D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

[Jfdlsjfd]

D&D spell illustration challenge, day 26: Arcane Eye

When you DM announces an adventure based on exploring a castle, Arcane Eye can really ruins his fun. Chimneys are overlooked.

Prompt: A lone mage with the appearance of an Indian-inspired shaman stands at the edge of a misty clearing, gazing toward a distant hilltop castle. He wears layered robes in earthy tones — ochre, deep red, and faded indigo — adorned with feathers, bone charms, and beaded patterns. His long, dark hair is braided with totems and small bells, and a ceremonial staff rests in his hand, carved with ancient runes and topped with a crescent of obsidian. Floating silently above his head is a large, translucent ghostly white eye, cloud-like, scanning the fortress ahead. Behind him, the forest is alive with quiet birdsong, but ahead, the looming castle rises in silence — its towers casting long shadows under a cloudy sky.

Commentary: And latrines. A valid reason to ask your DM about bathrooms in the plan he drew for the villain's hideout, at last! Also, I disliked, then liked, the Chtulhu bone charm.

 

[evilbob]

Commentary: what can I say? I fail to discern the use case of this spell.

A side effect of this thread is remembering that there are a large number of spells that I dismissed as useless years ago, and... that hasn't changed

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

A side effect of this thread is remembering that there are a large number of spells that I dismissed as useless years ago, and... that hasn't changed

Honestly, I didn't remember that Clairvoyance was worded like it is, so you can scry an unknown but self-evident place. I might memorize it more often now. Especially since my current campaign has just reached level 8 and we won't probably reach Scrying level (character level 9) for another real-life year. It is a slow paced campaign, we made level 3->8 in 3 years.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

D&D spell illustration challenge, day 27: Arcane Gate

Arcane Gate, for when your second floor is too far for Misty Step, using a 6th level spell is great.
Prompt: Inside a high-ceilinged stone chamber lit by flickering torchlight, two large perfectly circular rifts in reality hover in the air. Each one swirls with dense, pearlescent mist, completely obscuring whatever lies beyond. The gate nearest the entrance casts an eerie glow across the floor, its foggy surface pulsing slowly like a living thing. The second magical rift floats diagonally across the room, halfway up a crumbled staircase, mirroring the first with identical swirling haze. A wizard in deep violet robes stands nearby, one hand extended, etched glyphs of light circling his palm as he concentrates. Loose parchment and candle flames flutter in the arcane wind drawn between the two gates.

Comment: Why? Just why? It's at best highly situational and not worth memorizing.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

D&D spell illustration challenge, day 28: Astral Projection

Astral Projection is great, but warn your neighbours about this spell. They might be a bit too eager to put your body on a burial pyre.

Prompt: In a candlelit ritual chamber adorned with silver glyphs and hanging veils, a powerful mage lies motionless on an elevated stone dais. His body is dressed in fine ceremonial robes, hands crossed over his chest, eyes closed in deep trance. Hovering just above him, an ethereal version of himself — translucent, glowing with soft bluish light — rises slowly, weightless and serene. A silvery magical cord stretches from to the spectral form, floating. Around the dais, chalk runes glow faintly on the floor, and incense smoke coils in slow spirals.


Commentary: I'm running a day late. Also, Astral Projection is a long, expensive way to travel to another plane, something one can do in group with a spell two levels lower, albeit more dangerously -- but 17th level wizard often have countermeasures in place to foil their death.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

D&D spell illustration challenge, day 29: Augury

Let's cast Augury to know if the outcome of accepting this new member in our group will be positive...



Prompt: At the top of the image, a modern-day Dungeon Master — dressed casually, with a hoodie and glasses — sits at a table covered with dice, notebooks, and a laptop. He spreads a hand of tarot-like cards across the table, eyes narrowed in thought as he contemplates the fate of his players. Other players are looking at him. At the bottom of the image, within the imagined world, a grizzled warrior in chainmail and a robed mage with silver temples crouch over a similar set of cards on a stone altar, in a ruined shrine. The warrior looks skeptical, arms crossed; the mage’s green eyes gleam with reverence as he turns over a tarot card.


Commentary: answering by Weal or Woe to the player's stated intent is complicated... If everyone detects the trap and no damage is incurred, your reading of Woe will be strange. I am not fond of the PHB illustration showing the players, but in this case I felt it was justified. Still running a day late, I can't do another today.

Side note: the divining cards must be worth at least 25 gp for the spell to work. In D&D universes, wizards read the future with CCG like Black Lotuses.

 

[DragonLancer]

Playing around for funs with ChatGPT tonight, to make a group portrait for the characters in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign I am running. Actually quite pleased with the result.

Kitsumi - Kitsune Wizard 7.
Kor - Human Fighter 7.
Woodwyn - Goliath Monk 6/Ranger 1.
Fellin - Gnome Druid 7.
Harry - Dwarf Sorcerer 7.
Ulrich the Slayer - Human (Horny) Bard 7.
Jargal - Goliath Rogue 7.

 

[Lanefan]

Some of these spell images are producing better character portraits than the art intended to be character portraits!

The wizard in "Demiplane" (who I see more as a Ranger) and the Elf in "Animate Object" are excellent.

EDIT: on second glance, that's not an Elf, it's a trick of the way the hair is done that gives her what looks like a pointy ear. Still, a trivial tweak to make that an actual pointy ear, tone own the glowy eyes a bit, and that's a perfect Elf.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I've found that Elf, in the HiDream model, produces anime elves, with very long ears. So I avoided making her an Elf since that would have ruined the picture for me -- I want my elves to be Tolkienesque. I also tried to make wizards not look robed old guys every time, because it would be boring to look at.

 

[Lanefan]

I've found that Elf, in the HiDream model, produces anime elves, with very long ears. So I avoided making her an Elf since that would have ruined the picture for me -- I want my elves to be Tolkienesque. I also tried to make wizards not look robed old guys every time, because it would be boring to look at.

Some images I've seen that used "half-elf" in the prompt gave decent-looking Elves without the radio-antenna ears.