Deck of Many Things Art contest -Poll closed

[ElectricDragon]

What exactly would be medieval art? Michelangelo? Da Vinci? Rubens?

Or would you rather see more common forms of art on the deck? Remember that the deck is a minor artifact (emphasis on artifact) and should be of at least masterwork quality just to be a normal magic item. The power of this item begs for exquisite pieces of artwork, not just the common, run-of-the-mill, street vender's drawings.

Or you could just use a normal deck of cards and say that's good enough. I like the idea of looking at a card and saying, "Wow, I don't know what this card does; but this can't be good." or "Alright, I hit the jack pot, I think!" or "Great card; I hope I survive it."

Personally, I think each deck of many things should be totally different from any other deck of many things; just to keep the wonder in the item. I could see using all five decks in my game. The runic deck [carved into slate plates] from the utter northlands, Todd's deck from more civilized areas [made from thick parchment and using colored inks], Sialia's from a dwarven kingdom [images sealed in ivory plaques, almost as if the picture were inside the card], DertyAngel's from an ancient civilization that no longer exists [oil paints on canvas], and unknown's deck from somewhere beyond the edge of the known world [images burned into white pine and meticulously hand painted with plant dyes]. The DM should also go wild in describing the case/box/pouch that the cards are contained in.

Since many magic items have a history; shouldn't all minor artifacts have a history, too?

Ciao
Dave

 

[Keith Robinson]

Okay, I voted - but not telling you who for Just wanted to say that I thought they were all excellent. Nice work and well done!

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Personally, I think each deck of many things should be totally different from any other deck of many things; just to keep the wonder in the item. I could see using all five decks in my game. The runic deck [carved into slate plates] from the utter northlands, Todd's deck from more civilized areas [made from thick parchment and using colored inks], Sialia's from a dwarven kingdom [images sealed in ivory plaques, almost as if the picture were inside the card], DertyAngel's from an ancient civilization that no longer exists [oil paints on canvas], and unknown's deck from somewhere beyond the edge of the known world [images burned into white pine and meticulously hand painted with plant dyes]. The DM should also go wild in describing the case/box/pouch that the cards are contained in.

Since many magic items have a history; shouldn't all minor artifacts have a history, too?

Ciao
Dave

That's a great idea. I would even change each deck a bit--possibly remove two different cards (one good, one bad) from each deck. Each culture might have similar, but slightly different, artifacts.

Now, to print them all out and make the five decks as props!

 

[jsewell]

Good work/luck to everyone who entered. I voted for Sialia, but everyone did a great job.

What exactly would be medieval art? Michelangelo? Da Vinci? Rubens?

Not to be rude, but...

Michelangelo and Da Vinci = Renaissance
Rubens = Baroque

Medieval art is frequently anonymous and looks like this:

 

[Crothian]

Wow, we made the front page news!!

 

[ElectricDragon]

Ah, then such campaigns would be set in the time of the Crusades, King Arthur, and Chauncer? Since the art is limited; is the armor (Full Plate or Half Plate) and other things (clothes, metallurgy, serfdom, missing middleclass) also limited? Or is it really just a mixture of all these bygone times and only the artwork is so limited?

Ciao
Dave

 

[Kristian Serrano]

I Imagine a deck of many things to look similar in artistic style to tarot cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot

 

[Cheiromancer]

There are lots and lots and lots of tarot decks. Of many artistic styles. Were you thinking that a Deck of Many Things might look like the Marseilles deck? Or the (more familiar) Rider-Waite deck?

It's true that if a tarot deck were a funky magic item, it would be very much like the Deck of Many Things.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

Closer to Rider-Waitein terms of imagery, but similar to the Marseilles in the lines. Really either of the two. At the very least, I think a deck of many things wouldn't look like 3d images made on a computer.

 

[DertyAngel]

What is wrong with it? Do you think it's not art??? Not like someone from Medival times would know what computer art is, they'd just think it was very reaalistic art.
I can do lots of styles but with raising a 6 year old by myself, traditional art takes more time than i have to do something for fun or free. It still takes lots of talent can you guess how much of those are hand drawn and touched up in photoshop? It is something you can do, walk away from and come back and not have to worry about misplaced colors, dried out paint and getting back into the feel of the picture. Much more conviant given the circumstances.