Monday, December 6, 2010

Art Contest Results

... and the results:

1 Vote
A hapless specialist hangs upside down in a pit, being held by his companions, a burly warrior type and mage (who is mostly trying to hold him steady). The Specialist is attempting to pick the lock on a door inside the pit. Sharp and obviously noxious looking spikes are visible below in the pit. (Malakor)

1 Vote
A devious looking thief-type character caught up in some sort of vines growing out of a chalice she picked up off an altar while a pair of warriors are battling ghoul/wight type undead, completely oblivious to the plight of their companion(who was probably trying to steal the chalice for herself). The Undead fighting with the warriors are dressed up in togas. (2eDM)

1 Vote
Grizzled fighting man setting back down in a tavern for a drink after slaying the patrons in a bloody battle. (ghostofmarx)

1 Vote
Our heroine (the Flame Princess) has kicked open the door of a cabin in the snowy wilderness. Through the open doorway we see mounted on one wall the heads of a dwarf, elf, halfling, and two humans (one male, one female. Lunging forward, hand drawn back to deliver a wicked back-handed blow to the Princess, is her quarry—a fell beast twice her height that looks remarkably like a ten-point buck, save for it standing upright and the diabolical cast in its eyes, the snarl on its black lips, and the row of impressive fangs protruding from its mouth, dripping venomous saliva.

Closer inspection of the scene reveals a small humanoid—a gnome—turning on a spit in the fireplace, and resting on a table, awaiting mounting on the wall, the armored head of knight and the horned-helmed head of a barbarian. Resting beneath a ‘chair’ comprised of human hair is a throw rug of human skin, with patches of hair and bone interspersed in an intricate design. (uwarr)

3 Votes
Group of people huddling in the corner of some dark cave from what seems to be nothing. torches laying around them burnt out, caltrops on the ground with spears and or other polearms pointed outwards. (xxkillervk)

4 Votes
Something twitchy, hooked and ugly being extracted with forceps from open wound of an injured adventurer. His adventuring companions watch mortified as does the physician who is pulling it out. (jonas)

10 Votes
In one of the lower corners there are some people, presumably PC's , perched behind a rock/peeping over a corner of a corridor. We only see their backs. They are looking into a room/cave lit with torches. In the middle of it there is a group of cultists in robes, each with a meter long candle, chanting. They are circling an ornamented hole in the floor of the chamber, over which a tied naked woman hangs suspend from the ceiling. She is terrified, she screams as the cultist begin to lower her into the darkness and a slimy tentacle reaches out of the chasm and ties around her legs. (squidman)

21 Votes and Your Winner
So, a peaceful, even pastoral scene, perhaps of a few Amish-looking farmers talking to an adventurer or two, or just among themselves. But one little bit of the uncanny peeks through -- a tree in the background is actually a camouflaged troll, a demonic face stares out from an upper story window, or better yet a barn door is slightly ajar in the background, and you can see a few sides of beef hanging, and among them a side of a butchered human. So the idea is a few farmers talking amiably to a couple of adventurers. They can't see, but the viewer can, that among the butchered animals hanging in the barn is a human corpse. (mikemonaco)

***

All I have to say is YES! The winner was my choice as well, as it captures the entire vibe I'm going for in the game and says it better than just about anything I've commissioned myself so far. So there's a box winner there.

I'll also be using the physician extraction pic too. That too expresses the right atmosphere, and reminds me of one of the scariest movies I saw as a child. Remember that Martin Sheen movie The Believers? That scene where a woman's boil bursts on her face and SPIDERS COME CRAWLING OUT OF HER FACE? Yeah, that horrified me. This reminds me of that very much. Must use. So there's a box discount there.

Thanks for participating, everyone!

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations to mikemonaco and jonas. Both were truly vivid descriptions.

    I look forward to seeing how Mr. Raggi's artist interprets your offerings.

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  2. Well, thank-you to everyone who voted, especially the ones who voted for my idea! And congratulations to Jonas, that really is a creepy image.

    James, glad I got the "vibe" right; I was hoping I wasn't totally off-base given the other suggestions that were more "extreme dungeon crawling" oriented. Anyway when you need my contact info drop by Swords & Dorkery, or send me an email at mike fullstop monaco each-at-symbol yahoo fullstop com.

    Thanks again,
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, at least I made the top ten... I'll have to admit though; the other ideas were pretty swanky!

    ReplyDelete