Open Grave Excerpts: Kas the Betrayer

[ferratus]

When you put it that way I can see the point.

I am a little tired of people complaining about every single piece of recycled art though. D&D has a whole backlog of images of villains, items, locations and such that spread across editions. So that means there is usually 2 or 3 perfectly good (even iconic) images of things that already exist.

For example, people complaining that artwork was recycled from "Complete Warrior" in Martial Power really annoyed me. It is pretty much the same book, why not have the same art? More money for WotC means more money for table top D&D to stick around for a decade longer before it goes the way of Whist.

 

[Zaukrie]

If they have such a great backlog, why do they keep picking recent art that isn't all that good in the first place? There are decades of art, they should be able find some older art, or at least some good art.

I too find the use of large amounts of recycled art annoying. If they don't want to spend money on art, why isn't the cost of the books dropping (hahaha, just had to type that).

As for the excerpt, I like 4E design.

 

[Engilbrand]

I like most of the art of this edition. I've looked at some of the art of previous editions. It looks tacky to me. Especially the stuff from 1st edition.

 

[Festivus]

I like most of the art of this edition. I've looked at some of the art of previous editions. It looks tacky to me. Especially the stuff from 1st edition.

Oh heavens... look out for the pitchforks and torches, there will be a lynch mob after you shortly!

I have fond memories such as those of Erol Otis drawings from way back when. They were inspiring when you had no idea what it was they were talking about.

These days I find the artwork of artists like Wayne Reynolds to be almost too detailed (like the iconics from Pathfinder). It's ok, but doesn't leave much to the imagination.

 

[Negflar2099]

What pic is everyone talking about? I didn't see a pic on the page or in the PDF excerpt. I must be missing something.

 

[Spatula]

What pic is everyone talking about? I didn't see a pic on the page or in the PDF excerpt. I must be missing something.

What do you see at the bottom of the first page of the pdf? left column. The picture takes up the entire lower left corner of the page. It's pretty bad - looks almost like someone traced a Rob Liefeld superhero drawing and added on armor & a shield (poorly, in the case of the shield - the figure has no left arm).

 

[The Little Raven]

almost like someone traced a Rob Liefeld superhero drawing

No way, this guy is way too scrawny and wimpy to be Liefeld's work... but the picture doesn't really seem to fit with what I think of when Kas comes to mind. Bad enough they recycled a piece for him, but they definitely picked the wrong one.

 

[Negflar2099]

What do you see at the bottom of the first page of the pdf? left column. The picture takes up the entire lower left corner of the page. It's pretty bad - looks almost like someone traced a Rob Liefeld superhero drawing and added on armor & a shield (poorly, in the case of the shield - the figure has no left arm).

I don't see any picture on the PDF i downloaded. Weird.

 

[Spatula]

No way, this guy is way too scrawny and wimpy to be Liefeld's work...

Far be it from me to defend Liefeld's art, but not everything he does is ridiculously proportioned. The very stilted "action" pose on the Kas picture, the lack of anatomy (left arm? what left arm?!), the head & neck, all look very Liefeldian to me.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I don't mind recycled art myself as a way of keeping costs down.

Of course, I'd prefer it if they used the old black & white or blue interior art of 2e, since it is my favourite, so what do I know?

Wait, costs are down?