I get where GM Bob is coming from for rangers not wearing plate mail; such armor would impede the finer movements required for accurate archery.
However, Maher also makes a point for the sake of balance. If rangers could shoot while moving, not being able to wear plate mail wouldn't be such a problem. However, since archery requires one to momentarily stand still, rangers are very vulnerable to attack at such a moment. It isn't exactly balanced that warriors can still swing their melee weapons and cause damage while moving. The mage class is able to move and cast spells, which is probably why the class was limited to ring mail armor. Consequently, it doesn't make much sense balance-wise for the class that is required to remain immobile the most to not be able to wear the best armor type.
Therefore, to fuse both the real-world and balance, I propose that rangers be allowed to at least wear plate mail chest plates, gorgets, and open-faced helmets in addition to chain mail. Take a look at the following picture.
Look at all that archery-necessary free movement of the arms and hands that a plate mail chest plate and plate mail gorget would still allow; the open faced helmet would still allow a ranger to have the required sight for archery. Additionally, since most players ride around on mounts, it might also be acceptable for rangers to be able to wear plate mail legs if allowing plate mail gorgets, open faced helmets, and chests is not balanced enough.
Otherwise, make it so that rangers can shoot arrows/bolts while moving, possibly at a slight loss of accuracy.
It's on the for-fun list that i've been kinda neglecting to get the more important stuff working first. Trust me the last thing you want is a bow wielding bard in platemail. Talk about bloody murder
