How would you go about making a setting where melee weapons are common, but armor isn't?

Metal is very difficult to obtain because of the terrain, so it's mostly used for arming a lot of people, instead of armoring a few. Combine with low tech, so armor isn't very advanced.

Fighting is recreational and healing magic is abundant.

Barbarians of Lemuria.

You're talking about the majority of human cultures and history, my dude. Outside of the context of being in open warfare, nobody just walked around in armor.
Do you really need some kind of weird, magic-driven reason?

Found it

suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2515817/

the ONLY reason this thread exists is so that OP could post his anime waifu, not for any historical realistic reason about swords/armor etc.

take that how you will, hopefull it will guide your understanding of this board and how to reply

Unless healing magic includes resurrection or Hellsing-level regeneration, a lot of people would still die. Defensive magic makes more sense.

>what is Star Wars

Just make weaponry outclass armor to the point where armor is almost pointless

Smithing is so good armor cant defend against even a dagger.

>nobody just walked around in armor.

Most also didn't just carry weapons around.

Fire Emblem is always Veeky Forums related.

It's not so long ago that every man was expected to carry a knife.

Either Japan, or the society is full of retards.

That's less a weapon and more a tool you occasionally kill people with.

It could be set somewhere very hot and wet like a rainforest. Ranged weapons are not as useful in the denser areas because foliage can get in the way, melee weapons are very common, armor is extremely hot and too heavy. A sword can be maintained easier than a set of full armor so close combat with an emphasis on one on one duels and to some degree stealth is a go-to for just about everyone. Aztec or Mayan warfare would be a good model.

It's hot and/or humid as all fuck.

So is a car these days.
So was flint hatchet back in the days of cavemen.

It has to be both. If it's hot and arid, you can still wear armor. Middle Eastern armies wore plenty of chainmail, they just had plenty of robes and good air circulation. If it's both hot and humid, armor becomes way less fun.

Guns.
Also smaller scale settings as a whole.
The Beast of Gévaudan was hunted with guns, traps, spears and axes. Not a single piece of armor on sight.

You might want to take your cynic self off the internet for awhile.

You don't know how metal works, do you?

Hello newfriend, I recommend you lurk more before posting.

>How would you go about making a setting where melee weapons are common, but armor isn't?
Set it in a Sub-Saharan Africa or Australian like environment. Too fucking hot for much armour.

Not saying every average joe was armed to the teeth back then, but it was way more common for someone to have a weapon on them than armor.

So basically the Edo Period.

Could be that all material to make armor is either too heavy for living beings or too brittle to provide adequate protection.

Any realistic setting armor isn't going to be "common" except among murder hobos, the military and whatever murderhobos they are fighting.

Kriegsmesser literally exist because a bunch of people really wanted to just carry weapons around even where they were banned.
And one of the largest densities of weapons per person ever happened in south-western USA during the gold rush. Everyone seemed to have a gun and a knife, sometimes multiple guns and multiple knives.

Just take a look historical examples and reasons for this actually happening:
>The military/noble class carry sidearms at all times, even in peacetime
>Wearing armor all the time is impractical outside of pitched combat, but having a weapon on-hand is useful in the event of being accosted by bandits or villains in your travels or if you need to duel (which is common in your society)
>Armor is way more expensive than a weapon
>The materials needed to make armor are scarce and are better used to make weapons
>Armor is seen as a mark of cowardice; your prowess as a warrior should be protection enough

There's literally no need to bring magic or bizarre armor-banning laws into the equation.

>Star Wars
Came here to post this.

What about a setting where everyone wears heavy armor but no one uses weapons?

>tfw Fucking FE7 Luna
That was horrendously broken.

Bloodborne is actually a really good example of that. Due to the combination of established fighting styles (Gehrman fought the beasts and was a huge badass, lets emulate him!) combined with the physical problem of wearing heavy armor against creatures that can punch through it relatively easily, and the trade off between protection and exertion armor gives isn't worth as much. It means you get a society where armor is really only useful if you're fighting other humans, which is a rarer thing and even then is going to have issues if your big expensive suit of armor isn't useful against monsters, since they'll probably be more frequent than fighting people.

>Space Faring setting near a debris field.

>Setting full of people with natural weapons of some sort.

>Martial Artists have become ubiquitous in a pre-industrial situation and the city watch has taken to adding copious armor to their uniform to avoid broken bones and the like from remarkably well trained and practiced criminals.

>Volcanic region with constant rain of tiny projectiles provides safety from aggressive imperial nation beyond it. Armor is seen as a practical day suite while umbrellas are used by the poorer folks or those in a hurry between short distances.

The air corrodes iron. Weapons and tools are sheathed in copper to protect them from the atmosphere.

Done.

Metal craftsmenship, or the supply of metal, is effectively non existant. However, many weapons, but not armour, still exist as relics and heirlooms of an ancient time.

In this world, the sharpened wooden spear is the most common melee weapon, followed by the sharpened stone axe. A proper forged sword marks you as a true member of nobility, a villain not to be triffled with, or animu protagonist.

Smiths make armour as well as weapons user

These ancient weapons are probably themselves very resilient or nigh on indestructible.

An alternative is traditional Pacific island cultures, where armorless, melee fighting was the norm.

But I thought we hated Sanderson

lyn fags are just happy their waifu is in warriors tho

Who hates Sanderson?

I'm too perplexed by Sith-Ursula to properly comment on just how hard using those double sabers must be.

Something like RWBY where combatants have a natural force field?

>setting where melee weapons are common, but armor isn't?

>52 replies
>two mentions of prehistoric humanity
Get it together Veeky Forums

With bloodborne, it has more to do with the invention of guns since they make armor relatively useless, especially around that time.

...

Resources so rare that armor is a luxury but environment is dangerous enough to warrant weaponry.

There are many time periods and places in human history where this was the case, such as prehistory anywhere.

>Kriegsmesser literally exist because a bunch of people really wanted to just carry weapons around even where they were banned.
This is a meme. It's because different guilds in germany were allowed to make different things, and one of the guilds that were able to make knives but not swords used that argument to make a totally-not-sword.

Not a problem. Some of the most armor coverage was used in some of the hottest places in the world. Just drink more water to offset it.

Veeky Forums last I asked

An excess of magical weapons that fall daily from the sky, dropped from the hands of slain soldiers in some ongoing cosmic battle in the heavens between order/chaos or good/evil.

The weapons are so plentiful that anyone can get their hands on one with enough money or patience or luck, and they're so powerful that no amount of armor can stop them and the only option is to not get hit. Therefore, unarmored and agile fighting with a variety of weapons becomes the norm.

>the invention of guns since they make armor relatively useless
lol

i'm guessing the weapons can't be reforged or broken, even by other magical weapons, or else people would just construct makeshift armor out of the pieces

It's really not though. The guns are important, but far more important is Gehrman's contribution to fighting the beasts and creating the hunter profession. The description of his clothing states "The hunter's emphasis on engaging beasts with speed, and therefore of selecting lightweight attire, no doubt traces back to Gehrman's own combat style.", and really ties into the idea that Hunters fight as they do partially out of necessity (don't get hit or you die) and established schools of thought.

The only armored set in the game is the Yahar'gul set, armor worn by people who explicitly spend more time fighting humans to kidnap for the Hidden Village's experiments than beasts. When your best defense against the thing you fight is to not be there, you bet armor is going to get phased out to the least you can wear while remaining protected.

Correction, other truly armored set is the Cainhurst stuff, which is again, primarily focused on fighting humans and other hunters.

The Force guides all hands, eve those that are not hand.

How does it work in RWBY?

Why do people like neon pizzacutters so much?

No one should wear armor in most D&D settings. Why the fuck would you slow yourself down when that dragon who can crush boulders with a blow can show up at anytime?

Not even a troll. Anything large and with a large strength is just going to ignore most armor and kill you in one hit so why spend money making it. Train your force to avoid hits rather than tanking them.

>How would you go about making a setting where melee weapons are common, but armor isn't?
cavemen/ prehistory
iron age scandinavia/ gaul/ germania/ britain
the majority of the middle ages
modern day africa

Because the armor is adamantine/magically enchanted/blessed by gods/etc. And normal people would be fighting normal battles anyway, where armor is still relevant.

Aura bullshit is the short answer.

Longer one.
>People have Souls.
>Souls manifest Aura
>Aura use can be trained and practiced to generate a sort of force-field that dampens impact and damage while still applying force, allowing for warriors in battle to get tossed around in shounen anime fights but get up after ragdolling from a thirty meter fall/throw for as long as it keeps up.
>Taking hits like that diminishes Aura presence until rest recovers it, so you're Hardy enough to fight monsters but not Invincible.

Kind of an HP pool before you start taking actual wounds, but the setting has it so commonly that if you ever bypass a person's aura the damage normally being put into play is often an instant-kill or clearly debilitating harm (dismemberment, stab through the heart, eye-gouge, and the like at a minimum.)

So yeah, thinking on it, there's a small number of people who do use armor, but the ones that come to mind are
>Nameless dying Huntsman who was using a standard weapon, not all that useful against larger or more experienced enemies, so probably a scrub.
>Named PC who cheated his way into the setting where they train this shit and, while talented, is poorly educated in its use and needed remedial support from his team.
>A couple of large, burly warriors whose role in their squad seemed to be front-liner taking hits and agro, so might Need armor if Aura runs out.
>Weaponized piecemeal armor users.

Another problem with plate armor is that it's not designed to get hit with superhuman strength, and certainly not to be worn by people who might survive the hit even when the armor wouldn't. After the first few blows you get a lightly injured fighter with his movements hampered by the crushed chunks of metal he's trapped in.
Oh and and good luck reforging that shit on the fly.

Most of the people who fight have their aura unlocked which is referred to as the Light of the Soul or something. Basically it acts as skin/clothe layer force field that blocks damage and each time it blocks damage it depletes until a person rests and it recharges. Also a powerful enough blow can break through.

This is why I never liked plate. It just hampers movement and is useless for someone who is constantly on the move unless you are a sanctioned soldier of a kingdom.

Something like padded clothing and chainmail would be more useful to an adventurer.

This is very similar to something in a homebrew I wrote several years back, complete with it being soul power and so on. I guess it's got a common source I've forgotten about, probably some kung fu thing.

>Implying plate would hamper movement any more than chain
>implying chain's weight distribution wouldn't make it even more cumbersome
youtube.com/watch?v=qzTwBQniLSc
I thought this shit would be basic knowledge by now

Battle at a nudist colony.

Most, if not all combat is ritualised, whether that be duels, or the ritual wars from some parts of the Americas.
You don't fight to kill, you fight to show superiority; if you lose, instead of dying or being maimed you just give up some food, or the right to hunt somewhere or your wife.
Armour doesn't really help and may send the message that you are a coward.

Like the United States, they have the right and responsibility to bear arms. The country has no standing army. It relies on a network of militias and everyone carries a weapon. Every town has a militia that gives out side quests.

and you listen to what that asshole Veeky Forums says?

Nah, from what I've seen it's more a mixed bag. Most people dislike Mistborn but enjoy SA from what I've seen when he's brought up in Wheel of Time threads.

Nope, not even the Cainhurst stuff is armor. It is made out of metal sure, but is made out of Silver and described as paper thin. Not much in the way of protection there.

Dune?

Shut the fuck up, holy shit.

Metal is rare. So rare banging it out onto sheets to cover an entire torso or head is prohibitively expensive.

Or the environment is not conducive to armor, say a desert or jungle.

Another issue with plate I rarely see brought up is how bloody expensive it is: there the cost of all the metal, as well as the fuel used to smelt it, other raw materials like leather and cloth, and transport for all the goods; the cost of both a smith's time (there hundreds if not thousands of individual pieces needed to make, really any kind of armour, each needing to be hand made) and skill, as well as the time and skill of journeymen and apprentices; then we have all the time you have to take out of your busy schedule to get measurements and double check the measurements were correct, and probably many more costs that I've forgotten.

This is, at best, an extreme overstatement of anything that isn't top of the line head to toe fitted armour adorned with decoration for a very important person. Most foot soldiers had at least plate on their torso and head without much trouble by the 15th century.

>Most people dislike Mistborn but enjoy SA
It's the completely opposite for me. I really only like Era 2.

or put it another way:
think about how much it costs for a three piece suit (and all the other bits like shoes and tie) and then increase it by at least an order of magnitude (if not two) to account for things like the increased difficulty in working with metal, and the fact that advances in technology have slashed the costs associated at pretty much every level.

Lyn a cute !

Why not copper coat the armor then?

>Armour on torso and head
Gee, I wonder if that's because those don't involve making a million fiddly little segments to allow for movement.

You said "with plate". Someone that has plate armour on their torso, head, and some but not all of their limbs, as is common for your typical soldier upon reaching a certain time period, is not magically not wearing plates because it's not covering every single inch and isn't hyper-exactly fitted, it remains extremely effective at stopping the majority of attacks. Also plate armour is quicker to make than maille, if that helps.

I didn't say anything, you replied to my first post in this thread.

Regardless, there's a significant difference between the off the rack munitions plate used by real life soldiers, and the full-body tailored plate suits used by every plate-wearing RPG character sine the beginning of time.

Fuck, if you want to be deliberately obtuse, why not go all the way back to the Greeks and Romans? They had "plate".

Every melee weapon negates defence.

Does anyone in FE have legs & thighs to rival Lyndis?

Aztec knights actually wore more armor than Cortez' troops.
They wore laquered helmets, bambraces and greaves plus multi-layered hardened cloth shoulder pads, chestplates, and codpieces. All under jaguar skin footie pajamas.
Conquistador swordsmen wore helmets, chesplates and faulds. Pikemen and arquebusers only wore helmets. And the only ones who had shoulderpads, kneepads or greaves were high ranks like Alvarado and Cortez himself. The few instances of full plate spanish armor in the new world seem to be for the guards at Panama's loot forts.

Simple. Make good metal rare. Most societies would use the metal towards weapons than armor.

In my setting people have become underpopulated through constant wars and states have crumbled into little towns who don't give a shit about conquering other people half because most people understand the human population is almost below replacement rate, and half because the land is filled to the brim with monsters and undead running rampant from the over-abundance of corpses littered everywhere.
It's also at an early 17th century technological level with some anachronisms like horses becoming extinct and little interest in naval development since the setting is an island that appears to be the last remaining piece of land above sea level.

People have swords, guns, spears, crossbows, etc. But nobody wears armor since any monster hitting you is gonna fuck you up no matter what you're wearing and covering yourself in metal just prolongs the panic of getting trampled by starved ghouls.

In Bloodborne the hunters originally were secret too. Hence "trick weapons" that collapse into more concealable forms.

The Healing Church didn't want people knowing about the beasts