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

[Dausuul]

I hear what you are saying, but I'll be honest, I'm interested in creating a secret handshake for the D&D player. Not a generic table-top RPG player. Just call me selfish and self centered

What about something that combines the d20 and a dragony symbol? Maybe a d20 with the "end-it" instead of a number... sort of a handshake within a handshake, the d20 to identify you as a gamer and the end-it to identify you as a D&D gamer. The d20 is such a strong gamer-handshake already that it seems a shame to waste it.

The resulting image might be a little too complex, though.

 

[beta-ray]

My favorite symbol would be the ampersand. Though if they could make it so that the "end-it" symbol turns into a D (turn it on its side), then it might work for a more D&D type symbol.

 

[Kaodi]

The so called "End-It" does not make me think of D&D. It makes me think of the Zerg.

 

[fuindordm]

Nice article!

(In fact, I'm enjoying all your articles--it's great to get insight into this side of game creation. Thanks for sharing!)

What should D&D's secret handshake be? The first thing that popped into my head isn't a dragon, which could mean anything to anyone, but an iconic D&D monster that has nothing whatsoever to do with history, mythology, or other games.

The beholder. It's a simple body design, and it could make a small and instantly recognizable icon.


Yeah, yeah, I know... the game isn't called Barrows and Beholders...

 

[steeldragons]

Think I have to ring in for the beholder as the secret handshake. Doesn't have to be the 10-stalk beholder (that'd be a pain). "Yet Another Fantasy Gamer" webcomic (very entertaining, I highly recommend it to everyone seeing this!) draws most of his beholders with just 3 stalks.

I think that, stylized, would be a great idea for the secret handshake.

The "end-it" presented in the article says nothing to me except "dragon tribal tattoo"...which I had hoped by now was sorely out of fashion. hahaha.

If I saw that, I wouldn't assume for a moment that it was a D&D gamer. And knowing, strictly from the article, that it came from 4e means that it is just a 4e-secret-handshake. Gonna have to wait a few decades before all of us pre-4e guys are dead.

I'm afraid I really don't have a good suggestion of my own. Kinda stumped. It could be a ton of things...but many of my ideas won't speak to 4e players...just as the end-it didn't speak to me.

Beholder, I think, might be your most edition-neutral way to go. Mind-flayers work too, but then, stylized you might get into it with some Call of Cthulu players. (a brawl breaks out in the midst of Gen-Con! lol.)

Yeah, beholder...or maybe displacer beast? An outline of a panther face with two barbed tentacles coming up over it? That could be cool too. Think I'd recognize that.

Just my 2 cp.
--SD

 

[Klaus]

I'll add my vote for the Beholder. Its sillouette is instantly recognizable, it is one of the more unique creations from D&D and, despite stuff like the Cacodemon from Doom (which reesembles the Astral Dreadnought's head) or the spying eye beast from Big Trouble In Little China, the actual beholder remains a D&D element, through-and-through.

As for "end-it", it's the little sign that commonly ends a magazine section.

 

[Kaodi]

Beholders are ugly. Ugly is not a good quality in a shirt. A style-ized version of the ruby eyed statue, as suggest above, would be better than a beholder.

 

[Klaus]

Beholders are ugly. Ugly is not a good quality in a shirt. A style-ized version of the ruby eyed statue, as suggest above, would be better than a beholder.

Ugly? But beauty is in the eye of the... well:

 

[Kaodi]

Let's put it this way: Can you imagine explaining to some clueless berk that your beholder stands for "Dungeons & Dragons" and having them not intuitively come to the conclusion that that is dumb because the game is called Dungeons & Dragons?

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Let's put it this way: Can you imagine explaining to some clueless berk that your beholder stands for "Dungeons & Dragons" and having them not intuitively come to the conclusion that that is dumb because the game is called Dungeons & Dragons?

That's the point of a secret handshake. Those that know, get it. Others aren't supposed to understand.

* * *

I also say it's the beholder. It's renowned for being strictly D&D, and even its silhouette is recognizable to a D&D fan.