D&D (2024) Here's The New 2024 Player's Handbook Wizard Art

 

[Cadence]

Jesus christ i only came to this thread because Google suggested it and holy hell, so many people here trying to gatekeep DnD and nitpick a bunch of silly garbage

The whole point of modern DnD and the reason why it's so popular is literally the superhero fantasy. It's why there are floors for things like stat rolls, why a lot of the game systems include redundancies for negative stuff, etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a hardcore campaign where characters die every 5 sessions and you're dark and gritty and realistic, but that's not what makes the game popular and what made it grow explosively in the last decade. That's because of shows like Critical Roll or Dimension 20 or even Stranger Things where they follow a series of characters through events and deaths only happen when they're meaningful.

It's fine if you don't like that, but don't complain when the official content goes that way, because that's what keeps the game thriving now.

Welcome to ENWorld @sinascendant !

And yes... you will find nitpicking a plenty But I think most of them have their hearts vaguely in the right place.

 

[teitan]

That hasn't been D&D's visual design for literal decades.

Does that invalidate his opinion for some reason?

 

[teitan]

Where does that assumption come from? The liberal use of the commoner stat block throughout published 5e adventures?

It's not like retired adventurers weren't fairly common throughout the 1e/2e age with all of the former adventurers setting up bar in the Forgotten Realms.

Ding ding, it's a carry over from FOrgotten Realms 2e era where it was true but hasn't been true since 3e with the NPC classes.

 

[Reynard]

Does that invalidate his opinion for some reason?

It questions why he thinks D&D2025 might embrace that aesthetic. People complaining that the art here is modern are being myopic. You KNOW D&D evolves it's art with every edition. Suddenly lamenting that this evolution is bad is just flailing grognardia.

 

[teitan]

Welcome to ENWorld @sinascendant !

And yes... you will find nitpicking a plenty But I think most of them have their hearts vaguely in the right place.

Yeah the gatekeeping comment was kinda harsh but nitpicky is nerd culture. We COULD be arguing about what makes a dragon and why GRRM was using wyverns instead of dragons when describing a make believe creature.

 

[teitan]

A far earlier offender would have been the Greyhawk folio. The various leaders of countries in that source were also high level character classes.

But an important point to make would be that the rules for PCs don't necessarily define the lives of NPCs.

That fit with the idea of domains and rulers and the archetype of the adventuring noble though and Knights of the Round table for example.

 

[teitan]

It questions why he thinks D&D2025 might embrace that aesthetic. People complaining that the art here is modern are being myopic. You KNOW D&D evolves it's art with every edition. Suddenly lamenting that this evolution is bad is just flailing grognardia.

I think it has become a fairly generic aesthetic myself. WoW looks D&D looks MtG looks etc. I am really keen on art, went to art school and have an eye for seeing the "errors" that make a style. Even in late 1e/2e one could see Elmore and Easley and Parkinson and know the artist was different. Nowadays I couldn't name any of them, I don't see cues that indicate they are different, nor do I see signatures etc. it's like Continuity Comics where EVERYONE drew exactly like Neal Adams. When I open something like OSE, DCC, or other games though I pick up and see a unique visual style to define the games while allowing the artist to come through as well. It doesn't feel churned out.

 

[Reynard]

.Even in late 1e/2e one could see Elmore and Easley and Parkinson and know the artist was different. Nowadays I couldn't name any of them

I think that is more likely because you don't care. You (maybe unintentionally) told us your preferences. You just don't think much of artists that aren't those 3 guys or at least from that era. Which is fine. We all have preferences. But this constant attempt to suggest objective truths about D&D art outside of your preferred (and let's be honest, that means formative) era is transparent.

Modern D&D art isn't notably different in quality than any previous generation. People just like the era they grew up with better, because nostalgia is a powerful force.

I love Elmore. His D&D art is my D&D art. (Frazetta though is my "fantasy art" in general.) But Elmore hasn't been current for decades. It is okay that D&D art no longer looks like Elmore.

 

[teitan]

I think that is more likely because you don't care. You (maybe unintentionally) told us your preferences. You just don't think much of artists that aren't those 3 guys or at least from that era. Which is fine. We all have preferences. But this constant attempt to suggest objective truths about D&D art outside of your preferred (and let's be honest, that means formative) era is transparent.

Modern D&D art isn't notably different in quality than any previous generation. People just like the era they grew up with better, because nostalgia is a powerful force.

I love Elmore. His D&D art is my D&D art. (Frazetta though is my "fantasy art" in general.) But Elmore hasn't been current for decades. It is okay that D&D art no longer looks like Elmore.

preference does not preclude prejudice. Never put words in someone’s mouth. I think they are talented artists working in a preferred house style which is why I compared it to Continuity Comics, where Neal Adams trained artists for comics work. The art direction is what I am discussing. While I do not know the artists names, which is the failure of the art director, I have no issue with their renderings as directed by their boss and they are doing exactly what a commercial artist will do. My preferred artists are almost all currently working artists. So it isn’t even “modern art”. Nowhere have I disparaged or said it was inferior. I said it wasn’t to my taste. Get off your high horse and don’t always assume someone is being prejudiced because they have a preference. Good day.

 

[Reynard]

Nowhere have I disparaged or said it was inferior.

Really? You calling it generic and lumping together a couple decades worth of art styles wasn't disparaging? Huh.