Hello,

I noticed over the years that Robes have a great tendency to have skulls attached to them. Why is that so ?

I don't know what these skulls are meant to represent, actually. Might ? Power ? Power over death (Pale Masters) ?

I've recently seen that in the Ship-Mage's Attire, the Robe Of Celebration, the Shadow Robe, and it occurs extremely often on random loot robes. Also on cosmetic robes and light armor from the DDO store.

I do know that this is a matter of taste, but I don't like it.

Especially in the case of the Ship-Mage's Attire, i don't like it. It should have been an octopus, that would have been fitting far better.What i mean with that is, that there are robes where a skull just doesn't look good. Yes, I know, you'll be saying "this isn't about looking good". But, that's what i believe, not every Robe is suitable for having a skull asttached to it, because of the Robe's "theme" or colouring.

The Crimson Chain is a special case. The skull fits thematically to that, but still, the armor as such doesn't look as "dirty" as I'd expect from Drooam troops. I might be biased as well, but it looks in my opinion "too good" for Droaam troops. I would have liked to have a version of it without the skull.
I still don't quite understand, though, what skulls on belts are meant to represent.

I would have liked a Robe of Celebration without the skull. It looks great for a Pale Master or a Druid, but for any other kind of magic user, it just looks a bit ... unfitting. An elemental focused sorceror having a skull on the clothing ? Why ? There should be a star on the robe instead of the skull, for example.

As much as I love the rest of the Ship-Mage's Attire, I'm not gonna use it. Yes, I could use another cosmetic item on top of it, but in the back of my mind that skull would still be present.

Maybe I'm just too sensitive for this gaming age. I know, people are used to wear the most ugly looking stuff as long as it provides power for their characters. If there were Rags with incredible power on them, everyone in Stormreach and beyond would suddenly be wearing it. Imagine that ! Lots of people dressed in rags running around in Eveningstar !

I think it would be a nice idea to look at the question "how much does this application fit thematically to that kind of armor ?" Again, because of that, I can rationalize the skull on the belt of the Crimson Chain, even when I don't like it at all. At least, I can understand it.
What I don't understand, however, is, why the Ship-Mage's attire doesn't use an octopus instead of a skull as the cloth application.

Besides, I'm fully expecting LOTS of skulls fro the Isle of Dread ! Even if I might not like them, I can fully understand why they would be there !

Alrik