Daily Art Preview

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

It's the rule zero of the internet

Actually, in my own professionally inbred way I like when the anatomy is diffusely off when it comes to creatures. It lends a wrongness to a creature that is the living, breathing defenition of wrong. It's the same thing as the skin of the balor; it is glistening, almost plastic and it looks more like a set of clothes than it looks like skin. It is perfectly unsettling, a skin fitting a demon lord

Balor skin is made from people?

PS: I'm not a student anymore, I just haven't found a way to change the nick

I suspected so, due to previous posts of you. But (as they say at least in Germany), "life-long learning" is the way to go. So you will always be a student, albeit you might need to work more and get more money now (assuming you still work in your discipline )

 

[Serendipity]

THAT's the Balor? Oh yeah........................................
After seeing the elementalized angels, I was wondering. DAUYM that looks formidable. I like.

 

[Klaus]

The Balor is very, very good.

As for the muscles not showing, do keep in mind that this inhuman creature has a very tough hide, not the thin, soft skin of humans. No one can accuse Arnie Sweekel of not knowing anatomy. Just take a look at his Herakles picture in Deities & Demigods.

 

[med stud]

The Balor is very, very good.

As for the muscles not showing, do keep in mind that this inhuman creature has a very tough hide, not the thin, soft skin of humans. No one can accuse Arnie Sweekel of not knowing anatomy. Just take a look at his Herakles picture in Deities & Demigods.

That too. Also, many times artists go overboard with muscles and consistently draw pictures of people without body fat what so ever. The problem with that, IMO, is that the person that is drawn looks like a body builder after a strict diet regime. For me, it kills the mood something fierce when every warrior in an illustration looks like someone who has engaged in a very particular training/eating regime.

And about the balor, yet again: Not only does it have thicker skin, it's also a distinct possibility that the balor doesn't have the same muscles as humans

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Well the artwork is excellent.

I'm really curious to see how the Balor's abilities stack up against a pit fiend's. Where the PF is a leader, I'd expect the Balor to be a pretty straight elite or solo brute between levels 24-28.

 

[AllisterH]

Big red and scary....Always had a problem describing the difference between a pit fiend and a balor...

 

[Clavis]

I like the Balor picture. It's METAL, which is the most important thing for any D&D art.

As for the recent Pit Fiends... Pit Fiends will always have fat bellies in my mind, a la the 1st Edition Monster manual. Makes 'em look like fat-cat fascist generals. But then, WOTC seems to have banned anything tubby from the art...

 

[frankthedm]

Maybe the things that strikes me the most is seeing the Balor better armored/clothed than the Pit Fiend... Come on!

The demons are the bestial ones, the devils are the sophisticated. Pit Fiend needed a cool hell-armor or hell-clothing. Balor only needed much fire and skulls. I see they were going that direction, but then why the naked Pit Fiend?

1. Any gear the Pit fiend has is treasure. Any gear the Balor has is shrapnel.

2. The artist forgot the Pit fiend’s breastplate. “This hulking devil stands 12 feet tall and has red scales, leathery wings, and a long whiplike tail. It carries a massive mace and wears an ornate breastplate decorated with evil runes and symbols.”

3. I’d imagine Pit fiends should be wearing finery only one step below their Devil Lords, but sadly, most of that kind of stuff is not fire proof. Once combat starts, that dandy outfit becomes ash.

4. Pit fiends can vault their stuff wherever their throne room is and come back to it pretty easy. Balors would carry their stuff wherever they go since I’d imagine they have more a “It is mine because I have it with me” attitude rather than a Devils “It is mine because I have rightful claim on it.” Also, I’d bet balors are far less sedentary and their local terrain is far more unstable, two things that make it a good idea to ‘Carry what you got’.

5. I think the Artist took a little inspiration from the Warhammer Bloodthirster for this Balor. Those Balrog clones do come with a bit of gear on thier bodies.

 

[Mirtek]

There is also not much reason for illithids, githyanki, githzerai and displacer beasts to exist either. But you can't discard everything at once, or the fanbois will cry; so we start with rakshasas and move upward.

So you want to create an unique D&D IP by eleminating anything unique to D&D? Isn't that what your ripping down of all "barriers to entry" comes down to?

Of course barriers to entry exist. As long as there are people out there playing WoW and not D&D, that is ipso facto evidence of barriers to entry.

That is a very, very, very weak evidence.

Some people just do not want to play D&D (or any tabletop) period. That's like saying that as long as people are walking by a free giveaway booth without picking anything up it's an ipso facto evidence of barriers to entry.

Some people just walk by the widely open door because they have no interest at all to go through

 

[mhacdebhandia]

"Diablo-esque crap" doesn't even have wings.

I wasn't just referring to the Diablo character, but seriously: if you stuck wings on Diablo and coloured him black, you'd pretty much have that movie Balrog. It's one of the most unimaginative and boring designs they could have gone with.