I'm usually for a more realistic take on things, but there is a point when you do have to just let that go.
If we want to start making things really realistic, Lae'zel should be, with Strength 17/18 (because I usually buff her at level 4 to 18), a very buff, body-builder person with muscles like Arnold Schwartzenegger when he first played Conan the Barbarian. With AC 18, she should be practically covered head to toe in plate metal with helmet, gauntlets, no exposed skin, metal boots, etc. I don't care if it's half plate. Realistically, half plate would be fastened to some other type of armor like leather or chain, and there wouldn't be much exposed skin at all because AC 18 should represent a rather full coverage defense.
So, your characters, if properly and realistically portrayed, should look more like medieval foot soldiers or knights. And, frankly, they would be FAR superior to rogues with their leather. I don't care how fast a rogue is, if they get hit by a two-handed sword, even a grazing blow is serious. A two-handed sword would cut through leather easily. A flail landing anywhere on a person's body, whether chainmail or leather, is going to really hurt. Even if the spikes don't penetrate, the shear weight and force of the blow would be brutal to anyone not wearing plate.
What I'm getting at is that this is fantasy, and fantasy is meant to inspire and be unbelievable. That's why it's fun. Some semblance of reality grounds fantasy and allows you to connect with it. Too much reality and it becomes no fun.
I used to think I wanted a fantasy game that was very realistic. Give me swords and shields and such that chip and dent and break and you have to keep buying new ones and so forth. Give me a game with real life food requirements and cooking mechanics and so forth.
Then I played a game that literally did that. I hated it. It was boring and uninspiring, and my characters looked stupid. I didn't even complete it.
So let's not get bogged down with that much realism. I like Lae'zel's look. They have made her sufficiently athletic looking and tough looking. Especially when she's bloody or covered in filth, she looks really tough. She is alien enough that she's unattractive to many, but she's human enough for people to relate to her and see her as something besides a monster.
I'd rather not have the characters looking like their stats. Gale or Wyll looking like weak, scrawny mage or warlock because their Strength is low is not appealing in the slightest. Someone covered head to toe in plate armor because their AC is 18 or higher is also not appealing. The game needs to be artistic, not so much realistic, or it will not have enough eye-candy to draw the crowds.
