Armor designs for females?

[CrackedChair]

So I was wondering, over the few editions of D&D, how did armor look for female characters?

I'd imagine it got a bit more modest as the years went by, considering D&D's audience in the early years...

[Millstone85]

Probably, yeah. But even then, going through the 4e PHB...

Spoiler: Female armor is very recognizable as such.

Show

Spoiler: Female armor still ends up giving direct access to vital organs.

Show

Now to go through the 5e PHB...

[Nifft]

So I was wondering, over the few editions of D&D, how did armor look for female characters?

This is how I handled girl armor in 1e:

Spoiler: Girl Armor

Show

I still handle it basically like that.

[Millstone85]

Welp, the 5e PHB seems to have been extra careful with that.

[Nifft]

Welp, the 5e PHB seems to have been extra careful with that.

Yeah the 5e artwork seems to be good on a lot of fronts.

[Talakeal]

Yeah the 5e artwork seems to be good on a lot of fronts.

Tell that to the 5E halflings.

[Millstone85]

Yeah the 5e artwork seems to be good on a lot of fronts.

Tell that to the 5E halflings.

They are a sad exception. Such big heads and tiny feet.

[Arbane]

"Not wanting to die is unisex."

[goto124]

Welp, the 5e PHB seems to have been extra careful with that.

As I recall, they got really specific when asking for art from the artists, having to lay down every detail to ensure they got a variety of sexes, races, and armor that covers the body. Too bad I can't find the article detailing the artistic process of the 5e PHB, it's amazing.

[Anonymouswizard]

Tell that to the 5E halflings.

Why, do halflings tend towards impractical armour?. But yeah, horrible, horrible little demonses with heads twice the size of their bodies, what was WotC thinking?

[Lord Torath]

Why, do halflings tend towards impractical armour?. But yeah, horrible, horrible little demonses with heads twice the size of their bodies, what was WotC thinking?

Maybe they spent too much time watching (in his own words) a Sexy, Shoeless, God of War!!!!? I mean, most of his weight is in his head...

[Anonymouswizard]

Maybe they spent too much time watching (in his own words) a Sexy, Shoeless, God of War!!!!? I mean, most of his weight is in his head...

I would like to point out that, despite being a stick figure, Belkar is more normally proportioned than 5e halflings.

[scalyfreak]

This is how I handled girl armor in 1e:

Spoiler: Girl Armor

Show

Same here.

Being female and playing in groups that were at least 50% female has of course influenced my perspective. As it turns out, girl warriors have their vital organs positioned in the same place as boy warriors... meaning effective armor is for the most part not gender specific.

[pwykersotz]

Same here.

Being female and playing in groups that were at least 50% female has of course influenced my perspective. As it turns out, girl warriors have their vital organs positioned in the same place as boy warriors... meaning effective armor is for the most part not gender specific.

Yeah, if you're going for basic utility, sure. But what about FASHION, man! Fashion! Adventurers wearing tin cans may stay alive, but since you basically sleep in this stuff and wear it before kings and dragons alike, it may as well look good!

Tongue in cheek there, but only partly joking. Realists with regards to armor have their point, but I make character sheets for my whole group. Nice custom ones with character portraits that I pull from online based on the desires of the players. Inevitably the more fashionable portraits win out. This is one that is currently in use:

Spoiler: Drow female

Show

You can look attractive and be badass in a fantasy game. Nothing wrong with that. The only problem comes when people try to shoehorn others into taking their stereotypes instead of playing what they want to play within the accepted confines of the game. That applies to horny nerds, history nuts, and over-reaching GM's alike.

[scalyfreak]

Yeah, if you're going for basic utility, sure. But what about FASHION, man! Fashion! Adventurers wearing tin cans may stay alive, but since you basically sleep in this stuff and wear it before kings and dragons alike, it may as well look good!

No problem. I'm a big fan of this kind of plate armor for female fighters, for aesthetics reasons as well as practicality.

Spoiler: Elisabeth's armor from the movie

Show

[Lord Raziere]

For Fantasy
Well my general rule about armor is that I don't mind it as long it covers the whole body as its designed to. It can be absurdly artistic, it can be fancy, it can have boob plate, but as long as its covers the whole body, I can make allowances for the fantasy. its fantasy, there are some thing you should be allowed to deviate from reality.

For Realism:
if you want realism, the whole armor thing is actually much different than one would think: wearing plate armor give you more protection and it doesn't restrict movement as much as you think- but it is heavier and does make you hot, so fighting in it does mean that you tire out quicker. while some fighters would prefer freedom of movement as its simply more comfortable and more viable to fight longer in lighter armor- skimpiness can work but only as long as you have a good shield. Basically you trade passive defense of armor for more active defense of paying attention, dodging and blocking. The whole point is to basically instead of allowing the opponent to hit wherever they want, you control it so that they hit only where you want them to hit- the shield- and thus use that to get openings to kill them.

At the same time, any culture if they had access to heavy armor, would probably go for heavy armor. While skimpiness can work if your good, it requires you to pay constant attention and hold your shield at the ready. if a warrior is using skimpy dodge shield blocky tactics, its probably because they are in personal defense combat rather than being in an actual battle they are preparing for, don't have the resources for it, or are being VERY foolhardy.

mostly because, heavy armor was only worn when you were CERTAIN you were going into battle. Like weapons like halberds, spears, warhammers, maces and heavy armor, all that were only put on when you were expecting a big battle to come. you didn't wear it when you were just traveling and needed a form of self defense, you just had a sword, a shield and some gambeson/padded armor to do that. because swords were the trusty side arm, the back up weapon, the self-defense weapon you use when nothing specialized is called for and thus used when travelling.

In this light, this could technically explain adventurer attire in some way if you think about it. so many heroes wield swords because they know its the versatile side arm weapon so they might as well just use that as they don't have the time to get the resources for more specialized weapons and while they constantly expect combat, which means they wear some form of armor, they don't always wear heavy armor because they need to travel for long periods of time and fight for long periods of time and heavy armor is actually better for fighting short bursts, because of how it tires you out. as long as they have shields they can direct all hits to that and why purchase any heavier armor? its just heavy, it'll weigh you down, you'll get tired after one or two fights, its expensive, and really its just better for big battles where you have time to actually prepare for the battle. so as long as the adventurers have shields its probably good as far as realism is concerned. Alternatively they wear lots of armor because they always expect battle and train themselves to always work with armor on to build up their stamina.

In short both heavy and light armor can work- gambeson and padded armor were widely used for a reason- but they work better in different situations. bringing plate armor and two handed weapons to a small adventure is kind of like bringing a rocket launcher to busting a mafia operation when really it belongs in a war movie.

[Malimar]

No problem. I'm a big fan of this kind of plate armor for female fighters, for aesthetics reasons as well as practicality.

Spoiler: Elisabeth's armor from the movie

Show

My problem with this isn't with the armor, but with the hair. Doesn't that get all caught and tangled in the joints of the armor like ugh? (I say this as a person with long hair.)

[Lappy9001]

I always get a kick out of this tumblr http://womenfighters.tumblr.com/

Impractical female (and honestly male armor for that matter) is a pet peeve of mine but If I'm gonna run a game that allows magic, disallowing impractical armor is just silly.

[Talakeal]

@Lord Raziere:

Historically armor that covers the entire body is the exception rather than the rule, not sure why you would have that as your hard line for fantasy armor design.

[goto124]

Since it's fantasy, armor on female characters should be just as unrealistic as armor on male characters.

By this metric, if a female character's coworker is wearing full plate she should not be wearing a chainmail bikini, but spikes of villainy, horns on helmets, and tge dozen other unrealistic things that male characters also suffer from are perfectly fine.

[Talakeal]

Since it's fantasy, armor on female characters should be just as unrealistic as armor on male characters.

By this metric, chainmail bikinis are out, but spikes of villainy, horns on helmets, and tge dozen other unrealistic things that male characters also suffer from are perfectly fine.

The problem there is that trying to dress a female in the same thing that male barbarians or gladiators typically wear would get the game banned in a heartbeat.

[goto124]

The problem there is that trying to dress a female in the same thing that male barbarians or gladiators typically wear would get the game banned in a heartbeat.

Most games just paste a piece of cloth over the chest. The rest of the body that's uncovered on the male character can also be uncovered on the female character.

[Lord Raziere]

@Lord Raziere:

Historically armor that covers the entire body is the exception rather than the rule, not sure why you would have that as your hard line for fantasy armor design.

Notice the tags? I said for FANTASY.

your talking about REALISM, which I covered. Realism is not fantasy. it is in fact, the opposite of fantasy. I agree historically that is true, but unless I'm playing a HISTORICAL game rather than a FANTASY game, I don't see how its relevant. assume that I'm not counting the head.

[2D8HP]

As I recall, they got really specific when asking for art from the artists, having to lay down every detail to ensure they got a variety of sexes, races, and armor that covers the body. Too bad I can't find the article detailing the artistic process of the 5e PHB, it's amazing.

Perhaps you meant:

this

and

this?

[goto124]

Afraid not. The post I read was more detailed and had a professional tone.

[scalyfreak]

My problem with this isn't with the armor, but with the hair. Doesn't that get all caught and tangled in the joints of the armor like ugh? (I say this as a person with long hair.)

That is my problem with that picture as well, actually. Long hair seems like it would be incredibly inconvenient for all kinds of fighters, regardless of gender, at if you wear it the way Elizabeth does here.

[Talakeal]

Notice the tags? I said for FANTASY.

your talking about REALISM, which I covered. Realism is not fantasy. it is in fact, the opposite of fantasy. I agree historically that is true, but unless I'm playing a HISTORICAL game rather than a FANTASY game, I don't see how its relevant. assume that I'm not counting the head.

I am aware.

Its just really unusual to see someone who has a narrower range of acceptable fantastical options than realistic ones.

[2D8HP]

That is my problem with that picture as well, actually. Long hair seems like it would be incredibly inconvenient for all kinds of fighters, regardless of gender, at if you wear it the way Elizabeth does here.

The Spartans greased and braided their long hair, otherwise maybe shorter haircuts is why the Roundheads won against the Cavaliers?

[Lord Raziere]

I am aware.

Its just really unusual to see someone who has a narrower range of acceptable fantastical options than realistic ones.

Depends. I don't really count loin cloth and bras as armor. I mean, you can wear something, but that doesn't mean its armor. a chainmail bikini doesn't actually cover anything that needs to be protected so its not actually armor, its decoration, and therefore gives no bonus to AC. Though you might get a decoration bonus to your charisma in certain private situations.

and sure there are many cultures that didn't use full armor, but y'know what they did use? SHIELDS.

[scalyfreak]

The Spartans greased and braided their long hair, otherwise maybe shorter haircuts is why the Roundheads won against the Cavaliers?

I always assumed those were a poorly thought-out attempt to avoid the appearance of helmet hair. Their version of a mullet.