D&D 5E Art: Goblinoids, Take Two

Klaus · Oct 12, 2012

Blackwarder said:
I'm not a huge fan of your Goblinoids Klaus, to me they look more like beastmen then anything else.

Warder

That was intentional. I wanted the goblinoids to look more feral and beastly than, say, orcs (which older D&D lore described as being more human-like).

JamesonCourage · Oct 12, 2012

Really high quality art, Klaus, but doesn't fit my mental picture of them. Looks really good, though; I'm impressed.

As far as the article art... I'm okay with it. Not thrilled, but okay. Don't like the goblin's head, though; way too big. (And are its ears the biggest? I thought that was supposed to be the bugbear, unless I read something wrong while skimming the article.) Hobgoblin is decent. Bugbear is definitely better than 3.5, but I don't like the limb sizes; a bit too big for me. And yeah, let's move away from the Beauty and the Beast nose for all of them. As always, play what you like

Libramarian · Oct 12, 2012

Klaus said:
For the sake of completeness, I'm posting here an experiment I've been conducting on Facebook, where I'm doing my own concepts of D&D humanoids (just to warm up before actual work).

Here are the goblinoids:

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Hmm, perhaps a bit too beastman-ish, but I do like these better. They look like proper monsters and totally avoid the Disney-villain vibe that the WotC sketches have.

lutecius · Oct 13, 2012

my goblins and hobgoblins are greenish grey (except in desert environments where they're more brownish) and closely related to orcs. bugbears are the distant, hairy relative.

that said, I like the new art except for the long hair (ponytails and pulled back Legolases are way overdone in fantasy). I particularly like the effort to make the bugbear look like he's part of the family (maybe the head is still a bit too bestial).

Bl ackwarder;6031483 said:
I hate the piazo goblins with passion, they look like a caricature of a goblin...

yeah. I understand what they were trying to do, making them all mouths and teeth, but it doesn't work for me. they're just too alien. the rugby ball shaped heads and solid red eyes don't allow for relatable facial expressions.

the Jester · Oct 13, 2012

Klaus said:
For the sake of completeness, I'm posting here an experiment I've been conducting on Facebook, where I'm doing my own concepts of D&D humanoids (just to warm up before actual work).

Here are the goblinoids:

Too bestial for my tastes. Too far removed from human.

ComradeGnull · Oct 13, 2012

Not perfect, but then nothing ever is because of other people's dogged refusal to read my mind and accept my internalized inexpressible Platonic ideals as their own.

On the other hand, a fantastic improvement from the first batch of illustrations. I would be totally happy with these being the basis for art involving these races in the upcoming edition, with the understanding that there are always going to be variations. It is art, after all.

GameDoc · Oct 13, 2012

lutecius said:
yeah. I understand what they were trying to do, making them all mouths and teeth, but it doesn't work for me. they're just too alien. the rugby ball shaped heads and solid red eyes don't allow for relatable facial expressions.

It's funny. People are comparing these new goblinoid designs to Disney villains. Paizo's goblins actually always reminded me of another Disney character, Stitch.

GameDoc · Oct 13, 2012

I'm in agreement that the goblin is to bulky and that the noses are too feline.

With the hobgoblin in particular, my first thought was "Thundercats, Ho!"

Otherwise, I'm cool the other aspects.

Cadence · Oct 13, 2012

I like the hobogoblin. I could believe it and the one from 2e are the same species, with this one being better (and its lightyears ahead of the 4e art for it was). I like that the bugbear and goblin are clearly related to the hobogoblin, but the bugbear strikes me as too beast-like and its armor seems silly from either a manufacturing or wearing angle. I'd go for something closer to the one in 2e (one of my favorites in that MM). The goblin strikes me as too muscular, with too big of a sword, and again, the armor.

FieryDragonLord · Oct 13, 2012

The hobgoblin looks perfect to me. The others, not as much. I think this goblin is too muscled. I always imagine the goblins to have wiry physiques. The thing I like the most is they all look related.