Art and it’s influence on Dungeons & Dragons for me – It’s fantastic to sit and talk about all the parts that have kept me on board with this hobby for all these years. You can check out the video here:

My notes on it all ~

Art has always been an important part of the D&D experience. Even from the earliest days when some of the production was created (clearly) using a typewriter and blurry copies there were sketches. I am a super visual person. In fact, the entirety of my day job right now is creating three dimensional representations of building designs. Design, drawing, art, aesthetic considerations are the core of what I do.

I have always been drawn to, and absolutely love the visuals of this amazing and wide ranging fantasy game. It is a constant source of inspiration to me, even now, in my current game and world building. I back very, very few Kickstarter campaigns, but when I saw that there was one about the art of D&D I went as high as I could afford on it right away. It matters that much to me. IF you have the chance, go out and grab a copy or watch via your streaming service the film “Eye of the Beholder – The Art of Dungeons & Dragons”. I Highly recommend this film.

What are my top ten art pieces from D&D? That was both a simple and a massively complex question all in the same breath. I can see them in my head. I remember the feeling when I first saw them. I have many of them collected up in their original book covers, box art, and magazines. I have a handful of prints from conventions that are from product production runs showing the art without the text added in. I’m not a hardcore collector, but I can say without question this art surrounds me almost every day in my home.

The real question is where to start?

#1 – Sketchy Art. I do not in any way want this to sound like I’m trying to be down on these pictures at all. Quite the opposite. I found them inspirational simply because they looked like they could be achieved to me. One example (there are many) is this cartoon from Dragon Magazine. It’s funny and it’s clearly hand drawn. I looked at pictures like that in my gaming materials and thought, “I can do this too”. So I started drawing and creating trying to match the cool, funny, fantastic pictures I saw in the gaming materials – and even got some published!

This piece was part of an actual book of cartoons published by my middle school. I think I was 11 at the time it was published. Little did I know how hooked I’d be on that feeling.

#2 – Cartoons. Particularly in the AD&D 1^st edition books. Black and white single line drawings with text below. They were fantasy art AND they cracked me up. Anyone that played then will know them. I can say, “… or it’s a +2 back scratcher” and you’ll know exactly what cartoon I mean.

#3 – Emirikol the Chaotic. Staying in 1^st edition, in the DMG there were full and half page art pieces that were just fantastic. One of my favorites was this crazy wizard riding through town just blasting people. It was a snapshot of action. It was proof positive that not everyone was a good guy. It was how you set up an adventure with a single idea and give it location. It’s right there! Start at the Green Griffon and go from there! Love it.

#4 – The cover art for the AD&D 1^st Ed. PHB. It told a story. It didn’t stop with a single image, it wrapped around to the back of the book too. There were monsters and maps and gems. There was a ton of ways you could dig into this picture and see what was going on here. An absolute classic.

#5 – The Wizard’s Room. Cover art for the Grenadier miniatures. Wizard’s room I think was the very first set of miniatures I ever got… although it might have been the hirelings box… hazy memory right now. I still have them all. It was art that went beyond the cover. There was actual sculpture in the box that YOU could paint. I wanted any and all that I could get from that series. If I saw the yellow edge of that box in any hobby shop I was going to see what it was and most likely try to buy it.

#6 – Draonlance Art. I could totally put any in here, but I’m going to pick just one. “The Death of Sturm” stunned me. It was character death in a novel. It was art that showed characters took damange and there were consequences to choices made. This is my favorite, but Dragonlance is a total “pick ’em” set. Larry Elmore’s art is amazing. Go look up any of it. Full stop.

#7 – Dragon Magazine issue #92. Dragon, maiden, wizard. Spells, danger and the knight wasn’t just any knight, he was a centaur. I was all over this. It was such a popular cover that Ral Partha made a miniature of that cover. I still don’t have the nerve to paint it because I’m afraid I can’t live up to that cover.

#8 – Dragon Magazine issue #86 “Stalemate”. Glowing multi-level chess warriors with some crazy lich in the background? Any cover from the “chess” series was amazing, but this one really worked for me. I tried to emulate that glowing effect in my own art (unsuccessfully) for a really long time. (I didn’t realize how many amazing covers this artist did, nor how much I really admire his art. Check out this stuff here: Dragon Covers )

#9 – Al Quadim (I can’t figure out the name of the painting). I’m picking this piece as a representative of the whole line. This was a limited run, not an ongoing set of world building pieces. It had an exotic look and the bonus of laying out (via the Secretes of the Lamp supplement) the fabled City of Brass as shown on the 1^st ed. DMG. There was so much to love here. I wish I could remember how I came to lay hands on a packet of promotional art – but these pieces have been in my collection since the very early 90s and they are fantastic.

#10 – Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History. I suspect that some people will consider this “cheating” as many consider two dimensional paintings to be “art” but I disagree. This magnificent book is over four hundred pages of glory. My lovely wife got me the special edition box set with extra art included. It covers everything I’ve talked about here and so much more. There are pictures showing the entire line of handbooks from the earliest all the way up to 5^th edition. There are old print ads, module maps and photos from the earliest days. I am happy this was made and delighted that I was able to get my hands on one.

There is so much art that ten pieces really can’t cover it all. Art and D&D are intertwined at the very core of what the game is. Imagination with a little something to spark it. Nudge your brain with a bit of a sketch or blow it away with some of the masterful works of these dedicated artists. I’m amazed at the variety of art that exists out there now and I intend to keep looking for it for the foreseeable future.

I am delighted to share another video where I get to chat with Jon about D&D. This time we’re covering the top 5 novels that are fuel for your imagination – inspiring to your game. It was a fun conversation. I really look forward to our next chance to chat.

IF you don’t have the 50 minutes or so to watch, or if you’re at all interested I have put the notes I made up before we shot the video below here:

Top 5 fantasy books to read for inspiration (and why…)

I thought this was a great subject for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, reading anything is important. The further you reach, the greater the inspiration you’ll achieve. Reading a fantasy novel is what got me started along the path toward playing D&D.

Reading fantasy is a great way to pick up ideas, stretch your characters, expand your game world, learn new things about the real world AND sharing what you’ve read with others is a great way to connect with friends. There’s a lot of good that comes from digging into a book.

Why five? Because if we didn’t put a limit on this, the list would be boundless. There are hundreds of fantasy titles out there. You absolutely can find something you want to read. It will definitely help your game, but we don’t want to turn this into a book-cast.

This was not an easy list to compile. Not for lack of choices, but the shear number of things to pick through!

I’m going to eliminate 2 series right off the bat.

First – The Hobbit (and by association the LOTR trilogy). This is a tried and true “go to” for fantasy. It’s the starting point for so much that I don’t know how to take a fresh look at it. IF by some chance you’ve never read any Tolkien, it’s the basis for a huge amount of what we’re talking about.

Second – I’m not going to pander here. Any novel by our esteemed host is great inspiration for fantasy AND I absolutely recommend Blood and Iron for a setting that is not a traditional pseudo medieval fantasy look. I just think that “advertising” wasn’t necessarily the right way to go.

So – top 5 to read for inspiration – and why!

#1 – Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. (DAW books, 2012)

This is a great book. Above and beyond that, the inspiration part is in the use of a non-traditional hero character, a middle-eastern background, a murder mystery AND considerations of religion (like we talked about in our last visit).

If you’re doing an adventure involving genies, shifting sands, flying carpets, anything along those lines this is a book you need to get!

#2 – The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt Evans (DEL REY 1985)

Empires at war. Wizards, warriors, miscast spells and curses. IF you want to see the sort of variety you can have with some of the traditional characters in a D&D setting this is a great one. This is great if you want to teach your players to be careful what they ask for!

#3 – Thieves World edited by Robert Asprin (ACE 1978)

Adventures featuring a party of sneaks, rouges, assassins and other double dealing sorts can be a huge amount of fun. The thieves’ world series is shared world. It’s the same setting with shared characters over a series of short stories. There is a lot to be gleaned from these pages AND there are stories by some of the fantasy greats in there (Poul Anderson, Joe Haldeman, Robert Asprin…)

#4 – His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (DEL REY 2006)

Dragons as weapons. Aerial combat. Navy ships. Kingdoms at war. This series really gives a lot of reasons to love it. Yes, it is outside the “traditional” swords and horses time frame. I don’t like to have pistols or cannons or modern weaponry mixed with my D&D campaign, but this book has a lot to get the creative juices flowing. Absolutely worth the read, even if you’re not using it for D&D.

#5 – The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (TOR 2010)

Massive, immersive, epic fantasy. Knights, wars, magic and myths all mixed together in a fat, meaty book. Ballpark 1200 pages. This has rich, detailed views into a fantasy world that any gamer or game master should be reading (and there’s a lot to read!) Sanderson’s style is easy to read and the pages really melt away – do not let the size of the book intimidate you!

Because so many of you have heard me lament all the free time I have on my hands (Ha!) I went and got into something else.

My buddy Jon has a YouTube channel and produces a show about Dungeons and Dragons called “Attacks of Opportunity”. Guess who he was kind enough to allow to be a guest on the show?

That’s right – I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and speaking very publicly about my lifetime hobby. I’m a gamer and have been for a long time. Dungeons and Dragons has been my game of choice as long as I can remember. I even remember talking my grandfather into playing at some point when I was a kid. I had passion.

Turns out, I still have that passion it has just been tempered over the years.

I’m really glad that I got the chance to be part of the production. It was a tough subject to start with (as mentioned in the video) but it was one that frequently needs attention. I have a lot of ideas on stuff to talk about when it comes to gaming and D&D particularly. I’m hoping to have a chance to be part of the channel again.

Here’s the video:

What sort of topic would you like to talk about? Is there a question that’s been hanging around out there that you wanted somebody to address? I’d like to hear it!