Armour & weapon designs - a plea (part IV).

[JFSOCC]

 

 

I think this design would work reasonably well for a rogue-ish character :

 

 

Not the most stealthy perhaps, but handy in actual combat.

 

 

 

w00t, Vesemir. You could certainly do worse than drawing inspiration from the Witchers...

 

Indeed, they draw a lot of inspiration from historical sources, while putting an original spin on it.

 

Some other rogue-ish designs :

 

 

 

I know it is a terrible stereotype, but my rogue will be wearing black, and a hood, and a cape.

Black with dark purple, and silver trims. Two daggers, one with a handle made of white agate, and one with fire opal (dark blue)

 

Anyway, personal fantasy aside, I very much don't like the motley assortment of clothing for a rogue, it feels mishmash.

With the second image, much of the clothing seems cumbersome to stealth. You don't want much frills, but you do want it to be stylish. After all, a character whom loves wealth is expected to show it off a little.

 

Anyway, subdued colours, yes, but rich in quality and work. The images above don't do anything for me.

Edited August 15, 2013 by JFSOCC

[PrimeJunta]

As long as they don't draw inspiration from the female clothing/armor from the witcher games.

Ya think? I thought they were mostly done pretty well, especially in The Witcher 2, Saskia's boobplate notwithstanding. Most of the time when skin was shown, there was a good reason for it, while regular clothing and armor looked fairly realistic and practical.

 

[Karranthain]

I know it is a terrible stereotype, but my rogue will be wearing black, and a hood, and a cape.

Black with dark purple, and silver trims. Two daggers, one with a handle made of white agate, and one with fire opal (dark blue)

 

Anyway, personal fantasy aside, I very much don't like the motley assortment of clothing for a rogue, it feels mishmash.

With the second image, much of the clothing seems cumbersome to stealth. You don't want much frills, but you do want it to be stylish. After all, a character whom loves wealth is expected to show it off a little.

 

Anyway, subdued colours, yes, but rich in quality and work. The images above don't do anything for me.

 

 

A rogue is, however, a very broad archetype. It could mean a simple street urchin or a rich nobleman seeking the thrill of adventure; an assaasin or a brigand etc.

So I could very well see both designs being suitable.

[JFSOCC]

fair enough

[Lephys]

Anyway, personal fantasy aside, I very much don't like the motley assortment of clothing for a rogue, it feels mishmash.

With the second image, much of the clothing seems cumbersome to stealth. You don't want much frills, but you do want it to be stylish. After all, a character whom loves wealth is expected to show it off a little.

 

Anyway, subdued colours, yes, but rich in quality and work. The images above don't do anything for me.

Fair enough. But, I do have to say that it seems like someone traipsing around in purely "I clearly blend in with the shadows and do sneaky things" garb all the time would convey just that. You'd either have to avoid any well-lit scenarios (that rules out daylight), change clothes during the day to blend in with normalcy, or blatantly appear to be a sneaky bugger. So it seems to me, at least.

 

Don't get me wrong; I, too, love the stealthy/sleek/non-mish-mashed aesthetic style for rogues. I just also see the value in the sort of mishmash look that says "Hello, I'm just another man of practicality and utility."

 

What's very interesting to me is the character Thom Merrilin, in The Wheel of Time book series. He's a Gleeman (kind of like a bard mashed together with a juggler/magician/circus performer), so he wears a brilliantly colored patchy cloak and is pretty much always the center of attention. Yet, in essence, he's a Rogue when it comes down to it (as far as his approach to handling situations goes). But it works. Why? No one expects the old guy in a brightly-colored cloak singing fanciful tales and juggling things to make children laugh of being deadly with the 12 daggers hidden about on his person, and agile to boot.

 

So, he's actually most stealthy by drawing attention to himself. He hides himself with himself.

 

Anywho... That's way too many words from me, and no cool pictures of things. Carry on!

Edited August 15, 2013 by Lephys

[Karranthain]

Interesting post, Lephys; there's as many interpretations of a rogue archetype as people it would seem I think it'd be interesting if we'd all post our takes on various archetypes, along with inspirational images.

 

Here's my take :

 

 

I picture the rogue as more of a brigand, expert ambusher (but not necessarily very stealthy) and an excellent, lightly armoured, melee fighter, utilising pistols and various dirty tricks.

[Protection]

Would a proper tricorne be out of the question?  

 

 

Or is that a little too overtly 18th century for PE?

[FlintlockJazz]

Pointy wizard hats needed too.

[Archmage Silver]

I hate pointy wizard hats. Seriously, they're ridiculous.

 

[Karranthain]

I think this topic needs more plumes :

 

 

[Woldan]

Now thats what a leather armor should look like. 

 

 

 

And the eternal underdog, scale mail. 

 

[Falkon Swiftblade]

All these armors are great, but honestly I'd never want to fight in them. It would be so awkward  and clumsy with the bulkiness of them. I've worn chain mail in real life, and it's pretty cumbersome, especially when momentum catches you and you're trying to change direction quickly. I guess maybe they like to feel tanky though. I'm more of a finesse type of guy. The armors were certainly pretty. I wonder if the  PE team could take inspiration from the designs listed in this thread, but make them more usable. Kind of like driving a Model T car from 1924, versus any modern car. An example would be the 2001 Morgan Aero 8 below, that looks like something from many years ago, but they jazzed it up for today. Lets do something sexy with these ancient armors that make them relevant and give mobility.

 

[Karranthain]

I'd say that it's quite likely that the denizens of the world of PE would have access to lighter, more durable materials. Or perhaps they've learned to magically imbue suits of armour, making them less cumbersome.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Karranthain

[Sarex]

Let's get a little magic in to this thread.

 

 

By popular demand a (almost) wizard hat.

 

[Woldan]

^ The frizzen of his flintlock pistol is in opened position, that means he can't fire it that way and the priming powder in the pan is most probably spilled on the ground. Not to mention all the pistols lack flintstones.
The designer of this ''artwork'' should be firmly flogged with a pickled birch rod for one day and one night.

[Sarex]

^ The frizzen of his flintlock pistol is in opened position, that means he can't fire it that way and the priming powder in the pan is most probably spilled on the ground. Not to mention all the pistols lack flintstones.

The designer of this ''artwork'' should be firmly flogged with a pickled birch rod for one day and one night.

 

Shhhh, they are magical.

[Lephys]

I hate pointy wizard hats. Seriously, they're ridiculous.

 

Seconded. I mean, Gandalf pulls it off pretty well, but that's kind of his splendor over-powering the crappiness of the hat design.

 

I also hate Wizard bath robes. I don't care how many arcane symbols are on them if it looks like I just got out of the shower to answer a knock at the door, or escaped from a hospital bed. "I just draped something upon myself! Because I'm MAGIC!"

 

I like more practical/utilitarian Wizard attire. I will say I'm a fan of the like... fingerless cloth (or even leather/other materials) gauntlet things. I don't know what they're officially called. They protect palms/forearms (even if just from the elements), yet leave fingers free for touch spells, and effects like from the Cloak of Arachnia (wall climbing a la Spiderman).

[Karranthain]

 

I hate pointy wizard hats. Seriously, they're ridiculous.

 

Seconded. I mean, Gandalf pulls it off pretty well, but that's kind of his splendor over-powering the crappiness of the hat design.

 

I also hate Wizard bath robes. I don't care how many arcane symbols are on them if it looks like I just got out of the shower to answer a knock at the door, or escaped from a hospital bed. "I just draped something upon myself! Because I'm MAGIC!"

 

I like more practical/utilitarian Wizard attire. I will say I'm a fan of the like... fingerless cloth (or even leather/other materials) gauntlet things. I don't know what they're officially called. They protect palms/forearms (even if just from the elements), yet leave fingers free for touch spells, and effects like from the Cloak of Arachnia (wall climbing a la Spiderman).

 

 

 

In that respect, I think Aloth's attire's pretty good :

 

 

This design (which I posted some pages back) would also work nicely for wizards, I reckon :

 

 

 

 

[Nonek]

All these armors are great, but honestly I'd never want to fight in them. It would be so awkward  and clumsy with the bulkiness of them. I've worn chain mail in real life, and it's pretty cumbersome, especially when momentum catches you and you're trying to change direction quickly. I guess maybe they like to feel tanky though. I'm more of a finesse type of guy. The armors were certainly pretty. I wonder if the  PE team could take inspiration from the designs listed in this thread, but make them more usable. Kind of like driving a Model T car from 1924, versus any modern car. An example would be the 2001 Morgan Aero 8 below, that looks like something from many years ago, but they jazzed it up for today. Lets do something sexy with these ancient armors that make them relevant and give mobility.

 

 

I think that should always be the core problem with armour of any sort, heavy, sweaty and bulky but potentially lifesaving if a blow should slip past your guard in the heat of battle. Whereas very light and unarmoured individuals would have the benefit of increased energy, speed and reactivity to incoming blows at the cost of that chance unnoticed blow being devastating.

 

Didn't know Morgan were still knocking about.

[Karranthain]

Scabbards are unlikely, but I do hope that the two-handed weapons will be rested on the shoulder :

 

[Woldan]

Brigandine and various armor parts and weapons in detail:

 

[Woldan]

 

 

..and a female fantasy plate that looks surprisingly good.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Woldan

[Merlkir]

That's a good looking suit that is! You don't see anything close to this in fancy lady shoots very often.

 

Google tells me it's from here:

 

http://www.wassonartistry.com/armor.php?w=15thcent

[Woldan]

Yep, I've visited that site, now I wish I was a professional blacksmith and could forge my own armor. 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2013 by Woldan

[lolaldanee]

now THAT is how female armour should look like

very impressive

the armour the blond one is wearing would make for a fantastic high quality elven armour, it is almost too fancy for anything else