D&D 5E PH(B) Soldier Background (Art is new)

[Hussar]

I'm similarly somewhat mystified by @Azgulor comments, when he says: "eye makeup, long hair, and hair rod & decorations". Uh, what? You know who else had long hair, eye makeup, and who often wore hair rods and elaborate hair/head decorations?
Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...r-Background-(Art-is-new)/page6#ixzz37peU4ZmN

Vikings too. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me to see a LOT of warriors with long hair, eye makeup and elaborate hair/head decorations. Would be more historical to be sure.

 

[stinkomandx]

The armor seemed heavier than she'd remembered.

It had been three years since she'd come to the inn, dragging her trunk behind her. Inside it had been everything from a past she had left a hundred miles away--her queen, her troops. The War. Three years of living the quiet life of a simple peasant in a peaceful city.

But three years later, and the war was just days from catching up with her. Smoke billowed on the horizon in the distance, and the wounded who had managed to escape the battlefields were already trickling into the cathedrals.

At the height of her career, in battle, she could stare down a hell hound without flinching. But she had run from the war just the same. Now, she realized the futility. She was a soldier, and her new home--her husband, her child--needed soldiers. She tightened the straps on her armor and picked up the helmet. She stared at it and thought about how her life had changed. When she thought about her home, the armor didn't feel so heavy after all.

The city didn't need peasants. She reached up and pulled the pins out of her hair. Tucking it back, she raised the helmet.

The city needed defenders.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

It's good that they are depicting some non-Western European cultures in the PHB between the Samurai and the Arabic Goblin-slayer. But with that picture, her hand is really badly drawn.

As for other pictures, I think the one European culture they aren't going to depict would be the naked Pictish warriors as described by the Romans, as even the Barbarians in the PHB would probably be wearing clothes. And it would probably won't be a surprise they might depict some sort of African shaman/witch-doctor type somewhere.

 

[Azgulor]

I'm similarly somewhat mystified by [MENTION=14291]Azgulor[/MENTION] comments, when he says: "eye makeup, long hair, and hair rod & decorations". Uh, what? You know who else had long hair, eye makeup, and who often wore hair rods and elaborate hair/head decorations? Male samurai.

I guess what my feeling is, is that had this warrior been in plate, you wouldn't have been all "Well courtly ideals etc.!", you'd have just been "female in plate", and had the warrior been male, and in equally fancy hair, makeup and decorations (as a samurai might easily be), Azgulor wouldn't have said anything. If I'm wrong, let me know.

You're wrong.

My first post said that I liked the idea of the female samurai as a representative soldier depiction. It's a piece of art but one that I found to be lacking, hence the "Samurai Barbie" tag - she looks like she could be one of the collectible Barbie dolls that my wife used to collect (minus the ridiculous oversized left hand).

I can critique what I find to be flaws in a particular piece of art without having erroneous motives ascribed to me, thanks.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I can critique what I find to be flaws in a particular piece of art without having erroneous motives ascribed to me, thanks.

Why do you find the makeup, hair and hair accoutrements to be flaws, though, given we've seen actual female samurai wearing the latter two (see pics upthread) and know samurai used eye makeup?

 

[stinkomandx]

The haters, they will do the hating.

I think it looks great! Couldn't be more excited about the new PHB. They're doing very well by me artistically.

 

[Patrick McGill]

The armor seemed heavier than she'd remembered.

It had been three years ago since she'd come to the inn, dragging her trunk behind her. Inside it had been everything from a past she had left a hundred miles away--her queen, her troops. The War. Three years of living the quiet life of a simple peasant in a peaceful city.

But three years later, and the war was just days from catching up with her. Smoke billowed on the horizon in the distance, and the wounded who had managed to escape the battlefields were already trickling into the cathedrals.

At the height of her career, in battle, she could stare down a hell hound without flinching. But she had run from the war just the same. Now, she realized the futility. She was a soldier, and her new home--her husband, her child--needed soldiers. She tightened the straps on her armor and picked up the helmet. She stared at it and thought about how her life had changed. When she thought about her home, the armor didn't feel so heavy after all.

The city didn't need peasants. She reached up and pulled the pins out of her hair. Tucking it back, she raised the helmet.

The city needed defenders.

I like this! You should do more.

 

[orangefruitbat]

I read that more as "Ideals aren't worth killing or warring over - only money is". More Bronn, less Brienne.

I liked the art, but my main thoughts were rules-related.


(2) Live and let live - that ideals aren't worth killing or warring over - is classified as neutral, not good. Does that mean that in 5e there are no good pacifists?

 

[lkj]

I liked the art, but my main thoughts were rules-related.

(1) If my personality trait is "I can stare down a hell-hound without flinching", do I get a bonus to morale checks/fear saves? If not, in what way is that a personality trait?

(2) Live and let live - that ideals aren't worth killing or warring over - is classified as neutral, not good. Does that mean that in 5e there are no good pacifists?

Though I see where you're coming from, I get the impression that both of these are intended as a shorthand for describing a broader idea, without any intention of impacting the mechanics directly. Sort of RP fluff 'sound bites'.

In the first case, I equate 'can stare down a hell-hound without flinching' as in the same class as 'you are tough as nails'. It's not a perfect comparison, but both phrases evoke a sense of resolve and strength without having to write a few paragraphs on it. They are also left broad enough that different player can let those ideas manifest in different ways for their characters.

For the second-- I'd argue that pacifism, in the sense of an idea, comes from a more active opposition to battle: 'Life is precious. No philosophy justifies the taking of lives and the spilling of blood. War is wrong.' Whereas 'live and let live' has a more 'hey, none of these things are all that important. It's not worth getting so worked up over some philosophical point that you would actually kill someone'.

They give the same end result, but the motivation is different. And ultimately that difference would come out in how the character is played.

Or anyway, that's my take on it.

AD

 

[SavageCole]

I guess what my feeling is, is that had this warrior been in plate, you wouldn't have been all "Well courtly ideals etc.!", you'd have just been "female in plate", and had the warrior been male, and in equally fancy hair, makeup and decorations (as a samurai might easily be), Azgulor wouldn't have said anything. If I'm wrong, let me know.

Your guess is wrong. Had the subject been in hulking/oversized plate, with her hair coiffed so beautifully, and her facial expression so soulful, I would have likewise thought about the duality of a soft feminine figure adorned in war-like trappings.

What I am questioning is your use of the term "Asian courtly ideals", as opposed to "courtly ideals", because frankly, they were pretty similar to European ones, except a lot more likely to end up with women having actual, formal, weapons-training. If you'd said "courtly ideals" without the Asian, I wouldn't have blinked

My including Asian before courtly ideals was simply that she was well ... Asian. By no means was I trying to imply that if she had been European it would have been perfectly normal for her to be in armor. So, I'm not quite sure where you're headed here. We both seem to agree on the point that this Asian-inspired courtly woman is rare and interesting when depicted in armor and a sword and culturally it suggests a conflict between traditional female role and the martial trappings.

As for the photos depicting women in armor, these are 19th-20th century photos and again extremely rare .... not the norm. They are gorgeous though. With that said, they are posed and ceremonial (much the way I saw the d&d artwork). To draw a conclusion, however, that female Asian nobles were significantly more martial than European noble women would be a mistake. You can find many paintings of European ladies similarly practicing archery ... and few would mistake this as an indication of war-like prowess.

In any case, we are talking about a game of make-believe here, right? In the world where this game is set, any of us can imagine the culture we like. In this world, maybe female samurai are the ho-hum norm. All I can say was my personal reaction to the art was positive, because I felt the artist showed duality between traditional soft, feminine imagery and predominantly male armor/sword props. It made me question and want to know more about her .... and she's just a bloody cartoon.

Good stuff all round. I'm going to move on from this hair-splitting discussion now before my brain hurts.