Black and White and Red All Over

Over on Grognardia, James Maliszewski recently made a post lauding the look of Labyrinth Lord. (Ahh, alliteration!) I have to agree with him. Though they lack the slick, glossy look of most RPGs these days, they really are striking books, and look especially good if you have both the core rules and the new Advanced Edition Companion.

Tough Steve Zieser's artwork certainly has its charm, I think the real strength of these covers is the color scheme; or rather, the lack of one. The choice to go with red type on top of high-contrast pen-and-ink work was a good one, I think. Though I doubt it was the intent of the creators, they remind me of the gritty, DIY aesthetic of early punk album sleeves, like something the Subhumans would use as an EP cover.

Interestingly, the image I posted here is the only RPG cover my wife, who is something of an ex-punk, has ever said anything positive about. Makes me think that Zak Smith might have been on to something when he suggested "DIY D&D" as an alternate name for "old school" or "homebrew" games...