D&D General On different tones and aesthetics in D&D

[Scott Christian]

I generally do not pay for dm's, seeing as I find it easier to recruit them by dming for them first, but: I would gladly shell out real money to have a dm find enough art assets to play a roll20 game where everything is in the same art style. It could be 8-bit, I'd be all over that.

Oh, 100% agree. Roll20 is difficult to keep consistent.

I have found that HeroForge's token maker keeps PCs and NPCs' tokens aligned. It seems to match (at least in my head) with maps made in Inkarnate. But, the difficult part is the creatures, as HeroForge doesn't really have that option. But I am a fiend about trying to keep things consistent.

That said, I've played in mix-matched campaigns and have a tendency to like them. It just takes a while.

 

[Charlaquin]

Another reason for disconnects depending on when people come to D&D.

3e and on have been more or less 1 setting games.

This. 3e was my first exposure to D&D, and it will forever define what D&D “looks like” in my head. I don’t even like 3e very much, but it had such a clear visual identity that was so deeply associated with D&D in my young mind, it’s now permanently affixed there.

 

[Jaeger]

I personally like when tone and aesthetics come together to match the campaign setting.

I have no problem with cartoony or swords too big for a storm giant swung by a rabbit man if that is where the campaign setting is actualized. Just like I have no problem with gritty realism in the art (probably my preferred to stare at) as long as it matches the campaign setting.

I do not like it when it is mixed. It messes with some weird sense inside me, and I find it awkward; like a museum putting a Picasso in the middle of Monet's Haystacks.

This!

I really like it when the art is 100% consistent through out the game.

So far this has only really been done on smaller RPG's where one artist has essentially done everything.

D&D has always suffered from a lack of consistency, even in its core books. (in fact in 5e I would even say it has too much art all over the place!)

WHFRP has been much more consistent with this. But it has a smaller following, and has never put out the same volume of material.

I would Like to see an edition of D&D with 100% consistent art - but it would likely involve WOTC hiring 2-3 dedicated artists who can all do a very similar and consistent style, and I just do not see that happening.

 

[Scott Christian]

This!

I really like it when the art is 100% consistent through out the game.

So far this has only really been done on smaller RPG's where one artist has essentially done everything.

D&D has always suffered from a lack of consistency, even in its core books. (in fact in 5e I would even say it has too much art all over the place!)

WHFRP has been much more consistent with this. But it has a smaller following, and has never put out the same volume of material.

I would Like to see an edition of D&D with 100% consistent art - but it would likely involve WOTC hiring 2-3 dedicated artists who can all do a very similar and consistent style, and I just do not see that happening.

I agree. Although, D&D is so large and so multiverse, that I think it's not possible. But I would like them to be consistent for a campaign setting.

 

[Tonguez]

This is D&D

 

[Marc_C]

This is D&D

Brings back lots of memories. Cartoonish illutrations have been part of d&d since the AD&D books. Love the silly drawings at the bottom of pages.

 

[ART!]

Brings back lots of memories. Cartoonish illutrations have been part of d&d since the AD&D books. Love the silly drawings at the bottom of pages.

I do love the b&w line art of the early editions. There's a fun "garage band" quality to a lot of it that's really appealing.

 

[Shardstone]

I'm a massive fan of Dune aesthetics, 1001 nights, and punk vibes. So, for the first book I published (SCAVENGER) for 5E, I found an artist who was already creating something similar and we made some stuff that I like. However, it is niche at the end of the day — most fantasy aesthetics found outside of movies often is IMO.

Here's some examples:

 

[Oofta]

This is D&D

Close. I fixed it for you.

 

[Voadam]

I vary a lot in the art I like.

I am used to being eclectic in my D&D games, using whatever is on hand from minis to legos to dice to represent characters and monsters. For a long while I made my own counters for my weekly Pathfinder games by finding internet images I liked and pasting them onto a word document for printing out and cutting to appropriate size counters. It allowed me to do more niche things like American Indian themed centaurs or use a pair of Star Wars Wampas which are easy to narratively describe at the table but you are not likely to find an appropriate mini one day before the game when you come up with a fun idea.

I am also eclectic in the sources I use in my D&D games, old D&D stuff, new D&D stuff, other RPG stuff, pop culture stuff.

For aesthetic preferences, I generally like older style blue dragons over the rhino newer ones.

Also I prefer straight Jim Holloway D&D art

Over silly Jim Holloway D&D art