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Author Topic: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D  (Read 17457 times)

Trond

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #75 on: May 16, 2021, 08:54:59 AM »
Makes me think some of that was done with coloured pencils. Which is quite good results really. Just some like that one are a bit... off? Others are pretty good really. And at least one is a-lot worse.

The guy in the middle looks like he had some watercolor lay-in, but most of it looks like colored pencils or pastel pencils (which would explain the pastel colors).

Lord Mhoram

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #76 on: May 16, 2021, 12:04:45 PM »
This book is called "Viking Age" (not "Sexy Fantasy Vikings" or some such), and the art pieces on the front and back really give me a lot of confidence in this product.
At least they fixed the problem in their later books....



 ;D


maybe we could blur the titles and play a game of “guess what this book is about”.

Has anyone read these? I wonder what the text is like.

I had 1 or 2 back in the day - the actual books were not great game writing, and incredibly dry and from I remember fairly well researched. Like someone liked that era of history, decided to cash in on gaming and added some bad game text and the cheesecake covers. In essence the exact opposite of what you would expect from the cover.
"Build 'em like a powergamer, but play 'em like a roleplayer." - firesnakearies

Trond

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #77 on: May 16, 2021, 03:12:20 PM »

I had 1 or 2 back in the day - the actual books were not great game writing, and incredibly dry and from I remember fairly well researched. Like someone liked that era of history, decided to cash in on gaming and added some bad game text and the cheesecake covers. In essence the exact opposite of what you would expect from the cover.

I suspected as much, and that is to me the biggest sin here. If the books were about viking-strippers (kinda like bikini girls with machine guns),  or some such it could have actually have been fun in a bad-taste kind of way.

DocJones

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #78 on: May 16, 2021, 04:50:55 PM »
This book is called "Viking Age" (not "Sexy Fantasy Vikings" or some such), and the art pieces on the front and back really give me a lot of confidence in this product.
I would have picked up any book with that cover in a heart beat.  :-)

DocJones

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #79 on: May 16, 2021, 04:52:59 PM »
If you want awkward and Exalted...
I imagine her singing "I'm bringing booty back!"

Trond

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #80 on: May 16, 2021, 05:13:29 PM »
This book is called "Viking Age" (not "Sexy Fantasy Vikings" or some such), and the art pieces on the front and back really give me a lot of confidence in this product.
I would have picked up any book with that cover in a heart beat.  :-)

I think Luis Royo might be a name you should know ;)

The Thing
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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #81 on: May 17, 2021, 12:15:17 AM »
This book is called "Viking Age" (not "Sexy Fantasy Vikings" or some such), and the art pieces on the front and back really give me a lot of confidence in this product.
At least they fixed the problem in their later books....



 ;D


maybe we could blur the titles and play a game of “guess what this book is about”.

Has anyone read these? I wonder what the text is like.

I wouldn't be surprised if it contained rules for titfucking.

Blankman

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #82 on: May 18, 2021, 09:44:40 AM »
This book is called "Viking Age" (not "Sexy Fantasy Vikings" or some such), and the art pieces on the front and back really give me a lot of confidence in this product.
I would have picked up any book with that cover in a heart beat.  :-)

I think Luis Royo might be a name you should know ;)

And he does appear on some rpg covers, the Swedish game Khelataar from the late 80s/early 90s. Of course the content was completely different. This cover is for an adventure that features the PCs going on an archaeological dig and dealing with saboteurs who want the expedition to leave their farmland alone, as well as a fraught political situation. Completely misleading cover for anyone seeking action-adventure with chicks in leather bathing suits.

Blankman

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #83 on: May 18, 2021, 09:54:32 AM »
I don't have a problem with the art in the AD&D 2e reprints. They were the first D&D books I had, so not much to compare them to either. And the art was color throughout, which I was not used to at that time (all the other game books I had access to had black and white interior art).

Godlike on the other hand had some really shitty art, as did its sequel/spin-off Wild Talents. They were shitty in different ways though. Godlike (a game about superpowered people in WWII) had actual WWII photos with things liike a flying man awkwardly photoshopped in, ruining the composition of the photo. Wild Talents was a general supers game and its art fell into the "all lens flare all the time" school of art. Here's the cover.


 I think that alien grey at the bottom may be the only figure who doesn't have their eyes obscured by shades or lens-flare in the entire book.

Omega

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #84 on: May 18, 2021, 11:13:25 AM »
huh? Did not know Godlike actually saw print?
If its the same one I saw way back it actually had a comic in a gaming magazine. I'd have to dig to see if still have it and what magazine it was even in. Polyhedron?

Pat
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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #85 on: May 18, 2021, 12:28:09 PM »
huh? Did not know Godlike actually saw print?
If its the same one I saw way back it actually had a comic in a gaming magazine. I'd have to dig to see if still have it and what magazine it was even in. Polyhedron?
Might be thinking of a different game. Godlike came out in 2001, and was a fairly notable release in an era when a lot of super hero RPGs were being published. It was set in an alternate WW2 where millions of "talents" fought on both sides of the war, used Stolze's One Roll Engine as the core mechanic, and the art that Blankman mentioned was real WW2 stills that Detwiller photoshopped with grainy things like flying men. A traditional comic doesn't really seem to fit.

Omega

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #86 on: May 18, 2021, 01:35:26 PM »
Found the rather long add for Godlike in the 2003 issue of Poly after the d20m WWII setting. That has the photoshop art.
The comic saw might not be for it. But it was about WWII supers.

Rather surprised how many pages that ad took up. From experience magazine ad fees are not cheap! 4 pages! That probably cost anywhere from 800-1200$ at a guess.

And found another 4 page add in the 2002 poly. This one is actually not bad and might even have some art in it amongst the photo-renders.

Someone forked out alot of cash to promote this.

Aaand think found one. an even older 2002 issue of Poly. This one also 4 pages and actual art this time. Still not the one was thinking od but seems similar.

aaand pt2 Found it in an even older Poly and, yep, another 4 page comic. This one drawn as well.

Im noting a marked de-evolution of the art from the first ad to the last.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2021, 02:00:11 PM by Omega »

Omega

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #87 on: May 18, 2021, 02:30:43 PM »
Found some images of the core book for Godlike and if that is any indicator then I am rather surprised that they did not use the better art style of the 2 comics or the 3rd ads better photo renders.

Someone threw alot of money into this if the page count and plethora of supplements is right. So why did they skimp on the illistrations? Weird.

Blankman

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #88 on: May 18, 2021, 03:32:06 PM »
Found some images of the core book for Godlike and if that is any indicator then I am rather surprised that they did not use the better art style of the 2 comics or the 3rd ads better photo renders.

Someone threw alot of money into this if the page count and plethora of supplements is right. So why did they skimp on the illistrations? Weird.

Thats an indicator alright. All the interior art was made by Detwiller himself, so he probably skimped on illustrations in order to be able to do the ads.

Jam The MF

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Re: What were they thinking? The RPG art cringe thread :D
« Reply #89 on: May 18, 2021, 05:48:58 PM »
The Halflings in the D&D 5E PHB look Silly, with those Tiny Feet; but I'm not "Offended" by it.  I just think they look like Midgets.  They have now given their player base Stats for Midgets, as a Playable Race in D&D 5E.  Ha!!!
Let the Dice, Decide the Outcome.  Accept the Results.