I find it funny that people complain about my rivulet being slightly green when theres many other rivulet designs that use yellow, purple, and even an oil spill coloration
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Some ramblings on the Tieflings' appearances...
Weirdly enough, this is inspired upon by a comment on a DNDBeyond Facebook post.
There's a book in a few places in the game (most notably Zevlor's area of the Grove) that reference the ritual that Asmodeus and his warlocks did after the Spellplague, which cursed all Tieflings to appear more in his image. Prior to that, my understanding is that Tieflings more closely resembled humans. (Doric from the D&D movie is a good example.)
Many, but not all, of WotC's official artwork in the books show Tieflings with their horns beginning at the brow line, extra growth on the chin to mimic a beard, bumps around their eyes or cheek bones, etc. Many players choose to omit those features in their Tieflings' appearances in their home D&D games. Which leads me to what spurned this ramble: the post I reference showed an old Tiefling woman with obvious protrusions on her brow line and cheeks. The commenter on the post hinted that this was what "old Tieflings used to look like" before everyone decided to make them hot. (To which I say: lulz okay nerd, let people make hot Tieflings.)
Who is the ONLY Tiefling in BG3 who has obvious extra definition to the brow and cheekbones? This handsome fella...
...who is the "old one." Which, admittedly, cracked me up. I'd personally argue that the ridges make him look older than the wrinkles would suggest, but that's neither here nor there.
Now, granted, the fact that the Tieflings aren't more varied in their appearances in the game makes complete sense. Larian could only use so many different facial models when they're giving a set amount to the player, and it's not worth their time to give every NPC a unique face when they could add a lot of variation using the character selection presets.
But we CAN look at the other two unique NPC Tiefling models, Rolan and Dammon:
Dammon's got the more pronounced brow area, which at the very least the face model that Danis and Damays use also share. Both of them also have more pronounced cheekbones that could hint at their infernal ancestry. For me, it's been less obvious on Dammon than it is Rolan; in certain lights in the game, it VERY much looks like his protrude more than normal. I notice it less often with Dammon. Granted, in both their cases, maybe they just have really excellent bone structure, and I'm reading too much into their character models. (Reading too much into things? On TUMBLR? Nah, never happens.) Regardless, two male characters younger than Zevlor don't have as many obvious infernal features, which is an undoubtedly unintentional but still funny call back to "old Tieflings" versus "new Tieflings."
Also consider that Karlach does not share these facial protrusions that the male characters have/seem to have. (I don't think any of the female Tieflings do, and there's some commentary to be had with that, but I digress.)
But who DOES get some extra infernal features in addition to the horns? Wyll. Who is not a Tiefling, but go with it.
For shits and giggles, Mizora and Raphael also have smoother facial features:
Again, I completely understand why most of the NPCs were generic face models for practical reasons. But it is interesting they only gave Zevlor the "traditional" 4e/5e Tiefling look.
What are your thoughts? Or theories, even? Let me hear them!
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[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled "immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]
a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”
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