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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 5248577" data-attributes="member: 57112">Forked From: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-discussion/282348-first-dark-sun-excerpt-4.html" target="_blank">First Dark Sun Except!!! (pg 4)</a>Split from the Dark Sun discussion regarding WotC's artwork.I've seen two of those three films, and neither of those two have anything remotely like the classic "damsel in distress" scenario. In fact, both of the movies in question (Iron Man 2 and Avatar) actually feature extremely competent and intelligent female characters. Pepper Potts may find herself in danger a few times but she generally shows she take care of herself. The only thing she really needs saving from is an [spoiler]explosion[/spoiler]. Avatar itself has a slew of its own issues (it is, after, Pocahontas IIIIN SPAAAAACE) but damsels in distress is far from one them. Heck, the movie has Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver in it, for crying out loud.(Fun Fact: Amongst my friends, Sigourney Weaver fills a similar role that the internet usually reserves for Chuck Norris. For instance: They say that Chuck Norris has balls of steel. That's because Sigourney Weaver keeps his real ones in a jar on her trophy case.)Maybe the circles I run in a bit more perceptive to the <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnfortunateImplications" target="_blank">Unfortunate Implications</a> present in popular media (Disclaimer: I work in higher education), and so I'm more prone to hearing the outrage when such media appears to cross a line (intentionally, or usually unintentionally.) Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Conan as much as the next guy. But I do recognize it for what it is: a cheesy sexist relic of an age long gone. We live in a more enlightened time (or a more "enlightened" time, if you prefer), and those kinds of scenarios just don't appear very often (or appear very rarely) in  modern era. Even those characters in need of rescuing these days are far from the useless damsels in distress of the yesteryear.I do totally get you about 4e's artwork needing to do more to tell a story. This is essentially what I meant when I said the artwork needed action (I was referring more to dramatic action than SWORDFIGHTS and EXPLOSIONS!!! action, though they can be one in the same.) The recent covers look like a collection of the D&D world's strangest family portraits. By far my favorite artwork of the WotC era comes from the 3.5 Eberron books. I'm not even a huge comic book fan, but the style they used seemed to fit perfectly for the setting, and they definitely told a story.And shame on me for making assumptions about a person's age, though I suppose grognard refers more to length of time within the hobby and attitude more than actual age. Heck, I'm probably only a few years younger than you, and I started with AD&D 2e. When 3e came out I was, what... maybe 15, and I was very much a grognard in attitude ("Skills? Feats? Spontaneous casting?! This isn't real D&D!")... heck, it wasn't until college where I had to be eased into 3.5 via Star Wars D20 before I'd give a new system a chance.</blockquote>

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