Daily Art Preview

[Gargazon]

Exactly what I thought. The art is done well enough (even if it does harken a bit to Arnie Sweekel's own toad-monster-thing from the MMV), but the lower body lacks definition.

And since we're posting tarrasques:

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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

THAT is what a shell should look like, not some kind of nasty mould growth!

 

[Plane Sailing]

The thing I find most amusing about the 3E Tarrasque is that it was messed up when coloured. The line drawing (here ) clearly has the thing with beady little predator's eyes, and looking rather mean.
After colouring, it gets eyes in its ears and looks about as threatening as a giant beagle.

I agree - it is astonishing how such a strange artistic mistake got past the art directors

 

[Derren]

Anyway, the new pic of the tarrasque... it's not brilliant, I think, but it certainly is better than the 3e version (which always was kind of anticlimactic to me).

My problem with the picture is that the new Tarrasque looks very generic. This picture could also have been a new, wingless, dragon, a four legged Behir or any other random big lizard monster.

 

[Drkfathr1]

Its a nice pic, but I guess I have to go against the majority here...I actually prefer the 3E version!

 

[Elphilm]

My problem with the picture is that the new Tarrasque looks very generic. This picture could also have been a new, wingless, dragon, a four legged Behir or any other random big lizard monster.

I don't know. The monster design in Sam Wood's line drawing may be more unique than in the 4E image, but overall I think it looks comical rather than threatening. Generic design or not, the new tarrasque pic is one of my favorite 4E monster images (along with the pit fiend and the trio of devils). The lightning, the composition and the perspective all contribute to the effectiveness of the piece. When I look at it I don't think "big lizard dog", I think "a colossal abomination spawned at the dawn of creation to battle the gods themselves".

Even Klaus' image doesn't do it for me, although it is miles better than the official 3E representation.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

I dunno... I'd have to say that Klaus's tarrasque captures the vibe of the beast for me more than the more recent official depictions. Then again, the official image of the tarrasque just makes me think of a colossal mutated iguana/chameleon hybrid.

Then again, give the tarrasque a breath weapon, and it just might as well be this fella:

"Oh no... Sharn's about to go... oh no Godzilla!"

 

[D.Shaffer]

Derren doesnt like it. I'm sure that comes as a COMPLETE surprise to everyone.

I like it. Nice, big, stompy feel to it. I think I'd like slightly bigger eyes, maybe something glowy. I'm actually glad it looks more quadraped now, as the comparisons to the big G himself were a bit to obvious before hand.

 

[Derren]

The lightning, the composition and the perspective all contribute to the effectiveness of the piece.

The quality (lighting, etc.) of the picture is of course better than the 3E ones, no question but the Subject (Tarrasque) is imo very lacking. It simply has no trademark feature which, when you see the picture, tells you that this is the Tarrasque. In 3E it was the carapace which defined the look of the Tarrasque. In 4E such a defining feature simply lacks and the Tarrasque looks like any other big lizard monster.

 

[Nymrohd]

Well I hate agreeing with Derren but it is a big lizard dog with horns. Big T has a niche but neither the rules nor the drawings have ever managed to cement it. It is supposed to be a massive monster that can cause apocalyptic devastation through brute strength and is for all purposes unstoppable baring the most powerful of magic. It fails rulewise badly in that it is too vulnerable to ranged attacks and it fails as a visual since noone has yet to make it look unique; it just looks like an overdeveloped dinosaur and for all we know a dinosaur with a carapace and horns might have existed at some point anyway . . .
The tarrasque should incarnate rampage

 

[Oni]

None of the new art is bad, but nothing I've seen has really made me stand back and go wow that's awesome either.

The new tarrasque looks better than the last incarnation, but I wish it had been grander, the sense of scale could have been pushed more, and it seems kind of generic. The tarrasque to me should basically feel like the incarnation of the apocalypse, rather than just another big stompy monster. I'm not sure what I would have done but I still feel meh about it.