D&D 5E Better pics from PAX East

[JeffB]

They did that too

If the current crop of Sundering adventures is any indication of quality, then I respectfullydisqgree. Its the same tired garbage they have been producing since buying TSR.

 

[Mistwell]

If the current crop of Sundering adventures is any indication of quality, then I respectfullydisqgree. Its the same tired garbage they have been producing since buying TSR.

And you're welcome to disagree, but fortunately these sorts of things get reviewed on a regular basis, and if you look at the reviews, they are consistently showing a massive uptick in positive views on the current adventures.

I myself find the most recent ones to be exceptionally good. Better than what I've read from Paizo lately. Scourge of the Sword Coast and Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle are both great. I heard some of the last 4e adventures were great as well.

 

[JeffB]

And you're welcome to disagree, but fortunately these sorts of things get reviewed on a regular basis, and if you look at the reviews, they are consistently showing a massive uptick in positive views on the current adventures.

I myself find the most recent ones to be exceptionally good. Better than what I've read from Paizo lately. Scourge of the Sword Coast and Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle are both great. I heard some of the last 4e adventures were great as well.

Different strokes. I am not concerned with other people's reviews. I have Ghosts. Ehh. I bought and returned MIBG. And I am a DDI subscriber and do not think much of the later 4e adventures, though we had fun with Cairn of the Winter King.

I am not a big fan of Pathfinder, or APs, but despite my dislike for their style, I think Paizo is an order of magnitude ahead of WOTC when it comes to quality adventure material- even better, they produce tons of it, at reasonable prices.

 

[marleykat]

I like the Bard it seems pretty understated to me unlike 3/4e.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Image from the 9th century of a dude playing a very large guitar-like instrument.

According to my brief research, the modern guitar has existed since the renaissance and baroque periods, which corresponds to FR.

I wonder if it would look less weird if it weren't black and shiny. But whatever, she's an elf.

Yeah it is not that it is a guitar it is that it is a modern metal black electric (or as good as ) guitar.

 

[Mistwell]

Japanese had lacquered guitars in the 1500s.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I must admit, those out-of- context pieces on white backgrounds are just soulless to me. They don't make me feel anything. The artists are obviously excellent, it's just that I need a scene.

It's not just WotC that does this. Heck, my own publications have done if.

I like the chapter front-pages in the Pathfinder hardcover books. They've got a scene over 1.5 pages and a couple sentences describing the action. Many of them seem to focus on the iconic characters' personalities, which is a nice way to round them out somewhat. I would be happy if WotC stole that style element for their 5E books.

The "new" bard's lute/guitar/ukelele* seems odd. It's thick enough to be an acoustic, but there are no obvious sound holes. The sharp corners don't fit with most acoustic instruments; they aren't good for reverberation. And the "pickup" at the end of the fretboard does seem out of place.

Finally, I can't figure out if the bard is male or female--which really screams out "elf" to me.






*It has four strings! Maybe it's a giant miniature space ukelele....

 

[mach1.9pants]

Boo!

Haha what's the term, metrosexual.

Yeah the guitar just doesn't look right, looks like a wrist watch would, out of place.

Thanks for pointing out that the 4E art wasn't just posing, I have had a look back over my books. Maybe I had the opposite of rose coloured glasses on, there is some good stuff there. even if I don't like the stumpy/chunky/bulky character style that many are.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Finally, I can't figure out if the bard is male or female

Then it definitely beats the previous style, where you always definitely knew (because all the males had gigantic muscles and all the females had gigantic breasts).

If the current crop of Sundering adventures is any indication of quality, then I respectfullydisqgree. Its the same tired garbage they have been producing since buying TSR.

Implying that TSR adventures weren't tired garbage?

 

[LightPhoenix]

I don't mind the guitar on the bard; it looks like they took a lute and a classical guitar and merged the two ideas. I can't imagine carrying a guitar like that though - they're relatively cumbersome held like that, not to mention bad for the neck.

It seems like they're going for some sort of semi-realistic tone; ironically only the half-orc really pulls it off against the white background. A big problem for me is how glossy they appear. This is most notable on the half-orc - note the lighting on the face. It's almost like they took models or miniatures and put them under bright lighting instead of something more neutral.

Going back to the bard, I think this is responsible for some of the issues people are having. With the guitar, the lighting makes it look too much like plastic, which in turn makes it look too modern. It doesn't help that her (presumably) silk blouse and her hair are shiny like they're metallic. Fabric and hair just don't reflect light that way normally.