http://boingboing.net/2014/07/21/an-exclusive-look-at-the-new-d.html
Some cool art here. I really like the Cloudkill illustration. I like all of it, actually, but that Cloudkill one is awesome.
Glad to see some stuff leaning toward the quality of the covers (great) rather than some of the less-than-great previews we've seen. Also glad to see Wayne Reynolds (WAR) still getting love, he's worth every penny.
http://www.waynereynolds.com/
I know there are a lot of old school people who hate him, i wouldn't mind if the whole thing was done by WAR.
http://community.wizards.com/forum/product-and-general-dd-discussions/threads/4115231
Well, hope that wizard never has to run, because, yeah, that ain't happening in that skirt. If only there wasn't an overabundance of clothing.
I'm not a huge WAR fan, but I really do appreciate his signature style. He has great drama in his pieces, which I think are a perfect match for comic books - not RPG books. I think his style is too in your face for an RPG book.
However, that wizard with Mordenkainen's Sword is among my favorites of his pieces, and I'm not bothered by it in the PHB. I think it's his best face work to date (not like his rat-faces that I've seen other people describe).
The other art previewed is great.
That dragon looks amazing! I like the art from this preview, and Warlock sounds neat. Next to Rogue and Bard, it's one of my favorite classes.
Am I the only one who misread this thread's title as "BORING BORING PHB ART PREVIEW"? LOL.
Oulak wrote:
Sturmunddrang wrote:
That't high elf wizard does not pass the hawkeye test.
...
Oulak wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Qmark wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
I'll focus on the artwork here, as my comments on the Warlock class are in the other thread.
I like the Warlock, it makes me feel weired by the Eladrin-like eyes (I assume this Warlock's patron is The Archfey); those always put me off, but in the case of the Warlock, that's a good thing. Frog familiar is classic. I love how their playing up the Warlock with a Familiar connection, and I can imagine this girl up to witchy tricks. 
I'm not a big fan of the High Elf enchanter chick; she looks like she came from 2 editions ago, and her spell doesn't seems to have been digitally added (correct me if I'm wrong, but it just looks so different from the brushes used for the Elf girl). I really don't like her eyes. Doesn't make me want to play an elf, if this is the design direction (and I LIKE elves!).
For the Sorcerer and Cloudkill, I LOVE the Bugbears. I DON'T love the Sorcerer with the bald head and (most terribly) the neckbeard; if he was a Dwarf or a Goliath I could forgive the appearance, but he's defintely tall enough to be a human, and yet not tall enough to be a Goliath (who didn't even make the DMG or the MM, poor Goliaths, now I have to homebrew you as a race). I guess he just looks to me like a really tall Dwarf Cleric rather than a human sorcerer, and nothing about him screams sorcerery to me. He doesn't look like draconic or wild magic flows through him; the use of runes around the staff seem to suggest more to Warlockry or Wizardy, or divine magic, rather than sorcerery. Cloudkill is awesome though, and I like the Dwarven Defender companion; and as I said, the Bugbears are perfect for Bugbears. Iconic, but they don't feel goofy, like they always seemed to come off as.
The Pupil of Mordenkainen with his Owl companion is classic Wayne Reynolds. I've never been a big Reynolds fan, most of all, his artwork makes me think of Pathfinder, and I really don't like Pathfinder's art DIRECTION (no insult to Reynolds). I DO like all the "stuff" the Wizard has; the best Reynolds brings us is his attention to detail and interest in providing characters who actually look like they have all the crap and trinkets and doo-dads and tools they buy and pick up throughout their adventures. I just… don't like the feel of his artwork. It feels like turn-of-the-Millenium to me, rather than 2014. I don't know how to change that feel without NOT USING WAYNE REYNOLDS, which is out of the question, since so many people DO like him. I'm just… not a fan.
The Wood Elf City and the Red Dragon vs Adventurers are both incredibly derivative from Peter Jackson's take on Middle-Earth (I swear, that Dragon encounter could almost fit in anywhere in the last half-hour of Desolation of Smaug). That said, I feel like D&D can and should be derivative, because it's about a shared set of tropes, but turning the focus to the player's hero characters, rather than literary figures. That they've taken nods from Fellowship of the Ring's Rivendell for the sake of the Wood-elf city is pretty much to be expected (thought not for ALL Wood Elf city styles, I hope); the movie was 13 years ago, and has shaped the course of fantasy game and fiction and art design in the last decade. That they've taken nods from Peter Jackson's MOST RECENT foray into Middle-Earth shows that they're keeping up with what is "BIG" in the Fantasy-lover's world, and using that in their toolshed to shape D&D design. This is core D&D. It should be Middle-Earthy (The Forgotten Realms even does the Western partial continent view for Faerûn, just like Middle-Earth does). When we get to Eberron and Dark Sun, then I expect more varied designs, from different sources of inspiration. When we get to Spelljammer, well, then all bets are off (cue miniture giant space hamsters). But a bit back on topic, I think the time of day chosen for the Wood Elf city threw me off a bit, since my first glance at it, I felt like it was inspired more by Iron-town from Princess Mononoke or Slag-Ravine from Castle in the Sky than by Rivendell. It looks almost industrial, and only a closer look made me realise that those buildings are build more from wood than metal. It may also be the roof structures; they look very industrial, like power plants, when they're actually living spaces. It threw me off a bit. Last but not least, I know that Daren Bader did the Dragon encounter and Scott Fisher did the High Elf enchantress, but is that not the same High Elf enchantress in the dragon encounter picture? If it is, we could have a hint of the return of iconic characters (Yes, I know they came back with Player's Option: Heroes of the Feywild, but they were dropped again after that book). I'd be psyched if that's the case, that's one thing about the 3rd edition art direction that I really liked. That said, if she's our iconic Enchantment School wizard, I'm not too psyched about her. :/ Still, other iconic characters would be nice! I like seeing a story played out through the book. Maybe Bruenor the Mountain Dwarf Fighter, who's already been mentioned several times?
And those are my comments. Feel free to comment on my comments too. ;)
Azzy1974 wrote:
ClockworkNecktie wrote:
Works for me. Agreed that the sheath dress could be problematic if she needs to run, but the shoes seem sensible.
I'm loving the Mordenkainen's Sword image. It makes the spell look cool (regardless of effectiveness), but more importantly to me it's one of the few pictures I've seen of a wizard actually using an identifiable material component for spellcasting.
pukunui wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
The Wood Elf city, to me, looks like a combination of Rivendell and Rohan - mixed inside a forest. I didn't see anything industrialish about it; that just might be a visual trope that calls the architectural style used a form of Gothic, and we tend to associate Gothic with a gritty and dark industrial feel - just look at Gotham.
Thanks RustedKitsune. I really couldn't quite understand the arti direction they were going for, but I guess it's possible to make a Wood elf town Gothic. It's certainly different from what other people do with Elves. Maybe it's a Wood Elf town in Ravenloft?
Marandahir wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Qmark wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Qmark wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Cool story bro.
You're getting a little defensive there, Cennedi.
Qmark wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Qmark wrote:
The horror.... the absolute horror...
Cennedi wrote:
Hawkeye save meh!
Cennedi wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Qmark wrote:
I just noticed the drow throne looks kinda HR Geiger and the drow may be a few shades too light. The most offensive thing about the pick is the bad 80s hair.
Cennedi wrote:
Qmark wrote:
In the 80s, the Drow did not have jet-black skin and white-hair like reverse-Elves, they were the African-American race. This makes me very sad (not that they'd include people of colour, but that they'd make them into the evil elf race). So yeah, 80s hair styles are offensive there.
Marandahir wrote:
Sure, but it's the cover of the book, and regardless of official description, the art direction does not follow. 9/10 times, players are inspired more by artwork than by the flavour description. That picture is horrible, far beyond the hairstyles.
Strictly speaking, Xen'drik has more mesoamerican influences than african (not that that's necessarily better, but if we're being offended anyway we should at least be offended on behalf of the right people).
Marandahir wrote:
Drow were never a problematic race except to a very small very vocal group of people.
And who could forget The Community?
BRUTALOTOPS!! the Magician. magic user, baby, what?
ALL of Eberron's elves were jungle dwellers, and a good portion of them still are (the Aereni). The drow simply stayed behind when the unaltered elves fled the continent. As a person of Native American heritage, I will say that this isn't a problem for me. I doubt it's a problem for many others, either.
I think people sometimes look for opportunities to be offended, and we, in an effort to be better, culturally sensitive people, sometimes find reasons for them. That's not a dig at any of my fellow forum members here, just an opinion on society as a whole. Clearly, others might disagree, and others might truly find the perceived parallels offensive. As my avatar suggests, though, I'm not one of them. ;)
More on topic, I am finding the new art to be a mixed bag. I think some of it is very good, and some of it seems a bit sloppy and amateur in appearance. At least one of the artists seems to struggle with realistic looking body proportions. I do like that the female characters are noticeably better clothed and armored, in general. Cheese cake artwork always breaks verisimilitude for me, a bit. Less is better for me, in this regard.
tallric_kruush wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Hitdice wrote:
pukunui wrote:
I didnt know who Wayne Reynolds was. But yep while his artwork is neat and very recognisable, I dont like it for DnD art. Too cartoony.
It also screams "Pathfinder" to me. Putting aside personal aesthetics/preferences, I think Wiz should distance themselves from this style just from a commerical standpoint alone
IMO each edition should strive for its own distinctive look. To help differentiate the product - both from old editions, and from competitors.
I'm pretty sure it was accidental.
With drow being so big in the Realms, the creators of Eberron purposly ignored them until it was pointed out one of the features of the setting was that it included everything that was in D&D, being the ultimate kitchen sink.
With no room in the mainland and the Underdark being something different, drow got dumped into the southern continent. Likely because there was room, and it was the ancestoral homeland of the elves.
But the flavour is very different than African jungles, being much more mesoamerican/ South American.
And drow are purple-black. And drow have a very fantasy arachnic obsession (being a little more scorpion focused in Eberron). And they're still presented as very angular and elfin.
So there's no real stereotypes overlapping beyond being darker skin and being in a jungle. Which is pretty thin.
Personally, I don't think the dark skin was really the problem - dark skin is beneficial if you're going to be a race known for being sneaky invisible in the shadows.
I always found the dark elves that had brown skin to always be off, though, because it always struck me as strange. Why would a race renowned for being in shadows have brown skin? It doesn't quite fit the whole theme.
That, and I always saw the wood elves with the brown skin, to match the trees and similiar plants. High elves were always good being pale because they didn't spend enough time outdoors in the sun, locked up all the time in libraries or training rooms. That's how I always thought about it anyways.
I was always struck more about how the drow are the only major matriarchal society in the game, and they're as evil as they come. Unless there's a culture of fantasy human amazons running around, that is, or some minor races that I've never heard of. I think that if anything would be discussed, it would be that. But, its not like 5e is going to be the one to make radical changes like that in the game; the whole point is nostalgia, and making a political stand is going to hurt that.
Mephi1234 wrote:
tallric_kruush wrote:
Hitdice wrote:
Going through my FR campaign book... I miss this kind of art. Need more of it.
Half tempted to post the cover art from Exalted's Savant and Sorceror just to see how many peoples heads explode in indignation.
Cennedi wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
MechaPilot wrote:
Again, I agree that Drow usually aschew to something that isn't a fantasy-equivalent culture of anywhere in the world, both in appearance and in cultural elements. It's that one cover that really really bugs me, because the art chosen is saying, "African-Americans are the villains in this world;" especially in the context of a time when 99% of RPG artwork depicted anglo-white protagonists.
As a side-note, I REALLY like Jester's signature take on humanity – making them darker skin tones, to contrast with Elves and Dwarves. It's original and doesn't make big statements about race or anything, just turns the basic assumption on its head while using skin tones as another way of distinguishing characters (and makes Half-elves more interesting, too).
MechaPilot wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Qmark wrote:
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MonkeyStealsThePeach wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Mephi1234 wrote:
The_White_Sorcerer wrote:
Drow are not evil African Women (my Kenyan, half Kikuyu/half Masai, wife laughs at that crap, she just takes them for what they are), it takes coming to these boards to read something so absurd.
The_White_Sorcerer wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
This is the original Erol Otus art for the 1978 Vault of the Drow (D3) which was replaced by the previous cover I posted on the mega module
Queene of Spiders" (D1-Q1)
Of the two I prefer this one for a number of reasons.
I feel this drow looks like the drow as Gygax described them. I like that.
I like the action pose better than the later "come hither cause i am DtF" pose. This pose makes me feel that drow can kick butt plates, the other looks like a wierd 80s fetish porn set.
I like the colors.
like the drow preistess massive 
I am maybe nostalgic
Cennedi wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
MonkeyStealsThePeach wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Qmark wrote:
Mephi1234 wrote:
Mephi1234 wrote:
emwasick wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Qmark wrote:
Lathrin wrote:
Well, given this last little digression, my only question now is, does Cennedi even realize that there are more ranks in the social hierarchy than Alpha and Beta? Beta male is not an insult; second's right after first!
dmgorgon wrote:
emwasick wrote:
Lathrin wrote:
Hitdice wrote:
emwasick wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
emwasick wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
dmgorgon wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
Marandahir wrote:
Mephi1234 wrote: