D&D 5E D&D Next weekly art column!

Yora · Mar 28, 2012

A direct question to Jon:

What's the purpose of this image from the latest article?

I assume this is another humorous carricature and not an actual example like the other images in the article. Because none of the lables are used correctly for the picture above them, and I have come to be quite sure that you know too much about these things to make such a mistake, so this must have been on purpose.
But in other threads, people seem to take it seriously, so I have to ask what was the actual intention behind it.

Hussar · Mar 28, 2012

ARRRRGGHGHGHH! Wizards site is down for a while and I can't see the article. NOOOOO!!!!

Klaus · Mar 28, 2012

Jon Schindehette said:
Let me throw a question out there for you guys and gals....

Where do you stand on wizards? Pointy Hat or No Pointy Hat?

And please give your reasons why...

Sometimes a hat (and not only of the pointy variety) really adds to a character's sillouette. For instance, there's a character in the Essentials books that has a Solomon Kane-ish style hat, with a pseudodragon on his shoulder. IIRC, he was used in Heroes of Shadow as the iconic Binder.

That look was *righteous* to me! Fired up all sorts of ideas for making some sort of "hunter of supernatural threats" character. From a simple hat!

So, I wouldn't mind some headgear for wizards (and others). They don't all have to be Gandalf/Presto-inspired, though.

Jon Schindehette · Mar 28, 2012

Yora said:
A direct question to Jon:

What's the purpose of this image from the latest article?

I assume this is another humorous carricature and not an actual example like the other images in the article. Because none of the lables are used correctly for the picture above them, and I have come to be quite sure that you know too much about these things to make such a mistake, so this must have been on purpose.
But in other threads, people seem to take it seriously, so I have to ask what was the actual intention behind it.

Simply making a point about "appropriate armor". Due to some cuts by the editing staff, the connection to the image was lost.

Basically, I'm just trying to get to the point that context is everything when we have discussions about "appropriate armor"...and that was the intent of the article. (which I haven't even gotten the chance to read due to the site being down.)

Klaus · Mar 28, 2012

Jon Schindehette said:
Simply making a point about "appropriate armor". Due to some cuts by the editing staff, the connection to the image was lost.

Basically, I'm just trying to get to the point that context is everything when we have discussions about "appropriate armor"...and that was the intent of the article. (which I haven't even gotten the chance to read due to the site being down.)

Site is back up.

Love the article, Jon! I completely agree on the topic of "appropriate armor". Being from a place very much outside the "temperate cold region", I can certainly relate to "no one in their right mind would wear that in this heat".

And hey, and Art Test! w00t! What's the deadline?

TerraDave · Mar 28, 2012

The armor article was good...BUT...it begs a big question in the game:

"In other words, a male knight in full battle dress, wading through the desert sands, is just about as silly as a female fighter, in a chainmail bikini, forging through the frozen wastes of the Iceland Dale."

Ok...but do any mechanics support that? In 4E, and honestly just about all versions, the fighter (and Paladin, and maybe cleric...) is probably going to have the heaviest armor possible, and that is full plate, which is a more walkable version of the first pic in the article (I guess technically the walkable version would be field plate) and when the time comes, he is going to go to really hot places and not really be penalized for it.

Lets take this pic:

Is that appropriate armor, because I bet it sure if hot.

(yes...I know its a special case...the point here is linking art to the actual game and what happens in it).

Mercutio01 · Mar 28, 2012

TerraDave said:
Ok...but do any mechanics support that? In 4E, and honestly just about all versions, the fighter (and Paladin, and maybe cleric...) is probably going to have the heaviest armor possible, and that is full plate, which is a more walkable version of the first pic in the article (I guess technically the walkable version would be field plate) and when the time comes, he is going to go to really hot places and not really be penalized for it.

There definitely were rules for environment in 3E. I have 4E but haven't played it as much so I'm not sure about its support. However, I am currently running an XCrawl adventure in 3.5E and things are moving into the "hot" area of a crawl. Between the environment rules and the Heat Metal spell, metal armor is going to be an issue shortly. And those are all things I've taken from the SRD, and were supported in the core books.

I suppose that's up to the DM to regulate, but it was definitely covered.

Yora · Mar 28, 2012

Jon Schindehette said:
Basically, I'm just trying to get to the point that context is everything when we have discussions about "appropriate armor"...and that was the intent of the article. (which I haven't even gotten the chance to read due to the site being down.)

On which I very much agree. That is very well observed. Classic medieval plate armor rarely is appropriate for D&D as it is now understood.
I just was a little suprised to see the label "manga" in an article about the design of outfits, when just last weeks article was about the difference in the style a picture is painted, and the style of the content of the picture. As someone who likes some manga which show things "appropriately realistic", but much dislikes the more "implausible" clothes and armor which is spearheaded by some other manga, it's a bit of an... say, inconvenience. Particularly because I frequently have to explain people the difference that manga as an artistic style is not the same thing as the implausible outfits that are often drawn in that artistic style. :heh:

And I absolutely love what so far has been done in regard to creating new but visually distinct cultures. Those sketches that are on the site look really good.

steeldragons · Mar 28, 2012

Woohoo! Art Test!

TerraDave · Mar 28, 2012

Mercutio01 said:
There definitely were rules for environment in 3E. I have 4E but haven't played it as much so I'm not sure about its support. However, I am currently running an XCrawl adventure in 3.5E and things are moving into the "hot" area of a crawl. Between the environment rules and the Heat Metal spell, metal armor is going to be an issue shortly. And those are all things I've taken from the SRD, and were supported in the core books.

I suppose that's up to the DM to regulate, but it was definitely covered.

It is the most simulationist edition. Maybe 5E will have similar rules.

But in any case, I hope the art is about what characters actually do in play, or at least some of it is.