"Weight of your armor encumbers your movement"

[Malak Darkhunter]

Here's a dissenting view. Heavy armor is fine for knights with squires and horses. It makes no sense for an adventurer on foot. I'd love to see everything heavier than leather scale removed from the game, except DSM and mithril chain which should be lighter than leather scale.

I can agree with this, may be we need some special artifact,(Armor of the viking god Thor!)

[PowerDiver]

I think you are thinking of full plate mail type of armor, which is pretty nuts for walking humans in real life. Yeah they were sitting ducks if thrown down their horses. Then again these are fantasy people that have superhuman strengths..

Even breastplate over chain is something you carry in a cart or on a packhorse and only wear for an engagement, I would think. In the fantasy I read, even the superhuman warriors stick to light armor [if any] when adventuring.

[Malak Darkhunter]

Just a funny thought- I can see my warrior approaching Morgoth in his tight spandex pants and spandex t-shirt with Mr.@ painted on the front as his supersymbol, and Morgoth dying due to heavy boughts of laughter.

[Derakon]

Even breastplate over chain is something you carry in a cart or on a packhorse and only wear for an engagement, I would think. In the fantasy I read, even the superhuman warriors stick to light armor [if any] when adventuring.

I don't think that fantasy novels are all that great a source for realism. Heavy armor isn't cool, so fantasy protagonists don't tend to wear heavy armor. Whether or not it's practical, and whether or not you'd actually wear it a significant portion of the time, is beside the point.

That said, fantasy novels tend to be a pretty good source for fantasy videogames.

[ewert]

Yup, lots of armor usually is non-coolio in fantasy literature.

Conquistadors are usually almost always depicted as wearing a breastplate (and not much limb armor) though? And that is real life reference of non-superhuman-strengths. And in my recollection that breastplate goes for rank and file soldiers too. Might be wrong, probably am. Also the times had already passed heavy armor by that day due to firearms...

[PowerDiver]

I don't think that fantasy novels are all that great a source for realism.

Our discussion is about superhuman heroes trekking for miles while wearing heavy armor that protects many times as much as a large shield. That seems to break realism completely. What better context than fantasy novels?

[Storch]

I have always thought that heavy armor should reduce speed and not mana.

[Tiburon Silverflame]

The answer that fantasy gives, depends on the source. Eddings, for example, has all the Mimbrates in full plate whenever they walk out the door; same with the knightly orders in the Sparhawk books. Feist, that I can recall, only has Tomas ever pointedly wearing heavy armor, and, well, that was artifact-level gear. Doesn't count.

And hey, this is a game. Is it realistic to be able to carry around 4 polearms and 3 different sets of full armor? Ignore the weight, just think of the load distribution issues.