That's true. We also should consider that the weapons, armour, fighting styles in the game are pretty wild mix, borrowed from different centuries.
Full plate armour would render a shield useless. It was surprisingly light and offered enough freedom for movement, but it was a hygienic disaster (no, you didn't take the thing off when you needed to pee or worse) and the ventilation was pretty bad. It would have to be crafted specifically for you. Mail armour, while more difficult to wear because its weight rested on your shoulders only, is pretty much one-size-fits-all. Ventilation is better and it's self-cleaning.
Unlike pictured in Origins, where you quite successfully hack away with whatever weapon you favour at whoever comes close, a sword or a dagger, even an axe would not pierce through armour that easily, if at all. You would need a very pointy two-hander or a spear to get through and injure someone.
If you want realism, get rid of the various armour types, hand them a sword or an axe, a dagger (only for surprise attacks if the enemy is unaware or they've lost their primary weapon) and scrap the warrior/rogue distinction. Sword combat is a matter of technique and no one in their right mind would probably engage in a fight against someone who is wiedling a longsword/greatsword/bastardsword/claymore, an axe or a shortsword and a shield with a dagger, simply relying on how incredibly quick they are.
If you have an idea about how length of your arms could be more important than the size of your muscles, you might have an idea how Zevran or Alistair look like. Alistair could be a tall human, a bit more athletic than the average farmer or noble. With Zevran it depends on how you translate the rogue/assassin gameplay thing: Is he a fighter and can he handle a sword? Then he would still be smaller as Alistair and due to his lack of training probably probably at a disadvantage. Or is he merely someone who sneaks up on his enemies and slits their throats while they are unprepared and unprotected, then he doesn't even have to be athletic. He has probably strong legs and can run fast. ;-)
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Full plate armour would render a shield useless. It was surprisingly light and offered enough freedom for movement, but it was a hygienic disaster (no, you didn't take the thing off when you needed to pee or worse) and the ventilation was pretty bad. It would have to be crafted specifically for you. Mail armour, while more difficult to wear because its weight rested on your shoulders only, is pretty much one-size-fits-all. Ventilation is better and it's self-cleaning.
Unlike pictured in Origins, where you quite successfully hack away with whatever weapon you favour at whoever comes close, a sword or a dagger, even an axe would not pierce through armour that easily, if at all. You would need a very pointy two-hander or a spear to get through and injure someone.
If you want realism, get rid of the various armour types, hand them a sword or an axe, a dagger (only for surprise attacks if the enemy is unaware or they've lost their primary weapon) and scrap the warrior/rogue distinction. Sword combat is a matter of technique and no one in their right mind would probably engage in a fight against someone who is wiedling a longsword/greatsword/bastardsword/claymore, an axe or a shortsword and a shield with a dagger, simply relying on how incredibly quick they are.
If you have an idea about how length of your arms could be more important than the size of your muscles, you might have an idea how Zevran or Alistair look like. Alistair could be a tall human, a bit more athletic than the average farmer or noble. With Zevran it depends on how you translate the rogue/assassin gameplay thing: Is he a fighter and can he handle a sword? Then he would still be smaller as Alistair and due to his lack of training probably probably at a disadvantage. Or is he merely someone who sneaks up on his enemies and slits their throats while they are unprepared and unprotected, then he doesn't even have to be athletic. He has probably strong legs and can run fast. ;-)