Old time religion: Seker, god of light, is cousin to Shu, god of the sky. He appears as an ordinary man but he can change shape at will. He casts shafts of light from his hands that kill any undead they touch. (Jeff Dee, "Egyptian Mythos" section of AD&D Deities & Demigods, TSR, 1980)
Another classic AD&D adventure module by the man himself -- Gary Gygax. Tomb of Horrors is a beast (in the best sense of the word) and challenges players even to this day. Originally released as a tournament module in 1975, Tomb of Horrors is most likely the first TPK (Total Party Kill) adventure for the game we know and love.
The module came with a 20 page "illustration booklet" that Dungeon Masters could share with players to help the party visualize their surroundings. This inclusion was novel at the time, and TSR only did this twice again (The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks).
The creepy front cover art by Jeff Dee always reminded me of the Ral Partha Giant Skeleton miniature from back in the day. Back cover by Erol Otus.
OK, so not an RPG. Space Marines (1980) is a set of rules for military science fiction wargaming from Fantasy Games Unlimited. It is exactly as complex and kind of tedious as youāre imaging. Well, not entirely ā it has a pretty good sense of humor actually, judging from the wide array of silly aliens you can play. Thereās lots of human factions, reptile aliens, giant bugs. Thereās bear people who have a constitutional monarchy and dog people who have a representative democracy. The bird people are oligarchs, the cat people have a feudal system. Kind of love all them.
Two reasons I trot this out. First, the cover art is by Jeff Dee and all the interiors are by Dave Sutherland, two early, classic D&D illustrators. Itās particularly unusual to see Sutherland straying out of the TSR offices.
Second is that this is clear proof that there were space marines in RPGs and wargames long before 40k. Thatās pretty obvious (the term has actually been around since at least the 1940s) but bears reiterating, since some Games Workshop cease-and-desist always seems to be claiming the contrary.
David C Sutherland III,Ā āA Paladin in Hellā, AD&D 1st edition Players Handbook
David Trampier,Ā āEmirikol the Chaoticā, AD&D 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide
Explanation below the cut.
Obviously a list like this is highly subjective, and I should probably make it clear that by āiconicā I mean āiconic to meā, as these were a handful of the AD&D 1st edition illustrations that had a big impact on my experience with the game, and by extension, how I design characters and write adventures (for Dungeons & Dragons and beyond) to this day.
Some of my admittedly arbitrary criteria:
I made my picks from the books, modules and supplements that were on my shelves back in the day. Which isnāt a comprehensive list by any means. To me, the canon is the core three hardbacks (to this day, I think of Unearthed Arcana as new-fangled and the Survival Guides as niche products we didnāt use) plus Fiend Folio and Deities & Demigods; that run of modules that included the A, B, D, G, and S-series, plus a few others like C1 and Q1; and accessories including Rogues Gallery and the booklet of character sheets. That list is as arbitrary as it is inexhaustive.
I limited myself to black & white interior illustrations, meaning David Trampierās superb cover for the Players Handbook was disqualified. I did it this way mostly because I felt it would be unfair to compare color paintings to ink drawings. Iām not sure if thatās true or not, but thatās how I did it. That said, had I allowed Trampās PH Iām actually thinking it might be the only color piece in thereā¦ The original Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual covers never resonated with me to the same degree. Of the modules I included, there are three covers I really like, and theyāre all by Erol Otus: A4, āIn the Dungeons of the Slave Lordsā; C1, āHidden Shrine of Tamoachanā; and S3, āExpedition to the Barrier Peaksā. But theyāre not quite iconic, somehow, in the sense that theyāre too specific to the adventures they illustrate. In contract, the Players Handbook cover doesnāt tell you about someone elseās adventure, it inspires yours.
In the interest of a varied selection, I decided no one artist could be chosen more than once. This was basically to make sure Trampier and Jeff Dee didnāt crowd out other worthy illustrators.
My choices, in alphabetical order by last name:
Jeff Dee, Paladin and Black Dragon, Rogues Gallery, page 22. Paladins were always cool, and this drawing made them double extra cool. A lot of my peers complained that Deeās characters all looked like super-heroes, and that they belonged in the pages of his Villains & Vigilantes. And thatās arguably true. But as a life-long reader of comics and V&V gamemaster, I didnāt mind at all. And that style is on display here: skintight plate and chain mail, aerodynamic helmet, and floppy fold-over Musketeer boots. But the pose is perfect, the dragon is superb, and the emotion of the paladinās triumph shines. Jeff Dee did other illustrations that vied for his spot here: the āsci-fi Mind Flayerā and the Intellect Devourer stalking the party (both from āExpedition to the Barrier Peaksā), Icar holding flaming grease (frontispiece from Dungeon Module A2), and assorted entries in Deities & Demigods too numerous to mention.
Russ Nicholson, Githyanki fighting adventurers, Fiend Folio, page 45. Compared to the Monster Manual, which included so many creatures recognizable from myth and folklore, the Fiend Folio was weird. But the monsters that were cool immediately rivaled the classics, and the ones Russ Nicholson drew became my favorites. The Gith races were awesome from the get-go, and this illustration, supplementing the individual entries for the Githyanki and Githzerai, went a long way to inspiring us to put them in our dungeons. (I was so enamored of the Gith that I worked them into the origin story of a player character in the Villains & Vigilantes campaign I ran.) The adventurers here look outmatched, maybe, but they havenāt given up. We wondered what spell the Magic User was casting.
Erol Otus, Lolth frontispiece, Dungeon Module Q1, āQueen of the Demonweb Pitsā: I love Erol Otus, but compared to Trampier and David Sutherland, his drawings could get wonky. Intentionally, Iām sure, but often his costumes and anatomy and such are a little far-fetched even for Dungeon & Dragons. (He loved horned helmets and loincloths, often on the same character.) This drawing of Lolth is great, in that it sets the stage for the adventure (in a way that Jim Rosloffās cover doesnāt, honestly) and depicts Lolth as vampy without being overtly āsexyā like all the topless goddesses in Deities & Demigods. The demons here are especially good, with solid anatomy and dramatic lighting. This drawing is āso Erol Otusā without being ātoo Erol Otusā.
David C Sutherland III, āA Paladin in Hellā, Players Handbook, page 23. Unlike Trampier, who rarely missed, DCS was uneven: some of his drawings are classics, and many of them were mediocre then and just as mediocre now. āA Paladin in Hellā is a classic, for several reasons. Firstly, itās just really well drawn. Absent is the scratchy hatching that mars some of Sutherlandās work. Second, the paladin is perfect in the sense that he is believable; then and now I appreciate that fact that his armor is historically accurate and looks like suits Iād seen in museums. And third, the collected devils are all drawn to scale, showing their size the way Monster Manual spot illustrations donāt. Finally, the glow of the paladin, and what is surely a +5 Holy Avenger, is dazzling.
David Trampier, āEmirikol the Chaoticā, Dungeon Masters Guide, page 193. Itās difficult to see this drawing and not want to run a campaign set in the bustling capitol city of the Flanaessā mightiest empire in which a villain Magic User is on a crime spree. (Itās the same feeling you get when you read any of Fritz Leiberās stories set in Lankhmar. In fact, you want to go get the map they made for the AD&D supplement, including those awesome city geomorphs.) If Emirikol is the errant NPC, maybe the PCs are the adventurers stumbling out of the tavern into the exquisitely rendered (that hatching!) street to protect the innocent townsfolk being Magic Missiled. So who is Emirikol? He looks enough like Trampier that he could be one of many self-portraits sneaked into his AD&D artwork. (Iāve always wondered if he was Trampās PC in Gary Gygaxās Greyhawk campaign, though Iāve never gotten any indication that they actually gamed together.) This really cements Trampierās stature; the Dee and Sutherland illustrations on this list evoke a single character or moment, while āEmirikol the Chaoticā evokes an entire campaign. You donāt get more iconic than that.
