Do any of you use fat adventurers?

[CrackedChair]

So after I completed my severely obese Elf Wizard, I was thinking: Do any of you use adventurers tat are obese? And er, why?

[Nifft]

I've seen more than one player choose that a character should be morbidly obese.

It's a role-playing choice -- just like being a robot or an elf. Someone wants to explore what it means to be fat.

[Max_Killjoy]

How fitting it is really depends on the setting.

People who walk a lot, lug around a lot of gear, have to climb obstacles or pits, get into fights, often eat what they can catch, etc, tend to not be morbidly obese.

[CrackedChair]

How fitting it is really depends on the setting.

People who walk a lot, lug around a lot of gear, have to climb obstacles or pits, get into fights, often eat what they can catch, etc, tend to not be morbidly obese.

True, true!

But my character was cursed so she put on a lot of weight, so I planned on seeing if any of my party members catch on that she might be cursed (cause she still does not know it) and removing it just for her to start losing it. Might make for some roleplaying.

[Balyano]

Played a monk who looked like Friar Tuck, built him to specialize in the flying kick. Of course his robes fly up during the kick, revealing all. The last thing you see is 350 lbs. of lard in your face.

[CrackedChair]

Played a monk who looked like Friar Tuck, built him to specialize in the flying kick. Of course his robes fly up during the kick, revealing all. The last thing you see is 350 lbs. of lard in your face.

Oh god, now I want to make one on him.

[LibraryOgre]

Hackmaster, you might wind up as obese based on the roll of the dice... either a high BMI, or the Glutton Flaw.

[Satinavian]

Overweight yes, morbidly obese not yet.

[Recherché]

I've made some that were slightly chubby but not morbidly obese. It's not something I really want to explore myself especially when it does not make that much sense with people who do the intense physical work of adventuring all the time.

[Guizonde]

played one adventurer who was over the hill and had a bit of a gut, more than normal for any middle-aged man who was in top shape in his prime. he shed it by the third month of the campaign, being pretty survival-horror and getting stalked constantly by everything. he went from a barbecue dad to expendables levels of ripped in a 6 in-game month campaign.

in our universe, fat means either old or rich. you tend to listen to someone who has a gut, since either they outlived the competition or they have more smarts than they appear to.

if we used the rules for random height and weight, i think the biggest we'd get is a german barkeep, so door-shaped, basically, about 6'6" for 220lbs. of course, there's the obvious pitfall of getting 5'2" for 220lbs... we tend to have more than a few characters around 5'7" for 160lbs, though. kinda malnourished but pretty fit, but we tweaked those rules to reflect a post-apocalyptic universe.

[Mastikator]

I once had a character that was a bit on the chubby side, but other than that no. No one who would have a hard time sprinting for his life.

[Ninja-Radish]

As someone who spends two hours a day in the gym and laments that I still don't look like Dwayne Johnson, I love playing characters who rock the massive guns and six pack abs. I'm trying to think back but I don't recall ever playing an obese character.

[Knaight]

I've played one. As far as reasons go, there wasn't really any particular reason - I've played a fair few characters and a ridiculous number of NPCs, and they tend to vary in a lot of ways, both psychologically and physically.

[DigoDragon]

Hackmaster, you might wind up as obese based on the roll of the dice... either a high BMI, or the Glutton Flaw.

I've gotten to love playing gluttons. They're usually not fat though due to all the physical activity they do adventuring, but I think if they became sedentary too long on a few weeks downtime they'd gain a few pounds.

[Mr Beer]

I played a fat dwarf once in Warhammer Fantasy, I think I got +1 Toughness for it and he was already super tough.

Also had an overweight but not morbidly obese character in GURPS 3e, he was a Eunuch, with Sadism and High Pain Threshold. He was pallid and chubby, I conceived of him as looking harmless but actually being quite dangerous in a fight and a fairly terrible human being.

[Psikerlord]

I am currently running a human sumo barbarian. It's good fun.

[Lacco]

"When the fat will get thin, the thin will get cold (dead)." Werich (very poor translation)

[AMFV]

"When the fat will get thin, the thin will get cold (dead)." Werich (very poor translation)

I don't think that's necessarily accurate. The thin will be a lot more likely to be able to catch food, and will be used to surviving on lesser amounts of food. So while a fat person might have stores, they aren't going to be able to survive as well unless it's just a straight up complete deprivation situation. Also a larger person burns a LOT more calories doing even simple things.

A 250 lb person walking 26.2 miles (a marathon and a reasonable length for a route march for 1 day, actually a little short) will burn approximately 4,168 calories. a 160 lb person walking the same distance will burn approximately 2,667 calories. So the disparity in the amount of food that a larger person would need to maintain themselves as larger is pretty significant in terms of a survival situation.

Also a larger person is less likely to be able to move quickly and therefore are more likely to have issues surviving the hazards in an adventuring environment than a smaller person. Unless they are extremely genetically gifted or their body composition tends towards less fat. Although that's not really something that we're discussing here.

[Lacco]

I don't think that's necessarily accurate.

I don't either. It's a quote by a rather burly comic. And as a overweight person, I agree with your analysis even though it's in a thread with sumo barbarians, fat dwarves and obese elf wizards :smallsmile:

I would start playing an obese adventurer (RoS has a flaw of it, which basically makes you automatically encumbered) and expect to lose it during play as in Guizonde's case - he would either shape up, or get eaten by something.

[AMFV]

I don't either. It's a quote by a rather burly comic. And as a overweight person, I agree with your analysis even though it:smallmad:I would start playing an obese adventurer (RoS has a flaw of it, which basically makes you automatically encumbered) and expect to lose it during play as in Guizonde's case - he would either shape up, or get eaten by something.

Well I think it depends on realism and what-not. I can tell you that as somebody who has had to do combaty things weighing both 160 lbs and 255 lbs, there are definite advantages to both bulk and being leaner. When I was leaner I could move a lot faster and for a lot longer (although when I weighed almost 260 I was more focusing on being strong than moving fast, so it's possible that I might have gone the other way with training).

Now as a 255 lb person, combat load is nothing for me. It's a lot less weight than it would be for a skinny person. Like I could a 240, full kit and all the trimmings and not really get slower, whereas a 120 lb person is probably carrying more than their bodyweight at that point, and that's likely to lead to them moving slower and getting injured.

If you look at historical physiques, they tend to vary a lot based around roles because of this. So I think that a slightly overweight knight is probably sensible, they do a lot of riding rather than walking and they have to be big to carry heavy armor all the time. Whereas a smaller leaner ranger would be more likely. So I think that's probably the split you'd see.

[Lacco]

Well I think it depends on realism and what-not. I can tell you that as somebody who has had to do combaty things weighing both 160 lbs and 255 lbs, there are definite advantages to both bulk and being leaner. When I was leaner I could move a lot faster and for a lot longer (although when I weighed almost 260 I was more focusing on being strong than moving fast, so it's possible that I might have gone the other way with training).

Now as a 255 lb person, combat load is nothing for me. It's a lot less weight than it would be for a skinny person. Like I could a 240, full kit and all the trimmings and not really get slower, whereas a 120 lb person is probably carrying more than their bodyweight at that point, and that's likely to lead to them moving slower and getting injured.

If you look at historical physiques, they tend to vary a lot based around roles because of this. So I think that a slightly overweight knight is probably sensible, they do a lot of riding rather than walking and they have to be big to carry heavy armor all the time. Whereas a smaller leaner ranger would be more likely. So I think that's probably the split you'd see.

I can agree with this even more: when I used to dance, we had a 5-hour practices with only small breaks and while I was all sweaty, I could go on without trouble. I weighted 130 lb at 6' at that point and could not put on any weight. On the other hand, my upper body strength was quite low when compared to my current state (same height, almost 200 lb).

So the "fat" adventurer would be possible if he mostly rode horse/wagon at relaxed pace, had hearty meals and sometimes sticked pointy end of sword into a goblin. However, if he had to fight 2-3 times per day, move without horse with a backpack full of supplies and explore dungeons, I think he would radically lose weight...

...damn, why don't we have a weight-loss programme of this kind...??? :smallbiggrin:

[AMFV]

I can agree with this even more: when I used to dance, we had a 5-hour practices with only small breaks and while I was all sweaty, I could go on without trouble. I weighted 130 lb at 6' at that point and could not put on any weight. On the other hand, my upper body strength was quite low when compared to my current state (same height, almost 200 lb).

Well a lot of it has to do with what kind of activity you're pursuing; the human body is incredibly good at adapting to different circumstances. Which is why you see a lot of different builds for people in different types of professions. I think that it would make sense to have adventurer's have builds that matched whatever particular sort of adventuring they were doing. And what exactly they were doing in their adventures.



So the "fat" adventurer would be possible if he mostly rode horse/wagon at relaxed pace, had hearty meals and sometimes sticked pointy end of sword into a goblin. However, if he had to fight 2-3 times per day, move without horse with a backpack full of supplies and explore dungeons, I think he would radically lose weight...

Well I think that a knight type would probably be big even if they were fighting 2-3 times a day. And probably even if they had to walk. They'd have to be to lug that amount of armor around. So they would probably just eat enough calories to compensate for that. Since they were rich nobles that was definitely something that they would be able to manage. And also for some adventurers as well. So again you'd have to consider what their role in combat was.

But yes, hiking with full kit will cause rapid weight loss.



...damn, why don't we have a weight-loss programme of this kind...??? :smallbiggrin:

Hiking? We have that. If you really want to do that you could do one or two big hikes a week and you'd lose a ton, the problem is largely that it's time consuming, like that 2-5k calorie burning hike, that's an all day affair.

[Knaight]

On fat adventurers - I'm just going to point out that there are games that aren't in a fantasy setting that still have adventurers. Driving a jeep around the wilderness doesn't exactly burn off a lot of fat, and that's without getting into space ships and the like.


Hiking? We have that. If you really want to do that you could do one or two big hikes a week and you'd lose a ton, the problem is largely that it's time consuming, like that 2-5k calorie burning hike, that's an all day affair.

Some of us have that. Then there are those unfortunate people who don't live by the mountains. :smallamused:

[Winter_Wolf]

So after I completed my severely obese Elf Wizard, I was thinking: Do any of you use adventurers tat are obese? And er, why?

No, I don't. I'm already entirely too fat in real life despite constant struggles to get down to a more desired physique; why the hell would I want to mimic being fat in escapist fantasy? My characters might be overweight, in that a five foot five inch person weighing 300 pounds with zero body fat is overweight but not over-fat. Mostly they range from wiry to brawny.

If I'm playing around with npcs then that goes out the window--there are corpulent npcs from time to time. But as a player, never.

[AMFV]

On fat adventurers - I'm just going to point out that there are games that aren't in a fantasy setting that still have adventurers. Driving a jeep around the wilderness doesn't exactly burn off a lot of fat, and that's without getting into space ships and the like.

True, and as we've mentioned there are certain types of fantasy adventurers who are likely to still be relatively bulky or even deliberately try to maintain a larger bulk than a person who wasn't attempting to would in their situation. I mean riding a horse probably burns some but not that much, and presumably knights would want some degree of bulk, vikings who have to do physical labor on a ship would probably want to be big enough to move things around rather than the reverse. (I mean if you look at people who do heavy labor on ships they tend to be larger rather than just skinny). And one side effect of eating to maintain bulk is that you tend to maintain some fat as well as the other kinds of bulk.

I mean even in the military you could compare the difference in physical shape between say an 11B or 0300 (Infantry) and a 13B or 0800. One of them largely hikes for long distances and the other one loads 200 lb munitions all day. There's a definite disparity there particularly when they've been doing those jobs for long enough. And you see the same probable disparity in adventurers.

I mean a wizard is likely to be thin if they're making lots of walking, but not bulky since they probably don't do as much physical labor and training as many of their counterparts. A cleric or fighter might be quite bulky because they need to be able to carry armor, and for carrying things being bigger helps, a lot. And barbarians would probably be massive from going to the gym at 4 AM to do bicep curls before Jessie "the Body" Ventura used the gym.



Some of us have that. Then there are those unfortunate people who don't live by the mountains. :smallamused:

You can still put on a 60-100 lb pack and hike for 30 miles, you'd definitely dump weight even on flat ground at a 30 mile hike. I mean 30 miles in a day isn't really tenable if you're hiking up rough terrain and mountains, I mean maybe if you're really pushing, but that would be really pushing.

[Max_Killjoy]

"Working bulk" has little to do with morbid obesity.

[Lacco]

Well a lot of it has to do with what kind of activity you're pursuing; the human body is incredibly good at adapting to different circumstances. Which is why you see a lot of different builds for people in different types of professions. I think that it would make sense to have adventurer's have builds that matched whatever particular sort of adventuring they were doing. And what exactly they were doing in their adventures.

So, thin & small thieves, burly fighters and frail mages are not only cliché, but make sense due to their "workouts"... huh.


Well I think that a knight type would probably be big even if they were fighting 2-3 times a day. And probably even if they had to walk. They'd have to be to lug that amount of armor around. So they would probably just eat enough calories to compensate for that. Since they were rich nobles that was definitely something that they would be able to manage. And also for some adventurers as well. So again you'd have to consider what their role in combat was.

But yes, hiking with full kit will cause rapid weight loss.

Yeah, most knights would go adventuring with a squire, few servants, maybe even men-at-arms I assume, and enjoy their meal in pavilion tent...

...at least once I'd love to have a player who buys the damn pavilion tent :smallbiggrin:


Hiking? We have that. If you really want to do that you could do one or two big hikes a week and you'd lose a ton, the problem is largely that it's time consuming, like that 2-5k calorie burning hike, that's an all day affair.

Yeah. Can't afford it with my current work/personal life schedule - but my colleagues are always bugging me to go with them.

But I meant including the goblin-fighting, dungeon delving and pavilion tents!


Some of us have that. Then there are those unfortunate people who don't live by the mountains. :smallamused:

/takes a look out of the window... hills, mountains, even a castle nearby.../

One less excuste not to do any hiking for me...

[Knaight]

You can still put on a 60-100 lb pack and hike for 30 miles, you'd definitely dump weight even on flat ground at a 30 mile hike. I mean 30 miles in a day isn't really tenable if you're hiking up rough terrain and mountains, I mean maybe if you're really pushing, but that would be really pushing.

I'm mostly just throwing shade at the inferior hiking trails flatlanders have access to, while living next to a mountain range.

[Jerrykhor]

No, I don't. I don't like fat people. Why would I want to be fat when I can be anything I want? Not to demean obese people, but I don't like them because being obese comes with many problems that affect other people.

For example, your character might have trouble going through doors and dungeon entrances, takes up 3 seats in a caravan meant for 6 people when you're in a party of 5 or 6, being too heavy for a Carpet of Flying or Broom of Flying to lift, having to pay for all the beds and chairs you broke.... Why are you a wizard when your body slam do more damage than your fireball? And we haven't even get to the fitness problems that obese people usually have, like joint pains, shortness of breath etc. Luckily you're a wizard so you can use magic to solve those problems, right?

I just can't see a standard adventuring party allowing a morbidly obese person to travel with them. Adventurers have standards too you know. A bit plump and rotund is fine, but obese? I think I'd rather not have them in the party.

[comicshorse]

On fat adventurers - I'm just going to point out that there are games that aren't in a fantasy setting that still have adventurers. Driving a jeep around the wilderness doesn't exactly burn off a lot of fat, and that's without getting into space ships and the like.


Indeed. I'm playing in a Serenity game where my P.C. is distinctly overweight because I had the image of a Falstaff-like trader, making deals over too many drinks and cigars ( and getting the best prices out of sozzled customers).
Fighting is handled by pistols (which don't require much effort)or by gesturing for the 6'5, bare knuckle boxer on the crew (which requires even less)

[Koo Rehtorb]

Do fat paladins gain access to Squash Evil?

[AMFV]

"Working bulk" has little to do with morbid obesity.

Well that depends on what you are defining as "morbid obesity" if you're using "Obese by BMI" then there are a LOT of people in certain fields that are in that category and it helps their work. And they certainly aren't just slabs of muscle from what I've seen. I mean take pile drivers, I've seen some big dudes who were pile drivers, and I would bet you a silk pajama that they would be at least "Obese 2" by BMI if not heavier. And they probably would be a body fat percentage in the thirties. And they have an extremely physical and extremely active job.

So again, it really depends how you define morbid obesity. It's also worth noting that people who are active tend not to show all of the same symptoms of obesity that people who are not show.


So, thin & small thieves, burly fighters and frail mages are not only cliché, but make sense due to their "workouts"... huh.


Not necessarily "due to their workouts", but rather due to "what kind of body type is naturally best at this". People tend to gravitate towards work they're good at, and I suspect adventuring is no exception. Although to be fair an Elven Wizard has a lot of time to workout (four hours of non-strenuous mental activity worth every day), which might explain Elven Gishes.



Yeah, most knights would go adventuring with a squire, few servants, maybe even men-at-arms I assume, and enjoy their meal in pavilion tent...

...at least once I'd love to have a player who buys the damn pavilion tent :smallbiggrin:


That sounds like an exciting adventure. I've wanted to do an adventure where the players were from various adventuring unions. And some of them probably require that their employer provides catering or food.



Yeah. Can't afford it with my current work/personal life schedule - but my colleagues are always bugging me to go with them.

Yeah, it is really time consuming.



But I meant including the goblin-fighting, dungeon delving and pavilion tents!

Well I guess you could do some hiking over flat terrain, some parkour (to simulate dungeons), and then pick a fight with a small dude in a bar, to simulate Goblin fighting.


I'm mostly just throwing shade at the inferior hiking trails flatlanders have access to, while living next to a mountain range.

Fair enough! Although there are some pretty nice hiking trails here on the East Coast and we're pretty bereft relatively in terms of "actual mountains" as compared to the west coast.


No, I don't. I don't like fat people. Why would I want to be fat when I can be anything I want? Not to demean obese people, but I don't like them because being obese comes with many problems that affect other people.

For example, your character might have trouble going through doors and dungeon entrances, takes up 3 seats in a caravan meant for 6 people when you're in a party of 5 or 6, being too heavy for a Carpet of Flying or Broom of Flying to lift, having to pay for all the beds and chairs you broke.... Why are you a wizard when your body slam do more damage than your fireball? And we haven't even get to the fitness problems that obese people usually have, like joint pains, shortness of breath etc. Luckily you're a wizard so you can use magic to solve those problems, right?

I just can't see a standard adventuring party allowing a morbidly obese person to travel with them. Adventurers have standards too you know. A bit plump and rotund is fine, but obese? I think I'd rather not have them in the party.

That depends, if Bobby the Heavy Fighter can lug an extra 100 lbs of **** with him, then he's already made himself pretty useful to the group regardless of his tendency to take up extra seats in a caravan. The same reason that Arty Cannoneers are sometimes given a little bit more slack on the taping in the military.

And again, just because you have a lot of fat doesn't mean you're not strong as an ox, that would be the sort of person who's likely to be a slightly overweight adventurer.

[Mr Blobby]

In RL history, it was actually a tactic for soldiers in some armies to start the campaign fat. Not disgustingly so, but definitely to be on the overfed side. The idea was their spare tyres and moobs would act as their 'energy reserve' in case they were unable to get enough food while in enemy territory. Plus; for battles fought in close combat with blades, an inch of padding in the gut area might be the difference between 'a flesh wound' and 'blade punctures your stomach and kills you'. So it is possible for a PC to be a 'veteran warrior' who takes any opportunity when 'not on campaign' to effectively fatten themselves up.

As a player, I've played large characters; either muscular, flabby or both. But nothing say 'John Candy' level. As a DM, I've done more, but NPC's don't really count much.

[Mr Beer]

People who train to get as strong as humanly possible tend to be fat, sometimes to the point where they might be morbidly obese. Powerlifters in the top weight category and strongmen often look squat and fat on a screen, at least until you see them next to normal people and you realise how huge they are. But they're usually carrying a lot of fat is my point - they need to eat enormous amounts of food and the flab doesn't really hinder performance so it makes sense.

[druid91]

I had a gnomish character who, due to the dice and a misunderstanding of the way height was handled in 5e, was morbidly thin.

He weighed like 20 lbs and was 5 feet tall. He was basically a skeleton with skin.

[Winter_Wolf]

@AMFV: no "actual mountains" on the east coast he says. Brother, I agree that the west coat has the higher mountains (and I'll even boast "better" because I like hiking the Brooks Range and possible getting mauled by a moose 'cause I'm crazy like that), but having had to spend a literal dark and stormy night in the Appalachians, they're "actual mountain" enough for me!

[GrayGriffin]

No, I don't. I don't like fat people. Why would I want to be fat when I can be anything I want? Not to demean obese people, but I don't like them because being obese comes with many problems that affect other people.

For example, your character might have trouble going through doors and dungeon entrances, takes up 3 seats in a caravan meant for 6 people when you're in a party of 5 or 6, being too heavy for a Carpet of Flying or Broom of Flying to lift, having to pay for all the beds and chairs you broke.... Why are you a wizard when your body slam do more damage than your fireball? And we haven't even get to the fitness problems that obese people usually have, like joint pains, shortness of breath etc. Luckily you're a wizard so you can use magic to solve those problems, right?

I just can't see a standard adventuring party allowing a morbidly obese person to travel with them. Adventurers have standards too you know. A bit plump and rotund is fine, but obese? I think I'd rather not have them in the party.

So you hate my dad, my grandmother, and my great-aunt, who you've never even met. Lovely.

I've made several chubby characters before, although I don't really use art so I'm not really sure where they fall on fat/obese.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

So you hate my dad, my grandmother, and my great-aunt, who you've never even met. Lovely.

I've made several chubby characters before, although I don't really use art so I'm not really sure where they fall on fat/obese.

in the context of an adventuring party on a critical and very dangerous mission. Being the kind of badass that handles that sort of stuff he wouldn't adventure with obese people just like he wouldn't form a party with people in a wheelchair, people who don't have enough valuable skills, people who don't bring the right equipment, who don't think fast enough, who start hyperventilating in stressful situations, who have severe hay fever, who are too dependent on medication for their continued functioning, who glow in the dark, who are too weak to properly swing a weapon, who charge in without discussing strategy, who seem to lose control every time a battle gets tough, who sing at enemies rather than attacking them or who keep killing important informants because they just happen to be chaotic neutral and are very proud of that. You know, the basic precautions we all take.

[Guizonde]

@AMFV: no "actual mountains" on the east coast he says. Brother, I agree that the west coat has the higher mountains (and I'll even boast "better" because I like hiking the Brooks Range and possible getting mauled by a moose 'cause I'm crazy like that), but having had to spend a literal dark and stormy night in the Appalachians, they're "actual mountain" enough for me!

if it comforts you, i live an hour's drive away from the pyrénées mountains. i spent a few summers in the appalachians and both ranges feel very similar (i lived in virginia, and headed west for hikes, skiing, and skeet shooting from age 9 up. love the states). sure, it's not the alps or the rockies, but both the appalachians and the pyrénées are real enough mountains. a dead slog across valleys will get you tired fast. plus you gotta deal with the terrain that is humid on my side (the north face of the range). once you hit the top of the valley, either in a cirque or a caldera, you get the sense you're on top of the world, even if you're only about 2,600m up. its high point is 3,400m at the pic d'aneto, but you can't go there and back again in a day-trip. it's a complicated hike due to all the woodlands and rivers. a big plus is that most waterways are perfectly safe to drink, although i prefer drinking "rock water", basically how you get evian water: purified through the ground and escaping from cleaved rocks. i'm a snob like that. (read: i'm too poor to afford water tablets, and too lazy to pack more than a couple liters of water).

here are the wiki pages in french and english for the associated pictures. i mostly go to the arriège parts of the mountain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrenees
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrénées

[GrayGriffin]

in the context of an adventuring party on a critical and very dangerous mission. Being the kind of badass that handles that sort of stuff he wouldn't adventure with obese people just like he wouldn't form a party with people in a wheelchair, people who don't have enough valuable skills, people who don't bring the right equipment, who don't think fast enough, who start hyperventilating in stressful situations, who have severe hay fever, who are too dependent on medication for their continued functioning, who glow in the dark, who are too weak to properly swing a weapon, who charge in without discussing strategy, who seem to lose control every time a battle gets tough, who sing at enemies rather than attacking them or who keep killing important informants because they just happen to be chaotic neutral and are very proud of that. You know, the basic precautions we all take.

The very first line I quoted says "I don't like fat people." Not "I don't like fat characters," not "I don't want to adventure with fat people," just plain "I don't like fat people." So don't you dare talk to me about context. Or suggest that people in wheelchairs or who have panic attacks can't be badass. I've made plenty of disabled characters and they've been terrific help to their parties instead of the detriments you seem to think they automatically will be.

[Jerrykhor]

That depends, if Bobby the Heavy Fighter can lug an extra 100 lbs of **** with him, then he's already made himself pretty useful to the group regardless of his tendency to take up extra seats in a caravan. The same reason that Arty Cannoneers are sometimes given a little bit more slack on the taping in the military.

And again, just because you have a lot of fat doesn't mean you're not strong as an ox, that would be the sort of person who's likely to be a slightly overweight adventurer.

So Bobby is a pack mule for the team, how useful. In any case, nothing a Bag of Holding can't solve.

I don't think you can argue like that. More likely, being fat doesnt mean you are strong, especially for women. Not only that, being fat is a very inefficient use of energy, when most of it is spent moving your own weight around.

I probably feel quite strongly about this, but playing a morbidly obese character is quite selfish. Its not that you cannot RP whoever you want, but if I were to RP my character properly, my character would not have you in the party.

I don't hate obese people, I just think its illogical that they would be in party when they are totally unfit for the job. Its the same logic with most sports that require high athleticism. When you are 400 pounds and look like a mountain of fat, you don't need a tryout to know that this guy can't make it.

If your fellow players and DM don't mind having their immersion shattered in a million pieces, then sure, go ahead.

[Mr Beer]

"Fat characters ruin immersion" must be the most extreme case of badwrongfun I've seen to date. Not to mention that almost all of the real world strongest humans are visibly carrying excess fat and some are obese.

[Knaight]

Fair enough! Although there are some pretty nice hiking trails here on the East Coast and we're pretty bereft relatively in terms of "actual mountains" as compared to the west coast.

Neither of the coasts are particularly mountainous - although I say that as someone who lives by the Rockies, next to a bunch of 14000'+ mountains.

[AMFV]

So Bobby is a pack mule for the team, how useful. In any case, nothing a Bag of Holding can't solve.

Well Bobby can also wear heavier armor, move a ****load faster in said heavier armor, and hit like a truck. I mean there's a reason that you don't see skinny guys doing the work with a sledge most of the time in construction jobs. I mean there are definite advantages to being larger for a lot of things. Look at when (I believe the BBC) did a reconstruction on a medieval Knight's physical shape from his bones and he came out looking like a Rugby player.



I don't think you can argue like that. More likely, being fat doesnt mean you are strong, especially for women. Not only that, being fat is a very inefficient use of energy, when most of it is spent moving your own weight around.

Yes, but being bigger means that you have much greater potential for strength. For example 105 lb (48 Kg) women's record for the Olympic Snatch is 216 lbs (or 98 kg). Women's record for the 238+ (108+ kg) class is 452 lgs (205 kg). So that's more than double the amount of weight moved for that size increase.

Now admittedly Oly Lifting is one where weight helps a lot, since there's a lot of momentum, so let's take a look at some other lifting competitions.

The world record for the USAPL women's deadlift for the 97 lb weight class is 209.44 lbs. For the Superheavyweight (250+ weight class) that same lift is 551.15 lbs. The deadlift is often considered the clearest demonstration of pure physical strength because it involves so many different muscle groups.

In any case, you can see that even for women, being larger gives a LOT more potential strength, like a ton more. And more potential strength in explosive Olympic Lifts translates to... hitting things harder. Which if your job involves fighting Ogres it might actually be really handy to have somebody who can hit like a brick ****house, just sayin'.



I probably feel quite strongly about this, but playing a morbidly obese character is quite selfish. Its not that you cannot RP whoever you want, but if I were to RP my character properly, my character would not have you in the party.


Until I hit you in the head, then the party would probably take me over you. I'm in the National Guard, in a Combat Arms unit, training for actual freaking combat. My BMI is 38.3. My all time highest BMI was 43.3. I guarantee I could probably outperform you at combat related tasks. Actually scratch that, I definitely could. Now, I might not have the best build for running or doing well on the two mile, but I sure as all-get out make up for it in other areas.



I don't hate obese people, I just think its illogical that they would be in party when they are totally unfit for the job. Its the same logic with most sports that require high athleticism. When you are 400 pounds and look like a mountain of fat, you don't need a tryout to know that this guy can't make it.


Enclosed is a picture of at least one guy who is (significantly over) 400 lbs, and a few others who might not look quite as big, but they illustrate a similar point. In fact I would say that in terms of replicating medieval combat type stuff WSM is probably one of the best sorts of competitions, and Eddie just won that, so I think he's probably a pretty good indicator of what sort of thing you might see for that.

http://www2.cdn.sherdog.com/_images/pictures/20130111034123_IMG_0174.JPG
http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article10519394.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/MAIN-Eddie-Hall-of-UK-wins-worlds-strongest-man-competition.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/d8/1a/e6d81adbabdb1c8cb7c9fb61f8d0d853.jpg
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjb9OmdxvPUAhVLcj4KHTl5C38QjBwIBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportivnypress.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F12%2F1051.jpg&psig=AFQjCNGx2OokG_7VmSyvJvjazs9Vd001Vw&ust=1499392413719166





If your fellow players and DM don't mind having their immersion shattered in a million pieces, then sure, go ahead.

Again, there's a lot of different types of jobs for adventurers. And sometimes being the guy who can hit things hard is what people need.


Neither of the coasts are particularly mountainous - although I say that as someone who lives by the Rockies, next to a bunch of 14000'+ mountains.

I count the Cascades, Sierra Nevadas, and the Rockies as part of the "Coast" because they're within like an hour's driving distance from it. (Depending on which section you're looking at and which roads, and a few of them are further out.

[Knaight]

Enclosed is a picture of at least one guy who is (significantly over) 400 lbs, and a few others who might not look quite as big, but they illustrate a similar point. In fact I would say that in terms of replicating medieval combat type stuff WSM is probably one of the best sorts of competitions, and Eddie just won that, so I think he's probably a pretty good indicator of what sort of thing you might see for that.
WSM is a pretty terrible competition for this - it's pretty much a measurement of pure strength, whereas medieval combat type stuff involves a fair amount of dodging, positioning, endurance, etc. WFC is a significantly closer match (and there are certainly heavy fighters in the WFC).


I count the Cascades, Sierra Nevadas, and the Rockies as part of the "Coast" because they're within like an hour's driving distance from it. (Depending on which section you're looking at and which roads, and a few of them are further out.

The rockies have a section that runs through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. These are not coastal states, and the coast is less of a one hour drive and more of a 15 hour drive from these places.

[AMFV]

WSM is a pretty terrible competition for this - it's pretty much a measurement of pure strength, whereas medieval combat type stuff involves a fair amount of dodging, positioning, endurance, etc. WFC is a significantly closer match (and there are certainly heavy fighters in the WFC).


Honestly you sound pretty unfamiliar with WSM if you think it's a measure of pure strength over endurance. There are plenty of endurance events. I mean you might not be looking at 12 rounds of boxing level of endurance. But real world fights tend to be explosive short bursts over long endurance things. I mean you could make that objection to like powerlifting or some of the static events.

I mean frankly throwing things, carrying huge weights, slamming things into things or the ground. Rapid sprinting type actions, that sounds a lot like combat to me. And of note, when the Marines developed their combat fitness test to better replicate combat, it included mostly very short very intense activities, which are like a lot of the events in WSM.

Like I mean, you could argue that a squat or a deadlift for max weight is probably not the best representation. But Loglift for time and reps, that's pretty close. Atlas Stones, that's pretty close, hell that's even what medieval fighters used to demonstrate their prowess is that particular feat, so that one seems to be pretty reasonable. Farmer's Walk, again that would replicate a lot of real type scenarios. Tire flips and drags.

I mean positioning and endurance are certainly major factors in WSM. I mean maybe not as much as combat sports, but I think that the chaotic different events they have are a pretty good representation of the kind of strength and fitness you would need to excel in that sort of combat.



The rockies have a section that runs through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. These are not coastal states, and the coast is less of a one hour drive and more of a 15 hour drive from these places.

True, my frame of reference is mostly living in Washington and being able to drive to actual mountains in that short span. Which you would have to drive a lot longer from my present location to reach.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

don't you dare talk to me about context. Or suggest that people in wheelchairs or who have panic attacks can't be badass. I've made plenty of disabled characters and they've been terrific help to their parties instead of the detriments you seem to think they automatically will be.

Please read that list again and note how it includes descriptions that boil down to "a bard", "a barbarian" and even "a PC". Now turn on your sarcasm detector. Thanks, good to have that cleared up.

[John Campbell]

WSM is a pretty terrible competition for this - it's pretty much a measurement of pure strength, whereas medieval combat type stuff involves a fair amount of dodging, positioning, endurance, etc. WFC is a significantly closer match (and there are certainly heavy fighters in the WFC).

I've been an SCA heavy fighter for 22 years. My BMI is 32, which is well into "obese". I don't know my body-fat percentage offhand, but I don't float in fresh water. I'm carrying a lot of dense fast-twitch muscle, and am built on a fairly tall and very broad-shouldered frame, none of which BMI deals at all well with. I'm heavier than I look, deceptively strong, and way faster than a guy my size has any right to be. I can sprint across a battlefield in forty pounds of steel armor and cut a hole in a shieldwall when I get there, dance with a group of attackers to get them tied in knots and stacked up in each other's way so I can kill them one at a time, or toss an armored fighter with my polearm to get them out at the range where I want them. But, yeah, "obese".

(BMI is a terrible, terrible metric.)


Also, I've actually played two characters recently who glowed in the dark.

One of them, as he weighed in at all of three pounds, was also too small and weak to properly wield a weapon. He was the most combat-effective PC in the party. Pixie rigger.

The other was only slightly more useful in a hand-to-hand fight... but was the party's contingency plan in case we had to fight Kryptonians.

My current character is an eight-year-old girl, who intimidates the rest of the party, including the ten-foot-tall, half-ton, cybernetically-enhanced troll gunbunny.

[Zombimode]

My newest Pathfinder character is modeled after Letho from Witcher2. If he counts as "fat" is up to you.

[kraftcheese]

My newest Pathfinder character is modeled after Letho from Witcher2. If he counts as "fat" is up to you.
Letho's definitely thick at the least; he's a real beefcake.

[Guizonde]

just remembered i did dm for a hulk of a beatstick. the guy was huge by any standards, a real giant in the post-apocalyptic universe in question. he was not fat at all, just a huge slab of muscle (the player modeled him after 80's action stars). so off the bat he's weighing in at 230lbs. then he gets his arm chopped off. so he gets a bionic replacement, adding another 100lbs of weight. seeing how his bionic arm outperformed his natural one, he got convinced by the party to get his natural arm "augmented" as well. by the end of the campaign he was half-machine, and came out weighing in the range of 450lbs. full kit (powered armor, pavise shield made from a blast door, power maul, the works), he was close to a ton in weight. he was also friggin' large. the rest of the team was pretty lithe, except for the doctor who was flabby (eating disorder, before you ask). it became a real hassle for the beatstick to move in confined areas or to move quickly. we ended up considering him a light vehicle for movement and area denial purposes. that meant he had a lot of trouble falling through weak floors, weaving through conduits, he was confined to walking in the middle of hallways. with that much armor on him, it didn't matter much, since he wanted to be the bullet-magnet. but it did teach us a valuable lesson about mobility and agility.

it also taught us that having a near-litteral afv as a pc was a bit on the "overkill game-breaking" side of things. on at least two occasions, the tech-savvy character rode the beatstick into battle firing off a laser canon mounted on the beatstick's shoulders, krootox style. those encounters didn't last long but were a lot of fun.

all in all, he was not fat, but he was huge and strong, enough to become an impediment in gameplay.

this universe does have game-breaker levels of technology, but we'd never played like this before. most pc's learn to duck and hide rather than wear truly heavy armor, so this player threw me a curveball. a fun experience, nevertheless. it just meant i had to break out anti-tank weaponry to put a dent in him, or force him to react to cornellian choices to keep the pressure on (destroy the bad guy or save the unconscious teammate, things like that).

[Ralanr]

I'm playing a chubby half-orc bloodrager in play by post game.

He used to be a baker and loves sweets.

[GrayGriffin]

Please read that list again and note how it includes descriptions that boil down to "a bard", "a barbarian" and even "a PC". Now turn on your sarcasm detector. Thanks, good to have that cleared up.

Oh, forgive me for assuming the person who wrote exactly like a bunch of ableist jerks I know is actually not being ableist after all.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I tend to be a little more loose and blunt with a lot of subjects then some people, I figure it's no use trying desperately to not say anything that can be taken the wrong way.

If it makes you feel any better, my extreme sports RPG is totally going to have a category for wheelchairs. (Provided the concept ever goes somewhere.) Can't have a good skatepark without (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUUVfPy0UgI) them (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuBzShOFew).

(But seriously dude, stop glowing in the dark, they will see us!)

[John Campbell]

(But seriously dude, stop glowing in the dark, they will see us!)
And then they will know fear.


Oh, and I've been planning on introducing a morbidly obese speedster (called Greased Lightning) in the DC campaign I'm running. Speed Force doesn't care how fat you are!

[Psikerlord]

For example, your character might have trouble going through doors and dungeon entrances, takes up 3 seats in a caravan meant for 6 people when you're in a party of 5 or 6, being too heavy for a Carpet of Flying or Broom of Flying to lift, having to pay for all the beds and chairs you broke.... Why are you a wizard when your body slam do more damage than your fireball? And we haven't even get to the fitness problems that obese people usually have, like joint pains, shortness of breath etc.

This is actually all gold, roleplaying wise. I love that my sumo barb doesnt fit into normal chairs and has to squeeze his bulk through narrow doors. It's part of what makes him cool and different. People remember him wherever he goes (a good and bad thing, depending on your current objectives). Discarding the concept out of hand is a mistake imo.

[Fey]

No, I don't. I don't like fat people. Why would I want to be fat when I can be anything I want? Not to demean obese people, but I don't like them because being obese comes with many problems that affect other people.

For example, your character might have trouble going through doors and dungeon entrances, takes up 3 seats in a caravan meant for 6 people when you're in a party of 5 or 6, being too heavy for a Carpet of Flying or Broom of Flying to lift, having to pay for all the beds and chairs you broke.... Why are you a wizard when your body slam do more damage than your fireball? And we haven't even get to the fitness problems that obese people usually have, like joint pains, shortness of breath etc. Luckily you're a wizard so you can use magic to solve those problems, right?

I just can't see a standard adventuring party allowing a morbidly obese person to travel with them. Adventurers have standards too you know. A bit plump and rotund is fine, but obese? I think I'd rather not have them in the party.

Your comments are disgusting and offensive and you should be ashamed of yourself.

[CrackedChair]

This is actually all gold, roleplaying wise. I love that my sumo barb doesnt fit into normal chairs and has to squeeze his bulk through narrow doors. It's part of what makes him cool and different. People remember him wherever he goes (a good and bad thing, depending on your current objectives). Discarding the concept out of hand is a mistake imo.

True, True! Nobody is going to remember the Half-Orc fighter, but the 400+lbs Elf Wizard? Sure!

It's just since I've always been tiny, weight wise, I don't know what it is like to be severely obese like that. Being out of breath and not quite fitting doors is one thing I know would come alone, but other issues I am not sure about.

[Recherché]

True, True! Nobody is going to remember the Half-Orc fighter, but the 400+lbs Elf Wizard? Sure!

It's just since I've always been tiny, weight wise, I don't know what it is like to be severely obese like that. Being out of breath and not quite fitting doors is one thing I know would come alone, but other issues I am not sure about.

I dunno my most memorable characters have all been for something they did not a physical characteristic. For example the witch who collected the bones of her dead enemies and made jewelry out of them or the pacifist cleric that negotiated a cease fire with goblins. Acting out physical characteristics in tabletop games can be hard. Bringing to life actions and character quirks comes much more naturally.


No, I don't. I don't like fat people. Why would I want to be fat when I can be anything I want? Not to demean obese people, but I don't like them because being obese comes with many problems that affect other people.

It's good to know that my physical characteristics don't meet your seal of approval. I'll try to make sure never to repulse you with my presence.

[Mr Blobby]

It's all about perspective. A John Candy - sized Fighter may be simply too unfit [or at least appear to be] for a classic D&D adventure, but what about if he's a highly skilled Wizard who's general slowness and tendency to eat all the supplies is more than offset at the sheer power of his ranged attacks, protective spells and knowledge of the occult? These are the things that 'pay his way' in the adventure, like you put up with the thief's rather weedy direct combat skills 'cos they're vital when you're in that obligatory dungeon full of traps.

The time period also matters. Play in any game set in 1900 onwards being seriously overweight is not only easier to live with, but also more common. 'You're waay too lardy to cover 20 miles daily' becomes a much less of an issue when Lardy can reply 'that is why I own a car, mate'. Being too physically weak to survive in a melee battle isn't half as an issue when Lardy can bring a gun. Simply think how much easier it's become for someone in a wheelchair to live today than a century ago, for example.

Lastly, 'the Everyman factor'. I don't really like to play the snowflake hero; I much prefer everyday folk pitched into things they don't understand. In a modern-ish setting like Cthulhu, World of Darkness that person may be seriously over the hill, disabled and yes, overweight to the point of obesity. You can even have fun with this at times; like playing a fat old hag who's actually a vampire with enough power to punch people through walls...

[Guizonde]

Lastly, 'the Everyman factor'. I don't really like to play the snowflake hero; I much prefer everyday folk pitched into things they don't understand. In a modern-ish setting like Cthulhu, World of Darkness that person may be seriously over the hill, disabled and yes, overweight to the point of obesity. You can even have fun with this at times; like playing a fat old hag who's actually a vampire with enough power to punch people through walls...

this is precisely the reason a lot of times we choose to play "everyman physique" characters: a malnourished junkie, a beefy security guard, a portly medic, a gangly teenager... it feels more "real" instead of being "everyone is beautiful and awesome". whfrp2 even has a table to roll for a distinct feature. it can be a missing nail, crooked teeth, mismatched eyes, odd piercings, or tatoos. we kept that table because having a ruddy-faced priest was too funny to pass up, then came the "curse" of the medic. we have never rolled anything but a nose ring for the designated medic, to the point that it's become mandatory in our universe to wear one as a sign that they heal people.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

In Rolemaster, many spells use the caster's body mass as a measuring unit, so its beneficial to be an enormous mage.

[legomaster00156]

My characters tend to fall into the category of "adventuring is too strenuous to develop a whole lot of body fat".

[John Campbell]

On a related note, I'm making a Pathfinder character, and, on the random height/weight table, rolled that she's 134 pounds... at 4'9". BMI (for what it's worth) of 29 - overweight, just a hair under "obese". For a race that's described as "tall and slender".

I rolled near max for the height, too. I think there's something wrong with the table...

Or maybe the description was written by a dwarf.

[Sir Chuckles]

I have a 3.5 character in my back pocket that I have gotten the opportunity to play for about two PbP posts before the game died.

It was a Halfling Barbarian, using the Substitution Levels for that combination found in Dragon. Combine that with the Obese Flaw from Dragon (double base weight and lose several of the Small size bonuses) with Deformity (Obese) to triple the weight and you end up with an extremely fat Halfling with a decently functional Intimidate.

I wrote him as a former mercenary captain who found himself somewhere between the top and bottom of a tankard and eventually ate through his savings.

[Max_Killjoy]

On a related note, I'm making a Pathfinder character, and, on the random height/weight table, rolled that she's 134 pounds... at 4'9". BMI (for what it's worth) of 29 - overweight, just a hair under "obese". For a race that's described as "tall and slender".

I rolled near max for the height, too. I think there's something wrong with the table...

Or maybe the description was written by a dwarf.

My suggestion -- ignore the damn table and make that decision about the character based on how you picture the character.

[LibraryOgre]

In Rolemaster, many spells use the caster's body mass as a measuring unit, so its beneficial to be an enormous mage.

In Villains and Vigilantes, your HP, Carrying capacity, and all sorts of other things are dependent partially on your weight.

[John Campbell]

My suggestion -- ignore the damn table and make that decision about the character based on how you picture the character.

Two problems with that:

Firstly, I'm bad at judging reasonable weights, especially for women, largely because I'm myself male and have, as mentioned above, an atypical build - densely muscled and unusually broad-shouldered. Basing a character's stats on what I know might be appropriate for a front-line beatstick, but not so much for the weedy wizard or the hacker for whom strenuous exercise is walking to the fridge to get another can of Mountain Dew. Especially if they're female. And I've found reasonable guidelines as to what people of different builds actually weigh to be hard to come by. Especially for women.

Secondly, a lot of characters, especially in fantasy games, aren't human. Those tables are our guidelines for what things that don't exist in the real world are like - and getting everyone in the group on the same page about that. Are elves in this world taller or shorter than humans? It can vary, and the art is often not good at conveying the differences. Check the table! Using fuzzy "picturing the character" methods might result in bringing a Shadowrun elf into an AD&D world, and having everyone ask you if you're a basketball player all the time.

In this case, the character in question is a) female (all-female race), b) an arcane caster with below-average strength, and c) not quite human. So all I've got to go on is the race description and the table, and they don't match... race described as "tall and slender", table produces height numbers in the 4'4"-4'10" range, with weights that are kind of fat at that height.

I ended up adding a foot to the base height, which makes them average to tall for female humans, and leaving the weight alone, which is possibly too thin now.

[Recherché]

If you're going for someone who's not athletic BMI isn't the worst reference in the world. For someone kind of weedy from a race that tends towards slender for their height I'd go with something in the bmi range 17-20. It'd be about the same build as most American celebrities and slightly heavier than most supermodels.

[AMFV]

Two problems with that:

Secondly, a lot of characters, especially in fantasy games, aren't human. Those tables are our guidelines for what things that don't exist in the real world are like - and getting everyone in the group on the same page about that. Are elves in this world taller or shorter than humans? It can vary, and the art is often not good at conveying the differences. Check the table! Using fuzzy "picturing the character" methods might result in bringing a Shadowrun elf into an AD&D world, and having everyone ask you if you're a basketball player all the time.

It's worth noting that different races may have very different compositions which can affect weight substantially. There are plenty of examples of animals of similar sizes that do not possess similar weight. So I would argue that there's no reason to suspect that human weightings would apply to say Elves in a particular setting. We also don't have much discussion in fantasy regarding weight, so there's a reasonable degree of options there.

[kraftcheese]

I made a half-orc Oghma cleric called Durak Blackhand; he was kind of chubby since he hung around libraries copying manuscripts (in ink; hence the black hand) all day.

[Roderick_BR]

I've done characters in a variety of body types, including fat, yes. In D&D 3.5 you could use traits and flaws (stout and overweight respectively). Makes for interesting roleplay prompts (and adventuring prompts, just like my skinny and feeble gnome wizard that cant pass any athletics check).

[Guizonde]

It's worth noting that different races may have very different compositions which can affect weight substantially. There are plenty of examples of animals of similar sizes that do not possess similar weight. So I would argue that there's no reason to suspect that human weightings would apply to say Elves in a particular setting. We also don't have much discussion in fantasy regarding weight, so there's a reasonable degree of options there.

i used to play a chameleon skink in a party of a wood elf butt-monkey, a brawny irate human fisherman, and an ogre surgeon. weight of the party differed from 35lbs to 550lbs... all were in the "average weight category".


warhammer rp, gotta love it.

[Yanecky]

One of my most beloved PCs was a fat scorpion courtier in a L5R 4ed. He was immensely fun to roleplay. He couldn't fight (or run ;) and stairs were his biggest enemy, but when he spoke... ;)

[goto124]

Despite the context given, I cannot imagine anything other than a literal fat scorpion.

[Ashes]

One of the players in my Deadlands campaign is Obese, as per the hindrance.
He has a lower pace than the rest, and has caused the posse problems several times, when he had to jump a pit and when they had to pull him out of said pit, after he failed to cross it.

He's a rifleman and he rides a small carriage rather than a horse.
He also spends a lot of money on whisky and jerky.

[Mastikator]

Despite the context given, I cannot imagine anything other than a literal fat scorpion.

...Is that even physically possible?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

My Pathfinder character for a Rise of the Runelords campaign I'm in, Eostre Roldheim, is a fat dwarf girl who practices wizardry and studies archaeology. In addition to being new to the adventuring lifestyle, meaning she was pretty sedentary for much of her life, she is a greedy young woman, appreciating the fine things in life like good food and jewelry.

Another character I have is Wymond Dwerryhouse, a human farm-boy turned paladin with a sizeable gut that hides his six-pack. He's a paladin of the god of farming and hunting, and his animal companion is a wise pig (that's actually his guardian angel in disguise). He's got what TV Tropes likes to call "Stout Strength," since he enjoys cooking for family and friends when he's not smiting evil with his hefty bardiche.

[hamishspence]

...Is that even physically possible?

Well, there's a fat-tailed scorpion ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fattail_scorpion

And the Emperor Scorpion has extremely chunky claws:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_scorpion

It's not too hard to imagine a scorpion that bulges everywhere, even if realistically they'd only have one part of their body be fat, depending on their speciality - stinging or clawing.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

♪My mother-in-law is a scorpion, I said she was fat, she paralyzed my legs!♫ :smalltongue:

[Coidzor]

I had one fat character once, because it was part of his conceptualization as an academic who had no business out adventuring in the first place.

[Jormengand]

One of my characters was a fat anthrotoad who had to be carried everywhere, mainly because I felt like playing a Slann Mage-Priest in D&D.

[Shamash]

Do video games count?

If so, yes:

http://68.media.tumblr.com/ff4333e06ed019a9099ec620bd17efe8/tumblr_inline_nv3sxu8tHO1ru0qho_500.jpg

https://web2.hirez.com/smite//wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1993c.jpg

[Velaryon]

I once played a wizard in 3.5 who was physically modeled on Jon Lovitz who, while not obese, is not exactly the image that comes to mind when one thinks of a typical adventurer.

The idea was for my character to look like (and be able to pass himself off as) a regular everyman, maybe a scholar. Until you saw the fireball leap from his hand, you would have no idea he was capable of casting so much as a cantrip. At least, that was the idea.

I was playing with a DM known to put players in difficult positions where they didn't have access to their resources (fighters captured and separated from gear, wizards getting their spellbooks or components taken, or bound and gagged so that they couldn't use any verbal or somatic gestures). So I wanted a character that could always cast something. He had Still Spell, Silent Spell, Eschew Materials, and was just picking up Spell Mastery when the game ended suddently thanks to school pressures.

Naturally, I ended up with a cursed Staff of the Magi that started draining and corrupting me whenever I used it. It turned me pale, changed my eye color, caused me to become skeletally thin... I imagine it would have turned me into a lich or something if I'd held onto it long enough.

[daniel_ream]

I had one fat character once, because it was part of his conceptualization as an academic who had no business out adventuring in the first place.

My current Monster of the Week character (the Expert) is a fifty-ish academic occult librarian who is short, rotund and bespectacled. His natural inclination any time a fight breaks out is to huff and puff his way behind the nearest large, heavy and immobile object and stay there.

It's pure niche protection. MotW doesn't do a good job at that, so despite the fact that by the numbers he's only slightly less good at Kicking Some Ass than the party's Wronged, I play him as largely useless in a fight to clear the field for the players who aren't.

[shadowkat678]

One word: Sumo.

But really. There's some pretty freaking good athletes who are overweight. I will say there's something about creating overweight characters as jokes that really irks me, though. Especially when they make their personality ****ty, because that's a stereotype that's used a lot.


Same with mental illnesses and disabilities. I used to be overweight due to lack of food options, a inability to cook myself, and having both parental figures in positions they regularly couldn't take care of me. I know people who have obesity that diet and exercise more than most people I know. Just seems really messed up. If it were my campaign and the player was doing this solely as a joke I'd flat out tell a player no.

[Tinkerer]

One word: Sumo.

But really. There's some pretty freaking good athletes who are overweight. I will say there's something about creating overweight characters as jokes that really irks me, though. Especially when they make their personality ****ty, because that's a stereotype that's used a lot.


Same with mental illnesses and disabilities. I used to be overweight due to lack of food options, a inability to cook myself, and having both parental figures in positions they regularly couldn't take care of me. I know people who have obesity that diet and exercise more than most people I know. Just seems really messed up. If it were my campaign and the player was doing this solely as a joke I'd flat out tell a player no.

I don't know if I'd say no but yeah it pisses me off as well. One of my friends is overweight enough that she counts as obese but she runs regular marathons, engages in gymnastics (starting to lose the ability to do that due to joint wear), and eats healthier than anyone I know. Also has a demanding job which necessitates moving at high speed for 10-12 hours at a stretch. It's kinda funny people saying that overweight characters have no place adventuring and are immersion breaking when I've seen so many people play twigs that they expect us to believe are operating at peak levels of strength.

[shadowkat678]

I don't know if I'd say no but yeah it pisses me off as well. One of my friends is overweight enough that she counts as obese but she runs regular marathons, engages in gymnastics (starting to lose the ability to do that due to joint wear), and eats healthier than anyone I know. Also has a demanding job which necessitates moving at high speed for 10-12 hours at a stretch. It's kinda funny people saying that overweight characters have no place adventuring and are immersion breaking when I've seen so many people play twigs that they expect us to believe are operating at peak levels of strength.

Exactly! That's what I think!

[Mikemical]

How fitting it is really depends on the setting.

People who walk a lot, lug around a lot of gear, have to climb obstacles or pits, get into fights, often eat what they can catch, etc, tend to not be morbidly obese.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejiwyTOGmgk

I once made a half-orc monk exactly like that. Though to be fair, it's not like monks carry a lot of gear.

[Cealocanth]

I had a player play a very obese, bubbly and happy priest of the god of mead, named Un. He had a thick Swedish accent and his god allowed him to summon food and drink on a whim. The character was a lot of fun to play with. His familiar was an extremely fat bee named Bumbo. When the priest was given the option to tell the story of the party's latest exploits, the hero of the story was Bumbo the Brave.