D&D (2024) 2024 PHB/DMG/MM art/layout: like or dislike?

[Stormonu]

I got to take a quick look over the book at the local bookstore this weekend (before my wife snapped it out of my hands to sit down and look herself...). The art didn't really impress me and the "at the table" art sort of grated on me (even though I remember something similar back in B/X). As stated upthread, really disliked the half-orc/orc depictions. I like my art more towards the gritty side and what I saw inside just came across as too clean and bright, more like a fairy tale than a sword & sorcery vibe. I think the Easley/Parkingson/Elmore of 2E and Lockwood's 3E art hits a lot closer to the "feel" or vision I like than what we're getting now.

Also, it seems like they just reversed the order of the book for the most part and putting the spell lists with the classes didn't do much for me.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I rather like putting the spell list in the class descriptions, but I remain inordinately frustrated that the table doesn't include the page numbers of the spell description.

 

[ezo]

I don't like most of the art. It seems blurry and fake in some way to me. Also, I know diversity is a thing nowadays, but please stop shoving it in my face in nearly every image?

And if you are going to accurately show diversity in players as well, how about some overweight players??? Out of the three groups I've played with over the last 6 or 7 years, half the players are overweight. Believe it or not, the "overweight male white nerd in glasses" still plays D&D along with all the "cool kids". And the diversity does not have to be "complete" all the time, either...

However, that being said, I don't expect WotC to cater to my preferences since I won't be buying it anyway. I "acquired a copy" to review it, etc. and don't care for the direction WotC continues to take D&D, neither in the game design nor the artwork.

 

[billd91]

I don't like most of the art. It seems blurry and fake in some way to me. Also, I know diversity is a thing nowadays, but please stop shoving it in my face in nearly every image?

Seriously?!? Not enough white folk for you?

 

[ezo]

Seriously?!? Not enough white folk for you?

Jumped to conclusions much??

No, that isn't it. It is too much diversity all the time in the artwork. I don't care if the elves are all brown, pink, green, or whatever, for example, but must I have a brown one, pink one, green one, purple one, etc. all in the same image??? And most of the other images are of the same sort. Can't the artwork show a more homogeneous group once in a while, too??

Apparently not.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

My first impression was that the colorfulness was welcome. Let's have a second look...

First half of the book is nothing but static single-character pose images.
Orcs look less like orcs than half-orcs ever did (and even so, still barely get any pictures).
Modern wheelchair (in feats) looks ridiculous in a dungeon, and next to stairs, too.
Equipment chapter opener image looks like it's from a different edition from all the rest.
Latter half of the book at least has a lot more scenes where stuff is actually happening.

Is alright, but feels worse now that I went through all of it with art in mind. It really could have used more multi-person shots of them engaging in regular adventuring activities in the first half, not just next to the spell lists.

 

[ezo]

Modern wheelchair (in feats) looks ridiculous in a dungeon, and next to stairs, too.

Yeah, one of my friends commented this looked like artwork for Shadowrun more than D&D... guns, more modern clothes (necktie and vest, etc.), and so on.

 

[Cergorach]

Yeah, one of my friends commented this looked like artwork for Shadowrun more than D&D... guns, more modern clothes (necktie and vest, etc.), and so on.

That kind of depends on which edition of Shadowrun, I love most of the 1st edition SR art, the most recent editions, not so much...

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I really like that they have at least 1 picture for each subclass.

Diversity in the pictures doesn't bother me, I'm not white.

I actually like that there's some representation of certain ethnicities close to my own and they aren't all Monks, Samurai and Ninjas or even Humans, like the main Dwarf Cleric instead of something more typical then what's usually portrayed.

 

[ezo]

That kind of depends on which edition of Shadowrun, I love most of the 1st edition SR art, the most recent editions, not so much...

2E was the one I played the most, and a little 3E, but the art in 1e and 2e SR was both great for the feel.

I think his comment was not about it looking like the art from those books, more it looked like a SR scene.