WotC's forum "Iconics" discussion thread (or "goobye, Lidda")

[RangerWickett]

Oddly, I agree. Lidda needs to survive the collapse of her plane and emerge in a new world, join a new group of adventurers, and carry on the legacy.

She can hang out with Emirikol the Chaotic and that dude on the 2e PHB who had a hernia.

I mean, Easley did great things for D&D, but that man's abs are in trouble.

 

[grimslade]

No conversions! New Iconics for a new game edition.

 

[Awakened]

I always thought the iconics were pretty lame. Seeing that their essential role was to show how many options one can have in a D&D game (remember all those pictures of Mialee in different roles in Unearthed Arcana?) they really don't have any business seeing continuation.
Unless you're a fan of the novels in which they appear, and if you are, you're either
a) 12 years old
or
b) hitherto unexposed to the classic Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms series
Sure, create new iconics. Or get rid of them altogether. I'd be fine either way.

 

[Jer]

If they don't transcend the moment, they're hardly icons, are they?

Hmm. I disagree, I think. They're "iconic" for representing what 3e characters are. They certainly weren't "iconic" for representing 2e or 1e characters. There's no reason to assume that they'll be "iconic" for 4e either, given the changes to the game.

That said, there's no "middle ground" choice. Some iconics might be perfectly fine in the new ruleset (Redgar the Fighter might work just fine in 4e, for example). Other iconics might not work (what if there's no Barbarian in the new core rules? Or what if Pelor is removed as a sample "core" god - Jozan cleric of Pelor won't work as an iconic anymore then, will he?)

 

[Kaodi]

Really, the requirements to be an " Iconic " should be to appear in at least 2 pictures and to have a name. So, it would not be strictly necessary to ever use an Iconic in more than 2 pictures. At least, that would be for rulebooks without settings.

Exceptions might be like Eberron, which as an Iconic with a story story for each of the PHB classes, and then a bzillion Prestige Iconics that show up once, maybe have a hook, and then are generally never seen again.

 

[Glyfair]

Really, the requirements to be an " Iconic " should be to appear in at least 2 pictures and to have a name. So, it would not be strictly necessary to ever use an Iconic in more than 2 pictures.

I disagree. I know that a lot of the *fun* of 3E has been finding the iconics in various situations. The latest Dragon incited a few threads on various message boards just because of a picture of Lidda. The iconics had accounts here that used to post regularly. This picture from the PHB II got a lot of attention because it was the iconics looking down on the Caves of Chaos.

There are two sets of "Eberron iconics" that people bring up regularly in the Eberron boards. There are those in the campaign setting book, and those in Wayne Reynolds art.

I think the iconics played a very important role in the "easter egg hunt" part of D&D fandom and it shouldn't be discarded. On the other hand, that means that the 4E iconics, whoever they are, should be like the memorable 3E iconics, and not like the ones most people forgot. All the *fun* of D&D isn't sitting at the table and playing, and that's one of the things I love about the game.

 

[Doug McCrae]

New edition, new iconics. At least one of them would have to be new anyway - the tiefling paladin.

 

[Kaodi]

Don't get me wrong, Glyfair, I like the way the Iconics are used now in 3e. My previous statement was more of a suggestion for a compromise between those who want to see a more diverse crowd and those who don't mind seeing the same faces pop up all of the time.

The thing about the 3e Iconics though... most of them are so boring, it's painful. Most of the names suck, most of the illustrations are uninspired. Maybe I'd feel differently if the Caves of Chaos was the norm, rather than the exception. The Iconics should be cool enough that they could scream, " Play me! " in every picture they grace.

 

[Green Knight]

Yeah, I'm all for replacing the Iconics. Mialee, especially, is atrocious. As for the rest, Alhandra's way to butch, Krusk has a stupid haircut, Ember looks like a man, and Hennet looks like he's into bondage. Most of the rest are uninspired, with only one or two being vaguely interesting. So get rid of the whole lot, says I.

 

[RangerWickett]

Iconics 4e

Bard - Elan
Cleric - Goldmoon
Fighter - Bruenor Battlehammer
Mage - Raistlin
Ranger - Drizzt
Rogue - Lidda!!!

I don't know Eberron novels enough to know who'd be iconic from them.