Best Art Ever in an RPG book?

Caesar Slaad · September 02, 2012, 10:31:49 PM

I'm a fan of the Chris Foss style starship art, so I was very enthused to see his work come into Traveller 4 in full color plates.

Too bad about the game...

everloss · September 03, 2012, 12:28:22 AM

I like Kent Burle's artwork in various Palladium books; Dragons and Gods, Land of the the damned 1 and 2. I like his charcoal drawings that depict scenes - usually weird but not disturbingly so.

I'm a big fan of Ramon Perez's comic-style artwork as well. He puts a lot of small details and jokes into his art.

Best book is hard to say though. Twilight 2000 2nd edition had consistently good artwork that evoked the mood of the setting. That's my choice off the top of my exhausted and drained head.

Just Another Snake Cult · September 03, 2012, 01:02:26 AM

Technically it's only about 50% a true RPG, but... The original two Warhammer Realms of Chaos books. At the time (1988 & 1990), it felt like they were just taking gaming art to a whole new level. Even my non-gamer friends who usually dismissed "All that elf shit" were blown away when I accidently left one out and they started pawing through it.

StormBringer · September 03, 2012, 01:37:19 AM

Quote from: Sacrosanct;579161B/X Expert book (edited by Cook and Marsh)

Erol Otus's cover and creepy interior work, Willingham's heavy shadows, Dee's clean lines,... Every illustration in that book still appeals to me to this day.

Agreed. The AD&D books are my faves, as trite as it sounds. The Monster Manual is filled with Trampier work, which is never a bad thing.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;579167Is it just me, or has Jeff Dee's art gotten a lot worse than it was in the 80s? I've noticed this a while ago. It just seems more sloppy now.

I've kept track of his Deviantart page. The lines are definitely heavier, less confident perhaps. His work at re-creating his old TSR stuff does have a different feel because of it.

StormBringer · September 03, 2012, 01:39:28 AM

Quote from: Sacrosanct;579161B/X Expert book (edited by Cook and Marsh)

Erol Otus's cover and creepy interior work, Willingham's heavy shadows, Dee's clean lines,... Every illustration in that book still appeals to me to this day.

Agreed. The AD&D books are my faves, as trite as it sounds. The Monster Manual is filled with Trampier work, which is never a bad thing.

Teazia · September 03, 2012, 02:10:59 AM

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;579300Technically it's only about 50% a true RPG, but... The original two Warhammer Realms of Chaos books. At the time (1988 & 1990), it felt like they were just taking gaming art to a whole new level. Even my non-gamer friends who usually dismissed "All that elf shit" were blown away when I accidently left one out and they started pawing through it.

I have heard a lot of praise for those books, too bad they are so rare and coveted.

Cheers

Bedrockbrendan · September 03, 2012, 08:07:53 AM

Quote from: John Morrow;579162I'm very impressed by the art and design in the new Shadows of Esteren book, especially now that I have the physical book. There are a lot of games I have with excellent pieces of art in them, but I can't think of any off-hand that work as well as a whole art and design package.
].

I have to agree strongly with this. Someone gave this book to me as a gift recently and the first thing I noticed is how well the art, layout and design all comes together as a whole. This book really makes a great first impression.

jibbajibba · September 03, 2012, 08:48:28 AM

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;579342I have to agree strongly with this. Someone gave this book to me as a gift recently and the first thing I noticed is how well the art, layout and design all comes together as a whole. This book really makes a great first impression.

Yeah I was looking at that as well at GenCon and looked good.

Also Alpha Omega looked awesome but played a demo of it at Gencon a couple of years back and it didn't float my boat.

But the books sure were pretty

RPGPundit · September 04, 2012, 03:50:38 PM

I agree its a tough call. I don't think I'd put any of the Old (A)D&D books in the running; I think arguing that is really being sort of partisan. Its pretty clear to me that there are gamebooks, including for games I personally don't care for, that have stunning art.

The DCC book may qualify as "in the running", though, I'd have to see it in person to be absolutely sure, and right now my copy is still lost in the mail.

RPGPundit

Sigmund · September 04, 2012, 09:01:35 PM

I always really liked the Shadowrun 1e art, especially Tim Bradstreet's stuff. It's hard to pin down one book. I like different books for different styles. I like BASH's style of art. Despite not being a big fn of the games, the VtM books had good art. Paranoia's art is amusing. Ars Magica's art is very evocative of the game itself, and so IMO is very good. I always loved the cover of Dragonquest 2e. Also, much of the DnD art is very nostalgic for me, and some was pretty good in it's own right as well. Especially in the 1e Monster Manual.

Novastar · September 04, 2012, 11:50:01 PM

Vince Martin is probably my all time favorite (RIFTS: Japan, Nightspawn, etc).

Big fan of Ramon Perez, Freddie Williams for their comic style art (not surprisingly, both moved on to drawing comic books from Palladium), and Mike Mumah gets mad props from me right now...

John Morrow · September 05, 2012, 12:13:07 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;579760The DCC book may qualify as "in the running", though, I'd have to see it in person to be absolutely sure, and right now my copy is still lost in the mail.

So, you are still under the delusion that it's "lost in the mall" and not permanently in the possession of a sticky-fingered Uruguayan postal worker then?

silva · September 05, 2012, 12:35:22 AM

For me, its Planescape core box + "Planes of" boxes.

QuoteI always really liked the Shadowrun 1e art, especially Tim Bradstreet's stuff

I agree with this. I would just add 2e to the package - Bradstreet+Aulisio+Laubenstein+Jim Nelson formed up a great team. From 3e forward the art took a change in direction that, I think, lost part of the originals appeal.

RPGPundit · September 05, 2012, 01:42:18 PM

Quote from: John Morrow;579931So, you are still under the delusion that it's "lost in the mall" and not permanently in the possession of a sticky-fingered Uruguayan postal worker then?

I'll admit its becoming increasingly unlikely.

RPGPundit