D&D (2024) Here's The New 2024 Player's Handbook Wizard Art

 

[mamba]

But they have been doing so since the very beginning, 50 Yeats ago...?

D&D and Marvel are a pretty natural combo.

eh, to me the two are very different styles, usually.

 

[Azzy]

they are pretty similar, both depict superheroes in the same pose. Have you seen the full Wizard image?

I hadn't. Didn't realize that she was floating.

 

[ezo]

D&D isnt a superhero game. But the high tiers, levels 13 thru 16 and 17 thru 20, should be!

The main feel of the superhero genre is thematic always-on powers.

At the highest tiers, it helps to consolidate all of the lots of fiddly little stuff, into a manageable handful of impactful always on powers.

As is, I think the intent was for tier 4 to be "superhero".

But sure, the game could support it. It edges a bit with the wizard's Spell Mastery.

While not leaning towards superhero powers, our new version is making class features always on (sort of), to make it more managable.

 

[Jaeger]

Fair point. Is there a distinctive "D&D" iconography? D&D has always been eclectic in its illustrations. Should there be recognizable visual D&Disms?

To be fair; What is Iconic "D&D" to me is largely down to the type of fantasy media I was consuming when I was first exposed to D&D.

There are some very well-known D&D illustrations and images, but they don't really support his point, because ...
...
There are a lot of other images, but they vary wildly in tone, like here's another classic:
...
There's a lot of stuff from the '90s and some stuff from later eras which is pretty distinctively "D&D" as well, but it's not terribly consistent.

100% legit.

With the exception of 2e Dark Sun; D&D's art direction has been absolutely all over the place.

Now, I will posit that there has been enough art in a more or less pseudo-medieval style, that one can call D&D "generic medieval fantasy" and most everyone will generally know what you are talking about.

But yeah, if you want to find exceptions, or a particular set of illustrations that you can point to as being "Iconic D&D" for you. You can totally do that. Literally thousands of art pieces out there over the decades for people to play a pick and choose game from to get overly pedantic over...

... Should there be recognizable visual D&Disms?

Yes. It's called an art direction.

Other games have long since figured this out.

It will never happen for D&D.

 

[Argyle King]

The picture is an impressive piece of artwork.

Certainly some MTG vibes, but it's a good piece of artwork nonetheless.

Honestly, I could see a D&D future in which traditional D&D schools of magic are influenced by MTG mana colors.

I could maybe even see a future product in which MTG settings and color-coded magic becomes the default.

 

[Parmandur]

eh, to me the two are very different styles, usually.

But, they never have been...? OD&D included trading of Marvel comics art, and stuff from Marvel like Conan was very influential on D&D art.

 

[mamba]

But, they never have been...? OD&D included trading of Marvel comics art, and stuff from Marvel like Conan was very influential on D&D art.

tracing some figure and adding it to your own picture does not mean that figure cannot shift from superhero to D&D Fighter or whatever, depending on what you do with it.

That Wizard pic is too far in superhero territory to ever make a D&D character to me though… heck, the Scarlet Witch image looks more like she could fit into a D&D group (based on the clothes)

 

[cbwjm]

I feel like the wizard pic would feel right at home in Eberron, seems to me to fit the aesthetic. The Ravnica setting would be perfect as well. I can see her being a white wizard on Krynn or a civic guildmage from the land of Punt in my own setting.

I get that the image might not be for everyone, but I do feel that it fits my view of DnD.

 

[Yaarel]

Yes. It's called an art direction.

Other games have long since figured this out.

It will never happen for D&D.

For an art direction, it is worth highlighting the D&D power sources.

Martial: gritty realism (this is mainly what youre looking for?)
Arcane: sigil-inscribed geometric seals
Divine: luminous texts and cultural symbols
Primal: manifestations of land, sea, sky, plant, and animals
Psionic: auras and halos

This organization maintains earlier D&D images, while allocating them for an iconography of recognizable D&D themes.

 

[Tonguez]

Fighting on horseback required the invention of the stirrup (so you don't fall off whenever you swing at someone). Which, if my memory serves (not using Google) dates to the Byzantine (i.e. late Roman) period?

Stirrups appear in central Asia around 3rd century BC, they were introduced to Byzantium by the invasion of the Avars in the 6th Century AD. Use then spread north to Slovakia and the Norse and had reached England by 10th Century.