Does D&D even have a component of "midieval" anymore?

[WizarDru]

Ah, I suppose I should clarify my examples of Dungeon Punk in 3.x.

Notice the 50+ buckles & straps, the weird tatoos, and clothing bristling with spikes.

Is this dungeon-punk?

Or this?:

Is it a question of excess, more than actual style? I mean, I'm not really sure I want to return to this sort of thing:

None of which are terribly medieval, but all of which are clearly 'high fantasy', to me. None of these outfits really make all that much sense, but they're stylish...which is really the point. I recall a line from Jeff Grubb's Forgotten Realms comic book, where the character from Azure Bonds shows up and the halfling thief asks: "Does that armor actually protect you?" To which she replies: "It's enchanted." His reply: "I'll just BET it is."

 

[Hussar]

Hey, I'll give you Hennet. That's just a bad pic. But, hardly representative of what you find in D&D books. Say what you like, but the last few WOTC books I've picked up have been gorgeous. I mean, Tome of Magic? That's some ' great art. You want medieval? Howzabout this:

Here's an example of spiked armor that would likely work:

Dungeonpunk came and went pretty quickly. Saying that 3e art is all dungeonpunk is like saying Erol Otus is the only artist in 1e. Simply not true.

 

[EditorBFG]

I think my final word on the subject will be this:

Medieval is to D&D what Mexican food is to Taco Bell.

 

[BASHMAN]

Hey, I'll give you Hennet. That's just a bad pic. But, hardly representative of what you find in D&D books. Say what you like, but the last few WOTC books I've picked up have been gorgeous. I mean, Tome of Magic? That's some ' great art. You want medieval? Howzabout this:

Here's an example of spiked armor that would likely work:

Dungeonpunk came and went pretty quickly. Saying that 3e art is all dungeonpunk is like saying Erol Otus is the only artist in 1e. Simply not true.

Yes, the second picture definately works for dungeonpunk. Way too many overlapping plates for a suit of plate-mail. A medieval suit would not look like that.

I guess as to whether or not D&D is medieval, the answer has to be no, and it really hasn't ever been. How could a world without a powerful central church even pretend to be medieval? But 1st and 2nd ed did a good job of trying to pretend to be medieval. I think the new style of art in 3rd Ed. speaks to the trend to completely divorce D&D from a medieval setting, and replace it with a pure fantasy setting. Rainbow mohawk paladins and nipple-ringed sorcerers et al, have done a good job of convincing us of this though the artwork, but there is some elements of it in the core rules.

The return of the Monk class in 3.0 [which was dropped in 2e because it didn't "fit" the setting], the introduction of exotic weapons that never had roots in medieval weaponry [there were not too many of these in 2nd ed, even the flind bar was just metal nunchucks], are examples of the rules seperating from medieval culture.