It has the retardation no nos of fantasy combat:
Free long hair to be pulled? Checked.
Long cape to be pulled? Check.
Weak one hand grip asking to be disarmed? Check
Weak shield asking for a fracture on the elbow after a powerful blow? Check
Uncovered, unarmored hand asking to be cut off after blade is deflected by shield and hit the hand? Check
It is not only a woman fighting but probably a woman drawn this too.
Click to expand...
Silly art aside, I really don't understand why most of these are even problematic in a high fantasy environment that most D&D games subscribe to. Over on The Gazebo we have a thread full of "classic" fantasy art (that is generally considered incline) which has stuff like cheesecake in bikini armor. Archetypal savage warrior has long hair (just look at the typical depictions of Conan the Barbarian) and often also a beard (like the Vikings), yet we never have people complaining that dwarven beards make them much easier to commit some underhanded moves against.
Frankly, D&D always deals in exceptional individuals and it's not unlikely that the 5th level female paladin in question is already such a local badass that she can easily avoid any sort of shenanigans associated with long hair issues or capes getting caught up - especially the latter, given that capes in D&D usually give you many magical properties. If she has 16-18 Strength, like any typical martial character of that level, she is probably among the strongest individuals around, and probably has insane deadlift, no matter what real life tells us about women's strength capacity. D&D is about fantasy superheroes, and not gritty adventures where you roll peasants and die of cholera. It's like how superheroes also have outfits that signal a ton of flair.
And let's be honest - "weak shield asking for a fracture on the elbow after a powerful blow" is a moot point in a setting where you are likely to face an ogre, yet the game still abstracts the shield to somehow work even against an attack that should, by any logical means, simply splatter ya. The shield might be magical, or the shield (and a warrior's fighting style) is designed specifically to parry away attacks from smaller creatures, etc, etc. You can fluff these kinda issues however you want - in this case, I feel like you're nitpicking simply because the art itself is subpar.
I once met an AD&D 2.0 DM who claimed he was in the D&D business for many, many years. He actually didn't impress me in terms of game management, and during a break he claimed that he frowns upon dual-wielding in his RPGs, actively hampering characters who choose this fighting style, and especially doesn't allow dual-wielding axes. When asked why, he said "well, axes get stuck in carcasses due to pressure. They once had a strongman try and pull out an axe from a dead calf, and he couldn't do it with both of his hands because the difference in pressure caused the flesh to "suck" the axe in. So it's unrealistic".
"But wizards that can alter the universe and clerics who perform minor miracles from level 1 are completely fine", I clarify.
"Yep", he responded. Just like that. No reflecting on why this might be silly. Level 20 Fighters are still rank-and-file soldiers whereas level 20 Wizards are literal gods, because, after all, Wizards don't have to conform to reality while Fighters always do.
A heroic Fighter should be on the level of Achilles or at least Incredible Hulk, being able to just bash through walls of a dungeon instead of looking for doors, leaping extremely long distances, surviving falls from ridiculous heights and redirecting rivers with his bare hands. In the usual D&D game, the heroic Fighter is only capable of hitting harder and faster with his beatstick.
To extrapolate on that, I think that we should let the fucking Conan and Red Sonja wear their loincloth armor and have their long hair flow in the air as they fight. They earned it.
Click to expand...