Weapon Illustrations in RPG Books

[mhacdebhandia]

For instance, Eberron's Valenar elves use the double scimitar. Look at the official look of that weapon:

Whoa, Claudio, let's not get excited. That's Kalman Andrasofszky's take; here's Anne Stokes's, from the actual equipment chapter:

Much more reasonable, eh?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, VC, the problem is that many- not all- artists depict spiked armor with such huge spikes over so vast a portion of the body that would:

1) Catch weapons that would lead to a better transferrence of force to the wearer. Hydrostatic shock is actually a significant cause of injury, shock and concussion.

2) Pierce less-protected areas of the body or catch them. Nothing like your own spike catching your own chainmail protected elbow joint to ruin your day...especially if it penetrates.

3) Hinder range of motion.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Well, VC, the problem is that many- not all- artists depict spiked armor with such huge spikes over so vast a portion of the body that would:

1) Catch weapons that would lead to a better transferrence of force to the wearer. Hydrostatic shock is actually a significant cause of injury, shock and concussion.

2) Pierce less-protected areas of the body or catch them. Nothing like your own spike catching your own chainmail protected elbow joint to ruin your day...especially if it penetrates.

3) Hinder range of motion.

Yes, people are stupid.

3" nail-like spikes on the front of your armor and your back plate spaced 1" or 1 1/2" apart probably isn't going to do that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nah- you really can't spike the front of the armor- for most weapons or a shield, your arms will be swinging across your torso.

The back is fine, though.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

Whoa, Claudio, let's not get excited. That's Kalman Andrasofszky's take; here's Anne Stokes's, from the actual equipment chapter:

Much more reasonable, eh?

These are some of my favorite weapon pictures in d&d. I had forgotten about the double scimitar in the picture. sexy.

Also spiked armor can work, but its depicted poorly sometimes. I always saw it as a large spike that protrudes from the knees, elbows and shoulders.

like this

I never understood why people would want to picture the most absurd versions of weapons, then claim they are broken or cheesy, when their are visual examples that work, look cool... ect..

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The ones on the elbows in the image you posted actually aren't that bad, as long as the spikes are on the portion of the armor that protects the outside (IOW, the side away from the body, not the point) of the elbow and flare away from the body (its hard to tell).

 

[haakon1]

That is art. This notion also applies to films, books, etc.

This is lame art.

See the Lord of the Rings movies for what "artistic" medieval equipment looks like -- interesting, reflecting made up cultures, but also clearly functional (and in many cases, based on actual historical objects from different real cultures).

Spikey armor is just lame, whether you look at it from the standpoint of history, art, engineering, or even fashion . . .

 

[haakon1]

The PHB axes were really bad Illos IMHO.

Nod. Notably bad, perhaps the worst of the weapon art, along with the warhammer (which looks like a maul, not a medieval warhammer).

 

[frankthedm]

I never understood why people would want to picture the most absurd versions of weapons, then claim they are broken or cheesy, when their are visual examples that work, look cool... ect..

because the picture you posted is nowhere a 1d6 of damage for a medium creature. That elbow spike looks like a 1D4 at worst. The spiked armors in the PHB do look like 1d6 weapons, even if they have wieldabilty issues.

 

[haakon1]

Is it just me, or does most of the armor in 3.xe look like it is actually some sort of bondage gear?

That was my initial impression too, right before "WTF" and "they're calling THAT plate mail?

And that was years before the "300" movie came out.