Sharn Art Gallery

[Altamont Ravenard]

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84571.jpg

*sigh*

Why do prostitutes only look that good in fantasy?

(what did I just say?!?)

AR

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Anyone up for an Adam's-apple check?

And hear *I* was thinking "Ah, Cruella deVille finally gets d20 stats"

 

[Knight Otu]

Well, that answers a few questions on custom-built warforged. Especially questions that better remain unasked...

 

[Henry]

Cruella's prettier.


However, to get this back on track, that IS some gorgeous artwork. The biggest thing I was looking for this book to do is bring a portion of Eberron to life. The pictures without doubt are more important to this goal than even the new rules or info. My fondest hope is ample maps to help a DM figure the city out. I have so far been using names of existing towers (up through Shadows of the Last War we knew about six of them), as well as the Cogs and Downstairs. I'd love to have a good view of that the city actually LOOKS like, as if it were a small scale model.

 

[Shallown]

Altamont... Duhh. It' FANTASY

later

 

[Gez]

Werd, Henry. That's something I think any city book should have -- landscapes.

Pics of NPCs are all nice and pretty, but they aren't that important.

On the other hand, pictures that shows "here's the cityscape when you look to the east from the Watchtower, and here's the one when you look to the north from the harbor's lighthouse, and finally this is the view a griffonrider would have" are much more important for immersion.

 

[fredramsey]

The maps in the book are quite good - for what they show, which is just districts and how they are layed out in relationship to each other.

But Sharn is so *big* and complex, it would be hard to have consistant landscape paintings showing the skyline. Sharn seems to rival some sections of Corsucant from Star Wars in its complexity (as well as lots of flying cars, ships, busses, etc.). In fact, I plan to tell players, "It looks a lot like a medival Corsucant."

 

[Knight Otu]

I have to agree that the art seems to be great, from the art gallery alone. With some "Huh" pics here and there.

 

[johnnype]

I agree with the landscape comments. I have a difficult time picturing what much of the city actually looks like. There are several pieces that show what a specific tower looks like but I find myself looking beyond that tower to the the surrounding area for a better idea of the city itself. This picture is among the most helpful I think:

Also the Aerenal Embassy and the The Docks by Anthony Waters are helpful.

I'd also like to say that I was never a big fan of Steve Prescot's pieces depicting characters but his work in this book has changed my mind. I still think he's best at showing places rather than people.

I really like James Zhang's character designs. My favorite, however, has to be Thomas Giorello's work:

Lastly Kalman Andrasofszky's portraits are fantastic. I really like his Half-Elf Magewright and his Elven Artificer.

 

[Hand of Evil]

It is all so EARTHDAWN - that is not a bad thing.