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Worst art in an RPG book thread.

Started by J Arcane, May 15, 2011, 04:48:20 PM

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thedungeondelver

#15
May 16, 2011, 01:13:25 AM
There was some book for a WW game that had a world or location map that was a vagina.

Yes, for reals.  I can't remember what book it was, though.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

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skofflox

#16
May 16, 2011, 01:50:24 AM
doesn't get much crappier than some of the OD&D stuff...
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Cranewings

#17
May 16, 2011, 02:59:14 AM
Quote from: Soylent Green;458199Star Wars - Players Guide to the Tapani Sector. Decent book, terrible, terrible cover.


I actually like this. It drives the point home.

Simlasa

#18
May 16, 2011, 03:23:05 AM Last Edit: May 16, 2011, 03:26:18 AM by Simlasa
Quote from: skofflox;458245doesn't get much crappier than some of the OD&D stuff...
See, that stuff doesn't bother me at all... it's not technically good... but it has a certain gusto and fire to it that makes me like it just the same.
The stuff I TRULY hated was some of the crap illustration Dan Smith did for GURPS. It's certainly not all bad... but some of his stuff is gawdawful lifeless and dull.
Larry Elmore is in that same camp.
Art can be bad on more than one level... in my book not being interesting beats out lack of technical skills.

That Star Wars cover looks like it was badly rushed. The lettering is the worst of it IMO.

Melan

#19
May 16, 2011, 03:40:46 AM
There is amateurish art, which can be charming in its own way, and there is just-plain-bad art, which has no saving grace. The cheesecake Avalanche Press covers from the early d20 era are representatives of the latter.
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James Gillen

#20
May 16, 2011, 04:58:53 AM
ReichStar.  (just read through a friend's copy tonight)

A good lot of the sourcebooks for Hero System 5th Edition.

JG
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Ghost Whistler

#21
May 16, 2011, 07:22:49 AM
Seems to me that all the really bad art in games is done by the same guy! it all looks the same!
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jibbajibba

#22
May 16, 2011, 08:12:24 AM
Please the Old D&D stuff was the worst

 



And the all time winner ....



Now you can say 'Oh know I love that art it remnds me of when I was 12 and first found D&D' however doesn't stop it from being really very very very bad.

You might argue Elmore or the Brothers Hilderbrand produce terrible art but you are missing the fact that they can draw and are competant draughtsmen. Their choice of subjects might not appeal but. And worst of all the Mondron came out in '83 when D&D was at the height of popularity it wasn't like they had no money to spend.

You can see the same thing with MTG cards that went from this



to this


And people still say that the original art is better.....
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islan

#23
May 16, 2011, 08:36:41 AM
Don't forget the picture of the races in the 1e PHB.  I tried looking for a copy of it online, but the only one I could find was too big to post in a forum.

There was certainly some good inspirational art back then, but there also was quite a few duds.

thedungeondelver

#24
May 16, 2011, 12:32:06 PM
I think older RPGs get a pass because they were trailblazing.  It wasn't AN INDUSTRY so much as a few hobby companies having a go at sharing ideas with like-minded gamers.

Around 1990/'91 I think the paradigm shifted enough that your art had to be good.

I mean there's just no, I mean zero excuse for, say, some of the Battletech TRO:3055 illustrations.  Wait, never mind.  Any and ALL of the TRO:3055 illustrations.  Even the ones done by that Japanese company held up poorly.
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Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Claudius

#25
May 16, 2011, 01:09:19 PM
Quote from: thedungeondelver;458306I think older RPGs get a pass because they were trailblazing.  It wasn't AN INDUSTRY so much as a few hobby companies having a go at sharing ideas with like-minded gamers.
According to an Old Geezer's post I read on rpg.net, the time when those "older RPGs" were published were the highest point of the industry.
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jibbajibba

#26
May 16, 2011, 01:11:00 PM
Quote from: thedungeondelver;458306I think older RPGs get a pass because they were trailblazing.  It wasn't AN INDUSTRY so much as a few hobby companies having a go at sharing ideas with like-minded gamers.

Around 1990/'91 I think the paradigm shifted enough that your art had to be good.

I mean there's just no, I mean zero excuse for, say, some of the Battletech TRO:3055 illustrations.  Wait, never mind.  Any and ALL of the TRO:3055 illustrations.  Even the ones done by that Japanese company held up poorly.

They were trail blazing RPGs though not Fantasy Art.
I was a fan of fantasy before I played D&D and remember that in the 70s you had art like this



and this



And loads of kids in art school dying to try stuff like that so there is no excuse for this

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Aos

#27
May 16, 2011, 01:11:58 PM
Quote from: jibbajibba;458269You might argue Elmore or the Brothers Hilderbrand produce terrible art but you are missing the fact that they can draw and are competant draughtsmen. Their choice of subjects might not appeal but. And worst of all the Mondron came out in '83 when D&D was at the height of popularity it wasn't like they had no money to spend.

Shit is shit, competency makes it even less forgivable.
You are posting in a troll thread.

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Aos

#28
May 16, 2011, 01:14:09 PM
Quote from: jibbajibba;458313And loads of kids in art school dying to try stuff like that so there is no excuse for this


My friends and I call this kind of stuff "little brother art" as in someone who was involved with TSR had a  little brother in need of a job.
You are posting in a troll thread.

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thedungeondelver

#29
May 16, 2011, 01:19:35 PM
I'm not making excuses for the bad art (and it abounds from day one to now).  IIRC Frank Mentzer mentioned they tried to get Frazetta and other guys but couldn't afford it.

And, JibbaJabba, no, old D&D stuff was not the worst.  Sorry, it just wasn't.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l
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