DarkCrisis
Sith Lord
400 was obviously hyperbole, but Liefield was/is known for added way to many adornments to his characters (in the 90s).
Last edited:
D&D General How do you picture your D&D game in your mind?
- Thread starter DarkCrisis
- Start date
Two feet, one forearm, both hands and most of a face. I think that was fairly reserved for him in the day.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Belts, yes, there are perhaps an excessive amount of, though I think mainly that’s because the characters need somewhere to hang all their weapons and pouches and potions and whatever other baubles they’re carrying, so I see that more or less as an extension of the effort to actually depict all the crap that’s on a typical D&D character’s equipment list on their person. Spikes and shoulder wings… I don’t really see that? Not more than your typical fantasy armor, anyway. I suppose on top of the excessive equipment and accessories it might be too much. But again, that too much is very D&D to me. If your character has two swords, a shield, a bow, and seven different bags and bottles they’re luffing around, not to mention their backpack and the 30 lbs of whatever you can stuff in there… it should take them an unreasonably long time to get dressed!
Vaalingrade
Legend
He actually drew the feet. Clearly, he was feeling spicy that day.
Mad_Jack
Hero
One of the things I really liked about 13th Warrior was that the group was carrying a wide variety of weapons and armor, and yet it was still mostly believable that a group of 13th century Norsemen out adventuring could have theoretically acquired all that stuff. In particular, I liked the one guy who was wearing the throwback Roman gladiator-style helmet.
Yeah, that's always been a pet peeve of mine - the feet. Not even just Liefeld... One of the things I dislike about a lot of the Pathfinder iconics are the triangular elephant feet that so many of them have.
Definitely, but of course some of what they were wearing wouldn't arrive for a few centuries too. Totally D&D
Vaalingrade
Legend
As much as I bag on Liefeld for his art... and writing... I would be in favor of no one depicting feet ever again.
It isn't the worst,I think Miller still wins that. Ugh. Some of those illustrations make me wonder if he had ever seen a human being or was just going off a description he read in a book, and poorly understood.
Mad_Jack
Hero
Definitely, but of course some of what they were wearing wouldn't arrive for a few centuries too. Totally D&D
The plate armor didn't really seem out of place, either. If anything, the one thing that seemed a bit anachronistic was the TWF ranger with his golf-bag-o-weapons on his back. (And who's actually one of my favorite characters.)
I'd just like professional artists to have some basic understanding of human anatomy and perspective, so that at least they can make a stylistic choice to draw things the way they do...
Vaalingrade
Legend
I'd just like to not see feet.
Stormonu
Legend
Yeah, Elmore, Parkinson, Easley, Roslof - their style is pretty much how I imagine my worlds.
I know it's not exactly answering the question, but I see it removed from the fantasy. I see numbers, character sheets, charts, dice on the table, books, computer screens (if playing online), minis and grids.
For me all the wonder of imagination is gone. The curtain has been pulled back, ripped from its rod. There's nothing between the Great Oz and Dorothy.
For me all the wonder of imagination is gone. The curtain has been pulled back, ripped from its rod. There's nothing between the Great Oz and Dorothy.
EzekielRaiden
Legend
Consider the classic, Golden Age superhero. Bright, saturated primary colors in bold, often simple designs. Shining ideals untainted by doubt or fault or questions about their motives or nature.
Then consider the deconstruction of this superhero. Gritty. Desaturated. Restrained. (Ignore the boob windows, pretend being risque isn't relevant here.) Often jagged or ruined or at least grimy. The dark, fallen mirror of the previous.
Now, consider the reconstruction of this superhero. Still bold colors, but a little softer, perhaps not quite so saturated. Somewhat restrained, but willing to be bright again, striving to approach the shining ideals even if sometimes they fall short. Sometimes getting dirty, but able to wash up after.
Finally, apply this concept to stuff like WoW, Pathfinder, and 4e D&D, but with Middle Eastern/Golden Age of Islam clothing.
That's what I imagine the outfits of my world looking like. Ordinary folks wearing realistic but colorful outfits. Those of stature, money, or prominence having more signature, detailed looks. The PCs being perhaps a little outlandish, but not to a distracting degree: you could mark them in a crowd if they aren't concealing themselves, but you wouldn't find their outfits cartoonish in isolation. Just distinctive and perhaps slightly melodramatic.
Then consider the deconstruction of this superhero. Gritty. Desaturated. Restrained. (Ignore the boob windows, pretend being risque isn't relevant here.) Often jagged or ruined or at least grimy. The dark, fallen mirror of the previous.
Now, consider the reconstruction of this superhero. Still bold colors, but a little softer, perhaps not quite so saturated. Somewhat restrained, but willing to be bright again, striving to approach the shining ideals even if sometimes they fall short. Sometimes getting dirty, but able to wash up after.
Finally, apply this concept to stuff like WoW, Pathfinder, and 4e D&D, but with Middle Eastern/Golden Age of Islam clothing.
That's what I imagine the outfits of my world looking like. Ordinary folks wearing realistic but colorful outfits. Those of stature, money, or prominence having more signature, detailed looks. The PCs being perhaps a little outlandish, but not to a distracting degree: you could mark them in a crowd if they aren't concealing themselves, but you wouldn't find their outfits cartoonish in isolation. Just distinctive and perhaps slightly melodramatic.
EzekielRaiden
Legend
That's...terribly disheartening to hear. You have my condolences.
DrunkonDuty
he/him
To be honest - it changes from game to game. From character to character. Even session to session. Comes down to my mood, what I've watched recently, what other people in the game are describing their characters as looking like, style and genre of the game. Although I rarely picture anyone as cartoony.
One thing I like to do is pick an actor (and a role they played) to describe what my character looks like.
One thing I like to do is pick an actor (and a role they played) to describe what my character looks like.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Ah we've found the one dude on the internet who doesn't want people to "SHOW FEET".
Nobody Was Ready For This Twitch Streamer's Answer To 'Show Feet'
Lobster floppers turned creepy comments into internet gold
kotaku.com
It's a very overwrought and hyper-dramatic style that Wayne Reynolds uses. You've got huge, almost excessive detail, heavy, heavy anime influences (I mean one of the guys in that picture is Vampire Hunter D but with a bow), combined with Western comics influences, specifically 2000AD, which he used to work on, and was clearly influenced by the other artists there. It's definitely not at all realistic, so the idea that it's accurately depicting a D&D character is pretty far-fetched unless they have multiple costume managers (aka squires) following them around and helping them get dressed. On the other hand, you can see the realistic roots before it's taken to this excessive place if you look at British fantasy art in the 1980s and earlier 1990s. There's a sort of hint of this gear-fetishism even in stuff like Lone Wolf - and it took a while for Reynolds to get there - his earlier work was less wild.
That said, it's definitely more extreme in terms of how complex and funky their gear and outfits are than both the previous generation of fantasy art's armour, and the following one, the pink-and-purple "steampunk" one we have now. Even the art of stuff like FFXIV and WoW features less ornamentation typically (FFXIV is somewhat closer to Reynold's Pathfinder work than WoW is, I'd personally say).
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I'm interested to see what art style supersedes the "pink-purple steampunk" one, by the way. It's hard to even guess at the moment.
DrunkonDuty
he/him
That's a great character concept. Would definitely play.
Similar Threads
D&D General
FKR: How Fewer Rules Can Make D&D Better
