged leather that would otherwise make a subpar product can be used here to create a superior result. No amount of artificial aging and patina can look as good as natural skin imperfections and scars that will pop amazingly after being dyed, sanded, and varnished.

⸶ Conclusion

We are very proud of our achievement with this new collection of armor and invite you to discover the Ashwalker, Bloodwalker, and Wildwalker further through our gorgeous photoshoot and specific pages. From mighty necromancer, to dangerous cultists, ruthless barbarians, or demonic warlords, these armors can bring many characters to life in your next LARP event.