The Proper Use of Nudity in FRPG Art

[Aus_Snow]

I don't mind either way, so long as the artwork is at least OK, and is appropriate for the setting and scene.

A place for everything, and. . .

IOW, I pretty much agree with the OP.

 

[Gundark]

As long as the writing is good, I really don't care much about the illustrations.

http://arcanaimp.com/

The art ranges from mildly terrible to downright awful. So awful in fact that it would be better if there was no art at all.

 

[Gundark]

Female adventurers will not have a starved supermodel look. They're getting a lot of exercise, so they'll be toned. I see it as less Kate Moss and more Xena. Which is good.

Which is why I really love the new 4e art

 

[S'mon]

Female adventurers will not have a starved supermodel look. They're getting a lot of exercise, so they'll be toned. I see it as less Kate Moss and more Xena. Which is good.

I do agree with that, and I dislike modern TV/movie fantasy or action sci-fi shows with starved-waif protagonists. One good thing about the 2nd D&D movie was that the 'Barbarian PC' character had some flesh on her. Also unless they are noted as having magic/superhuman strength, please keep their beat-downs/feats of strength within the bounds of marginal plausibility - a 150 lb muscular woman may beat up a muscular 300 lb man due to superior skill, but she's not likely to win an arm-wrestling contest with him.

As far as fantasy art goes, generally speaking I'm fine with semi-nudity, but there is a fine line between 'appropriate to swords & sorcery genre' and 'fetishistic'. Sometimes, ironically, the quest for more realstic-looking characters results in very implausible looking figures, eg some of Clyde Caudwell's female art just looks like a late 20th century woman (often his gf) in fancy dress.

 

[Tonguez]

Take a look at a naked offensive lineman after a football game sometime. Still think a barbarian's automatically going to look great?

First the offensive lineman has access to a much richer diet than the average barbarian did and thus has access to a lot less healthy diet (ironically)

Second every Rugby player knows American Football is for pansies

Third I have seen photographs of real near naked 'barbarians' (ie warriors from pre-literate societies) and overall they had builds I'd describe as athletic becoming slightly more beefy with age...

 

[Stormrunner]

Nudity yes if female. Draw her hot.

Hey, some of us like the beefcake too. The nudity double standard for gender has always bugged me a little - succubi get big boobs with nipples, but a demon of lust or a handsome centaur stallion can't have balls?

I prefer the way Donna Barr handles her centaurs. They wear clothes on the upper half but leave the horse-half bare, and she doesn't hesitate to show the dangly bits on the stallions - but not in an erotica-type way, just if you would have been able to see it from that angle in real life, it's there in the comic.

 

[glass]

Hey, some of us like the beefcake too. The nudity double standard for gender has always bugged me a little - succubi get big boobs with nipples, but a demon of lust or a handsome centaur stallion can't have balls?

I agree in principal, although I much prefer to see girly bits rather than boy-y bits.


glass.

 

[Tonguez]

Hey, some of us like the beefcake too. The nudity double standard for gender has always bugged me a little - succubi get big boobs with nipples, but a demon of lust or a handsome centaur stallion can't have balls?

Why do people compare breasts to testicles?

When it comes to being topless -yawn- why is it even an issue? but personally
I'd rather RPGs avoided gratuitous portrayals of human(oid) genitals of either gender unless they are really necessary

 

[Reynard]

For me, adventurers and the world they live in are best depicted by Frank Frazetta.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

My ideas of both my characters and the people around them run the gamut. The males might be large/beefcakey like Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Michael Clark Duncan, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, or they might be normal/fit types like Matt Damon, Robert DeNiro, and Denzel Washington. The women could be small/waify/even delicate like Holly Hunter, Alyssa Milano, or Kiera Knightly, or they might be buxom, Frazetta models like Linda Carter, Lucy Lawless, and Salma Hayek. And everything in between.

There SHOULDN'T be a single "look" to D&D any more than there should be just ONE way to play the game correctly. The art should run the gamut just as EVERYBODY'S conception of their PC's and NPC's will. You need cartoon AND photorealism, portraits AND landscapes, over-the-top action AND Tableaux.