Was Reading My Mentzer Expert Rules and What did I see?

[Psion]

It's a helmet. A poorly drawn helmet on a poorly drawn warrior, but a helmet nonetheless.

That's what is is (/was meant to be). But I can see it.

BTW, this was my favorite non-Jeff Dee pic from B/X

 

[Psion]

meh It's a headdress that was very common in sorceresses drawings at the time.

Look, a Tiefling!

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

awesome post. i suspected all good things spring from those boxed sets, and now you've given me proof.

so we now know tielfings were around Back in the Day.

what about eladrin? i still maintain they're too new wave.

WP

 

[I'm A Banana]

If they had horns like that, they wouldn't need to be mocked mercilessly. Those are small horns, respectable horns, small and brittle and more for style than for breaking your neck when you sneeze.

And no giant crocodile tail!

Though I will say the art is worse, I will also say the look is better.

 

[That One Guy]

Did you know I can legally have you destroyed for speaking ill of classic Willingham art?!

That is an amazing threat.

And Wis, how can that glowy-eyed pointy-eared (oddly buff?) caster not be an eladrin?

...okay, so maybe his ears aren't that pointy.

 

[Dire Bare]

Did you know I can legally have you destroyed for speaking ill of classic Willingham art?!

Yipes! Appreciation of art styles is certainly subjective and I know lots of folks dig that older art. But not me, it's just too amateurish for me (which is okay considering D&D was a young game at that point). The fact that we confused over whether the woman in question has horns or is wearing a helmet with horns doesn't speak volumes for the artist's technical skill at the time.

 

[Tikigod]

Honestly, I like the vagueness of the horns and the what-the-hell-is-that-superhero. I like being forced to decide whether its a helmet or her head that they sprout from. I think it's cool that someone else might have a different idea about the picture than I do. Art doesn't have to hand explain every aspect of itself.

I probably like early Willingham art better than his later stuff because it's all tied up with good memories and nostalgia.

 

[Hussar]

Ok-got home

Yes indeed. All Mentzer artwork is by Larry Elmore. The picture displayed is by Bill Willingham.

Ahh, crap. And I have the freaking book IN FRONT OF ME! Never post while sleepy.

MOLDVAY, not Mentzer. MOLDVAY. Dammit. Must flagellate myself now.

Psion, I see what you're saying, but, when I look at that picture, I see a Tiefling, not some bizarre head dress. I mean, come on, what's with the eyes? And the fact that, unlike your picture, you can see space between her collar and the horns. Meh. Whatever.

My whole point, which was picked up nicely by a few here, is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Mallus, well done you.

 

[Beckett]

That pic just shows how Anime D&D art is.


...sorry, wrong thread.

 

[Hussar]

Thing is, I've been repeatedly told how 4e isn't really D&D. It's too this or too that. Mostly I've been told that it has moved too far away from the roots of D&D. But, this image is the root of D&D for me. You've got the blaster mage, the weird assed elf chick (or whatever) and the black eyed dwarf? gnome? (hey gnomes had black eyes back then too )

Yes, D&D is Clive Caldwell and Larry Elmore. I get that. I agree too. But, it's also Erol Otus and Bill Willingham. It's also Brom and Di Terlizzi and Wayne Reynolds and a host of others too.

It's a complete mix mash of all sorts of styles and elements. The idea that "This fantasy" is the right one and "that fantasy" isn't just leaves me scratching my head.

Or, to put it another way, does it matter if a basilisk has four or eight legs?