A Mage's Robes

[nin_ninja]

The forces of good who use magic have always gone off on their heroic journeys in nothing more than their bathrobes. Magical bathrobes with deep pockets yes, but not very effective against swords.

Seriously, in most fantasy (even sci-fi like Star Wars) the magic users always wear robes, or just regular clothes because their weak little frames can't handle armour. To that I call BS. Why can't my magical character with the power to shape mountains put on a 30 lbs piece of armour? Its dumb.

I know making a decent Warrior-Mage character in games would be unbalanced, but their are so few characters able to wear decent armour and use magic (unless they are evil).

I know their are many characters that wear armour and use magic, but there are so few Lich Kings compared to the Black Mage glass cannons.

Thoughts. Should media (games, books, and movies) have more Warrior-Mage types, or should mages be forced to be much physically weaker and wear lighter armour?

 

[El Poncho]

Reminded me of this song

I assume it's for balance, in games at least. If a mage had armour it would be OP.

 

[darth.pixie]

Ah..it's not because they can't wear them (well some), but because it's also very hard to make wide, odd, arcane movements while in platemail. Some are an exception but those are mostly characters that exit the rules of the game/world.

Also, most if not all of the mages I play usually wear light leather armor with enchantments (fixing arcane failure for the D&D crowd).

 

[AugustFall]

Aren't the robes supposed to enhance their powers usually? As for Star Wars it wouldn't really make sense to wear armor anyway what with all the ninja flips and the fact that no matter what armor they wore it would be cut up by a lightsaber.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The idea was that they were all sorta geeky bookworms, instead of muscley types...or they chose to spend their time researching rather than exercising. But, yeah, mainly for balance.

 

[Serenegoose]

A lot of mages have armour spells which render bulky metal armour pointless. Besides, when the tide of battle turns, and the mage has to bravely run away or sneak away from the trolls that are gently marinating their ex-allies for dinner, plate isn't going to be much use to them. Remember the mage motto! "We're all in this together, for as long as you're useful to me!"

 

[nin_ninja]

Aren't the robes supposed to enhance their powers usually? As for Star Wars it wouldn't really make sense to wear armor anyway what with all the ninja flips and the fact that no matter what armor they wore it would be cut up by a lightsaber.

I can understand that, but in KoTOR (which is still my favourite game) you couldn't use some force powers while wearing armour.

???

Its the force, you use your mind. What, does the armour have a no force policy?

 

[Erana]

See, back in the day, mages could wear armor. Due to the complexities and subtle movements required in casting spells, there would be a penalty for wearing anything beyond robes and cloaks. Most magic users would stick with cloth robes because they'd rather nuke their enemies with a 100% chance of wide-angle disintegration beam than wear plate armor and only have a 46% chance of being able to use their magic.

Most games these days do it 'cause the developers are too lazy to deal with (Or would be completely overwhelmed by) the balance issues of making characters have total choice in what they do. Its one of the many aspects modern games have eradicated for the sake of streamlining the experience.

Which is why my first wish on NetHack for Grey Dragon Mail was a waste on my wizard.

 

[RatRace123]

It's traditional:
Mages wear robes
Rogues wear leather or fur or something
Warriors wear heavy metal plate.

We don't tend to question fantasy cliches, we just accept them as they are. (Odd since they can be anything we want them to be.)

 

[nin_ninja]

Ah..it's not because they can't wear them (well some), but because it's also very hard to make wide, odd, arcane movements while in platemail. Some are an exception but those are mostly characters that exit the rules of the game/world.

Also, most if not all of the mages I play usually wear light leather armor with enchantments (fixing arcane failure for the D&D crowd).

Heavy armour, feather enchantment, elemental resistance, good to go.

Arm movement with spells always seemed odd to me, but just make the shoulders flexible so you can move them around.

Kinda like poster boy Hawke.

 

[GothmogII]

Ah..it's not because they can't wear them (well some), but because it's also very hard to make wide, odd, arcane movements while in platemail. Some are an exception but those are mostly characters that exit the rules of the game/world.

Also, most if not all of the mages I play usually wear light leather armor with enchantments (fixing arcane failure for the D&D crowd).

Put some puffy sleeves out the armholes, problem solved:

Spoiler

Lightweight, and while it may not protect certain parts of the anatomy, it does strike a certain balance between protection and mobility.

 

[AugustFall]

Aren't the robes supposed to enhance their powers usually? As for Star Wars it wouldn't really make sense to wear armor anyway what with all the ninja flips and the fact that no matter what armor they wore it would be cut up by a lightsaber.

I can understand that, but in KoTOR (which is still my favourite game) you couldn't use some force powers while wearing armour.

???

Its the force, you use your mind. What, does the armour have a no force policy?

It's a game, balance issues. That's the long and short of every single occurrence of this. The thing in movies really does come down to the fact that a suit of armor is bloody heavy and no way a spindly wizard would walk around comfortably.

 

[nin_ninja]

-Double post AGAIN!-

 

[nin_ninja]

Ah..it's not because they can't wear them (well some), but because it's also very hard to make wide, odd, arcane movements while in platemail. Some are an exception but those are mostly characters that exit the rules of the game/world.

Also, most if not all of the mages I play usually wear light leather armor with enchantments (fixing arcane failure for the D&D crowd).

Put some puffy sleeves out the armholes, problem solved:

Spoiler

Lightweight, and while it may not protect certain parts of the anatomy, it does strike a certain balance between protection and mobility.

And its fashionable too.

Maybe just remove the sleeves altogether. Kinda makes people stand out.

"Hmm guy with plate mail, guy with leather, guy with puffy sleeves. Get the sleeves boys!"

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Robes offer more freedom of movement than armor does, although it doesn't really stop some magi from wearing leather armor or chainmail. It could also be a practicality thing: maybe some magi can't use magic effectively in close-quarters combat, rendering most heavy armor practically worthless. Maybe speed takes precedence over protection, and maybe they have spells that serve the same purpose as heavy armor but don't have the same disadvantages of it.

As far as not being able to use magic when wearing heavy armor, I know some works attribute it to the actual properties of magic: in one book I read (can't remember the title, though), touching anything made of iron rendered the spellcaster unable to cast spells.

 

[Fishyash]

To be honest as with the 'rules of functional magic' where your spells will apparently be weaker if you are wearing platemail due to having inferior movement, I also like the image of someone looking so fragile being capable of unleashing a dangerous force of destruction.

I like the cliché personally.

 

[Slycne]

A lot of people have already approached the balance side of the issue, but I'd like to throw in that I think part of the problem is an aesthetic and technical issues. There is no reason that robes can't look as cool as armor, but often it seems that artist's time is spent crafting the model on the next level of badass plate armor while the robes get reskinned several times.

On the technical side(as it pertains to video games), doing proper cloth is uncanny at best with current technology. So while armor is designed to be strapped, buckled and is intended to move with its wearer, the cloak, cloth or robe either doesn't move right or lays strangely on the model.

That doesn't mean that all is lost however. This is a miniature I use for my Magic-User in one of my D&D campaigns, and while technically a robe or cloth armor - it certainly doesn't look like a dress.

Spoiler: Magic-User

 

[nin_ninja]

Robes offer more freedom of movement than armor does, although it doesn't really stop some magi from wearing leather armor or chainmail. It could also be a practicality thing: maybe some magi can't use magic effectively in close-quarters combat, rendering most heavy armor practically worthless. Maybe speed takes precedence over protection, and maybe they have spells that serve the same purpose as heavy armor but don't have the same disadvantages of it.

As far as not being able to use magic when wearing heavy armor, I know some works attribute it to the actual properties of magic: in one book I read (can't remember the title, though), touching anything made of iron rendered the spellcaster unable to cast spells.

So, throw a dwarf with armour at them, and they're basically out of the fight? Sweet.

A lot of people have already approached the balance side of the issue, but I'd like to throw in that I think part of the problem is an aesthetic and technical issue. There is no reason that robes can't look as cool as armor, but often it seems that artist time is spent crafting the model on the next level of badass plate armor while the robes get reskinned several times.

On the technical side(as it pertains to video games), doing proper cloth is uncanny at best with current technology. So while armor is designed to be strapped, buckled and is intended to move with it's wearer, the cloth either doesn't move right or lays strangely on the model.

That doesn't mean that all is lost however. This is a miniature I use for my Magic-User in one of my D&D campaigns, and while technically a robe or cloth armor - it certainly doesn't look like a dress.

Spoiler: Magic-User

Basically this. If cloth with enchantments works as well with armour, great, but it often looks silly.

I would seriously just wear regular clothes, because at least they're more functional than a robe.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Robes offer more freedom of movement than armor does, although it doesn't really stop some magi from wearing leather armor or chainmail. It could also be a practicality thing: maybe some magi can't use magic effectively in close-quarters combat, rendering most heavy armor practically worthless. Maybe speed takes precedence over protection, and maybe they have spells that serve the same purpose as heavy armor but don't have the same disadvantages of it.

As far as not being able to use magic when wearing heavy armor, I know some works attribute it to the actual properties of magic: in one book I read (can't remember the title, though), touching anything made of iron rendered the spellcaster unable to cast spells.

So, throw a dwarf at them, and they're basically out of the fight? Sweet.

In some works, yes. Although I'd like to see you throw a dwarf. They may be small, but they're really dense and heavy. And that's before they put their armor and weapons on.

 

[nin_ninja]

Robes offer more freedom of movement than armor does, although it doesn't really stop some magi from wearing leather armor or chainmail. It could also be a practicality thing: maybe some magi can't use magic effectively in close-quarters combat, rendering most heavy armor practically worthless. Maybe speed takes precedence over protection, and maybe they have spells that serve the same purpose as heavy armor but don't have the same disadvantages of it.

As far as not being able to use magic when wearing heavy armor, I know some works attribute it to the actual properties of magic: in one book I read (can't remember the title, though), touching anything made of iron rendered the spellcaster unable to cast spells.

So, throw a dwarf at them, and they're basically out of the fight? Sweet.

In some works, yes. Although I'd like to see you throw a dwarf. They may be small, but they're really dense and heavy. And that's before they put their armor and weapons on.

I actually phrased that poorly. I meant you throw a dwarf with armour (preferably one of their allies) on them and they are out.

Also, I can just imagine soldiers walking around throwing bits of metal at mages.