Thursday, March 26, 2009

Impending Doom

Larry MacDougall (a.k.a. "Doog") was one of my favorite fantasy RPG artists back in the 90s. These days his art is a bit more fairy-tale than the grimy sword & sorcery stuff he did for Earthdawn and Palladium, but he still does some great work. (Incidentally, I think his current style would be a great fit for Dragon Warriors.)

I especially like "No Quarter", seen here. It's rather whimsical, but there's still a sense of tension and menace. After well over a year of playing big, cinematic action games, this painting - along with that AD&D Coloring Album - has got me longing for something with a higher risk factor for the characters. I think I miss really worrying about my character getting killed.

(I also love the guy in the middle with the axe, well behind the shieldbearers and spearmen.)

7 comments:

  1. I totally expected this post to be about another Doom.

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  2. I can understand Wizard of the Coast's decision to move the direction of their art to the dungeonpunk style still apparent in 4th Edition. But I think it fails to capture the epic nature of the game as anywhere near this type of artwork.

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  3. That might have been a more entertaining topic. I still need to check that new album out.

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  4. I can understand Wizard of the Coast's decision to move the direction of their art to the dungeonpunk style still apparent in 4th Edition.

    I think that most of the art in 4th edition is more glossy, colorful, and superheroic than that in 3rd. I also would say that I feel that most of it's of a lower quality than that in 3rd, but recent books have gotten a bit better. There are a few pieces in Open Grave, for example, that really are fantastic.

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  5. I very much agree. The art style is fantastic, but more to the point, I always disliked gaming when the risk was gone. To increase the risk you had to start fighting legions of demons or armies of dragons....and I never understood how that was some how better than fighting just one of these creatures. Fighting a horde of orcs should be a life or death risk, not a speed bump.

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  6. I always disliked gaming when the risk was gone.

    Sometimes I want to play a badass who can plow through hordes of goons. Sometimes I don't... it's a question of mood, for me. It's just that it's been quite a while since I played a high-risk game.

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  7. The spearmen are holding back the guy with the axe. They don't want him taking it on single-handed and hoarding the XP for himself.

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