I like the picture Tuco offered up as a good alternative and I equally dislike the datamined pink heavy armour.
However, I am not against a fantasy game such as D&D being a little more well, fancyful
Fanciful is fine. "Fanciful and cool" is precisely what most of us would prefer, I guess.
The problem is how you achieve that.
This is an(other) example of an armor that I would describe as fanciful: its design is filled with small decorations, minute details, little things that make it feel "used", "lived in". Something someone is actually wearing.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/e298AI2.jpg)
There's leather, clothing, utilities hanging from belts, etc.
Conversely you have a leather armor in Dragon Age Origin and it seems like and it looks like someone stitched together a leather carpet around your character with a stapler.
Or crap like this one:
https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dwarven_Medium_armor_set?file=Dwarven_Medium_armor_set.pngWho the hell did ever wear anything like this?
It looks like someone tried to bum-salvage an improvised Ironman suit out of a dismissed gas oven.
