Character Portraits: Fantasy Heroes

[johnsemlak]

I want to start this review by stating that I bought this book for a very specific purpose and was a disappointed at how the product suited this purpose. I had created a Gnome Illusionist and wanted a wider choise of portraits than I could find through my brief seach online. Being willing to spend a little money for some convenience, I gave this product a try without really reading about it much beforehand.

Unfortunately, I found out that the total amount of portraits that suit my race-class combo was very minimal--two or three really. Now, I should have done the math before I bought it and figured out that if the product has about 100 portraits, there are only going to be a certain amount of protraits for each class, and only a certain amount for each class-race combo. So I really should have expected what I got.

The pictures are all B&W. I am not an experienced art critic but I would rate them as average. They are rather detailed. THe pictures are mostly cut off at the thighs. There are 4 portraits per page, and each takes up nearly one-quarter of a page. They are divided by character class, and include a section for Psions, but they group wizards and sorcerors into one 'magic-user' category. Conversely, Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins, and Rangers all have their own categories. Also, there were no separate catetgories for races, which I found inconvenient.

That basic issue I have with this book is that it simply provides you the same or smaller quantity and quality of portraits you can easily find online (the WotC PC Portraits section for example), and an in-depth search can provide far more. This isn't really Mongoose's fault of course. I do appreciate the effort to provide some convenience for players lazy to bother with finding a perfect PC portrait (like me). However, for me the bottom line is for a product to be worth paying for it should have a far greater selection. This may not be feasilble--I can't say. Perhaps it would have been better to sell several cheaper PDFs in narrower categories (one for each race perhaps?).

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Whenever you create a new character sheet, one item always seems to get neglected – the character’s portrait. What does Xandros the Wise, budding human sorcerer actually look like? You probably spend a short amount of time telling the rest of your party about your hook nose and eager face, only to immediately involve yourself in adventuring and abruptly forget your own limited description.

Now you can address this problem without hours of work drawing a portrait which will probably end up looking like the Elephant Man; let Mongoose do it for you! In this first in a series of PDFs containing character portraits, we present more than 100 fantasy heroes, all races and all classes, plus a few novelty ones thrown in for good measure.

In this PDF you will find fighters and monks, clerics and magic users, even psions. What is more, each one has even been given a name so that if you are feeling uninspired you can leaf through and pick out a suitable name as well! All the pictures are designated Open Games Content, so you may do with them as you will. This 26-page PDF also includes full and simple instructions that will have you cutting and pasting character art in no time. It really is that easy!

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Hiya!

Getting just the right portrait for your character is nearly impossible, especially if you want the equipment the person in the art is wearing to match what you're using. I always make the portraits for my party. I'm not a pro or anything, but they look decent enough. Maybe you'd like me to draw your Gnome?

Greetz,
ZZ

 

[dungeondweller]

The only way to get what you're seeking is to specifically commission a PC portrait. No product can be so comprehensive as to cover every possible PC.