I've been re-reading a lot of the Gunnerkrieg Court archives, and an interesting illustrative device that is used is that the more 'powerful' creatures are drawn with a very different style than the 'mortal' ones.
Specifically Coyote. While everyone else is drawn as realistic as the artist wants to go for, Coyote is seriously, a cartoon of a coyote.
What do people think about applying that idea to other stories?
So, say, Moradin actually doesn't look like a dwarf, with hairs in his beard, but he actually has a 'solid' coloured beard?
Or Llolth has smooth colours, not the varied-hues that a chitinous carapace would have.
Are people fine with something like that?
Stuff like Hades looking like the guy from the Disney movie, not say, some big greek guy in a toga with a three-headed dog.
Artistic and Literary devices: depicting powerful creatures
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Judging__Eagle
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Artistic and Literary devices: depicting powerful creatures
Last edited by Judging__Eagle on Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The Gaming Den; where Mathematics are rigorously applied to Mythology.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
The way the art is expressed, will likely tailor the thoughts of the creature. If you use the D&D cartoon images of things like the gnome or Tiefling, it could come off as a joke to some people.
No pun intended on this discussion of powerful creatures and visual aesthetics, but as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
So the art will give a feel for the creature for each group of player's differently.
A solid color for a beard, so long a it depict what image you are trying to convey, will do just fine, but you don't want a Mickey Mouse style character for a God, unless you are trying to evoke a laugh about him.
No pun intended on this discussion of powerful creatures and visual aesthetics, but as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
So the art will give a feel for the creature for each group of player's differently.A solid color for a beard, so long a it depict what image you are trying to convey, will do just fine, but you don't want a Mickey Mouse style character for a God, unless you are trying to evoke a laugh about him.
Play the game, not the rules.
good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
Swordslinger wrote:Or fuck it... I'm just going to get weapon specialization in my cock and whip people to death with it. Given all the enemies are total pussies, it seems like the appropriate thing to do.
Lewis Black wrote:If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
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PhaedrusXY
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Judging__Eagle
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I was thinking more along the lines of "Sweeney Todd" when it comes to standard races; all close-ups of the teeth to make them look as mortal and ugly as possible (that is a very effective cinematic technique, every character that you're supposed to be disgusted by, you get nice good shots of their visible teeth; since humans don't have perfect teeth, you make "anyone" look ugly.)
Only things that are 'actually' powerful and can do things like "make people", or "cut a rift in the earth with their claw" get to be drawn in a different style.
Going for a D&D 4.0 cartoon style for PCs is not an option, PCs get the realism treatment. You fight, drink, die, fuck, raise families, eat, fart, kill, shit and piss like everyone else.
... and I think that's the dividing line.
Once you don't have to "do" those things, you are able to qualify for the cartoon treatment.
So, a zombie, or a golem can "look" funny; but they're still scary as shit b/c cartoon iron golem can still grab your skull in their hand and play "eraser head" against the nearby wall.
Zombies and Golems don't have to look funny however; but they 'could' do so.
....
Astro Boy is an other example. When he needs to "look" human, he actually gets a complete re-skin, and a fireball or being dunked in a lake will result in him loosing his prosthetic fingernails, face paint, implanted wig, etc. and then looking like a cartoon robot boy again.
Only things that are 'actually' powerful and can do things like "make people", or "cut a rift in the earth with their claw" get to be drawn in a different style.
Going for a D&D 4.0 cartoon style for PCs is not an option, PCs get the realism treatment. You fight, drink, die, fuck, raise families, eat, fart, kill, shit and piss like everyone else.
... and I think that's the dividing line.
Once you don't have to "do" those things, you are able to qualify for the cartoon treatment.
So, a zombie, or a golem can "look" funny; but they're still scary as shit b/c cartoon iron golem can still grab your skull in their hand and play "eraser head" against the nearby wall.
Zombies and Golems don't have to look funny however; but they 'could' do so.
....
Astro Boy is an other example. When he needs to "look" human, he actually gets a complete re-skin, and a fireball or being dunked in a lake will result in him loosing his prosthetic fingernails, face paint, implanted wig, etc. and then looking like a cartoon robot boy again.
The Gaming Den; where Mathematics are rigorously applied to Mythology.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
This reminds me of a couple things, actually.
First is one of the forms that wererats in OWoD could take that was called the Itchy form. They had to be fairly experienced rodent born ratkin, but they could learn an ability that literally turned them into a cartoon style rat with bright coloured fur, extra success on their transformation roll become extra health levels, and they could form cartoon weaponry for the length of a scene. They literally turned into cartoons. I think it's kind of cool in the right campaign, and would be playing one in the next game if I could use the book that has that ability.
The other thing it reminds me of is "Age=Anthropomorphic Personification." This is the thing where as batman gets older, he begins to turn into a physical personification of what he stands for: this is my theory for why portrayals of batman at age 60+ have him built like a brick shithouse and the scariest damned senior citizen you'll ever see. Joker get's this treatment too, becoming more spindly as he ages, but also more spry and demented.
I'd say if you're going to have power equal a style change, then it should be that they begin to become an avatar of their type. So a powerful golem becomes an avatar of manufactured, souless power, base material becoming loyal, unswerving servant. A dwarf starts to become an avatar of dwarves as he gets more powerful, so his beard is thicker, he can drink more, and it affects him less, he begins to get an urge to mine, and can strike deeper with a pick than a normal dwarf, etc.
First is one of the forms that wererats in OWoD could take that was called the Itchy form. They had to be fairly experienced rodent born ratkin, but they could learn an ability that literally turned them into a cartoon style rat with bright coloured fur, extra success on their transformation roll become extra health levels, and they could form cartoon weaponry for the length of a scene. They literally turned into cartoons. I think it's kind of cool in the right campaign, and would be playing one in the next game if I could use the book that has that ability.
The other thing it reminds me of is "Age=Anthropomorphic Personification." This is the thing where as batman gets older, he begins to turn into a physical personification of what he stands for: this is my theory for why portrayals of batman at age 60+ have him built like a brick shithouse and the scariest damned senior citizen you'll ever see. Joker get's this treatment too, becoming more spindly as he ages, but also more spry and demented.
I'd say if you're going to have power equal a style change, then it should be that they begin to become an avatar of their type. So a powerful golem becomes an avatar of manufactured, souless power, base material becoming loyal, unswerving servant. A dwarf starts to become an avatar of dwarves as he gets more powerful, so his beard is thicker, he can drink more, and it affects him less, he begins to get an urge to mine, and can strike deeper with a pick than a normal dwarf, etc.
I've seen it happen around. It does help add emphasis and all...
Come to think of it, saw it in Digger.
There's a little living-shadow character who pops up occasionally, and a running theme in the comic is exploring what it does. It eats shadows, and can reshape itself...It's drawn as a liquid-looking cartoonish humanoid-blob that's just solid, inky black apart from the eyes (which are white).
The author's also done it for flashbacks. A character's tribal history was rendered in sort of cave-painting style, and one person's account of a myth was done with religious art styling.
Come to think of it, saw it in Digger.
There's a little living-shadow character who pops up occasionally, and a running theme in the comic is exploring what it does. It eats shadows, and can reshape itself...It's drawn as a liquid-looking cartoonish humanoid-blob that's just solid, inky black apart from the eyes (which are white).
The author's also done it for flashbacks. A character's tribal history was rendered in sort of cave-painting style, and one person's account of a myth was done with religious art styling.
Last edited by Maxus on Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
You have no idea...Ursula Vernon generally tries out two or three new art styles a year. She went on a trip to Arizona, saw the Petroglyph-style stuff, aaand (among other things she's done).Prak_Anima wrote:yeah, it's actually somewhat common amongst comics and other visual media, since artists like to play with whatever their new toy is, especially styles of art.
http://ursulav.deviantart.com/art/Knife ... -149361408
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=533
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=571
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=1021
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=533
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=861
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=423
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=1101
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=582
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=1251
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=226
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Do I even want to ask WHAT that is?PhaedrusXY wrote:shadzar wrote:you don't want a Mickey Mouse style character for a God, unless you are trying to evoke a laugh about him.
Watch what you're saying there, Mortal.
Play the game, not the rules.
good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
Swordslinger wrote:Or fuck it... I'm just going to get weapon specialization in my cock and whip people to death with it. Given all the enemies are total pussies, it seems like the appropriate thing to do.
Lewis Black wrote:If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
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Judging__Eagle
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Oh, damn, it's been a while since I've looked at red wombat studios.
I've never read her books, but I've always been impressed by her art. I was only introduced to it some time in the last two or three years, and I like how she just makes odd arrangements of subject and location. She makes art that I haven't seen before, and I really like that.
I've never read her books, but I've always been impressed by her art. I was only introduced to it some time in the last two or three years, and I like how she just makes odd arrangements of subject and location. She makes art that I haven't seen before, and I really like that.
The Gaming Den; where Mathematics are rigorously applied to Mythology.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
While everyone's Philosophy is not in accord, that doesn't mean we're not on board.
It's probably the thing that eat's the unrighteous' hearts in egyptian mythology after they've been weighed that I can't remember the name of right now, though I want to say Ammet... though in that case the head should be an alligator.shadzar wrote:Do I even want to ask WHAT that is?PhaedrusXY wrote:shadzar wrote:you don't want a Mickey Mouse style character for a God, unless you are trying to evoke a laugh about him.
Watch what you're saying there, Mortal.
oh, it's Amnut.
Last edited by Prak on Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
The books are good, too. Basically, all my young cousins and all will be handed them to read when they're old enough.Judging__Eagle wrote:Oh, damn, it's been a while since I've looked at red wombat studios.
I've never read her books, but I've always been impressed by her art. I was only introduced to it some time in the last two or three years, and I like how she just makes odd arrangements of subject and location. She makes art that I haven't seen before, and I really like that.
Check in the kids' section in your library. Nurk and Dragonbreath.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
That is South Park's depiction of what the christian God looks like.Prak_Anima wrote:It's probably the thing that eat's the unrighteous' hearts in egyptian mythology after they've been weighed that I can't remember the name of right now, though I want to say Ammet... though in that case the head should be an alligator.shadzar wrote:Do I even want to ask WHAT that is?PhaedrusXY wrote:
Watch what you're saying there, Mortal.
oh, it's Amnut.
Oh, well ok then that goes with what I said, a cartoony drawing for laughs. So they had Jesus first then much later depicted God in the show...MGuy wrote:That is South Park's depiction of what the christian God looks like.Prak_Anima wrote:It's probably the thing that eat's the unrighteous' hearts in egyptian mythology after they've been weighed that I can't remember the name of right now, though I want to say Ammet... though in that case the head should be an alligator.shadzar wrote:Do I even want to ask WHAT that is?
oh, it's Amnut.
Play the game, not the rules.
good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
Swordslinger wrote:Or fuck it... I'm just going to get weapon specialization in my cock and whip people to death with it. Given all the enemies are total pussies, it seems like the appropriate thing to do.
Lewis Black wrote:If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
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Judging__Eagle
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