Half naked mages

So I was trying to figure out a good rationalization for why mages don't wear armor and came on a passage in the way of shadows where some mages can absorb magic through their skin. So I figure that following this line of reasoning, the less you wear the more power you get. In fact, wearing nothing at all would bring you to maximum power.

Too Stripperiffic? It's got a Kill La Kill feel to it but I'd like a second opinion.

edited 2nd Mar '17 8:36:41 AM by Belisaurius

You can avoid the nakedness by saying that simple fabric has pretty much no influence, but anything heavier/thicker (so, armor) does impede them. That would also suggest that winter garments (thicker fabric, fur, etc) would be a problem too.

Either that, or have it that it's mostly cold iron that blocks magic absorption and use - makes certain sense, I suppose. Maybe throw in copper and bronze as well, while ritual implements at most use silver and other soft metals that are unsuitable for weaponry. So, hardened leather and quilted armor is the best a mage can wear... not that quilted armor isn't often better than traditional mail.

Make magic hot. The more you use, the more heat you feel. Thus you need garments that breath better than armor to keep yourself cool otherwise you experience heat exhaustion.

what the heck. never mind, the ideas interesting i guess.

So nobody is weirded out by a streaking Gandalf or blatant Fetish Fuel?

Well, okay then.

Magic is the relevant patron god's compensation for a lack of physical strength. The weaker you are physically, the better your magic is. (Ein Hungerkünstler in a D&D setting, really.)

Of course, when Stamina and Strength are your dump stats, heavy armor isn't the way to go.

"Make magic hot."

That's not where I thought you were going with that...

There was, in fact, a D&D setting (name escapes me ATM) where they did the whole magic-generates-heat thing to justify Stripperiffic magic users.

@Belisaurius: Not really. Most of us, of course, are probably assuming sorceresses in Conan-pastiche nudity instead.

The reason that D&D wizards couldn't use armor is originally because of proficiency issues, which make little to no sense but were there for game balance, and then "wearing metal interferes with arcane casting" (actually, that version of the trope dates back to Empire of the Petal Throne).

The way I had unarmored mages in a setting I designed a while back and have done little with since is: "Combat, at the PCs' level, is magical or magically-enhanced, and armor of mundane material doesn't really do anything against a powerbolt. So unless the mage in question is using a Device shaped like armor, he'll probably rely on shield spells." The world's "high culture" didn't go for Stripperiffic outfits though.

edited 2nd Mar '17 8:51:31 PM by Ramidel

DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY!!!!

Seriously, though, I think Silence's idea of making magic generate heat would be an interesting idea. Maybe the stronger a Mage is, the more heat their body naturally generates-so, the more mana they can contain inside them, the hotter they are. So, to prevent overheating, they were little clothing.

yeah, from a physics perspective, everything makes waste heat. Even if the spell is venting heat all the way to the target, the generator (magician) is going to be hot until they can A) conduct it away by taking a cold shower, or pouring a canteen over their head, or catching a cool breeze B) send it into a heat-sink, like a pool or an ice cream, or C) just resting and letting it radiate away. Heavy armor or clothes is going to trap heat, leading to exhaustion and/or death. But they'll be popular in the winter, tell you that.

This could lead to magicians needing to drink more water, or being unable to go to hot places. This would influence evolution. Now I'm on a roll thinking of the implications...

edited 3rd Mar '17 12:33:26 AM by dvorak

Until you make the heavy armor pull double-duty as a radiator. Cuts down on stealth, agility, mobility, and presents a larger target, but the improved cooling - and therefore more effective spellslinging - make it worthwhile. Go from Glass Cannon to Mighty Glacier...

I actually wrote a story where a character uses their body heat as spells. Good times.

I mean the idea is to justify Wizards running around in Speedos and Witches running around in bikinis right?

Waste heat works because magic typically costs something, so here you have some thermal physics as a cost for using magic.

The question is whether or not this goes too far.

Like, ezainiel, my oc does something similar, but in a tasteful matter.

Define too far...

Another idea to go with that heat waste is that mages must keep themselves in good physical shape to better balance the calorie burn that casting magic would come with.

Now you got a excuse for bodybuilder mages in skimpy outfits for both sides.

Does it have to be a (magic) physics thing? Might be a cultural imperative such as taunting non magic users or advertise a false weak point, especially if they have sneaker teammates, plain old tradition, or mandatory uniform.

Question: is "aim for the half-naked dude!" something you do or don't want to have to shout as an order.

Follow-up question: is "protect the half-naked dude!" something you do or don't want to have to shout as an order.

...

"Sir, I'm a trained longbowman. I can put an arrow through two feet of stone fortress and hit an orange on the other side. Why in Thur's name am I aiming carefully at a dude with no armor on?"

"Soldier, I don't make the rules. But make sure you get the half-naked dude behind the first half-naked dude, because he's the Medic."

"...two half-naked dudes, altogether."

"Now you're getting it."

I thought the justification for 'no armour for arcane casters' in D&D was that most arcane spells require a somatic component (i.e. precise and specific body movements.) and that armour generally restricts one's freedom of movement.

See, that never really worked for me. For one, not all spells had somatic components and for those that did you only really needed your hands. So long as the mage doesn't wear armored gloves, armor should never be an issue.

Absorbing magic through your skin makes more sense but it does lead to other issues about magic absorbtion rates.

I don't mean to poop on any parties here, but wouldn't "more skin showing = more magical power" simply result in every mage on the planet shaving all their hair, eating a shit-ton (fat = more skin = more power) and running around stark naked, with magic serving every feasable function clothing would normally fulfill? Is that what you're going for here?

I realise there's never necessarily a need for bringing things to their logical conclusion, I just wanted to throw that out here.

Like De Marquis, I'd like you to elaborate on your definition of "too far", because, well... streaking Gandalf. Damn, I'd read that.

edited 17th Mar '17 1:53:55 PM by ilili

Well, I was originally envisioning battle shamans covered in nothing but tattoos but the original question was if this entered Magical Realm territory or not. I mean, considering that both genders can develop magical talent I basically have free reign to make Ms. Fanservice

I'd say so long as the character is well written feel free to make a Ms. Fanservice.

My idea of magical energy being hot and physical fitness improving energy consumption for magic may help very much with that.

Heck, the fitness thing doesn't have to be forced by the mechanics. If being a magician entails wearing very little at all times, then pure and simple vanity will probably make the average mage either exercise a lot or find spells that let them cheat. (if the world has healing magic, then spells that make it easier to stay in shape should definitely be possible. It's a lot easier intervention than "wound be gone")