Character Sheets: Footwear

Le suilon.

Some people interviewing candidates for jobs will judge by the shoes a person wears. Well, I can't speak for what criteria they use, neither do I advocate it being the only criteria, but it isn't altogether a bad idea. Some shoes are just impractical and illogical.

Ninjas don't wear tap shoes, for example.

In role playing, a character's footwear doesn't have to be explicitly mentioned in the character sheet, but it should be given at least a thought. Different types of footwear are more suited to different activities and fit in to different cultures.

My major inspiration for this post was actually a common poor choice in more... artistic mediums (photography, sketches, etc.). A somewhat common occurrence I see in female adventurer art is that they wear high heeled shoes or boots (as though it cancels out the insanity that way).

High heels were worn by both genders throughout history - to boost their height as a show of status, most often. During one historical period, they were used to help in horse riding. So, I can't logically tell you that no character should ever wear high heels.

HOWEVER, adventurers should not wear high heels. Just a little research shows that they're not the best for athletic endeavors - and that they're not really very healthy, long-term, at all.

Just take a look at this diagram.

Now, I could rant about how high heels are bad, for the rest of this entry, but I won't. Instead, I'll suggest looking at the footwear of people who do manual labor and different shoes worn by different kinds of athletes. This helps explain what manner of footwear is best for what activity.

Practicality is the main concern, of course, but remember that historical and cultural context also counts. Would a peasant in a European or European-inspired culture wear geta, for example? It is not very likely.

Shoes don't make the man, but different shoes do have their purposes and this should be taken into consideration. It can make your character more authentic and less likely to break her ankle running from that band of orcs your DM may set against you.

Namárië.