D&D 5E Calimshan, Thay, Anauroch - Thousands of miles apart, interchangeable artwork.

[Jackdaw McGraw]

Small rant...

The newest Thay supplement has some lovely artwork but it has me wondering why much of the architecture and clothing is so similar to representations of other quite distant Faerun regions, like Calimshan and Anauroch. Except for the presence of the Red Wizards, it's nearly interchangeable. Turbans, veils, keffiyeh, elaborate jewelry, Islamic architecture, onion domes, etc. seem to be artistic shorthand for cultures on the periphery of the of the more European-Renaissance-ish cultural swath from the Sword Coast to Dragon's Reach.

I know the pragmatic answer is "it's art orders, from various artists, whatcha gonna do" but it seems like Forgotten Realms should be able to nail down some cultural designs by now that make each region look/feel specific and less recycled and hand-waved.

 

[see]

You do understand the "newest Thay supplement" is an independent authors' creation on DM's Guild, not a Wizards of the Coast product, right? They don't have a WotC-type art budget, and WotC isn't in charge of the art style.

 

[Jackdaw McGraw]

You do understand the "newest Thay supplement" is an independent authors' creation on DM's Guild, not a Wizards of the Coast product, right? They don't have a WotC-type art budget, and WotC isn't in charge of the art style.

I do.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

To an extent, it's influenced by the climate. Long loose clothing in the desert, like furs in the arctic, is not a matter of culture or fashion.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Bedine of Anauroch ultimately originated in Zakhara (via portal), so it's hardly surprising that they have the Middle East as their cultural touchstone...

 

[Yora]

Thay was originally a colony of Mulhorand, and the Red Wizards from the Mulhorand elite. And Mulhorand is generically Egyptian. But I've never seen it shown in any kind of Arab style. (Though not really in any style, to be true.))

 

[Voadam]

Thay is generally Greenwood's D&D version of Conan style Stygia, fantasy Egypt with evil sorcerers.

In world they split off from Mulhorand which was full of gated in ancient Egyptians.

Generally the Red Wizards are visually marked by their robes and later by their tattoos.

Not a lot of distinct architecture for a lot of them in the existing art. Mostly standard D&D city buildings, underground dungeon meeting places, and some high powered D&D wizard stuff.

From 1e Dreams of the Red Wizards:

From 2e Spellbound:

3.5 Unapproachable East:

 

[LordEntrails]

Magic.
Easy for renowned architects to travel the world and influence designs in different regions, or perhaps even be the driving architect in multiple regions.

 

[darjr]

The Red Wizards Adventure League mods have a lot of cool little details in them too.

 

[Marandahir]

This is the question I've asked for years regarding Calimshan and Zakhara and why there's a tiny second Al-Qadim inside of the Sword Coast.

It's a reason I'm not a big fan of FR: the visual shorthands are less interesting than more creative world-building. Too much sameiness and fantasy-counterpart cultures (and multiple fantasy counterparts for single real world cultural regions).