D&D 5E What Is the Iconic Artwork Of 5E?

[Sacrosanct]

Most D&D players started with 5E, so I seriously doubt they would think of TSR art before they think of 5E art.

google most iconic D&D art and this is every 5th picture or so. So obviously a lot of people still know it even if they never played AD&D or BECMI

 

[Parmandur]

google most iconic D&D art and this is every 5th picture or so. So obviously a lot of people still know it even if they never played AD&D or BECMI

View attachment 286951

And that's a great image. But the 5E PHB, DMG, and MM covers get reused for articles about D&D all the time, because people recognize them. I think st this point, early 5E is aestheticly iconic for most people, moreso than TSR by and large.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I always kinda liked the 5e halfling art. Fight me.

I would, but I believe in only picking on people my own size.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

She's come a long way since Temple of Elemental Evil.

Talk about a glow-up!

 

[Gradine]

Unironically love this shot of Halfling's from Volo's:

 

[dave2008]

google most iconic D&D art and this is every 5th picture or so. So obviously a lot of people still know it even if they never played AD&D or BECMI

View attachment 286951

I hope the do an homage to this for the 2024 starter set. I would also like to see an homage to the original core covers too. Some OSR game did that fantastically recently.

 

[Evaniel]

section of piece from Lost Mines of Phandelver

This is probably the best example of what I mentioned earlier about my favorite 5e bits being the "quieter" moments. It's a great piece.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I hope the do an homage to this for the 2024 starter set. I would also like to see an homage to the original core covers too. Some OSR game did that fantastically recently.

Castles and Crusades?

 

[jmartkdr2]

This is probably the best example of what I mentioned earlier about my favorite 5e bits being the "quieter" moments. It's a great piece.

That's kinda the weird thing about 5e art - the vast majority is good, high-quality and artisitic. But somehow it doesn't stand out.

I think perhaps it's because the art direction is too specific - most of the art look very similar, and while having a consistent vibe is a good thing 5e's art seems to blend together. The Syndrome Effect or something.

Having said all that - there are a few picks in the PHB and MM that I do really like, such as the hobgoblin and the elf wizard (in the blue dress) at the start of the magic section.

 

[Sacrosanct]

One of my favorite illustrations was the concept art for the gnoll (that made it in). In fact, I like some of the concept art better than what ended up being in the books.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

View attachment 286361

I was coming up with "nothing" from 5E that stands out like the Githyanki ( Fiend Folio ), the statue's gem eye (1E PHB), the party with the young green dragon (inside 2E PHB), or Lord Soth's ride, but I'll give that Strahd a vote for art remembered once we're on 7E.

@Uni-the-Unicorn!'s comment about what we know from when we come to the game being what sticks with us resonates. I started playing toward the end of 1E, start of 2E, and my list above certainly seems to echo that.

 

[Horwath]

always found Tasha's cover one of the best 5E artworks.

 

[Evaniel]

I am really not a fan of Wayne Reynolds, specifically. His style is just not my jam, combined with the dungeonpunk thing not being appealing.

I get it, for sure, and 3.x's art style is probably my least favorite of the D&D editions overall.

Even though I don't play Pathfinder, I really like WAR's stuff in those books because of how well he captures movement and action. I love the old Elmore, Caldwell, etc. stuff, but it's very static. Even the so-called action shots look still and posed. When I look back at the Red Box cover art (which is still one of my favorites), I don't see movement, and I have a hard time figuring distances and proportions. By contrast, WAR's more comic-book style communicates it really well:

Obviously, I'm not trying to argue anyone into liking something they don't, but it took me a long time to name what it was I liked about WAR while still disliking the whole of 3.x's aesthetic.

All of that said, I haven't played PF enough to name anything I'd consider "iconic" from it.

 

[dave2008]

Castles and Crusades?

View attachment 286990

Yes, that is what I was referring to.

 

[Parmandur]

I get it, for sure, and 3.x's art style is probably my least favorite of the D&D editions overall.

Even though I don't play Pathfinder, I really like WAR's stuff in those books because of how well he captures movement and action. I love the old Elmore, Caldwell, etc. stuff, but it's very static. Even the so-called action shots look still and posed. When I look back at the Red Box cover art (which is still one of my favorites), I don't see movement, and I have a hard time figuring distances and proportions. By contrast, WAR's more comic-book style communicates it really well:
View attachment 287031

Obviously, I'm not trying to argue anyone into liking something they don't, but it took me a long time to name what it was I liked about WAR while still disliking the whole of 3.x's aesthetic.

All of that said, I haven't played PF enough to name anything I'd consider "iconic" from it.

That's an interesting observation, and no doubt Reynolds is crazy talented. It just doesn't hit for me the way it seems to for some. A lot of it may have been less him, and more the art direction of the Aughts, but hard to seperate them since he was the premiere artist of the er

 

[Azzy]

For me, two images for 5e that stick in my head are the fighter and wizard from the class chapter. The fighter especially looks awesome, I think he reminds me of warriors from the Conan comics.

View attachment 286875View attachment 286876

I love that fighter image. He just looks like a badass!

 

[Voadam]

She's come a long way since Temple of Elemental Evil.

Not a fan of the Fungal Stay Puft Marshmallow Woman?

Description: Zuggtmoy's natural form is bulbous. She resembles a puffball mushroom with a toadstool growing on top. Four elephantine legs with suckered bottoms support the spherical body. The globular torso is flattened at the bottom and bulges at its equator, so that the legs reach to a bit over 3-foot height, the body another 30 inches higher, but with a horizontal diameter of nearly five feet. The mushroom-stem neck is two feet long, capped by a head which appears to have squashed humanoid features. The eyes are round, black, and blank-looking.
Zuggtmoy can extrude a pair of three-foot long pseudopodial arms from either hemisphere of her body, at will. These growths can extend opposing digits if desired.
The body coloration is variable, as Zuggtmoy is able to change it to suit her surroundings, though she is typically of a pale grayish-white or brownish-white color, the head slightly darker. Color can be moss green, dull brown, red-orange, mottled purple, etc., ranging the whole spectrum of colors possible to fungi growths. Body texture and odor are likewise obviously fungoid. In all, Zuggtmoy is revolting to behold and disgusting to smell; blotchy patches of mold, smut, and blight cover her body. Her strength is great (19), and her gross weight is quite high, despite her fungoid nature-over 2,000 pounds.

 

[James Gasik]

Not a fan of the Fungal Stay Puft Marshmallow Woman?
View attachment 287159
Description: Zuggtmoy's natural form is bulbous. She resembles a puffball mushroom with a toadstool growing on top. Four elephantine legs with suckered bottoms support the spherical body. The globular torso is flattened at the bottom and bulges at its equator, so that the legs reach to a bit over 3-foot height, the body another 30 inches higher, but with a horizontal diameter of nearly five feet. The mushroom-stem neck is two feet long, capped by a head which appears to have squashed humanoid features. The eyes are round, black, and blank-looking.
Zuggtmoy can extrude a pair of three-foot long pseudopodial arms from either hemisphere of her body, at will. These growths can extend opposing digits if desired.
The body coloration is variable, as Zuggtmoy is able to change it to suit her surroundings, though she is typically of a pale grayish-white or brownish-white color, the head slightly darker. Color can be moss green, dull brown, red-orange, mottled purple, etc., ranging the whole spectrum of colors possible to fungi growths. Body texture and odor are likewise obviously fungoid. In all, Zuggtmoy is revolting to behold and disgusting to smell; blotchy patches of mold, smut, and blight cover her body. Her strength is great (19), and her gross weight is quite high, despite her fungoid nature-over 2,000 pounds.

I didn't have a problem with it, but she's gotten a major glowup since then.

 

[J.Quondam]

I didn't have a problem with it, but she's gotten a major glowup since then.

"Tune in again to watch us glam-up everyone's favorite power fungus, Zuggtmoy! Next week on D&D Deity Makeovers!"

 

[Lidgar]

Here's a couple I like. Not sure how "iconic" they are.