D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

[cbwjm]

Cool artstyle for Conan.

 

[Nightfly]

Wow, love the art style in the pics above. What did you put in the prompt to get that cool watercolor look?

 

[dave2008]

Thank you again for responding! Here are my thoughts.

I think an it's both: first, I find it depicts the players in a little too silly poses, as if making fun of players.

Interesting I didn't have the impression at all. Everyone is different.

I don't like the visual style they used for the real-world part of the image. And the images of the fantasy part evokes more players-cosplaying-as-their-D&D-characters than representation of their characters. Also, the design goal of the image doesn't fit with me, it detracts from the fantasy vibes of the rest of the book. Once, maybe, thrice?

It is not my favorite style either, but it would matter more to me in the MM than here. I am a lot more forgiving in the PHB. It (the PHB) has to appeal to a much wider array of players. I appreciate the PHB having a diversity of styles and themes represented.

Only one of the characters strikes me as a cos-play adjacent to me. Like above, i don't mind if that is what people want in their fantasy. One of the best explanations for flamboyant gear for adventurers was actually based on medieval traditions and looking at what adventurers would really look like. Here is a clue: that would not look like the local street urchin! This applies to the next discussion as well.

I think the art style on the bard one is far worse at immersing into the world than most images. I can see it called garbage, though it's not technically badly done. It's just that doing better was easy, including by... not having any image there. That's what I call "detrimental": if it adds little (like an illustration of a mundane armour) it doesn't bother me, if I'd prefer the image not to be there, it detracts from my enjoyment. I have seen much better bards on this thread.

I don't particularly like that style either for my D&D, but I completely respect that it represents other peoples vision of D&D and I think that is good thing. Like you said, there is already an image of bard in a different style. Why do the same thing twice? If you want diverse people playing your game then the art should represent a diversity of fantasy ideas IMO.

I guess I don't see not liking a piece of art as detrimental. We all over our own perspectives and baggage. Thank you again for sharing yours!

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I understand the position of seeing "good illusutration = +, bad illustration = neutral". After all, as a reader I can overlook anything easily. But in a paid product, I feel like I pay a part of the price for everything. So an illustration that doesn't fit is "ouch, a few cents down the drain". I am not penny-pinching, I can afford it, it's a subjective feeling. I understand for example that we need, in a general public and especially in an RPG that can be the first contact between people and RPGs, a section on what our funny dice are. But I also feel it's something I paid for that could be filled with something more useful to me.

I'd have more easily an attitude of "it is there, I don't particularly care for it, but I don't hate it anyway so why not?" if it was free. Hence my interest in AI-generated images.

I also agree that if there is a book where art is useful, it's in the MM. There is always a risk of attacking a gazebo.

 

[dave2008]

I understand the position of seeing "good illusutration = +, bad illustration = neutral". After all, as a reader I can overlook anything easily. But in a paid product, I feel like I pay a part of the price for everything. So an illustration that doesn't fit is "ouch, a few cents down the drain". I am not penny-pinching, I can afford it, it's a subjective feeling. I understand for example that we need, in a general public and especially in an RPG that can be the first contact between people and RPGs, a section on what our funny dice are. But I also feel it's something I paid for that could be filled with something more useful to me.

I'd have more easily an attitude of "it is there, I don't particularly care for it, but I don't hate it anyway so why not?" if it was free. Hence my interest in AI-generated images.

I also agree that if there is a book where art is useful, it's in the MM. There is always a risk of attacking a gazebo.

For me, I think the MM Wyvern is on the verge of being detrimentally bad. Particularly when there is a such a good one in the PHB! It is the worst image in the core books I think (could be wrong, I haven't gone through the PHB in detail).

MM Wyvern

PHB Wyvern

 

[overgeeked]

Wow, love the art style in the pics above. What did you put in the prompt to get that cool watercolor look?

If you mean those Conan pics I posted, it's some variant of this: "Rough, textured painting." I do them in batches and keep varying and refining the prompts. Those were too far back to actually be able to see the text I used.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Also, in our last session, we needed some diversion while a comrade was leaving the city unnoticed. In a ruthless artificer's way, we concluded that a character should select a rock, cast Reduce on it so it can fit into a bag of holding, take to the sky, empty the bag of holding, stop concentrating on Reduce by casting Enlarge. Since the maximum weight of a bag of holding is 250 kg, that would mean dropping a 4 tons rock from the sky. As illustated below.

A nice result for 2 2nd-level spells and a third level spell.

 

[Kichwas]

For me, I think the MM Wyvern is on the verge of being detrimentally bad. Particularly when there is a such a good one in the PHB! It is the worst image in the core books I think (could be wrong, I haven't gone through the PHB in detail).

MM Wyvern
View attachment 404652

PHB Wyvern
View attachment 404653

I actually prefer the MM one there. I like the lighting. The MM one has more mood.

 

[dave2008]

I actually prefer the MM one there. I like the lighting. The MM one has more mood.

Like I have said many times - everyone is different! The MM version is the only 2024 core book art (that I can think of) that I would actively want replaced. I dislike it on many levels. The setting sun is indeed a nice touch, but that is it for me.

 

[SirGrotius]

I've read the most recent 5-10 pages here but there are over 600 so I'm not sure I dare ask, as I assume this has been done to death, but I too am wow'd by a lot of this AI art, which seems so much better in the D&D domain than in other applications where I've seen it utilized, that said, the big question to me is what does this mean for fantasy illustrators and artists?