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

 

[MNblockhead]

1400 posts in this thread. You all know this is why we can't have nice things, right?

More that we have access to too many nice things that we can only appreciate our glut of choice by crapping on the choices others make.

There is no preference I have in games and game art that I can't get catered to. I find these arguments strangely entertaining, but if they ever start upsetting me, I can just unfollow this thread and go on gaming as I like to.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I have no idea what the point of this is, of course anything can go on three miles away, but it is entirely irrelevant to this picture

Pretty simple. You seem to not like this picture because it isn't gritty enough, something which is caused in part by the design goals of the artists who made it. However, this art does not depict the entire world. Just like a Superman story does not depict the entire world of DC, or a story about Susanoo-no-Mikoto does not depict the entirety of mythical japan.

we disagree on that, there is nothing in the picture to indicate that it is not exactly what she is doing...

And there is nothing in the picture to indicate she is doing that. In the world of the fantasy of this art.... why would she?! Like you have said, it is completely nonsensical. Maybe she is demonstrating a spell for students, maybe she is divining for a group of scraggly adventurers, but she is outputting a lot of magical power to just be posing for the lolz. Applying a tiny bit of logic, therefore, she isn't posing just to pose.

it could be both, but it isn't... I could also have aspirational art that is not superhero art

Well, congrats. This isn't superhero art. That nameless wizard is not a superhero. Being in a power pose surrounded by energy is not all it takes to be a superhero, or to make superhero art.

for all I know this is not the case, I just cannot rule it out entirely. It's a one page art piece and as far as I can tell I found the entire picture online, so I am not expecting the other half of the picture to appear on the opposite page

It could, or it could not. I'm just pointing out that claiming the piece "lacks story" when we have not seen it in its complete context within the book, might be a bit premature.

You find it odd that a pose pretty much every human can assume without any effort whatsoever does not qualify as superheroic?

I find it odd that pose I can take without any effort (sans floating but there are ways to make that appear like what is happening) is superheroic because those familiar with the pose forget or do not know it has been used in fantasy and mythological art for an incredibly long time. But another pose, which has been equally used by superheroes, and is consistently used to represent superheroes in commercials and branding is not superheroic enough for you, because anyone can take it.

It is a double standard, especially considering how trivially easy it is to find other fantasy art using that exact same floating energy pose. None of it depicting a superhero.

 

[Fifth Element]

Darksun was 3d6 minus 1.

Very much the opposite.

 

[Older Beholder]

This image is an oxymoron.

I'm not sure an image can be an oxymoron. An oxymoron refers to a figure of speech with contradicting terms.
eg: Reality television

 

[mamba]

Pretty simple. You seem to not like this picture because it isn't gritty enough, something which is caused in part by the design goals of the artists who made it. However, this art does not depict the entire world. Just like a Superman story does not depict the entire world of DC, or a story about Susanoo-no-Mikoto does not depict the entirety of mythical japan.

all of this is obviously true, it still changes nothing about the picture however...

And there is nothing in the picture to indicate she is doing that. In the world of the fantasy of this art.... why would she?

you tell me, I am curious what your explanation is, she is in a safe place with no threats as far as we can tell

This isn't superhero art. That nameless wizard is not a superhero. Being in a power pose surrounded by energy is not all it takes to be a superhero, or to make superhero art.

that picture could be taken straight from a Marvel movie / not feel out of place in one, to me it is certainly falling on the superhero side of things

It could, or it could not. I'm just pointing out that claiming the piece "lacks story" when we have not seen it in its complete context within the book, might be a bit premature.

that seems rather unlikely, for one we know it is the Wizard class art, so there is no real context, for another we have the full image, so we are not missing context within it

It is a double standard, especially considering how trivially easy it is to find other fantasy art using that exact same floating energy pose. None of it depicting a superhero.

I'd say I see this pose predominantly in superhero art, is it exclusive to it, no, pretty much no pose is exclusive to one style of art as far as I can tell.

 

[Timespike]

Stuff I like about this:

• Hey, cool, a non-white, non-male character that actually looks formidable!
• The glasses. Even if your spells make your eyes glow, that doesn't necessarily mean it fixes your vision. Wizards could easily get a bit myopic from all the reading of small type in poor lighting, and they'd definitely be the first ones to figure out the idea of glasses, so that fits.
• The half-finger gloves - if you spend a lot of time sitting still and poring over books, your extremities can get a little cold. That's a nice touch.
• The tiara, earrings, and bracelets. Wizards probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about what can be snagged or grabbed in a physical fight, so it'd make sense that they've "dress up" a bit more than a fighter.
• The trim on her sleeves.
• The sigils on the spell effect.

Stuff I'm not a huge fan of:

• The white. For some reason, that just looks more "cleric" to me than "wizard;" I'd prefer gray, purple, or blue.

Stuff I'm fairly neutral on:

• The floating staff and glowing eyes. I don't really have a problem with the "secondary magical effects" thing, but I don't generally think to describe stuff that way, either.

Other random thoughts:

• I do agree that this is very Magic the Gathering in its style. That's not really a problem to me, but it definitely has that look to it.
• There's a number of effects that an arcane spellcaster could use that would manifest this way and don't necessarily require an active threat. Demanding to see what she's reacting to in the image seems weird when the pic is about the character. As an art director, you'd presumably want to depict a spellcaster doing magic - this is very magical.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Mialee has changed a bit over the years.

Mustrum "Yes, 3E was my first D&D Edition" Ridcully

 

[Chaosmancer]

you tell me, I am curious what your explanation is, she is in a safe place with no threats as far as we can tell

.... Really?

And there is nothing in the picture to indicate she is doing that. In the world of the fantasy of this art.... why would she?! Like you have said, it is completely nonsensical. Maybe she is demonstrating a spell for students, maybe she is divining for a group of scraggly adventurers, but she is outputting a lot of magical power to just be posing for the lolz. Applying a tiny bit of logic, therefore, she isn't posing just to pose.

I LITERALLY did offer two explanations just a sentence later. I maybe could understand if it had been a post or two ago, but it was literally one sentence deeper than where you quoted, you had to delete my two explanations to even quote just that line.

that picture could be taken straight from a Marvel movie / not feel out of place in one, to me it is certainly falling on the superhero side of things

That is a terrible argument. So would a guy in power armor sitting in a coffee shop (Iron Man 2) or a man covered in mud pulling on a relic weapon (Thor).

Heck it could be taken straight from the DnD Movie, because that pose for that purpose happened AT LEAST twice

Now, you are going to tell me that the DnD movie was aping the marvel movies, but here's the thing, just about every DnD creator on youtube who reviewed the movie... said it felt like DnD. No one said it felt like these scenes were from a different genre. I didn't think they felt like they were from a different genre. They felt like DnD to me.

that seems rather unlikely, for one we know it is the Wizard class art, so there is no real context, for another we have the full image, so we are not missing context within it

Uh huh. Unlikely, sure, but not impossible. And again, this is something that they did in 3.5 too for the class art, for every single class. And in 4e for all the class art. And in 2014's PHB for the class art.

You don't have to have ever liked the class art in any PHB for the last 25 years, but you can't deny that this is a well-established pattern with fairly deep roots. Heck, this is standard for every single monster manual as well.

I'd say I see this pose predominantly in superhero art, is it exclusive to it, no, pretty much no pose is exclusive to one style of art as far as I can tell.

And I've seen a lot more Fantasy art online. I often google art for my writing, and this sort of posing for powerful mages is as common as pennies.

 

[Reynard]

The "superhero" argument is one of the most bafflingly ridiculous critiques I have ever heard. I can guarantee you that I can find a "superhero pose" in every edition of the game. Do you know why? Because even in the 70s people played D&D in order to be awesome (among other reasons).

 

[Tonguez]

Stuff I'm not a huge fan of:

• The white. For some reason, that just looks more "cleric" to me than "wizard;" I'd prefer gray, purple, or blue.

this is quite intriguing to me, especially as it relates to art symbolism and 'class' motif. I can certainly understand where our real world association of the colour white with light and divinity comes in, so can see how it invokes Cleric in ones mind (though I do note that Saruman the white exists*)

But I'm really intrigued about how the colour Blue has become associated with magic, a lot of wizard robes I recall have been blue (or purple as a variation). I wonder if its due to dark blues easily blending to black (putting them in diametric opposition to white clerical robes) or is it something else? the blending to black also works for Grey or that might be a Gandalf thing.

* (Gandalf the white is definitely invoking his angelic side however, so again Clerical white)