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

[RotGrub]

Wow, they must have been forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find an artist that bad.

 

[variant]

Just a quick note. Samurai were not nobility, unless you're talking daimyo class. The nobility were the Kuge. Samurai would probably be better thought of as gentry.

Gentry were nobility in England.

 

[pemerton]

Gentry were nobility in England.

I think the intended contrast was (to use English categories) between land-holders and peers.

 

[Mistwell]

Hair and face look about right:

 

[SavageCole]

We'd seen those earlier in the thread. The top photo (the one wearing armor), no sword ... but the bottom one (kimono, hairpins, no kabuto) is that a wakizashi or a katana?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

We'd seen those earlier in the thread. The top photo (the one wearing armor), no sword ... but the bottom one (kimono, hairpins, no kabuto) is that a wakizashi or a katana?

Er, I wouldn't say "no sword", but "no sword visible", because her helmet is placed such that you wouldn't necessarily be able to see the sword if it was there. Not sure if what she's holding in her right hand is a war-fan or a dagger or what. No way to tell on the latter without knowing how tall she is and/or the precise curve on the sword (and even that would be guessing, unless we knew the length, and if we knew that, we'd know what it was!), because if it was a katana, and "upside down" (by Western standards, the correct way up by katana standards), a normal curve would mean it would stay inside her robe until off-picture.

 

[SavageCole]

If one wanted, one could imagine the woman in the top photo has a sword, but we agree there's no visual evidence that she does, and given the size and placement of the kabuto, and the lack of what is generally a very large tsuka peeking out anywhere or a scabbard, it would be pure conjecture to say she has one ... and I'm not sure what the point of saying she has a hidden one in a posed picture does. It is an odd hair to split.

As for the bottom picture. I was hoping someone more knowledgeable that you or I could share some wisdom to identify the sword. Still holding out for someone who knows more about kenjutsu or this photo than us.

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

As for the bottom picture. I was hoping someone more knowledgeable that you or I could share some wisdom to identify the sword. Still holding out for someone who knows more about kenjutsu or this photo than us.

The issue is the hilt style is pretty generic for a few Japanese swords. Would need to see the blade, or at least the scabbard, to know what type it is.

 

[skotothalamos]

I am not worrying about the art. My issue is with the background as written. The character is supposed to have a specialty, but the specialty offers no differentiation. Every character has the same skills, tools, equipment, and feature whether cavalry, infantry, cook, etc.. In my opinion, this is just lazy/poor design. I have a similar issue with the Hermit.

The Backgrounds preview page has all the info you need for customizing backgrounds, including getting different skills and equipment.

 

[Iosue]

The issue is the hilt style is pretty generic for a few Japanese swords. Would need to see the blade, or at least the scabbard, to know what type it is.

Well, we can make some assumptions. If we assume this is a real picture of the Edo period, and not a later reconstruction or posed shot, then we can probably assume that as a woman she did not have the right of "myoji-taito". That is, the right to a last name and to carry a long sword. But while long swords were proscribed to samurai and others with special dispensations, short swords by all people could be worn for self-defense. Such blades could run the gamut from daggers to longish wakizashi -- the general prohibition being it could not reach 2 shaku (roughly two feet).

Again, assuming she is a woman of typical height and build for the era, it looks to me from the hilt and the size of her hand that it could be long enough to be a good-sized wakizashi, but almost like a katana for someone of her size.

Just for reference for the original PHB picture, though, the limiting of last names and carrying long swords to the samurai class was a largely a phenomenon from the Edo period (1600-1868), and weapons were not so limited in the Sengoku period and earlier.