Conan, Lankhmar, and Swords & Sorcery style pulp fantasy hasn't been dominate in the fantasy fiction or film industries for decades. (As someone who was the collection manager for the sci-fi/fantasy department of my library for over a decade and tracking these trends, I can speak on a bit of authority). While Gygax may have put these in Appendix N and claimed their influence, they got pushed aside long ago in favor of other subgenres. That should be reflected in the art. Putting in muscle-bound barbarians and chainmail bikinis would serve to make the art seem irrelevant and dated for the majority of D&D's audience.
Amongst their audience, do you think more are watching Harry Potter, The Witcher, and LotR or Beastmaster, Conan, and Dolph Lundgren's Masters of the Universe?
So yes, the art and design needs to move on. It needs to reflect the fantasies of the players.
At a party this weekend, I stumbled into a group of people discussing starting a D&D game. Only one other guy was a middle-aged white dude. The others were bi females, a woman who is transgender, and a drag performer dressed as a nymph who wanted to play a "high dark elf" (because he's black and was at that moment high). [In case you're curious, I did not offer to run Witchlight, because I didn't want to tell him I didn't like fey in my D&D games.]
Amongst their audience, do you think more are watching Harry Potter, The Witcher, and LotR or Beastmaster, Conan, and Dolph Lundgren's Masters of the Universe?
So yes, the art and design needs to move on. It needs to reflect the fantasies of the players.
At a party this weekend, I stumbled into a group of people discussing starting a D&D game. Only one other guy was a middle-aged white dude. The others were bi females, a woman who is transgender, and a drag performer dressed as a nymph who wanted to play a "high dark elf" (because he's black and was at that moment high). [In case you're curious, I did not offer to run Witchlight, because I didn't want to tell him I didn't like fey in my D&D games.]
