Shemeska
Adventurer
I hate you and I need eye-bleach. Copious amounts of it. I just looked him up in goggle to see what he's been up to recently, just based on your comment. Apparently producing and selling foot fetish dvds.
Does art matter in a publication?
- Thread starter joethelawyer
- Start date
I hate you and I need eye-bleach. Copious amounts of it. I just looked him up in goggle to see what he's been up to recently, just based on your comment. Apparently producing and selling foot fetish dvds.
Vael
Legend
I love the art in the 4e PHB, it's evocative and pretty to look at. I find art important, but not a deal-breaker if it's not to my taste. I found plenty of the pieces in Martial Power subpar ... especially the class header art. The Dragonborn Warlord has been described as a fat toad, or Boss Nass. But I did like the cover.
So do I.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Old guy that I am, I'm used to RPG books that were instruction manuals full of text blocks and nothing else. In the begining it wasn't especially worrying to me to not have a lot of art, but art adds so much that now having seen how effective it is, I think of it as a necessity.
Good art provides it's usual service: inspiration. A jumpstart to the imagination is a very valuable thing. Done well, it evokes a feeling of time and place that really gets the old creative juices flowing.
Art and illustration is vital to an RPG, especially in a setting book. I think the various armor and weapon illustrations are needed in the basic books, if only to ally the state of education most people receive in them. Most people know what a sword is, but you should see the blank looks some people get when you talk about banded mail or a sai. True story swear to God, I had one guy think a mace was a chemical weapon.
A setting book needs to take the generic focus of the game and tighten it considerably. I want to see the various fashions for the Sword Coast. I want to see priests robes. I want to see what a Baldur's Gate coin looks like as oppossed to a Zhent coin.
More than the simple presence or absence, the quality of the art is a big factor, as is the choice in setting, mood, tone, etc.
The differences between this
and this
are palpable. Same monster, same stats, but presented in such a way as to fire the imagination. Can you imagine being that guy on the front lines facing such a thing? Imagine the terror he has to feel? Yeah. Big difference.
Good art provides it's usual service: inspiration. A jumpstart to the imagination is a very valuable thing. Done well, it evokes a feeling of time and place that really gets the old creative juices flowing.
Art and illustration is vital to an RPG, especially in a setting book. I think the various armor and weapon illustrations are needed in the basic books, if only to ally the state of education most people receive in them. Most people know what a sword is, but you should see the blank looks some people get when you talk about banded mail or a sai. True story swear to God, I had one guy think a mace was a chemical weapon.
A setting book needs to take the generic focus of the game and tighten it considerably. I want to see the various fashions for the Sword Coast. I want to see priests robes. I want to see what a Baldur's Gate coin looks like as oppossed to a Zhent coin.
More than the simple presence or absence, the quality of the art is a big factor, as is the choice in setting, mood, tone, etc.
The differences between this
and this
are palpable. Same monster, same stats, but presented in such a way as to fire the imagination. Can you imagine being that guy on the front lines facing such a thing? Imagine the terror he has to feel? Yeah. Big difference.
Last edited:
The Green Adam
First Post
Yes, Yep, Qui, Si, Hi
Definitely x1000!
One of my biggest gripes with the table top rpgaming industry in the US is how often gawd-aweful the art is. Obviously WotC not withstanding, though the current look/style/atmosphere is not to my personal aesthetics, its still very well done. Science Fiction and Super Hero RPGs seem to suffer far more then fantasy which is disappointing since these are my favorite subjects and poorly draw comic book characters can put you right out of the mood of playing a comic book game (or at least reading the rule book).
Prior to running any campaign, my ol' & still occaisional group would go into pre-production, designing the look and feel of the characters, their equipment and the world. As GM I scour the internet, Barnes & Noble, Japanese book stores, comic book shops and any other source I can find to obtain cool images and ideas for aliens, equipment, locales, vehicles and anything else we may encounter. Sometimes I'm looking for the image that fits an idea I have. Other times I will come across an amazing illustration of something and become so inspired I have to add it to the game.
Now, I am a bit luckier then most groups as I went to the High School of Art and Design and School of Visual Arts College in NY. Nearly every player I've gamed with over the last 25 years has been an artist in some capacity. One fellow customizes miniatures. Another designs star ships for computer game companies. Two of my best friends in the whole world are professional art directors for an animation studio. In one Star Wars game I ran many years back, one of my players drew 12-15 blaster pistols before deciding on which one his character would use. Those that were too short or small became Hold Out Blasters for NPCs. One with a very long thin barrel was later borrowed by another player for his Nobleman character.
An idea I've been toying with for over a decade now is to release a book, pdf or print, that contains the images and notes from my and my player's (with their permission of course) various sketchbooks. A sort of "The Making of the Series" is you will like they put out for most big budget special effects films these days. I'm not sure any one would by it but it would definitely look cool and be fun to do.
AD
"You've seen plywood sets that look like the inside. Our beryllium sphere is... is wire with plaster around it. And our digital conveyor is... it's Christmas tree lights. It's a decoration."
Definitely x1000!
One of my biggest gripes with the table top rpgaming industry in the US is how often gawd-aweful the art is. Obviously WotC not withstanding, though the current look/style/atmosphere is not to my personal aesthetics, its still very well done. Science Fiction and Super Hero RPGs seem to suffer far more then fantasy which is disappointing since these are my favorite subjects and poorly draw comic book characters can put you right out of the mood of playing a comic book game (or at least reading the rule book).
Prior to running any campaign, my ol' & still occaisional group would go into pre-production, designing the look and feel of the characters, their equipment and the world. As GM I scour the internet, Barnes & Noble, Japanese book stores, comic book shops and any other source I can find to obtain cool images and ideas for aliens, equipment, locales, vehicles and anything else we may encounter. Sometimes I'm looking for the image that fits an idea I have. Other times I will come across an amazing illustration of something and become so inspired I have to add it to the game.
Now, I am a bit luckier then most groups as I went to the High School of Art and Design and School of Visual Arts College in NY. Nearly every player I've gamed with over the last 25 years has been an artist in some capacity. One fellow customizes miniatures. Another designs star ships for computer game companies. Two of my best friends in the whole world are professional art directors for an animation studio. In one Star Wars game I ran many years back, one of my players drew 12-15 blaster pistols before deciding on which one his character would use. Those that were too short or small became Hold Out Blasters for NPCs. One with a very long thin barrel was later borrowed by another player for his Nobleman character.
An idea I've been toying with for over a decade now is to release a book, pdf or print, that contains the images and notes from my and my player's (with their permission of course) various sketchbooks. A sort of "The Making of the Series" is you will like they put out for most big budget special effects films these days. I'm not sure any one would by it but it would definitely look cool and be fun to do.
AD
"You've seen plywood sets that look like the inside. Our beryllium sphere is... is wire with plaster around it. And our digital conveyor is... it's Christmas tree lights. It's a decoration."
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Lurks-no-More
First Post
My thoughts exactly. If nothing else, a bit of art in the books helps to ensure everyone - the players as well as the DM - are using a common basis for their imagination, which means implicit misunderstandings and such are less likely to happen.
Personally, while I prefer that my games have some kind of art budget, I can deal with a game rulebook that has little or no art.
What I cannot deal with is games that spend their art budget on really bad art.
Better no art than bad art, IOW.
What I cannot deal with is games that spend their art budget on really bad art.
Better no art than bad art, IOW.
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
Absolutely. The product as a whole needs to be appealing...artwork, page layout, sentence structure, the whole nine yards. Everything on the page is "content," and will be judged as such by the consumer.
The 4E books have decent enough artwork IMO; some images look a bit flat and boring but for the most part they make good use of color and structure. I really miss the simple-yet-inspiring art that was found in the final-print editions of the Basic/Expert boxed sets. Everything since then has looked a little weak in my opinion.
...but the prize for the Worst Artwork Ever in a D&D Publication goes to the Rules Cyclopedia. Because damn.
The 4E books have decent enough artwork IMO; some images look a bit flat and boring but for the most part they make good use of color and structure. I really miss the simple-yet-inspiring art that was found in the final-print editions of the Basic/Expert boxed sets. Everything since then has looked a little weak in my opinion.
...but the prize for the Worst Artwork Ever in a D&D Publication goes to the Rules Cyclopedia. Because damn.
FriarRosing
First Post
Art is very important to me. Art is one of the reasons I'm not so sure about 4e--I don't know why, I just don't like most of the art in the main books. I definitely prefer Lockwood over... is O'Connor the dude who did a lot of the 4e art, or am I making it up?
I still like the older edition art, though. 1st Edition, even with the goofy line drawings, is cool to me. It as kind of a feel to it that's cool. Certainly its cheesy and amateur, but that's part of the charm.
3e definitely had my favorite art. I wasn't too fond of the "dungeonpunk" of the core books, but I think the later ones did better about that. There was one guy's art I always really liked, but I can't remember his name and don't have my book with me. He did a lot of watercolors, if I'm remembering right. His stuff always had a more unique look to it, I always thought.
I still like the older edition art, though. 1st Edition, even with the goofy line drawings, is cool to me. It as kind of a feel to it that's cool. Certainly its cheesy and amateur, but that's part of the charm.
3e definitely had my favorite art. I wasn't too fond of the "dungeonpunk" of the core books, but I think the later ones did better about that. There was one guy's art I always really liked, but I can't remember his name and don't have my book with me. He did a lot of watercolors, if I'm remembering right. His stuff always had a more unique look to it, I always thought.
