Why don't mages wear heavy armor?

Why don't mages wear heavy armor?

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you just posted one that does

Harder to concentrate.

Source: I'm a wizard.

It's be too OP and basically take away any reason for Melee classes to exist so they have to do something to make it not an option

Because Gandalf didn't so Gygax came up with a reason and everyone who has made an RPG since then has cribbed from one or the other

>tfw you become head of the mage's guild while having nothing beyond 30 restoration or some shit

Too heavy to allow for fluid ninja handsigns.

This.

Its a balance issue.

Balancing reasons.

If a mage could have the same AC as a warrior without penalty then there's no reason to have warriors at all.

Also all mages are scrawny twats who can't handle armor.

Arrogance
Magic barrier so no need
They're weak physically so the extra weight is too much
It interferes with casting somehow

Some combination of the above.

Build exclusivity needs to be a thing

>"dude the metal interferes with the magic waves"
>they don't fight naked to maximize their potential
it's a balance thing.
you can do cartwheels in full plate armor, there's no way it's too heavy to move your hands around in some gay dance.

metal interferes with casting

>not becoming archmage of the college only knowing spark

In most shows/books/etc, it tends to be explained as an issue of stamina.

Firstly, since magic is seen as usually a mental discipline and not physical, magic-users will have to spend all their time studying, philosophising, learning, etc. With little time or reason to exercise, wearing bulky armor isn't as reasonable an expectation.

Secondly, magic also usually is draining in some form. Casting spells is equivalent to swinging a weapon around repeatedly, usually to a point of actual exhaustion. Weighing a mage down with armor, then making them constantly cast magic tends to in fantasy mean they fatigue much faster, because they have to deal with physical fatigue and mental fatigue at the same time.

Thirdly, robes for some reason seem to be easier to enchant or bless in fantasy. Forging runes or spells onto weapons or armor almost always is portrayed as difficult or something for the elite only, while robes and fabric act much more naturally as conduits for energy/chi/mana/whatever.

And lastly, mages usually are delegated to a support role of some sort. There are fantasy worlds and shows where mages are frontline fighters and can blast enemies away with flicks of their hand, but they are usually portrayed as medieval artillery; standing in the back, lobbing fireballs overhead, easily killed if you can get to them. Wasting a ton of armor on them would be akin to putting an archer in plate mail, wasteful, needless, potentially limiting their usefulness.

Then they should be going straight to glass armor

Mages don't have near enough strength to strut around in plate armor because learning magic isn't like studying for a test. Shit takes years to properly master and keep from exploding on yourself.

Even if they were to somehow balance getting swole with studying or cast some kind of buff on themselves, the possibility of being debilitated to the point where you can't move and you're stuck in basically a cage is too dangerous to risk.

Plus you can just cast a nifty magic barrier that does all that without being cumbersome as fuck.

STR is low

To balance them. Dungeons and Dragons originally explained it by saying that casting spells required complex hand and body movements that were difficult to perform in armor.

Metal conducts magic.

Imagine you trying to cast a lightning bolt while wearing a full set of plate armor.
You're gonna have a bad day.

glass armor would melt as soon as they throw a fireball

I always took it as armor being too heavy for them to wear

>armor requires strength to wear

because it's heavy.

>He thinks it's actually glass
Also if throwing a fireball created enough heat around you to melt glass you would fucking die

>Plus you can just cast a nifty magic barrier that does all that without being cumbersome as fuck.
Mage Armor is a first level spell, then you get stoneskin, the protection from non/magical weapons . . .
Mages don't NEED armor. They have their own solutions to getting hit with a pointy stick

The robed mage thing comes from the idea of true wisdom not being bound to anything but the mind, like some how some romanticize vagrants as wise prophet types.
In video games it is literally balance only.

Gays prefer to wear garish robes as they prance about.

>strength
Wouldn't it be stamina

Try strapping some sheets of metal to yourself and see if you can just strut around. Now imagine that you're a huge fucking nerd who hasn't done anything but read library books for 20 years. Yeah, the weight of anything outside of cloth/leather is going to be an issue. Plus you have a rucksack to carry and the magical components you need to cast certain spells. That shit stacks up quick when you're some poindexter.

Why don't more magic systems involve mages who are just swordsmen who cast magic buffs on themselves?

They cast super speed, super strength, and some protection spells, then go to town with their sword.

both.

Caring how other people play a single player game.

Those are called spellswords

Magic wielding knights would be really op if you think about it lorewise, the setting has to have some asspull to explain why magic can't be used in plate armor at least effectively

But Gandalf wields sword, yet vidya mages don't.

>not being a spellsword
>not forging your own armor and then wearing it during lessons while your pussy friends wear skirts
>not having all the qt elf mages in the mage's guild mirin'

>'lol you can cartwheel in armor' meme

You can also cartwheel in modern military gear, which weighs between 30-50lbs as well.

Now cartwheel 10 times in a row after doing a 20km hike uphill in full gear, then go into a combat situation for a solid 10 hours.

You can stick even 20lbs of gear on someone and while it won't seem like an issue just standing there, once you have to wear it for hours on end and do actual physically-demanding tasks while inside it, damn straight its going to make your limbs feel like lead.

What if I'm in the library most of my time but still go to the gym for 1 hour 3 times a week?

This stereotype that people who are decently strong simply MUST be stupid and people who are smart simply MUST be weak needs to end.

OP is a fag

Better question for my battlemages ITT: Real armor, temporary conjured armor, or purely magical "energy shield" style armor?

I'm a fan of real armor since it's always good to have a reliable backup when your mana's drained.

Gandalf is not just a mage. He's more like a semi-god.

>stamina
no, its vigor

>But Gandalf wields sword, yet vidya mages don't.
He does it in the really old ass lotr game on GameCube so technically vidya mages actually do

>can wear heavy armor
>can use magic
>can use shields
>can use blunt weapons that can actually kill people

Are Clerics the most OP class out there?

>dude metal is heavy lol
youtube.com/watch?v=qzTwBQniLSc
literally any nerd could run around in armor.
except these nerds don't have to do that shit.
their "solid 10 hours" of combat is just them pointing at people standing still.

>That shit stacks up quick when you're some poindexter.
I don't like this idea that mages always have to be wimpy nerds.

In real life, the best soldiers aren't super strong meatheads. They're as strong as they need to be to carry their gear, but focus on intellectual training. Tactics and equipment study mostly.

Navy SEALS aren't cavemen, they're generally highly intelligent.

>has to be nice or his god won't let him zappity zappity anymore

Why not go further, there's no reason a person can't train themselves to invoke perfectly while physically exerting themselves, anybody with access to magic and training should be able to fight well while casting whatever spell they desire

Gandalf is not in the same category as video game hotkey mages.

Are there any settings where magic protection is essentially weaved onto armour/cloth/skin and doesn't need constant upkeep?

Magic draws from forces within the wielder. Since it's source is internal, strong physical barriers actually diminish it's effect on the way out. Metals would have a strong diminishing effect, leathers less so, and cloth would be negligible, to the point where taking it one step further and being naked wouldn't give a noticeable improvement.

Paladins can wear armor since their power comes from an external source, a divine being.

Por que no los tres

Real armor looks cooler and also you can totally display that shit in your tower for others to look at. Fucking send in photos over the aethernet to other mages to look at.

Because that's just not how magic works. You need to have concentration and mental clarity while casting spells and trying to be acrobatic or dexterous while casting is hard as fuck and, by the time you're able to do that kind of shit, you could easily be a dimension-warping archmage who doesn't give two fucks about armor or stats.

It's the tradeoff of dual-classing. You get access to a wide array of skills, but high-end stuff just outclasses that variety 9 times out of 10.

Using magic is having a lot of arcane knowledge, but it's also being able to understand the ebb and flow of magic in the world around you, the magic utilized knowingly or unknowingly by your foes, and how to properly adjust to the situation without just being some idiot standing still trying to get the proper incantation off for a fireball that won't fizzle out in this damp cave while a kobold walks up and nibbles your shins off.

*tips pointy hat*

>His power comes from the charity of someone else
>Has to worship this being in order to be useful to anyone
MagiCucks leave

>Now imagine that you're a huge fucking nerd who hasn't done anything but read library books for 20 years

Das me. So I confirm when you say it's heavy.

literally the first second of your video includes the narrator saying that the armor wears about 50 pounds. a fucking nerd would not be able to run in that for more than a minute.

>Because that's just not how magic works
>People who think they can universally define how a fictional concept works

They'd still have to march in full armor for god knows how long because you can't just put that shit on 10 minutes before fighting, and see Most fantasy-things that have mages also explain that casting magic is exhausting. So every spellcast would be as if they just did a bunch of pushups while in that 40-pound armor.

Okay now I want some fun game recommendations where I can be a wizard and do magic and flow
Dark Messiah I can only play so many times and Lichdom Battlemage actually fucking sucks

Well it's possible to become an evil cleric, but you'll just be raising the dead instead of healing your bros.

>needs to study for years just to use some ranged attack
>rangers can literally do the same damage with only some wood and string
wizards are the ultimate cucks

It's obviously up to interpretation, but this is how I would try and DM a session where people brought up the question of why they can't deck out their mage in plate other than "because the stats say so".

Are you kidding? 50 pounds is not much for someone to carry with the strength of their entire body.

Mages are nerds.
Nerds don't have the fortitude to wear heavy armor.

they would and they do.
haven't you ever seen a fat boy run?
having weight evenly distributed makes a word of difference.

Look up Mage Tanks it used to be a common build but modern RPG makers got their panties in a twist because MAGES CANT HAVE ARMOR AND SWORDS!!!

I always liked the idea of a mage who did all his spells in preparation, making magic bombs, scrolls that you just have to open for the spell cast on them to activate, charged wands for days
And then they just pull them out when needed while also being useful in other ways

Yes, but I don't sit on the leg press for an hour at the gym do I hmmm

>metal interfere with casting
>everyone is a mage so they use wood and stones for weapons or armour
>that one guy who can't use magic makes himself a sword and armour from steel and fuck mages shit up

Most soldiers would disagree, 50 pounds sucks

That's Vancian Casting. Baldur's Gate uses it pretty heavily.

>implying

>not just letting your players do whatever dumb/fun build they want

It's not about "winning" the scenario, it's about roleplaying and having a good fucking time with your buddies.

If they want to be a wizard in full plate you should come up with a scenario that challenges that class, not just say no you can't because muh rules.

that's how your typical DnD wizard works. relying on your /day spells is for scrubs with no preptime and no money

This is a common thing. Especially in games.

Usually in a setting where both prepared spells and non-prepared spells exist, they'll borrow D&D's Sorcerer/Wizard contrast.

Wizards have to prepare spells in advance, study them in detail every day, and have a larger library of spells to pull from.

Sorcerers can cast spells at will from memory, but know fewer spells and are less adaptable to situations because of it.

>Be a ranger
>Best an apprentice mage
>Start thinking I'm hot shit
>Run into another mage
>His hat is bigger than the last one
>Doesn't matter, wizards are cucks and pussies
>Fire arrow at him
>Arrow disintegrates 2 meteres from it's target
>Mage is gone
>Mage is behind me
>I am torn asunder and my mental energy is thrown into the bottomless chasm that is the ring of soul absorption the mage made during the time stop he cast
>Maybe I should have done something worthwhile instead of fucking animals and playing with sticks

>using steel plates like a brutish orc
>not using your mastery of magic to create weightless armor that is just as protective

Magic has an answer for everything. Only an inept fool of a mage would choose to use physical armor of any sort.

YOU MIGHT SUCK AT LEVEL 1...

BUT YOU'LL RIP AT LEVEL 9.

In Pillars of eternity you can make a gun wielding mage wearing full plate

If they really pressed it, then they could totally try and do it, but they'd end up hamstrung as fuck. Penalties on all their casts, enemies that would debuff strength to immobilize them, stuff like that.

Doing this does kinda' tread the line of being a dick DM, but I feel that if the player is given ample warning ahead of time (Hey, there are lore and stat reasons that you really shouldn't do this so uh....I dunno man) and they continue to do it, then it's totally fucking fair. Roleplay is a great thing, but there has to be some semblance of numbers and a game for the campaigns that I would run.

Technically clerics don't cast spells. They commune with their gods and ask them to lend a hand and their gods are like, "Sure dude, I got like infinity+1 Cure Light Wounds. Just take 'em."

>literally "teleports behind you"
are wizards really this autistic?

Because classes are a stupid system for an RPG but everybody has to follow muh dnd, i like runequest better

Linear Fighter/anything else physical
Exponential Mage

Paladins or Clerics, Sup Forums?

Constantly asking for your God to bail you out of situations but given greater leeway, or permanently granted sick awesome powers with the caveat that fucking up even once means you lose them forever?

Why does Oblivion look like shit

It's like you didn't read the words 'time stop'

Wizardfags were That kid

>do ONE bad deed
>lose all your good boy points
>God doesn't let you smite heathens anymore

fuck dealing with that shit

You should really think back to similar games released at the time and remember that they all looked like shit.

It's heavy. Do you think a scholar can easily walk around in platemail? You need muscles for that.

*shadowsteps behind you*
*disables all your magic automatically +1 no matter what you say or what range*
nothin personnel, kid

That's a great story opportunity though. Were they forced into it? Was it an honest slip? Are they thinking of changing gods? If not, how do they want to try and redeem themselves? It's great for RP.

a mage doesn't need armour as they're so powerful that anything that could potentially harm them will disregard armour entirely, like say a balrog. it's literally just a hindrance to an all powerful mage

Reminder that Summoners > Necromancers

I'd rather have a few stronk slaves than a bunch of dumb skellies

>Get hit with anything
>Your armor breaks and is now piercing you all over

Mah nigga
Undead are trash tier