Trouble 'Squishy Wizard' System

[Bruce McKnight]

On the flip side of Ireth's comment, if warriors are hiking around in metal armor and hoisting metal weapons, they are becoming physically stronger. In that regard, maybe mages aren't "squishy," but are actually just "average," appearing squishy when standing beside someone who's physique has developed under a heavy routine of hauling plate mail.

I think this could also explain why archers are rarely portrayed as buff. They are walking around in leather armor plucking bowstrings. Maybe they get a nice toning workout from that, but none of them have shoulders like Conan.

I also think that learning magic can take many years. By the time you are proficient, you are past your physical prime.

 

[wordwalker]

Knights did spend hours every day building those muscles, hoping for that extra bit of endurance that would give them an edge against the other guy. But archers... pulling a hundred-pound longbow takes a much more thorough strength than hauling a hundred pounds of regular weight around, the kind that's best developed by starting in early childhood. A power archer is not built like Orlando Bloom.