Modern Dungeons and Dragons art standards

MadassAlex

Vanilla WoD actually deals with mundane humans in an urban fantasy/horror reflection of the real world. Hunter is essentially an organised extension of that -- the difference is that you know. You're armed.

Scythemantis

I ever tell youse guys that a character in WoD was written by a friend of mine and patterned after me in uncanny detail?

Anyway I thought it was coolest in 2nd edition D&D when the same monster could look very different depending on the artist portraying it, sometimes even in the same book. Once Wizards of the Coast bought up the game, they must have started establishing model sheets or something, since every illustration of the same monster now follows the same exact design no matter the artist.

The only exceptions are pretty much Beholders, as it's a part of their "lore" that the same type of Beholder can still come in a bewildering variety of "breeds" (every one of which believes it's the master race)

MadassAlex

Dragons probably deserve a bit more love. I know that sounds weird, but these days there's some standard, boring patterns that should probably be broken.

I'm very fond of the images of dragons from my childhood. Lizardlike and serpentine at once, and not necessarily that angular, but they had a twisted reality about them. They looked like something born of a snake, but much larger, much faster and much more vicious. And the artworks seldom showed the entire dragon -- some of it was almost always out of frame, so you could never truly tell its entire shape.

It was also pretty cool that the knights and heroes that fought them were depicted in the same realistic style. They were often simple Crusaders -- men in maille, helm and tabbard, riding a horse with lance in hand. Something about the reality and proportion of those images moves me to this day.

Hatter

I actually liked how they handled dragons in Skyrim, even if they looked like classic wyverns and less serpentine. They had their own language and culture, and they really drove home how alien dragons can be.

Ghilz

Dragons probably deserve a bit more love. I know that sounds weird, but these days there's some standard, boring patterns that should probably be broken.

The two D&D 4E Draconomicons are amazing reads, fluff wise. They go into great details about how dragons think, interact with one another and with humanoids, etc... As well as trying to explain how they work, in terms of power and stuff. Interesting read.

Malkavian

On the subject of D&D editions.

>Fifth Edition is announced

MOTHERFUCKING COCKSUCKING BA-

>Ravenloft is first setting

WHAT IS THIS EMOTION IS THIS WHAT YOU HUMANS CALL JOY?

ClockworkUniverse

Wait, Ravenloft? Really?

Might have to actually look into it.