Should bandits and thieves wear armor and top-notch equipment?

If guards/travelers with top-notch equipment normally wander the roads in this setting, sure, some high-tier bandits would manage to get their hands on the good shit. They'd have to be some tough bastards though.

yeah wtf never realized how shit those boots are

The vast majority of so-called bandits only killed up to around 7 people.

Most "bandits" are tax-collectors, soldiers and peasant supported rebels. So yes they would have the good stuff.

Wew lad. That is honestly like saying crime never existed because stopping people at sea randomly and threatening to kill them unless they give you money is a very easy way to get yourself killed.

Bandits were a large problem in lots of societies, several groups of criminals can be seen as bandits. Highwaymen, footpads, marauders, brigands, robbers and looters all fall under the term.

>source: your ass
You have no idea how many people the “average bandit” killed.

>highwayman
An aberration from about the 1600 to the 1900s consisting of disbanded soldiers from English and French wars aggravated by a lack of governance and police forces. This also includes Irish rebels against British colonialism.

>brigand, looter
These are soldiers.

Only if they are robber barons

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_number_of_victims
Even serial killers ultimately don't kill that many people.

>Be 2nd level
>Barely have 100 gp in equipment and coins among us
>Ambushed by bandits with fullplates, mithral armora and shields and +1 weapons

The actual fuck, GM

What the fuck Colombia?

>he was released in 1998
What the flying fuck

There was a time when lives were considered precious even in the US.

How many horribly dangerous wild west towns had death counts of like 3 a year?

Bad bait

Looted armor should never be fitted properly and suffer minor penalty for it. Bandits would re-fit most armor themselves and partially damage or weaken it. Same rules should apply to player and a looted armor only rarely be a good fit for new owner.

The average bandit has never killed anyone before. He's either a tough guy looking for a power trip, or a man whose hit a rough patch in his life, and this is the only option he sees.

>How many horribly dangerous wild west towns had death counts of like 3 a year?
If your town is like 32 people you're going to have a stronger reaction to 3 deaths per year.

The leader of the bandits taking the best bits? Yes, if the whole bandit group has badass gear or just exceptionally good equipment? They might just be rogue state troops or mercenaries that happen to do some banditry on the side.

You're wrongarino though.

The difficulty regarding banditry isn't securing good quality equipment but in maintaining it. Many bandits throughout history tended to be deserters who then turned to banditry as a way of life. As such, you would expect soldiers to have at least decent equipment. It was the lack of resources available to bandits, however, which would constrain them as it would be difficult to keep their equipment in good condition without easy access to repair and maintenance materials. So I would personally describe the bandits as having good equipment but simply in poor condition - slightly rusted or worn swords, chainmail clumsily reinforced or falling apart, dented helmets, rotten boots etc.

Wrong. The average bandit has killed EVERYONE before. And he then resurrected them, so now he can kill them again.

brigand comes from an old french word for soldier, so...

>an 'aberration' from a 300 year time span doesn't count as a real thing because I say so

>rearrested in 1986, he was killed in jail by the nephew of one of his victims

Godspeed, nameless cholo. You did good.

>Wow guys, you seem well-stacked. Why don't you become a mercenary band?

the word evolved to just mean thieves/thugs in french
during the hundred-years war, and other wars in medieval/renaissance times, like during the religious civil wars, you would see men at arms/soldiers/mercenary roaming around unemployed, either because their lord was killed/defeated, or didn't need them anymore, or because they were deserters. Those guys were pillaging for a living

Fun fact:

For most of human history the difference between 'local government' and 'thieves that will rob you, kidnap you and take your stuff' was REALLY fucking blurry.

"Robber baron" started out as a term for people that would abuse and rob people crossing their fief. If you wanted to avoid getting fucked with by these guys demanding absurd fees, made up taxes, or demanding you be their 'guest' until your family pays some money you'd need guard, or a letter from a very powerful person saying you aren't to be disturbed or detained. A letter of safe conduct was a huge part of transit.

The 'average bandit' didn't really exist. To be a 'bandit', you simply had to be desperate, own something sharp, and be desperate. Depending on your circumstance, you killed or didn't. One county's bandits were another county's militia, as often as not, and the vast majority of soldiers (professional or otherwise) turned to one form of coercive acquisition or other during their careers.

If you're defining bandits only as exiled criminals with some weapon or other living in the woods, yeah, those dudes tended to have killed a few people over their careers, but it certainly wasn't a universal truth.

Basically, the harder you look at human behavior, the fewer hard lines you find. Things get blurry really fast.

Hardly surprising considering that the government is just highly advanced form of thievery.

Meeting employed soldiers sucked for most people too, the only difference between them and bandits was they'd likely have to share some of what they stole from you with their boss.

Careful son, don't want to cut yourself on that edge.

One of the radical ideas in the magna carta is that you can't take someone's stuff or imprison them without charging them with a crime. This was a huge change, and a very important protection. At least these days the mayor of the next town over can't stop you and steal your car legally.

So the moral of the thread, OP, is that it really depends on the bandit but, frequently, yes, bandits would be very well armed and equipped.

As for 'thieves', that word is so hilariously broad and means so many different things there's no fucking way to answer the question.

Well, considering that a lot of bandits were deserters, mercenaries, or even regular soldiers, then yes.

Thats still alot more than average joe

Depends on the bandits and the setting. I go more for the 'wear whatever I can find' type.