Re-using art in the sourcebooks [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

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Chronos

2013-08-25, 09:50 PM

I was just flipping through the Magic Item Compendium, and noticed something interesting. On page 114, there's an image labeled "Lightning gauntlets". But that's not what it's actually a picture of at all: The exact same image was used on page 59 of Magic of Incarnum, illustrating the Armguards of Disruption soulmeld.

Did anyone else notice this? How about other cases of the same art reused in multiple books?

Palanan

2013-08-25, 09:56 PM

All over the place, really.

The pencil sketches from the 3.0 proto-splatbooks, such as Masters of the Wild, Song and Silence, etc., tend to crop up in later 3.5 books without much relevance to their prior appearances.

yougi

2013-08-25, 10:08 PM

Many of them come back in 4E as well.

Palanan

2013-08-25, 11:36 PM

Looks like we'll have something to look forward to in Next after all.

:smallamused:

Lateral

2013-08-25, 11:39 PM

Yeah, it tends to happen.

A lot.

In fact, I think there was one that was actually in three different places, all in 3.5. Could be wrong, though- I can't remember which one.

The Viscount

2013-08-26, 12:18 AM

One of my favorite examples is the exact same art being used for Ollam and Battlesmith, both 3.5 classes.

yougi

2013-08-26, 12:24 AM

One of my favorite examples is the exact same art being used for Ollam and Battlesmith, both 3.5 classes.

Hey, look at that!

Maybe it's because that dwarf lady actually took both prestige classes!

That should be the special ingredient for the next Iron Chef.

hamishspence

2013-08-26, 02:56 AM

One of the weirdest ones was of a warforged constructing some kind of magic item being repaired- being reused in A Grand History of the Realms to go with the dying statement of the topaz dragon ruler of Westgate.

DeltaEmil

2013-08-26, 03:04 AM

It was more a Warforged being repaired, but yes, it didn't really seem that fitting. Perhaps it was implied that the mages of Netheril were employing magical warrior constructs to fight the topaz dragon's empire.

Still weird.

hamishspence

2013-08-26, 03:10 AM

Now, magical warrior construct armies do appear in Faerun- but primarily in the Unapproachable East region. Raumathar used them against Narfell's fiend armies. Both empires collapsed.

Chronos

2013-08-26, 09:16 AM

Does this mean that there's some hope of seeing some of that great 2nd edition art (which never had any relation whatsoever to the text it was next to) showing up again?

'Cause I kind of miss the "random fantasy art just because".

Psyren

2013-08-26, 11:05 AM

Many of them come back in 4E as well.

I recall a couple of threads way back when 4e debuted that actually looked for all the examples of this they could find. It was amusing to say the least.

EDIT: It would be pretty awesome if D&D could use art from Magic, especially some of the giant pieces that don't fit on a card but would make a great splash spread in a sourcebook.

Palanan

2013-08-26, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by Psyren
It would be pretty awesome if D&D could use art from Magic, especially some of the giant pieces that don't fit on a card but would make a great splash spread in a sourcebook.

I know virtually nothing about Magic (which I assume is MTG?) but I've occasionally seen some really excellent artwork that's apparently affiliated with it.

From what I've seen, it's often lightyears beyond the crud they used in most of the 3.5 books. No idea why the quality varies so much between the products.

.

Dusk Eclipse

2013-08-26, 12:40 PM

I recall a couple of threads way back when 4e debuted that actually looked for all the examples of this they could find. It was amusing to say the least.

EDIT: It would be pretty awesome if D&D could use art from Magic, especially some of the giant pieces that don't fit on a card but would make a great splash spread in a sourcebook.

IRC The illustration for Child of shadow stance (I'm sure it was a SH stance at the very least) was re-used for Rogue Powers in the first 4e PHB

Edit: And yes, god yes, M:TG art in splatbook would be awesome.

Psyren

2013-08-26, 12:44 PM

I know virtually nothing about Magic (which I assume is MTG?) but I've occasionally seen some really excellent artwork that's apparently affiliated with it.

From what I've seen, it's often lightyears beyond the crud they used in most of the 3.5 books. No idea why the quality varies so much between the products.

Yes, by "Magic" I meant M:TG.

Simply put, Magic makes a LOT more money for WotC and so they have a bigger budget for talented fantasy artists. Particularly since art is an even bigger selling point over there than in D&D. One problem though is that Magic art is often pretty heavily rooted in a given setting, making it difficult to transfer to D&D. You can often tell at a glance whether a given piece is set in, say, Lorwyn or Zendikar or Ravnica or Mirrodin, and those are very clearly not D&D settings (though they maybe could be.)

Squirrel_Dude

2013-08-26, 12:45 PM

You'll see it in Pathfinder books all the time too. Often art in books is from the previous supplements.

yougi

2013-08-26, 01:33 PM

IRC The illustration for Child of shadow stance (I'm sure it was a SH stance at the very least) was re-used for Rogue Powers in the first 4e PHB

Having just gone through the ToB and then the 4e PHB cover to cover, I'd say that's not true... Of course, you could say I have way too much time on my hand. Which is true, but still...

The first illustration which tipped me off was the Kensai, which is the same in both 3.5 and 4E (at least they used them for the same thing!).

Then it was monsters: Astral Stalker, Death Knight, Firebelcher, Night Hag, Vampire, and that's only leafing through my MM1.

Chronos

2013-08-26, 04:11 PM

Although, it's really a shame that 3rd edition didn't re-use the 2nd-edition art for the Invisible Stalker, which was undoubtedly a classic, and perfectly captured the essence of the creature.

Vedhin

2013-08-26, 06:38 PM