Gothmog
First Post
I guess what bothers me the most about spiky armor and oversized weapons are how physically disadvantageous they would be in use. Some simple application of real-world physics reveals their improbability:
For example- any armor that has spikes, protrustions, or helms with horns, wings, etc would be a severe disadvantage to their wearer. If a blow strikes a horn projecting off someone's helmet, its going to transmit the force of the blow to their head (which would act as a fulcrum) yanking their head in the direction of the blow, which could snap the stupid sod's neck. Same thing goes for spikes projecting off armor- a spike on the shoulder, if hit right, would dislocate a character's shoulder, making him easy pickings for his enemy. There was a reason real-life armor (other than some ceremonial armor) looked like it did- it was functional, AND it protected the wearer from injury, instead of being a possible source of injury.
Weapons- some of the weapons pictured in the PHB just wouldn't be feasible to use. The ones that jump out at me are the warhammer, greataxe, orc double axe, dwarven war axe, urgosh, dire flail, and two-bladed sword. The way these weapons are shown, they would be too heavy, unbalanced, and require extensive effort to recover and ready again from a single attack. In addition, many of those weapons are oversized, and would result in injury to their user rather than the enemy. Again, through trial and error, people discovered what kinds of weapons worked and stuck with it. Maybe they weren't as pretty or interesting as those depicted in the PHB, but you can bet they were a lot more useful.
I'm not debating the fact that armor and weapons might have cosmetic differences between real-world and fantasy world cultures- they would. The armor of dwarves should be heavy and solid-looking but very well balanced, while the armor of elves would be light and not hinder movement. But by adding on spikes and oversizing these items, they would be made non-functional. And we have to apply real-world physics to fantasy world situations so we can understand what SHOULD happen. If you toss out the notion that real-world physics applies, then suddenly you have to rethink all of your weapons, from swords, to maces, and especially missile weapons. Of course we can always slap on the addendum that "magic makes it possible", but IMO, thats just dodging the issue.
Sorry, I don't mean to rant, but I just wanted to point out some things many people might not have considered. I'm very likely being too scientific about this (because I am a scientist), but it bugs me sometimes. I guess I would just like the art to reflect functionality (which is what adventurers would be concerned with- bottom line). JeffB is right, the LOTR movies have great looking fantasy armor and weapons that would work- and not a spike or oversized warhammer in the lot if it.
I agree with Sigil- the classic "black suit" medieval stuff is always in style and looks great. The artists WoTC has working for them now are undeniably artistically very skilled, I just don't care much for the current trend of "edgy goth-punk" that is prevalent now. My guess is that in 5 years when the 90's styles have gone the way of big hair, hot pants, and legwarmers, we're going to look at some of this art and go "HUH???"
PS- David Griffith: I really like your dwarves- they have such a wide range of facial expressions and great detail, that you really get the dwarf 'tude off them. I also thought the recent art you did for Monster's Handbook was incredible. Keep up the great work!
For example- any armor that has spikes, protrustions, or helms with horns, wings, etc would be a severe disadvantage to their wearer. If a blow strikes a horn projecting off someone's helmet, its going to transmit the force of the blow to their head (which would act as a fulcrum) yanking their head in the direction of the blow, which could snap the stupid sod's neck. Same thing goes for spikes projecting off armor- a spike on the shoulder, if hit right, would dislocate a character's shoulder, making him easy pickings for his enemy. There was a reason real-life armor (other than some ceremonial armor) looked like it did- it was functional, AND it protected the wearer from injury, instead of being a possible source of injury.
Weapons- some of the weapons pictured in the PHB just wouldn't be feasible to use. The ones that jump out at me are the warhammer, greataxe, orc double axe, dwarven war axe, urgosh, dire flail, and two-bladed sword. The way these weapons are shown, they would be too heavy, unbalanced, and require extensive effort to recover and ready again from a single attack. In addition, many of those weapons are oversized, and would result in injury to their user rather than the enemy. Again, through trial and error, people discovered what kinds of weapons worked and stuck with it. Maybe they weren't as pretty or interesting as those depicted in the PHB, but you can bet they were a lot more useful.
I'm not debating the fact that armor and weapons might have cosmetic differences between real-world and fantasy world cultures- they would. The armor of dwarves should be heavy and solid-looking but very well balanced, while the armor of elves would be light and not hinder movement. But by adding on spikes and oversizing these items, they would be made non-functional. And we have to apply real-world physics to fantasy world situations so we can understand what SHOULD happen. If you toss out the notion that real-world physics applies, then suddenly you have to rethink all of your weapons, from swords, to maces, and especially missile weapons. Of course we can always slap on the addendum that "magic makes it possible", but IMO, thats just dodging the issue.
Sorry, I don't mean to rant, but I just wanted to point out some things many people might not have considered. I'm very likely being too scientific about this (because I am a scientist), but it bugs me sometimes. I guess I would just like the art to reflect functionality (which is what adventurers would be concerned with- bottom line). JeffB is right, the LOTR movies have great looking fantasy armor and weapons that would work- and not a spike or oversized warhammer in the lot if it.
I agree with Sigil- the classic "black suit" medieval stuff is always in style and looks great. The artists WoTC has working for them now are undeniably artistically very skilled, I just don't care much for the current trend of "edgy goth-punk" that is prevalent now. My guess is that in 5 years when the 90's styles have gone the way of big hair, hot pants, and legwarmers, we're going to look at some of this art and go "HUH???"
PS- David Griffith: I really like your dwarves- they have such a wide range of facial expressions and great detail, that you really get the dwarf 'tude off them. I also thought the recent art you did for Monster's Handbook was incredible. Keep up the great work!
) I liked the 1e art, but 2e - not so much. 3e art is a little lacking in excitement, which is to say that it doesn't inspire me as much as 1e, but it's still nice to look at.
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