The new Monster Manual art is beautiful and fits great into the layout of the book. Kudos! But as a DM, I like to print out the monster art and slide it into a sleeved card to show the players. I then slot it into the top of my DM screen and use it for initiative if necessary.
The old monster art generally just showed the monster clearly and a person can manipulate it to fit whatever size they need.
Often, the new monster art shows "scenes". For example: the Fomorian. I can't slot that "scene" into a card size and also that scene most likely doesn't apply to our current encounter.
My suggestion is to have art that JUST shows the monster. With great clarity. That way players can take a glance at the art I show them and, along with my description, get a good sense of what the monster looks like. Scenes are great for books but are not very practical.
Yes, I agree that the new Monster Art is beautiful!
The fact that the new art doesn't just show the monster alone, but shows the monster in a 'scene' was intentional as a part of the new design for the 2025 MM.
In the full MM video that D&D released, they specifically stated that they they wanted to show the monsters in action and give them scale.
Watch their Videoand start it at 01:46 and watch to around the 05:10 mark.
As far as Monster Images for the use that you are describing, you can still use the images from the 2014 MM, and if there is a new Monster that did not exist in the 2014 MM, then google images will most likely have something you can use to print out.
Hope this helps... Cheers!
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Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
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The new Monster Manual art is beautiful and fits great into the layout of the book. Kudos! But as a DM, I like to print out the monster art and slide it into a sleeved card to show the players. I then slot it into the top of my DM screen and use it for initiative if necessary.
The old monster art generally just showed the monster clearly and a person can manipulate it to fit whatever size they need.
Often, the new monster art shows "scenes". For example: the Fomorian. I can't slot that "scene" into a card size and also that scene most likely doesn't apply to our current encounter.
My suggestion is to have art that JUST shows the monster. With great clarity. That way players can take a glance at the art I show them and, along with my description, get a good sense of what the monster looks like. Scenes are great for books but are not very practical.
Greetings Gryff4,
Yes, I agree that the new Monster Art is beautiful!
The fact that the new art doesn't just show the monster alone, but shows the monster in a 'scene' was intentional as a part of the new design for the 2025 MM.
In the full MM video that D&D released, they specifically stated that they they wanted to show the monsters in action and give them scale.
Watch their Video and start it at 01:46 and watch to around the 05:10 mark.
As far as Monster Images for the use that you are describing, you can still use the images from the 2014 MM, and if there is a new Monster that did not exist in the 2014 MM, then google images will most likely have something you can use to print out.
Hope this helps... Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.