The Worst RPG Covers of All Time

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Gary was wrong. And they should have just used the sketch. It's better.

Gonna disagree. The observer's perspective, and turn of the dragon's head facing both the barbarian and the observer head on, suggest that you the viewer are on 'team barbarian' fighting the dragon. Very "Ophelia"-esque, in that the art 'looks back' at the viewer, thus flipping the subject-object gaze, and obliterates the expected artifice of distance (which is heightened by the talons breaching the framing's border).

/smokes clove cigarette
:shade::coffee:
 
I liked the finished product the best as well. The focus is right on the middle where it should be. The most iconic art in RPG history, if I could pick one piece. That’s not trashing the artists that came before. That’s acknowledging that particular piece was seen by more eyes than any other.
 
Gonna disagree. The observer's perspective, and turn of the dragon's head facing both the barbarian and the observer head on, suggest that you the viewer are on 'team barbarian' fighting the dragon. Very "Ophelia"-esque, in that the art 'looks back' at the viewer, thus flipping the subject-object gaze, and obliterates the expected artifice of distance (which is heightened by the talons breaching the framing's border).

/smokes clove cigarette
:shade::coffee:
WTF?
 
Could have had it both ways. Put the framed fighter vs. dragon on the box cover, then lose the frame and show us the whole scene on the booklet cover. Ain't it grand debating moot points?
 
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/blows smoke rings
You know you love it! :shade::coffee: Next we discuss Traveller 1e and existentialism with Satre.

That would be the half-goat, pan flute-playing French RPG designer, not to be confused with the French philosopher, playwright, novelist, political activist, biographer, and literary critic Sartre, right?:clown:
 
Gonna disagree. The observer's perspective, and turn of the dragon's head facing both the barbarian and the observer head on, suggest that you the viewer are on 'team barbarian' fighting the dragon. Very "Ophelia"-esque, in that the art 'looks back' at the viewer, thus flipping the subject-object gaze, and obliterates the expected artifice of distance (which is heightened by the talons breaching the framing's border).

/smokes clove cigarette
:shade::coffee:
Well, I wasn't arguing it isn't a nice cover. I was arguing it isn't the best reflection of the game.

As for your specific analysis. the dragon is no more facing the viewer in the final image than it was in the original concept art. It's head has just been flipped to face the other way.

I'd also argue the most compelling art presents multiple angles engagement. The fighter is looking at the dragon, the dragon is looking at the magic-user, the magic user looks back. It's a strong triangular composition.The halfling in the bottom right corner balances the composition and watches the whole scene unfold as he grabs all the gold he can. The eye moves around the picture, creating a story in the mind.

/adjusts beret.
 
Yes, I'll also agree that the Dragonlance covers (both the original and Elmore's revised versions later on) are stiff "posing for photographs". For my early adolescent self, though, the character designs seemed so interesting and unique to me.

Perhaps it really IS just nostalgia. In the same vein: the Animé style of Record of Lodoss War and Escaflowne seem far more gorgeous to me than current stuff. Rose tinted glasses, possibly.

EDIT: Ninja Scroll was also pretty cool, but I always thought that Ghost in the Shell (the animated movie, not Masamune Shirow's stuff) was ugly and dull. </heresy>
 
Mentzer came out the same year the AD&D books went to the orange spine covers that disintegrated when a strong wind hit them. I had no use for either at the time. :devil:

Companion Set was cool though. For me Test of the Warlords is one of the ones that got away. It’s definitely on my Gaming Bucket List.

There’s only one D&D image that I think of as iconic, because there’s only one that’s recognised outside D&D fandom or gaming itself, the Trampier cover.
 
Mentzer came out the same year the AD&D books went to the orange spine covers that disintegrated when a strong wind hit them. I had no use for either at the time. :devil:

Companion Set was cool though. For me Test of the Warlords is one of the ones that got away. It’s definitely on my Gaming Bucket List.

There’s only one D&D image that I think of as iconic, because there’s only one that’s recognised outside D&D fandom or gaming itself, the Trampier cover.
I hated the orange spine reprints!
 
I hated the orange spine reprints!

I didn't like the changes to the art, the orange was unattractive, and I heard the spines cracked pretty fast. Meanwhile I have these three red-skinned, fanged bad boys who were built to survive a nuclear holocaust!
20180513_100054.jpg
 
I didn't like the changes to the art, the orange was unattractive, and I heard the spines cracked pretty fast. Meanwhile I have these three red-skinned, fanged bad boys who were built to survive a nuclear holocaust!
View attachment 2316
I have a DMG from that era with the exterior of the spine completely missing. It's held together by glue and twine. Been using it that way for thirty odd years! That bastard is indestructible!

It plate mail is AC2 those bad boys are AC -10
 
I've always found the Star Wars "Players Guide to Tapani" is a special kind of ugly, partly because it the artist has some skills and technique and still go so wrong.

iu
 
I've always found the Star Wars "Players Guide to Tapani" is a special kind of ugly, partly because it the artist has some skills and technique and still go so wrong.

iu
The WEG Star Wars RPG was the game where I realized the double-edged sword of having access to awesome movie stills concept art when creating an RPG. The core book looked fantastic, but then the rest of the line, which looked fine by RPG standards, ended up looking a little lackluster in comparison.

On top of that, mixing photography and art in a game line can feeling weirdly jarring to me.

As for the cover you presented, I wouldn't consider it close the worst RPG cover, but that Imperial is real flaw. He has no sense of motion at all. He reads as just standing still in the awkward pose, and it robs the cover completely of the sense of swashbuckling action it is trying for.
 
As for the cover you presented, I wouldn't consider it close the worst RPG cover, but that Imperial is real flaw. He has no sense of motion at all. He reads as just standing still in the awkward pose, and it robs the cover completely of the sense of swashbuckling action it is trying for.
I can totally see what they're going for, the imperial (A more confident and practiced swordsman) is stepping into a parry and hoping to bat the rebel's saber away so he can get up the stairs. But his body weight is just... nowhere, his legs are too far apart for him to take a step, and neither of his feet appear to actually be touching the ground. It's almost like he's from an entirely different picture, and pasted on.

And those faces are two members of the book's design team, no question.
 
I've always found the Star Wars "Players Guide to Tapani" is a special kind of ugly, partly because it the artist has some skills and technique and still go so wrong.

iu

No sense of movement at all, they seem like they are posing and that four-step straddle is awfully awkward. And why is the other guy looking away from his opponent and daintily waving to someone on the other side of the room? Are they fighting in a church with stained glass windows? The whole thing is just bad even down to the bearded dude's mullet.
 
The WEG Star Wars RPG was the game where I realized the double-edged sword of having access to awesome movie stills concept art when creating an RPG. The core book looked fantastic, but then the rest of the line, which looked fine by RPG standards, ended up looking a little lackluster in comparison.

On top of that, mixing photography and art in a game line can feeling weirdly jarring to me.


What I really liked in WEG SW was the fake ads for products in the Empire. I think they could have ran with that instead of traditional illustrations.
 
Grimoire, a new Fate World of Adventure, dropped today. Its cover is just fine, but the cover of the grimoire that the character is holding looks like one of the 3.5 covers ... :grin:242162.jpg
 
It's cheating a little, because I actually really like this cover, but...
9fbffa25ebca6be728c24dc184f72305_original.jpg

...green-haired elf here is totally having a dance-off with not-Orcus. An acceptable case of wearing your clubbing gear to the dungeon.
Also... I get that they are surrounded by undead and all that... But you'd think that at least one of them would be paying attention to THE BIG FREAKIN DEMON 5 FEET AWAY.
 
It's cheating a little, because I actually really like this cover, but...
9fbffa25ebca6be728c24dc184f72305_original.jpg

...green-haired elf here is totally having a dance-off with not-Orcus. An acceptable case of wearing your clubbing gear to the dungeon.
Okay, so here is my explanation of this cover...

Its a dungeon party in World of Warcraft...
They are at the boss, the healer and one dps are down. The prot arrior tank has called for a wipe so the mage started dancing with the boss to the chorus of jeers against the hunter whos pet is offscreen pulling the entire instance.

Beyond that.m. I got nothing.
 
Those Easley covers are my favorites. I love the DMG art, might be my second favorite after the Elmore basic set.
 


Its an 8 bit cover... It sort of works for the thread.
However it may explain that cover
 
I hated them because they were different. You know also known as fucken excellent reason. I'm sure they are just fine but it wasn't the art i loved so it was the devils work.
I didn't buy it for the art.
 
Loved the artwork on the AD&D covers. Pity it wasn't anywhere near as good inside, including the actual rules...

Really? I think the interior art by Darlene and Trampier is quite good. The rules...are not well presented.

I’ve gotta say the covers for the LL Kickstarter are not impressing me. There is a lot of good artists in the OSR so I don’t understand why they are so ugly and mediocre.
 
It's cheating a little, because I actually really like this cover, but...
9fbffa25ebca6be728c24dc184f72305_original.jpg

...green-haired elf here is totally having a dance-off with not-Orcus. An acceptable case of wearing your clubbing gear to the dungeon.

God Almighty, that is awful
 
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