Dragon’s-Eye View 3/28/2012... now with ENW poll!

[mach1.9pants]

Dragon’s-Eye View 3/28/2012... now with ENW poll!

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Appropriate Armor)

Well I read this article until about 1/10th of the way through and gave up on this utter tripe about full plate: "Heck, for that matter, can you even guess how you'd get on the horse without a hoist and a couple of guys to help you?"
Makes me so angry that such rubbish is still spouted by people in the mediaeval fantasy RPG business!

So not sure about what the rest of the article says, when I cool down a bit I'll finish it!

However I thought this image was what the poll was about and was wrong so I'll shove one up here

So which do you like!

 

[Blackwarder]

I voted fantastic realism but I'm more leaning to a point between fantastic realism and photorealism.

But to be perfectly honest I vote for chain mail bikinis!

Warder

 

[TwinBahamut]

First off, I gotta say that the discussion about scimitars and sabers is pretty far off from reality. In fact, an arab scimitar and a cossack's saber actually look nearly identical. That sword that Mr. Schindehette is referring to when he mentions scimitar sounds like a sword from Disney's Aladdin, but the swords in that movie are not actually proper arab scimitars. This undermines his point a bit, since the functionality and purpose of a scimitar and saber (or katana, for that matter) are the same (primarily a slashing cavalry sword), so the necessities of form overwhelm cultural differences. Weapon designs are controlled by practical concerns, so they tend to look alike despite differences in culture.

Anyways, this article sounds a bit like an argument for continuing 4E's armor aesthetics, so I'll just be blunt. I hate 4E's armor aesthetics. A large part of this is the fact that 4E uses armor design to portray a culture for different races. I don't like that at all. Armor should either be very practical-looking, or very cool (coolness can override practicality any time). It should reflect the character and their immediate surroundings, not try to reflect some made-up culture that isn't even described in a setting book. It should be universally iconic, not a reflection of the art team's worldbuilding.

Another part of the reason I hate 4E armor designs is that they include all the silly armor types from leather through chainmail. The only types of armor that look cool are cloth, plate, or combinations of cloth and plate. Light armor should involve lots of cloth and small, but practical use of metal plates. Heavy armor should have crazy thick plates. I'll attach three images below of the spectrum. Also, they are all in a more manga style and two are female characters, just for the heck of it.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Well I totally disagree with you about what types of armour can look cool, ring mail, chain mail leather and (especially) brigandine/coat of plates types can look awesome
Coat of Plates;

Leather

How about some scale and chain?

 

[Lanefan]

Other not represented: a combination of all three and more producing a result that is cool and a bit fantastic but not ridiculous.

Examples: of the three images [MENTION=32536]TwinBahamut[/MENTION] posted above the Black Knight is ridiculous. The other two are not my preferred style; I don't find them to be cool but at the same time they aren't ridiculous.

Of the three images [MENTION=55946]mach1.9pants[/MENTION] posted in the OP the one on the left is cool, the one in the middle is ridiculous, and I'm not quite sure what the one on the right is - cool with ridiculous elements (e.g. the skull kneecaps) sums it up, I suppose.

Lanefan

 

[Arytiss]

Though I voted photorealism in the poll, I generally find myself somewhere between photo and fantastic realism.

In short, I like my armour sensible, but with a touch of something to lend that fantastic element to it.

However, as with Twin Bahamut, I wasn't overly fond of 4e's armour design. Mostly because I felt "chunky" was the best description for it. As the article said, armour should be varying, able to change in appearance from culture to culture.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Whatever points he lost, he gained points for the Merlin picture/reference.

 

[Bluenose]

God, can we kill this idea that "Manga" automatically means less realistic than "fantastic realism". I mean, there are mangas which make a serious effort to show historically appropriate armour as well as ones that go for the silly. Compared to Frazetta they're a model of sensible warriors in sensible armour. Even looking at the images they show, I don't really see much difference between the manga and that horrible fantastic realism one.

Here, gratis, have a horribly unrealistic manga image.

If I have to choose, I'd prefer stuff that is right - photorealism in the poll. I'll settle for stuff that looks reasonable - fantastic realism. I utterly reject the idea that the example of fantastic realism they use approaches realism in any way.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Overall, if I never heard Manga again on Enworld, I would be a happy man.

As for the topic, I prefer armor that is mostly realistic, but with a nice flair to it. Definitely not photorealistic, but not the showing enough skin to gag a demon stuff either.

But overall, with magic around, why isn't armor less realistic? It really should be.

 

[Mattachine]

I voted "Other". The game doesn't need to represent what real medieval European soldiers wore. D&D isn't that game.

I would like armor to represent fantasy literature and other fiction. It doesn't need to be over the top (no manga, no chain bikini), but I don't want D&D adventurers to be outfitted like medieval soldiers.

My instance, leather armor can be shown with a leather coat and pants. The artist doesn't have to make a hardened leather suit with a leather skullcap. Likewise, armor can be more form-fitting in artwork; otherwise, everyone in armor looks the same.