D&D 5E So Much Witchlight Art!

During a video this weekend, WotC's Chris Perkins, Ari Levitch and Kate Irwin took a look a The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. You can watch the video below, but if you can't, EN World member @darjr has kindly collated a bunch of screenshots of the incredible variety of art within, along with some notes.

• The Feywild is a brighter reflection of the world like the Shadowfell is dark one. Prismeer is an archetypal domain.
• It's very easy to get lost. Time and space can bend or twist.
• No combat is required.
• Rules of the feywild include rules of reciprocity and ownership.
• Archfey Zybilna (sp?) is missing, so this domain of delight has splintered into Hither, Thither, and Yon.
• The carnival is a gateway to a plan of emotion, the feywild.
• More whimsical nature with a twist of wikedness. Inspiration, Willy Wonka, James and the Giant Peach.
• All the maps are by Will Doyle and Stacey Allan who worked closely early on with Chris Perkins.

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[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah, I was hoping for a departure, something really different from the current options for PCs.

Oh well.

WotC is nothing if not . . . extremely opposed to changing the base mechanics of the game. (Like Minotaurs, Golaiths, and Centaurs being Medium, no double-creature type races/lineages, etc.) It's not like I blame them for being hesitant to add something that could be game-breaking, but it still is very frustrating, IMO.

 

[Scribe]

WotC is nothing if not . . . extremely opposed to changing the base mechanics of the game. (Like Minotaurs, Golaiths, and Centaurs being Medium, no double-creature type races/lineages, etc.) It's not like I blame them for being hesitant to add something that could be game-breaking, but it still is very frustrating, IMO.

It feels like its late enough in the Dev cycle that breaking things wouldnt really be all that relevant anymore. Explore that design space, get wild.

Its not like things cannot be errata changed later if absolutely needed, but I struggle to think the balance of the game is so tight that it matters. Just seems a missed opportunity.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It feels like its late enough in the Dev cycle that breaking things wouldnt really be all that relevant anymore. Explore that design space, get wild.

Its not like things cannot be errata changed later if absolutely needed, but I struggle to think the balance of the game is so tight that it matters. Just seems a missed opportunity.

I agree, but WotC is really hesitant at introducing new and innovative mechanics, probably to avoid a situation like the 3.0 era's power creep (I believe there was also one for AD&D, too, but WotC wasn't in charge then). They've tested out quite a few in Unearthed Arcana (dual creature-types, multi-class subclasses, etc), but have decided based off of community feedback that it's not worth the risk. "Better safe than sorry" seems to be their unspoken, but very apparent, slogan/motto for 5e. (And playing it safe is often the best option financially.)

I think a lot of the ideas that they proposed could work, like Dual-Creature Types and Cross-Class Subclasses, but apparently the community's feedback wasn't favorable on those options. I would love to be able to play Tiny and Large races, but WotC apparently thinks that it wouldn't work in the 5e system, which is a disappointment, but it's consistent and the safe route.

 

[Quickleaf]

These are screen caps of what I believe is heretofore unrevealed art for Witchlight...

 

[Quickleaf]

There's also a "first look" at Witchlight video up at FryMinis. Heavy spoilers begin at 50:15 and onward.

 

[darjr]

Is that a pumpkin headed bugbear?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Is that a pumpkin headed bugbear?

Yep. Someone (I think it was Chris Perkins) mentioned that it was a call-back to one of the first depictions of Bugbears in D&D, but I don't know where that was said, or by whom.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

These are screen caps of what I believe is heretofore unrevealed art for Witchlight...

That is a ton of awesome art. I particularly like that hut with the storm-wires attached to it (whatever those are), as well as the Awakened Giant Spider (I assume that's what it is, at least) reading a book to fey-creatures.

 

[Quickleaf]

Is that a pumpkin headed bugbear?

Yep. Someone (I think it was Chris Perkins) mentioned that it was a call-back to one of the first depictions of Bugbears in D&D, but I don't know where that was said, or by whom.

I think this image is from the 1974 OD&D boxed set? The story I've heard is that it was the funny result of a miscommunication between the writer and illustrator.

 

[FryMinis]

There's also a "first look" at Witchlight video up at FryMinis. Heavy spoilers begin at 50:15 and onward.

Thanks! I'm uploading my videos into this playlist: