D&D General How Do D&D Adventurers Dress?

[Bedrockgames]

Gladiator armor is ridiculous. It's there to help put on a good show not to fight.

I agree, though they did have specialized types of fighters and the armor reflected what they were supposed to do. I'm not saying his armor was effective. I agree it was ridiculous (and also glorious). But I feel like that is where the inspiration likely came from

 

[Clint_L]

And you will look for the first opportunity to get clean, parting with gold to do so. Humans like to be clean.

If I was an adventurer, the most important person in the party would be the one with prestidigitation!

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I will literally have my character commission and pay for clothing and armor with no mechanical benefit to fit his style. I dropped a lot of coin to have the hide of a black dragon turned into some cool scale armor by a dwarven smith, and I commissioned a satchel customized to fit his bag of holding into to avoid cramping his style.

Now that I think of it, the rest of my group doesn't get that into it, although we're pretty heavy on the role-playing in general.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Seasoned adventures would dress practically, knowing that staying alive was more important than looking good.

Most of the outfits you see in 3e and onward are ludicrously impractical. Especially all the buckles in 3e art, how long does it take to get dressed when you have 100 buckles? How long do you spend each night cleaning and oiling them to jeep them from rusting.

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Prestidigitation, baby!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So do you make it a point to think about, describe, or depict what your PC wears?

Yes, especially since my main character is a trickster and his clothing is intended to make viewers think he's a goofy hick, rather than a powerful illusionist who's actually running a con on everyone he sees, 24/7.

 

[el-remmen]

The Prestidigitation (to clean, as well as other uses) and Mending (to, well, mend) cantrips are a staple of wizards and sorcerers in the campaigns I've been in.

If I was an adventurer, the most important person in the party would be the one with prestidigitation!

Prestidigitation, baby!

Yes, definitely. Though I will say I have long played with what I’ll call “non-mechanical traditions,” both in D&D games I’ve run for friends and ones friends have run, that while magic can accomplish some things technically well they can fall short of mortal expectations/desires. So for example, yes prestidigitation may technically clean your clothes or body, but can never give you the freshly laundered/ freshly bathed feeling or goodberry might provide nutrients but provides none of the satisfaction or pleasure of eating, and so on.

Now this kind of thing might not matter to some characters or some players and that’s fine. But I will say that in the table culture I try to cultivate, adventurers look forward to and discuss good meals or a feather bed while on the road and look to take advantage of those things while in town. Usually this is just a quickly mentioned flavor thing (no pun intended) but it also provides opportunities for scenes that make sense in the context of the game (like my aforementioned public baths examples).

 

[Richards]

My current 3.5 sorcerer PC, Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, comes from a noble background and dresses accordingly: a white shirt with ruffles at the neck and wrists, pants that reach just below the knees, hosiery, and black leather shoes with shiny buckles. His hair is tied in the back with a colorful ribbon, and when he ordered a cloak of charisma he had it tailor-made in the form of a black silk vest with tiny arcane symbols inscribed in gold thread. He recently finished the ensemble with a white robe of the archmagi. And while he recently learned his first 8th-level spell, prestidigitation remains his most often-cast spell to date.

Johnathan

 

[kigmatzomat]

My bard (and I think the entire party) wears Clothes of Mending. Pricey for clothes (unless you are a dwarf or elf, where its just good sense) but It's the obvious option while adventuring. I have a Cloak of Many Fashions I use to embellish the outfit on arrival in town.

Or to make the cleric or paladin the total center of attention. Those two wear plate armor, one mitral and the other embossed in gold. Subtlety and stealth are a challenge for them, even with a dull gray tabard or cloak slung over it. But we mostly clank and clink and stomp along, as the dwarf fighter is in splint and the goliath bardlock is in a breastplate. My bard in studded leather and the tabaxi monk with bracers and comfy clothes are the stealthy ones.

They all have a couple of "fancy" outfits for meeting with People of Quality. We keep those safely stashed in the extradimensional bags. A few of us have stage costumes for when "sing for your supper" fits the impression we want to give. Or if we are ever broke again, I suppose.

My bard, the goliath bardlock and the dwarven bagpiper have given the occassional musical performance while the tabaxi does acrobatics. Plus side, when the champions of the divine aren't ensconced in 75lb of plate armor they are much less noticeable, if also much more thumpable.

 

[The Soloist]

During AD&D 1e, I tried to play a well-dressed Dwarf who liked swashbuckling-style clothes and didn't like getting dirty. The DM wouldn't have it. It was too much 'roleplaying' for him.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

During AD&D 1e, I tried to play a well-dressed Dwarf who liked swashbuckling-style clothes and didn't like getting dirty. The DM wouldn't have it. It was too much 'roleplaying' for him.

Arguably the most beloved character in Dragon Age is just such a dwarf.