D&D Alumni Article on Devils

[Shemeska]

I have to say I'm not all that impressed with the article (nor the previous article on demons through the editions). They omitted any 2e image of the Bezikira, Dispater, Mammon, Fierna, or Baalzebul, and the image selections weren't exactly the best. In fact, if a relevant image was from any of the Planescape material, either the author wasn't aware of its existance, or had some wierd reason to not use it, typically omitting any image of the topic from the edition entirely, like they hadn't existed for that decade, rather than using it.

Virtually nothing from DiTerlizzi, when a lot of his stuff in 2e included some of the iconic fiend images that have continued to influence the 3e representations. It's just... wierd... to not see that, and have most of the images (sans some stuff from GtH) come from the earliest 2e sources and then seemingly ending there. It's certainly not representative of the body of material.

Edit: LINK

 

[helium3]

Most of the fiendish codex images gave me bad links. I would be curious to know why DiTerlizzi's stuff wasn't in there. I normally pay no attention to art, but even I know who he is.

Also, when did Glasya boot out the Hag Countess? Did I miss something or is this a change they've made in the FC?

 

[el-remmen]

Link?

 

[demiurge1138]

Also, when did Glasya boot out the Hag Countess? Did I miss something or is this a change they've made in the FC?

The latter. It's a specifically FC 2 change.

And yes, the lack of DiTerlizzi illustrations bothered me. I mean, some of them weren't very good (I'm looking at you, pit fiend, abashai and spinagon), but others are some of my favorite art from the game (hamatula, gelugon). At least they kept his imp (which wasn't even from a Planescape book) - that picture made a huge impression on me when I was 10.

Demiurge out.

 

[Abisashi]

I thought it was very interesting how some of the devils changed physicallyfrom 1st edition. In 1e they have features which are very human-like (usually the head/eyes). In 3e many of them have lost their human appearance (though they generally remain humanoid).

Examples:
Amnizu: from a human-looking face (with a huge forhead) to a very different head-shape; the eyes are very different as well.

Spined Devil (Spinagon): I think this is the largest change (though I can't see the full Fiendish Codex picture).

 

[hexgrid]

At least they kept his imp (which wasn't even from a Planescape book)

Maybe that's the reason most of the DiTerlizzi stuff was excluded- it was from a campaign setting, not "core" D&D.

Just guessing.

 

[Shemeska]

Maybe that's the reason most of the DiTerlizzi stuff was excluded- it was from a campaign setting, not "core" D&D.

Just guessing.

Except that the idea of 'core' versus non-core didn't exist till 3e. The 2e planescape books that much of DiTerlizzi's work was featured in, while a specific line of books, weren't a totally seperate campaign setting, not in the sense you're thinking, they just further developed and were specifically focused around the common cosmology of D&D shared by all of the campaign settings.

If the article excluded them because they were 'a campaign setting' or 'not core', it's incredibly shortsighted.

 

[Psion]

And yes, the lack of DiTerlizzi illustrations bothered me. I mean, some of them weren't very good

I'd say most.

The fiend images by DiTerlizzi that I liked I could count on two fingers.

 

[Psion]

Except that the idea of 'core' versus non-core didn't exist till 3e.

I don't think that's true.

Brown and Blue books were published not unique to any setting, and settings got their own line of books. Later on, as settings stopped seeing as much support, non-setting specific books started being published collecting creatures many of which appeared in specific settings.

 

[Arnwyn]

I'd say most.

The fiend images by DiTerlizzi that I liked I could count on two fingers.

I agree with that. While I liked a lot of DiTerlizzi's Planescape stuff, IMO he had a very rough time with the fiends, and almost every one of them came out poor. Pretty much if it was a fiend and not female, it was... not so good.

Of those images in the article, I've discovered that I like the 2e (specifically, the MC8 images by Baxa) the best - barring a couple, of course. For example, the FC amnizu is much better than the others, and I like the 3.5 chain devil more than the 2e drawing. The 3.5 lemure and FC spinagon are also superior, IMO.