Whether it be D&D, World Of Darkness, Mutants & Masterminds, or any other table top roleplaying game, few things sell the game like good art. Whether it be a fine cover, or interior art. So, this is a thread to celebrate it! Post your favorite from various RPGs! Just make sure to let people know what book and system you’re getting it from, if it’s not a cover image. I’ll start!
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The 1st Edition of the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide has long been one of my favorites:
It caught the eye of the potential young gamer, and scared the crap out of parents everywhere.
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I still have my original AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide, Player’s Manual and Deities and Demigods books. I lost my Monster Manual at some point.
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I still have two copies of the Dungeon Master’s Guide in fairly good condition, as well as the Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Fiend Folio. I had the first printing of Deities and Demigods (red page with entries for the Melnibonéan (from Michael Moorcock’s Elric Saga) and Cthulhu mythologies. Those entries were removed for copyright issues after the first printing. Unfortunately, my roommate and I got our books mixed up when I moved out in the early '90s, and he ended up with my copy of DDG, and I ended up with his copy of the DMG. That first printing of DDG is a pretty valuable book these days.
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Mine definitely has the Cthulu mythos in it, but I don’t remember it having the Melninbonean mythos. Maybe multiple editions?
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The 1980 1st printing has a red page inside the front cover, is 144 pages long, and contains both mythologies. They were both removed in the 1981 2nd printing, which is only 128 pages long.
My understanding is that the first edition was also done in two runs, one which credits Chaosium (the Cthulhu rights holders), and one which does not.
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How about the artwork for the original D&D Deities & Demigods book, which infamously used a lot of material they didn’t have the rights for at the time.
And I’m pretty happy with the artwork for my manual on the undead.
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I love the old AD&D artwork and what a weird mix of serious and goofy it was. They had actual artbooks for that stuff! How many RPGs can say that?
On a weirder, more recent note, I really love the artwork in Thirsty Sword Lesbians, which I got in one of the recent charity bundles and had to read just for the title.
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Also check out the art in Glitter Hearts.
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One of the greats of that time was Erol Otus, who combined the underground comix style of the era with Lovecraftian influences.
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Yeah, his stuff was so delightfully weird!
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The late Keith Parkinson is my favorite D&D artist, with Larry Elmore a close second.
Gotta wait till I get home from work and have access to my image files.
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Some more M&M art.
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Here’s a piece from the 1st edition of Hero High, which was part of M&M’s 2nd edition. Hero High 2nd edition was for M&M 3rd edition. COMICS, EVERYBODY!
The artist, Darren Calvert has done a lot of work for M&M and others, and he’s over on the Twitter.
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And now, for a break from M&M, here’s some 90s D&D from DiTerlizzi, arguably my favorite fantasy artist.
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