the power of a good illustration

[Moab2]

A few weeks ago, I posted a thread asking for help accepting psionics in a traditional fantasy setting/game. I got many helpful suggestions, but one thing that really helped was Claudio Pozas posting an illustration that "singlehandedly helped [him] accept psionics in D&D". I thought it would be cool if other people linked or described similar situations where a drawing or similar representation changed their perception of or led to a deeper appreciation of a particular game feature.

I feel kind of silly about my example, but the kobold monk mini from a recent WotC miniatures set almost singlehandedly changed my attitude towards monks in D&D (which had previously been less than positive).

I would love to hear any similar stories/examples. Thanks.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Just in case anyone was interested, the thread is here. It *is* a cool illustration, but I found the written advice more helpful, myself.

Anyone have a pic of the kobold monk mini?

 

[blargney the second]

Anyone have a pic of the kobold monk mini?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

The following picture convinced me that Wizards tells different things to illustrators and stat writers, and they do it on purpose:

According to Complete Adventurer, this lady has Cha 8! It's become something of a running gag in our group: Whenever there's an illustration of a beautyful female in some book or whatever, someone's bound to say that "she's definetly Cha-8-Material!"

 

[Ravellion]

The following picture convinced me that Wizards tells different things to illustrators and stat writers, and they do it on purpose:

According to Complete Adventurer, this lady has Cha 8! It's become something of a running gag in our group: Whenever there's an illustration of a beautyful female in some book or whatever, someone's bound to say that "she's definetly Cha-8-Material!"

Perhaps she is really shy? Or this is her after the change self spell?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Perhaps she is really shy? Or this is her after the change self spell?

You know what? You're right: All the shy people I know have expressions like her, and they dress like that, too

 

[mhacdebhandia]

What's funny, Kae'Yoss, is that she looks very similar to the girl who is the perfect example from my adolescence of how all the pleasant curves and stunning looks you can imagine don't mean anything if you're an arrogant, spiteful waste of oxygen.

So, yeah, I'm going with "Spend five minutes with her" to explain that 8 in Charisma.

 

[phindar]

Yeah, the whole "CHA=Beauty" drives me crazy too.

1. Beauty is subjective, CHA is a stat.

2. I'm pretty sure Sorcerers don't get more spells for lookin' good. I'm sure Undead aren't more afraid of attractive clerics.

3. How many beautiful politicians can you think of? How many supermodels are running countries?

Putting physical attractiveness under CHA is just lazy thinking on the part of game designers, though surprisingly common across the various rules systems. I prefer to think of CHA as the force of one's personality, their personal magnetism, their confidence and ability to lead. Physical Attractiveness is a function of What You Look Like, it doesn't really need a stat requirement. It's fluff.

 

[Klaus]

A few weeks ago, I posted a thread asking for help accepting psionics in a traditional fantasy setting/game. I got many helpful suggestions, but one thing that really helped was Claudio Pozas posting an illustration that "singlehandedly helped [him] accept psionics in D&D". I thought it would be cool if other people linked or described similar situations where a drawing or similar representation changed their perception of or led to a deeper appreciation of a particular game feature.

I feel kind of silly about my example, but the kobold monk mini from a recent WotC miniatures set almost singlehandedly changed my attitude towards monks in D&D (which had previously been less than positive).

I would love to hear any similar stories/examples. Thanks.

Glad I could be of assistance.

On that vein, I sometimes cook up pictures that help bridge some concepts.

Making the Monk fit in D&D:

I tried my hand at a warforged as a means of accepting them as a race:

I tired my hand at a bluspawn godslayer because I was pretty much dared to on these boards :

 

[DragonLancer]

That fits perfectly an idea I had a while ago. I played a character where I used the monk class to represent him as a bare-knuckle fighter, rather than the usual faux oriental martial artist.