D&D General D&D: Literally Don't Understand This

[tombowings]

...And this is why I write my own adventures.

But if this is what the WotC posse are in to...I'm not going to stop them. I just want them to make the game they want to play most--whatever that might be.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Certainly.

Karl Treuherz in Fafhrd and the Mouser and the Barrier Peaks module are both cross genre and much of the Appendix N inspiration is decidedly not medieval. The pantheons in 1e Deities and Demigods disjointedly span five millennia as do the tech and clothing of their worshippers, but I bet they are mixed together contemporaneously in many campaign worlds.

I wonder if the way many people in my generation accepted those without thinking is because of some common frame of reference or simply because we were presented it at the right age to just run with it.

This all has me wondering a bit what is in the YA Fantasy section and TV shows and Anime that I have never seen that younger generations than mine may just run with.

View attachment 414442

For me it was a novelty within what was the game norm. As a result, it served as a novelty and a divergence, maybe a one off.

I think the basis of the game now lacks identity to deviate from…

I get it. The kids don’t care…maybe some get inspired by it. And as such, they can support the new releases (I will here or there). And it’s just one world of many and all that.

But the base “look” and assumptions are a turnoff for me. If it all sells well, that is moot for the company.

But being honest are many people playing medieval fantasy charged up by pink boas and high heels? Maybe they are and that is fine

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But being honest are many people playing medieval fantasy charged up by pink boas and high heels? Maybe they are and that is fine

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, while imperfect (I'm running a campaign of it now), is one of their biggest critical successes in the 5E era and does well commercially. One of the settings in the book was brought back in Dragon Delves, which likely wouldn't have happened if WotC had gotten a lot of blowback about it. (It's the setting with the Southern Gothic vibe mentioned earlier.)

And today's young fantasy fans are inspired by Avatar, anime, Minecraft, League of Legends, etc. Their aesthetic frame is different, just as mine was when my dad pushed The Worm Ouroboros on me as the fantasy novel I should be most inspired by.

 

[Scribe]

But being honest are many people playing medieval fantasy charged up by pink boas and high heels?

Nah, they are playing BG3 and Dark Souls type stuff.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Nah, they are playing BG3 and Dark Souls type stuff.

My kid is all about Elden ring…when she is not a kenku in my campaign

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, while imperfect (I'm running a campaign of it now), is won of their biggest critical successes in the 5E era and does well commercially. One of the settings in the book was brought back in Dragon Delves, which likely wouldn't have happened if WotC had gotten a lot of blowback about it. (It's the setting with the Southern Gothic vibe mentioned earlier.)

And today's young fantasy fans are inspired by Avatar, anime, Minecraft, League of Legends, etc. Their aesthetic frame is different, just as mine was when my dad pushed The Worm Ouroboros on me as the fantasy novel I should be most inspired by.

It’s ok to admit my time has passed. And it clearly has (I am not ancient but maybe my tastes are).

No matter the sales or what critics say I am simply not charging into battle thinking of pink dresses and high heels.

For every crusty polearm wielding footman like me I know there are two fans and apologists for this stuff. Not a thing to be done about it on my end but maybe skip some releases.

They got plenty of money from me already anyway and my plastic monster buying (ongoing) is probably good enough for them to fund their pensions regardless.

 

[Scribe]

My kid is all about Elden ring…when she is not a kenku in my campaign

I'd take a Kenku over a Go Go Dancer anyway.

 

[Chaltab]

But being honest are many people playing medieval fantasy charged up by pink boas and high heels? Maybe they are and that is fine

Well that's nonsense. We all like what we like, but you're taking art from an adventure that takes place in a particular time, setting, and even at a particular event and acting like that's just... what D&D is these days? Can you not see now disingenuous that comes across?

Edit: It's like taking some photos of cosplayers at a convention or a bunch of people at a Mardis Gras parade and saying "this is just what 2020s fashion is like, I guess time has passed me by."

 

[MonsterEnvy]

...And this is why I write my own adventures.

But if this is what the WotC posse are in to...I'm not going to stop them. I just want them to make the game they want to play most--whatever that might be.

You do know this art is from a micro setting anthology that are each different to D&D norms

 

[pukunui]

You do know this art is from a micro setting anthology that are each different to D&D norms

It's reasonable for it to seem strange when you're not aware that it was part of an anthology that explored micro-settings.

All you need to know is that it is consistent with the vibe of its setting, and it doesn't really have a wider implication than that, other than that settings like that are probably going to continue to pop up here and there, because they are becoming popular in the fantasy space.

Lots of other D&D settings, though! We can stick to one of those if we prefer, or make up our own, like we always could.

OK yes the specific piece of art in the OP is from a specific micro-setting featured in a specific book. However, I maintain that it is representative of a general trend toward more modern aesthetics in official D&D art. Look at the aesthetics in the revised core rulebook art and the art for the upcoming Eberron book. The more modern stylings in Radiant Citadel are no longer a one-off. They're becoming part of a new normal.

The change in D&D's art direction is making me feel left behind more than any mechanical changes. I started to feel left behind when streaming D&D games was all the rage, but I soldiered on ... I'm just not sure if I want to keep going any more. I mean, I'm down to one D&D campaign now, and I don't really seem to mind as much as I thought I would.