D&D (2024) Comeliness and Representation in Recent DnD Art

[michaeljpastor]

This doesn't help. If you can't be brought back from the dead, it's equivalent to being "just a robot"? Again, gross.

In a multiverse of magic and spirits and souls and reincarnation and infinite existences, it would be nice to have a group that identifies as soulless and just robots (biological or otherwise), not because it's a conscious attitude, but from one of fact. It would be refreshing in a game that tries to make an allowances for all kinds of metaphysics. You only get one shot, what you are is what is you get, within one material plane, and if you fear death, it's for a damn (well darn in this case) good reason and if revivification is tried, you're just a zombie, or at most a ghola.

 

[Alzrius]

Though I did notice that, despite WotC's new(-ish...) stance regarding female dragonborn endowment, most art of female dragonborn still gives them breasts--regardless of the artist or player (many of whom were, in fact, women themselves.)

For the life of me, I can't remember where I heard this, but there's some apocryphal story about three women having different takes on female dragonborn (i.e. if they have breasts or not).

The first woman said that they shouldn't, because putting breasts on reptiles was sexualization.
The second woman said that they should, because breasts were a visual indicator of femininity, and not having them was erasure.
The third woman just wanted the other two to shut up and let her play her female dragonborn character.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

For the life of me, I can't remember where I heard this, but there's some apocryphal story about three women having different takes on female dragonborn (i.e. if they have breasts or not).

The first woman said that they shouldn't, because putting breasts on reptiles was sexualization.
The second woman said that they should, because breasts were a visual indicator of femininity, and not having them was erasure.
The third woman just wanted the other two to shut up and let her play her female dragonborn character.

I've heard similar stories, except the first two speakers were men.

 

[Fifth Element]

In a multiverse of magic and spirits and souls and reincarnation and infinite existences, it would be nice to have a group that identifies as soulless and just robots (biological or otherwise), not because it's a conscious attitude, but from one of fact. It would be refreshing in a game that tries to make an allowances for all kinds of metaphysics. You only get one shot, what you are is what is you get, within one material plane, and if you fear death, it's for a damn (well darn in this case) good reason and if revivification is tried, you're just a zombie, or at most a ghola.

I would suggest that's not what people mean when they say "just a robot." They don't mean "only has this life to live." If that's what you mean, fantastic, but that's not the meaning I was referring to.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I would suggest that's not what people mean when they say "just a robot." They don't mean "only has this life to live." If that's what you mean, fantastic, but that's not the meaning I was referring to.

Right. What is meant is something like Roomba. Obviously non-sentient robots exists in real life, and they sometimes exist in fantasy fiction as well. Is iron golem sentient or is it just an automaton? I'm not sure, but the point was the the warforged definitely are not automatons, they're sentient beings even though they're not biological.

 

[Clint_L]

In a multiverse of magic and spirits and souls and reincarnation and infinite existences, it would be nice to have a group that identifies as soulless and just robots (biological or otherwise), not because it's a conscious attitude, but from one of fact. It would be refreshing in a game that tries to make an allowances for all kinds of metaphysics. You only get one shot, what you are is what is you get, within one material plane, and if you fear death, it's for a damn (well darn in this case) good reason and if revivification is tried, you're just a zombie, or at most a ghola.

This is a premise that is currently being explored by Sam Reigel's character Fresh Cut Grass in the current campaign of Critical Role. As an automaton, rather than being Warforged, the question is very much up in the air. And they are a cleric!

 

[Voadam]

And it’s kinda silly to be debating this when the Eberron books very explicitly state that Warforged do have souls.

Got a book and page reference? I looked in the 3.5 campaign setting that introduced them and in Races of Ebberon which had a sidebar in how it is an in world debate but I did not find any explicit statements about them having souls. Just that they have sentience and free will and can be raised.

 

[jayoungr]

Fat elf.

Far be it from me to stand in the way of what people find fun at their own tables. Let a thousand flowers bloom and all that. But I can't help wondering, if all fantasy species are mechanically interchangeable and have exactly the same range of appearance features as humans ... is there any point to having different species at all?

 

[Incenjucar]

Far be it from me to stand in the way of what people find fun at their own tables. Let a thousand flowers bloom and all that. But I can't help wondering, if all fantasy species are mechanically interchangeable and have exactly the same range of appearance features as humans ... is there any point to having different species at all?

Every species has dark vision, breath weapons, innate spells, free feats, medium size, luck, poison resistance, magic resistance, tails, horns, claws, and bites?

 

[Faolyn]

Far be it from me to stand in the way of what people find fun at their own tables. Let a thousand flowers bloom and all that. But I can't help wondering, if all fantasy species are mechanically interchangeable and have exactly the same range of appearance features as humans ... is there any point to having different species at all?

Yes. Because some people don't want to play humans.

Besides, it's not like most gamers go out of their way to think up any truly non-human cultural elements for their elves and dwarfs, besides the most basic of "elves are skinny and like nature" or "dwarfs are bearded, like mining, and tend to be scottish."