Weapon Illustrations in RPG Books

[Klaus]

I have more of a chance of seeing a working FTL drive in my lifetime than I do a fire-breathing lizard the size of a mack truck flying through the air.

I like my example just fine thanks.

It's a fantasy game. If you can accept all the big impossible things that go along with that, you should be able to roll with weapons that don't look like ones we could make in our world.

Maybe a drop of mithral in the steel allows spiked plate that wouldn't be realistic in our world.

Maybe the fact that a rogue has preternatural agility to survive the raging inferno of a fireball unscathed also allows him to wield a weapon with a smaller handle than a warrior from our world.

It's a fantasy game. Deal.

Of course, you come quite close enough to a giant flying lizard with a dinosaur like the quetzalcoatlus (the largest flying pterosaur, fully 6' from head to hindquarters), whose skeleton has been assembled a few times over, and whose movement and body structure has been studied a whole damn lot.

"It's magic" is a fine explanation, for things that ARE magical. But when it comes to mundane weapons and armor, why not ground it in reality a bit?

Some people like consistency with their fantasy. Deal.

 

[Wolv0rine]

I have more of a chance of seeing a working FTL drive in my lifetime than I do a fire-breathing lizard the size of a mack truck flying through the air.

I like my example just fine thanks.

It's a fantasy game. If you can accept all the big impossible things that go along with that, you should be able to roll with weapons that don't look like ones we could make in our world.

Maybe a drop of mithral in the steel allows spiked plate that wouldn't be realistic in our world.

Maybe the fact that a rogue has preternatural agility to survive the raging inferno of a fireball unscathed also allows him to wield a weapon with a smaller handle than a warrior from our world.

It's a fantasy game. Deal.

Oh now you're just being pedantic. Seriously, saying that a dragon couldn't fly in the really-real world so why bother to make it look like IF it were real and IF such a creature could in fact fly then it would have been biologically constructed correctly to do so is just silly. The question is one of If/Then, not "But it ain't REAL, man". IF this were possible, THEN it would be like this. IF a dinosaur could fly, THEN it would have to have it's flying assembly like so to do it in the way we understand flight.

The same with the weapons. I don't think the complaint here has been about weapons that never existed so much, the complaint is about weapons that HAVE existed being presented badly or just outright wrong. It'd be like having an entry in the Monster Manual for "Chicken" and the illustration shows the thing with lips. Chickens are real, chickens don't have lips. If this is supposed to be a chicken, it can't have lips. If it does have lips then you dropped the ball with extreme prejudice in CALLING it a chicken.
So, if you have a weapon called a rapier in the PH, then the illo. of that rapier is either Right, or it's Wrong. There is no room for interpretation. That illo. is wrong on multiple levels, and what it depicts is in no way a rapier.

There's being concerned with Historical Accuracy, and then there's just simply being concerned with Accuracy in general.

Oh, and as far as "No edition of the game has given the slightest toss about historical accuracy. Certainly not in the art" goes... 1E certainly Did take time out to try to give accuracy in both content and art if in no other place than the list (illustrated, mind you) of the various Pole Arms. Man I used to read through those entries and leaf through those illos for hours, just being fascinated that someone had put that much work into it. Granted, the art overall was seat-of-the-pants and fancy free as far as being historically accurate, but there was more than "the slightest nod". Just "A Paladin In Hell" gives pts to accuracy. That was a well-done suit of plate armor, right there.

 

[Tetsubo]

They're also likely taking direction from an art director. So even if they wanted to be more realistic with weapons, they're likely asked to "spice it up" a little bit?

I'm not just talking about "spicing" up real world weapons (something I've done...). I'm talking about passing off an illustration of a weapon that COULDN'T be used. Not just a bad representation of the weapon in question, but an illustration of an item that would only function as a paperweight... sloppy, poor craftsmanship at its best... or worse... like the rapier in the PHB...

 

[Klaus]

Not to mention 1e books like Oriental Adventures, who were painstakingly accurate in art (the two-page spread in the equipment chapter is a beauty to behold).

 

[Moon-Lancer]

Take your example of the Player's Handbook falchion: it may not be a medieval falchion, but frankly if I compare pictures of real-world falchions to the other half-dozen straight blades pictured in the same grouping, I'm grateful for a bit of artistic license and variety there. It makes the damn thing stand out, whereas a realistic falchion would honestly be hard for your average D&D player to distinguish from the longsword:

It's just not a very exciting weapon, visually. Arguably, the D&D falchion is more attractive for a fantastic hero.

In a way though, its all how you look at it. this is a chines broad sword. It seems to be more to what d&d sees the falchion. In the end it seems to be just poor naming convention then poor anatomy or what have you.

Thieu are more traditional falchions, some look like the quoted pic and some have more curvature like the Arabian stereotype weapon.

I'm not just talking about "spicing" up real world weapons (something I've done...). I'm talking about passing off an illustration of a weapon that COULDN'T be used. Not just a bad representation of the weapon in question, but an illustration of an item that would only function as a paperweight... sloppy, poor craftsmanship at its best... or worse... like the rapier in the PHB...

I think this sums up my view of weapon illustration. It doesn't need to be historically accurate for it to be right it just has to look right to be beleiveable.

On the dragon bit, getting the anatomy right is impotent regardless of weather dragons existed. Heck i don't think any creature with arms and wings existed (the arms are wings), although i would love to be proven wrong.

A dragons wings are mostlikely one of two things. a ball and socket attached to the scapula, or a second scapula. The thing is this isen't just for dragons, but any winged creature with arms. the arms connect to the scapula, so the wings need a place as well. I think a second scapula is a better choice in my opinion.

When a movie places a cg creature with wing in its shots, it must think about these things. If it doesn't, it looks like crap and everyone that watches it on a big screen knows its wrong regardless of knowing exactly why. arguably though, dragons and such can be faked more then humans. This is because dragon don't exist, but also because we know ourselves better then other creatures, but my point stands.

Why should art in a rpg book settle with bad anatomy? In most cases movies try to be the best they can be, and i think the art in rpg books should also be equally amazing. I think in a rpg book each individual image should be worth purchasing. That should be the standard. If your not willing to make prints and try to sell it as a stand alone, it doesn't belong in the book.

Now i know i BS about alot of things, but art isn't one of them. If their is anything in this world i know, its art.. I feel that rpg art needs to be better (some pictures are amazing... others are not). I'm not blindly saying this though. I wish i could show people what i'm working on at the moment. Right now I'm putting my pencil were my eye is (ok that diden't come out the way I wanted it too). Its hard for a rpg to have all its artwork to be amazing. their are so many limitations, like time, money, talent... etc.

I just feel that wtc could have done a bit better. I'm glad they are trying hard now. But they still make mistakes I feel that the front cover to demon web pits is a good example. I don't feel the drow lady was finished. Everything else about the cover though was really nice.