D&D 5E Mearls and Crawford interview with The Mary Sue

[Osgood]

I really like seeing more diversity and realistic depiction in the art, but but let;'s not equate a little cleaves with chain mail bikinis. I don't think it would be so bad is a handful of the non-demon females showed some cleavage or midriff (and bare-chested muscle guys)... as long as it's not every picture. I can walk outside right now and see plenty of it on any street.

I get trying to make up for the ridiculous depictions of women in the first several decades of the game's history, put we don't need to swing so far the other way that the Amish think the art could use a bit more skin. Or is it that Mearls so puritanical that he equates sexuality with evil and it's only allowed on a succubus?

 

[Agamon]

I really like seeing more diversity and realistic depiction in the art, but but let;'s not equate a little cleaves with chain mail bikinis. I don't think it would be so bad is a handful of the non-demon females showed some cleavage or midriff (and bare-chested muscle guys)... as long as it's not every picture. I can walk outside right now and see plenty of it on any street.

The problem is that it makes no sense. The people you see on the street aren't expecting to be attacked by a horde of orcs or a dragon. Chain mail bikinis are just silly.

Now, if you're not wearing armor, less can be more, as there less to grab onto, though some layers of clothing can pad things a bit. Depends on the situation. Someone going to talk to the merchant might dress to distract, but this is Dungeons and Dragons, not Money and Merchants, so the typical pics will be of people expecting to fight for their lives.

 

[Sadras]

I expect the succubus will be sensibly clothed, too. It's just that "sensibly clothed" depends on what one is dressing for. Sex demons have very good reasons for dressing revealingly.

"Sensibly clothed" or not, she must have Kylie Minogue's derrière, or there should be at least a module in the DMG which allows for such customization.

Powers for such derrière could include anything from

• Distraction - Automatic reduction in opponents initiative based on the Succubus's Charisma modifier
• Heart-stopper - As a reaction Negate an attack, Convert an opponents Swift Action to a Standard Action or Halve an opponent's movement speed.

 

[MRTrice]

Glad we could confirm one game element

Thanks for reading the interview and I'm glad I managed one confirmation this site hadn't sussed out already.

 

[Osgood]

The problem is that it makes no sense. The people you see on the street aren't expecting to be attacked by a horde of orcs or a dragon. Chain mail bikinis are just silly.

Now, if you're not wearing armor, less can be more, as there less to grab onto, though some layers of clothing can pad things a bit. Depends on the situation. Someone going to talk to the merchant might dress to distract, but this is Dungeons and Dragons, not Money and Merchants, so the typical pics will be of people expecting to fight for their lives.

I will be disappointed if every picture in the game involves characters fighting for their lives, without any images of the post-adventure shopping trip, relaxing in the tavern, or an audience with a noble... or for that matter the unexpected dragon attack during the town fair. They have talked a lot about the three pillars of the game--I would hope at least some of the art is dedicated to the interaction pillar.

 

[Agamon]

I will be disappointed if every picture in the game involves characters fighting for their lives, without any images of the post-adventure shopping trip, relaxing in the tavern, or an audience with a noble... or for that matter the unexpected dragon attack during the town fair. They have talked a lot about the three pillars of the game--I would hope at least some of the art is dedicated to the interaction pillar.

Not fighting for their lives at that moment, per se, but in their "work clothes" regardless (see the campfire pic in Basic). A picture of a female elf in a summer dress shopping for shoes doesn't really fit, I don't think.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I will be disappointed if every picture in the game involves characters fighting for their lives, without any images of the post-adventure shopping trip, relaxing in the tavern, or an audience with a noble... or for that matter the unexpected dragon attack during the town fair. They have talked a lot about the three pillars of the game--I would hope at least some of the art is dedicated to the interaction pillar.

Likewise the exploration pillar. If the scene shows the party on a mountain trail in the midst of a blizzard, then dudes in loincloths and gals in fur bikinis are ridiculous. That same party cutting a trail through a steamy rainforest in full metal armor and covered in heavy cloaks would look almost as out of place.

 

[Alzrius]

Likewise the exploration pillar. If the scene shows the party on a mountain trail in the midst of a blizzard, then dudes in loincloths and gals in fur bikinis are ridiculous. That same party cutting a trail through a steamy rainforest in full metal armor and covered in heavy cloaks would look almost as out of place.

I know I'm going to regret bringing this up but...where does magic fall in this equation?

A 1st-level endure elements spell (or magic item that allows for that) solves that problem. Likewise for impractical-looking armor that has a +5 enhancement bonus, or is just normal armor with the glamoured property, etc. (Strictly speaking I don't know if any of that is going to be in 5E, but the larger point is at least worth the discussion.)

 

[TwoSix]

I will be disappointed if every picture in the game involves characters fighting for their lives, without any images of the post-adventure shopping trip, relaxing in the tavern, or an audience with a noble... or for that matter the unexpected dragon attack during the town fair. They have talked a lot about the three pillars of the game--I would hope at least some of the art is dedicated to the interaction pillar.

Ideally, this art will involve Game of Thrones style "sexposition" scenes.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I really like seeing more diversity and realistic depiction in the art, but but let;'s not equate a little cleaves with chain mail bikinis. I don't think it would be so bad is a handful of the non-demon females showed some cleavage or midriff (and bare-chested muscle guys)... as long as it's not every picture. I can walk outside right now and see plenty of it on any street.

I get trying to make up for the ridiculous depictions of women in the first several decades of the game's history, put we don't need to swing so far the other way that the Amish think the art could use a bit more skin. Or is it that Mearls so puritanical that he equates sexuality with evil and it's only allowed on a succubus?

I think that most of the art I've seen in 5e wouldn't be classified as puritanical. We'd have to go a LONG way from where we are to get there. So I'm not sure this is a realistic fear (unless there's an example of overly-body-shaming 5e art that I'm missing that you'd care to point out?).

There's a LOT of space between that mural that the dude who lives down by the river has on his van, what you'd see on the beach in LA, and whatever they poured Karen Gillan into in Dr. Who, and, well...

(which is, honestly, just about as impractical for adventuring as a chainmail bikini might be. Though honestly I kind of dig the fashion there -- check out the fabrics on her, the textiles, imagine the bold black-and-white coloration...)