Grew up with the color borders books, so always had a like for them. The red, the blue, the teal. Bringing back memories. Still have all my old ones and get ideas from them from time to time. Thanks for the memory jog!!
He is such an amazing artist and one of the reasons I love fantasy so much. His "Complete Elmore 3" tome from his last (and probably final) Kickstarter should be shipping this week. Can't wait to receive it!
I know, right!? It was always something to aspire to as well as the "Masters Rules" (up to level 36) and ultimately <drum roll> "Immortal Rules" once your humble character transcended mere mortal levels!
Tales of the Shire looks to be a cool game , like some kind of upgraded Farmville. Never played Farmville, but they never had Hobbits either, I have wishlisted it and will see what happens.
I'm the same. Never played Farmville, but I always liked resource management games (like Civilization) so I'm willing to give this cozy TotS game a try!
It’s so funny when I see these old manuals or companion sets because I struggle to remember if I owned them, but then I recognise the artwork and it takes me right back. In this one, for example, it was the picture of the halfling and the elf, as I got one of the guys, who was really good at art, to copy it onto my character sheet for my halfling thief!
These posts are a wonderful gateway back to my role playing days, J.Q. and I really appreciate all the effort you put into them. I look forward to reading them every Sunday morning so thanks very much for that 👍🏼
However, the links to Jeff and Larry’s website could prove to be financially dangerous! 😁
LMAO about Jeff & Larry's fantasy art websites! Not only could they prove financially dangerous, Dan, but they will require you to use a spell to stretch all the walls in your abode so as to properly display their masterpieces!
That's a really cool memory you shared about your old character sketch (and what a great illustration to emulate). I definitely didn't have the artistic ability back then to create my own character sketches from scratch, but for some reason never thought to replicate the existing masters' copious illustrations from other books/games/magazines either!
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement, Dan!
It was one of those sets that I had, but never got to play since I never had a group of players that advanced to that high of a level. I was so thrilled to discover it in my stuff and just had to share!
I started playing d&d almost 40 years ago...i grew up with those books, but unfortunatly, i dont have them anymore...all my basic d&d stuff vanished a few years back, my current collection starts with all the first printings of the hardcovers for ad&d...eventually, i will try to, once again, get my greedy fingers on the original box sets !!
The artwork really made these books. Even though they were black and white drawings they conveyed the excitement of the game as if they were full color posters.
In total agreement here. I owned the Companion set, but never actually played at so high a level. But the artwork was really inspiring. I remember copying a few of the characters (tracing) for my own heroes. I remember the crossbower and the elf girl with face paint in particular.
Grew up with the color borders books, so always had a like for them. The red, the blue, the teal. Bringing back memories. Still have all my old ones and get ideas from them from time to time. Thanks for the memory jog!!
Nice, Matt! How cool that you still have them. Thanks for sharing!
It's particularly interesting to me too see this art, as I never owned these books, having gone from the Basic Set to AD&D.
Right on, Hanrahan! I'm glad others find it interesting too. Lots of cool fantasy art to discover in these old tomes!
I love all of the artwork from the BECMI books, but Larry Elmore is the champion of D&D imagery. Fantastic stuff.
He is such an amazing artist and one of the reasons I love fantasy so much. His "Complete Elmore 3" tome from his last (and probably final) Kickstarter should be shipping this week. Can't wait to receive it!
Hot DAMN. look at the Elmore cover on this set. I wonder if anyone ever got to companion level play in real life?
I know, right!? It was always something to aspire to as well as the "Masters Rules" (up to level 36) and ultimately <drum roll> "Immortal Rules" once your humble character transcended mere mortal levels!
Tales of the Shire looks to be a cool game , like some kind of upgraded Farmville. Never played Farmville, but they never had Hobbits either, I have wishlisted it and will see what happens.
I'm the same. Never played Farmville, but I always liked resource management games (like Civilization) so I'm willing to give this cozy TotS game a try!
It’s so funny when I see these old manuals or companion sets because I struggle to remember if I owned them, but then I recognise the artwork and it takes me right back. In this one, for example, it was the picture of the halfling and the elf, as I got one of the guys, who was really good at art, to copy it onto my character sheet for my halfling thief!
These posts are a wonderful gateway back to my role playing days, J.Q. and I really appreciate all the effort you put into them. I look forward to reading them every Sunday morning so thanks very much for that 👍🏼
However, the links to Jeff and Larry’s website could prove to be financially dangerous! 😁
LMAO about Jeff & Larry's fantasy art websites! Not only could they prove financially dangerous, Dan, but they will require you to use a spell to stretch all the walls in your abode so as to properly display their masterpieces!
That's a really cool memory you shared about your old character sketch (and what a great illustration to emulate). I definitely didn't have the artistic ability back then to create my own character sketches from scratch, but for some reason never thought to replicate the existing masters' copious illustrations from other books/games/magazines either!
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement, Dan!
I remember some of those pictures, but I do not remember owning the Teal set.
It was one of those sets that I had, but never got to play since I never had a group of players that advanced to that high of a level. I was so thrilled to discover it in my stuff and just had to share!
I started playing d&d almost 40 years ago...i grew up with those books, but unfortunatly, i dont have them anymore...all my basic d&d stuff vanished a few years back, my current collection starts with all the first printings of the hardcovers for ad&d...eventually, i will try to, once again, get my greedy fingers on the original box sets !!
The artwork really made these books. Even though they were black and white drawings they conveyed the excitement of the game as if they were full color posters.
In total agreement here. I owned the Companion set, but never actually played at so high a level. But the artwork was really inspiring. I remember copying a few of the characters (tracing) for my own heroes. I remember the crossbower and the elf girl with face paint in particular.