I just got back into RPGs and was really psyched to find a local store listed on this site as hosting D&D encounters, but the staff of the store itself told me that they have not been receiving communication or materials from WoTC for some time. I did find a local group of Next playtesters, though, and it would be great if we could get these materials and run it on our own.
While I personally think that the 1st and 2nd edition covers are the best (and I admit, I may be biased to those editions), I think that the 4th edition cover is one that if you covered up the D&D name I would have thought Dungeons & Dragons the minute that I saw the artwork.
I like the prehensile tail - I use something like that (in my games Kobolds are deamonlings). I don't like the connection to dragons - I don't like the weakest creatures to be tied to the most powerful in some contrived family bond. To be clear, I have nothing against Kobolds. In fact, some of my best monsters are Kobolds! I believe Draconians (Dragon Lance) cover the humanoid-dragon niche quite well. Anyway, you forgot to post the picture of a Kobold from 2e - you know, the one with...
View full commentI like the prehensile tail - I use something like that (in my games Kobolds are deamonlings).
I don't like the connection to dragons - I don't like the weakest creatures to be tied to the most powerful in some contrived family bond. To be clear, I have nothing against Kobolds. In fact, some of my best monsters are Kobolds! I believe Draconians (Dragon Lance) cover the humanoid-dragon niche quite well.
Anyway, you forgot to post the picture of a Kobold from 2e - you know, the one with the big bulgy eyes...
For me Goblins should be like the ones depicted as in the Magic the Gathering universe. For the little ones, The Goblin Marauder, Goblin War Strike or Goblin Psychopath by Pete Venters, maybe like The Goblin Brawler by Heather Hudson or The Goblin Warchief by Tim Hildebrandt, One of my favorites is the painting art for the "Goblin Elite Infantry" by Robert Bliss. They look mean and badass! Long pointy ears with long and sharp nose; guess this model would fill the Hobgoblin, just add...
View full commentFor me Goblins should be like the ones depicted as in the Magic the Gathering universe.
For the little ones, The Goblin Marauder, Goblin War Strike or Goblin Psychopath by Pete Venters, maybe like The Goblin Brawler by Heather Hudson or The Goblin Warchief by Tim Hildebrandt,
One of my favorites is the painting art for the "Goblin Elite Infantry" by Robert Bliss. They look mean and badass! Long pointy ears with long and sharp nose; guess this model would fill the Hobgoblin, just add a light tan brown skin, some scalemail and helmets ;)
In my opinion, Bugbears should look, hulky and more bear-ly, not so fit... Bugbear Footpath or Bugbear Gang Leader from the D&D minis for example.
"whimsical art style" Watch my non-whimsical money stay in my more realistic pocket. You may have went off in a different direction for this round of cards.... I think you lost your way. Let me reach in my DM bag and find you a +3 Sextant of Location so you can point it at the bright star we call "Lockwood" to get things back on course.
View full comment"whimsical art style"
Watch my non-whimsical money stay in my more realistic pocket.
You may have went off in a different direction for this round of cards.... I think you lost your way.
Let me reach in my DM bag and find you a +3 Sextant of Location so you can point it at the bright star we call "Lockwood" to get things back on course.
they are looking like to fight with a big, strong and hurtful group. they are looking like a green cavemen with structure of a dwarf and a cruel orc face. the goblins that i know look more like to run away immidietly. to sum up, i like this goblins, but they are looking like an half green caveorc half green cavedwarf.
View full commentthey are looking like to fight with a big, strong and hurtful group. they are looking like a green cavemen with structure of a dwarf and a cruel orc face.
the goblins that i know look more like to run away immidietly.
to sum up, i like this goblins, but they are looking like an half green caveorc half green cavedwarf.
Not really a fan of the goblin at the top. Seems a little too thick and stocky through the trunk. His eyes are dull, and the face reminds me more of a sleepy orc (savage, but tired and dull). The eyes should be sharper, more clever. The sloping forehead is good, but the wide underbitten jaw screams orc. I'd rather see a pointy chin, and a face broadest at the temples. Almost elfin, just ugly. On the positives, I like the overall proportions. The almost monkey-like arms read well to...
View full commentNot really a fan of the goblin at the top. Seems a little too thick and stocky through the trunk. His eyes are dull, and the face reminds me more of a sleepy orc (savage, but tired and dull). The eyes should be sharper, more clever. The sloping forehead is good, but the wide underbitten jaw screams orc. I'd rather see a pointy chin, and a face broadest at the temples. Almost elfin, just ugly.
On the positives, I like the overall proportions. The almost monkey-like arms read well to me. As I said before, I'd narrow the trunk a bit. I definitely like the push for a more defined culture, too.
Posture, the goblin seems a little too orc-like. I'd like to see him standing a bit straighter, more like the sketch in the bottom left (though the overly skinny legs of that sketch makes me read the goblin as being comic relief-fodder).
So, for me, a good start, but there's still a ways to go.
In my opinion, there are a few things the wrong with this gnoll; a) the little braids near the ear, need to go, this is, in a sense, a bipedal, humanoid hyena, so the ear hair, looks unnatural, b) they need to look dumb, but not like Quasimodo, the hunchback thing is weird and awkward, it needs to look hyena like, so have their back straighter, but give them sloping shoulders, c) their knees do not ALWAYS have to be bent, they are humanoids, so give them something that says 'feral' without...
View full commentIn my opinion, there are a few things the wrong with this gnoll; a) the little braids near the ear, need to go, this is, in a sense, a bipedal, humanoid hyena, so the ear hair, looks unnatural, b) they need to look dumb, but not like Quasimodo, the hunchback thing is weird and awkward, it needs to look hyena like, so have their back straighter, but give them sloping shoulders, c) their knees do not ALWAYS have to be bent, they are humanoids, so give them something that says 'feral' without saying 'unevolved' or 'underdeveloped', d) they need to be muscular, but not so bulky, they're hunters, not lumbering oafs, so their necks do not have to bee 4 feet in circumference, and lastly, e) their faces need to be a tad more humanoid, they should be distinctly hyena like, but not so much it looks like someone cut out a hyena head and stuck it on a body.
This is... very awesome. I like the idea of moves you activate when needed. You don't necessarily have to risk wasting a daily power when you might miss, you can just follow up a successful strike with an opportunistic combo. It also clearly separates the fighter's fighting mechanic from the wizard's casting mechanic, which is always activated daily-power style (with a few exceptions, like Feather Fall).
"We thought about casting minor spells as the kind of thing a wizard might use around a laboratory that also happened to be useful in a fight. For example, a cantrip used to ignite a torch could also burn a goblin. At the last minute, however, we decided that trying to make that design work would take too long to hit this playtest." - M.Mearls This is what I expect from DnDNext. Original ideas that may or may not work, but sound awesome. Give us the chance to playtest it and find out if...
View full comment"We thought about casting minor spells as the kind of thing a wizard might use around a laboratory that also happened to be useful in a fight. For example, a cantrip used to ignite a torch could also burn a goblin. At the last minute, however, we decided that trying to make that design work would take too long to hit this playtest." - M.Mearls
This is what I expect from DnDNext. Original ideas that may or may not work, but sound awesome. Give us the chance to playtest it and find out if it does or not. The rest of the article I have likes and dislikes about.
I have to agree that most of this stuff actually looked great to me. Gamma World? Bring it on...we played everything that is published, and are ready for more! DragonLance? Heck yeah!! I am currently running my group through the original DragonLance modules, and they have the best aspects of D&D adventuring. Reimaging of the D&D cartoon? Yeah...I wouldn't turn that down. :-)
Sorry, coming to this discussion a bit late, but I've recently come back to this site after a few years away. For me art makes a huge difference in how I see a product. Poor art makes me see a product as low quality, while really good art contributes to a positive feeling about the product. What do I like in game art? I think it's good to have variety, both in characters and scenarios depicted. It's good to depict heroic characters, but it's also nice to mix in characters looking...
View full commentSorry, coming to this discussion a bit late, but I've recently come back to this site after a few years away.
For me art makes a huge difference in how I see a product. Poor art makes me see a product as low quality, while really good art contributes to a positive feeling about the product.
What do I like in game art? I think it's good to have variety, both in characters and scenarios depicted. It's good to depict heroic characters, but it's also nice to mix in characters looking scared, weary, covered in dirt, or things that are common in games - carrying backpacks or travelling, for example. Best of all for me, though, are the landscapes. Someone above mentioned ruins, and I also love sweeping vistas, dark forests and deep caves - anything that conveys a sense of mystery and excitement.
Some of my favourite pieces of D&D artwork are:
* The cover of the old D&D companion set, with the armoured warrior with a two-handed sword taking on a dragon. It looked like an epic fight was about to kick off, and the outcome was far from certain.
* The double-page picture on page 148/149 of the 4E DM's Guide, with a party of adventurers looking out on a moonlit, desolate landscape.
* The cover of the "Adventurer's Guide to the City", one of the books in the old FR "City of Splendors" boxed set. There's a dark, dirty alley, and two adventurers are about to get mugged by a gnoll lurking out of sight.
* The cover of a couple of old AD&D Dragonlance modules:
* Chaos Spawn, showing a battle between dragons and riders
* Dragons of Desolation, showing a floating citadel with fleeing riders below
I don't think that inclusive and cool are mutually exclusive - though I can appreciate that there could be an extra challenge in making a wide range of character types look exciting. For me having a wide variety of subjects for the game art works well, and depicting diverse characters fits into that.
Hi Jon, Thanks so much for having this discussion. I have been out of the loop for the last few months with a growing family, but look forward to adding more specific posts to the articles that follow! I am the kind of D&D player that looks at the art first, maps second and lets the adventure flow from there. Cheers, Cobbler
View full commentHi Jon, Thanks so much for having this discussion. I have been out of the loop for the last few months with a growing family, but look forward to adding more specific posts to the articles that follow! I am the kind of D&D player that looks at the art first, maps second and lets the adventure flow from there.
This is pretty much how I played the game back in the day. There was a lot more description of who was where (i'm guessing that was left out for conciseness) and we generally had a rough drawn graph paper map that we often drew ourselves as we explored. But tactical positioning was always a matter of theatre of the mind. We only ever used minis for marching order and often, not even that. And I had lots of minis. They just never came out of the box. I'm sure people played the way you describe,...
View full commentThis is pretty much how I played the game back in the day. There was a lot more description of who was where (i'm guessing that was left out for conciseness) and we generally had a rough drawn graph paper map that we often drew ourselves as we explored. But tactical positioning was always a matter of theatre of the mind. We only ever used minis for marching order and often, not even that. And I had lots of minis. They just never came out of the box. I'm sure people played the way you describe, but rest assured, people played "theatre of the mind" style in huge numbers.
I quite prefer it that way. Not to say its the "right" way, but its certainly ONE way.
I don't understand..? Gamma World is different and a breath of freshness when my gaming group wants to take a break from D&D and just act crazy. Why doesn't WotC support this fine product line? Or at the very least have 3rd parties legally distribute it. C'mon Wizards, if you would support GW I would buy it (and many more people I speak too think the same)...The first 3 Boxed sets were very well done and packaged...please continue.
The joke is clever, but the art is amateur. Kind of the opposite of what we've been seeing lately. You really need to find an artist-writer team that can do both. That being said, I'd enjoy more of this series.
View full commentThe joke is clever, but the art is amateur. Kind of the opposite of what we've been seeing lately. You really need to find an artist-writer team that can do both.
Personally, I love the artwork's feel. It wouldn't work in a comic book, sure, but it works great as a little webcomic thing; feels like I'm reading some nice little indie webcomic that hasn't gotten massively popular yet. Joke's good too; doubly so for a philosophy major like myself.