The 'Wonderland'-Inspired Faces of the RAGE OF DEMONS

Take a peek at some of the art from D&D's upcoming Rage of Demons storyline. This art is by Richard Whitters, who is the art director for D&D and used to work as a concept artist for Magic: the Gathering. WotC's Chris Perkins has indicated that one of the influences on Rage of Demons was Alice in Wonderland, and I think the influence is clear when you look at the characters below.

OUGALOP, kuo-toa cave cricket catcher extraordinaire.

YUK YUK and SPIDERBAIT, goblin adrenaline junkies.

THE SOCIETY OF BRILLIANCE, the Mensa of the Underdark.

GLABBAGOOL, awakened gelatinous cube.

RUMPADUMP and STOOL, myconid followers.

PRINCE DERENDIL, a quaggoth who thinks he's elven royalty.

TOPSY and TURVY, svirfneblin wererat siblings.

THE PUDDING KING, svirfneblin devotee (i.e., flunky) of Juiblex the Faceless Lord.

D&D's "Legion of Doom." What a wonderful bunch of malcontents.
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[delericho]

The art reminds me of Urban Arcana, which is a big turn-off for me , BUT, I am with ya on the last sentence.

Aye, I certainly wouldn't want to adopt this style for everything all the time.

So how do you think a group (looking to embrace the gonzo aspect) should approach this? With similarly gonzo characters? Or straight laced characters in an alien world?

Either can work. In the Alice stories, she's definitely more of the straight-laced sort, so that clearly works. But, on the other hand, the players may well have more fun playing gonzo characters.

One thing that may be key, though, is moderation - if you're playing for several months (in a 1-15 campaign), any bad jokes will very quickly wear thin. So go for quirky rather than cringe-inducing.

 

[WackyAnne]

I am terribly, terribly excited by the release of these character sketches and story hints. At long last, there will be the perfect adventure for a pair of characters I've been mulling ever since I got back to the tabletop. Bob the Beholder, a spectator librarian whose amnesia acquired over centuries of guarding a wizard guild's arcane library has convinced him he's both human and a wizard. And his only companion through the centuries, the janitorial gelatinous cube with rounds-as-regular-as-clockwork Mr. Jigglesworth. How soon can I get the statblock for an awakened jello? I could just cry with happiness!

The artwork reminds me of the character sketches Jeff Carlisle did for the first hardcover AP, 3.5's Shackled City (also the brainchild of Chris Perkins' storytelling genius). I love the touch of Alice in Wonderland hinted at (with Topsy/Turvy tweedle twins, etc.), my favourite children's story. As I'm sure you can tell from my superlatives, I'm very eager to jump down the rabbit hole come September...

 

[Lancelot]

Put me in the "excited" camp for this one. I wouldn't want to see this style for every release, but it's an incredible breath of fresh air. As others have commented, it reminds me of diTerlizzi's work on Planescape, which I loved.

Plus, the characterizations, even without the art, are so evocative. This sounds like a FUN module with NPCs who really stand out. Bring it on!

 

[Krypter]

So now we know why Pendleton Ward was visiting WOTC: this is going to the Underdark Adventure Time! story that Perkins was teasing last month.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2547-Adventure-Time-supplement-or-setting-for-5e

I do hope the insanity-inducing faerzress gives us some sapient candy people and Wizard City.

 

[The Hitcher]

Amazing! I'd given up hope that the official adventures would offer anything but po-faced, "save the world, yada yada yawn". D&D is an inherently silly game, IMO. I'd LOVE it if all of the official stuff went down a route inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Terry Pratchett and Planescape.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

So now we know why Pendleton Ward was visiting WOTC: this is going to the Underdark Adventure Time! story that Perkins was teasing last month.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2547-Adventure-Time-supplement-or-setting-for-5e

I do hope the insanity-inducing faerzress gives us some sapient candy people and Wizard City.

That thought had crossed my mind, but I'm not convinced - one, I think they would have name-dropped him in the initial announcement if he was even remotely attached to the project, and two, they just met for their planning session. I really doubt they settled on a finalized campaign skeleton / cast of characters after that one meeting.

No, it's either the next AP, or, hoping against hope, a D&D cartoon.

Is it obvious yet that I really don't want to let go of that D&D cartoon dream, no matter how unlikely it may be?

 

[TwoSix]

This reminds me more of The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth than Alice in Wonderland.

Unless they are talking about American McGee's Alice.

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[Beleriphon]

There's a kind of awakened cube in Scott Kurtz's Table Titans comic - http://tabletitans.com/comic/mines-of-madness-page-16

Also in Rusty and Co. Well not awakened per se...

http://rustyandco.com/

 

[TarionzCousin]

Me, too!

This looks very interesting.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

Me, too!

This looks very interesting.

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