Old School Appeal
I know the folks in the OSR do what they do for sheer love of the game and not for money. That’s why I’m involved at any rate; the whole DIY ethic is really awesome. Having said that, does DIY mean that the OSR should eschew slick, commercial level production values? I know that I really love a lot of the aesthetic that is going on out there and I don’t mean to denigrate it, but I really want to know that if the production values are stepped up, does it detract from the overall appeal?
James Raggi in a recent post which you can read here. In the last third, he addresses the topic and challenges OSR publishers to top him. I know that James Raggi has a tendency to raise people’s hackles, but I do have to admit that I don’t see anything wrong with folks rising to his challenge. I know there are some amateur folks out there that have some awesome talents and it’d be nice to see them being put to use doing things other than aping the conventions of the past. Now, having said that, I’m not a big fan of the big spikes, guns, skulls, and chains that along with anime influenced stuff tends to populate the comics and other mass produced commercial fanboy fantasy stuff these days. I tend to prefer stuff with a bit more verisimilitude (Like the artwork in the Osprey books for instance). But you know, some slickly done dungeon tiles, nice color work, etc would be nice.
Along the same lines, Blair over at Planet Algol raises another point about adventure paths in the OSR (again, you can read it here). Some folks seem to think such a thing would be anathema to the old school gaming style. I am not so certain. I think the GDQ series of modules lays out a perfect road map. Or the Slavers series. It seems that the idea for a connected series of adventures has been around for a while, why not pick it back up?
At any rate, there is a lot of good stuff being done in the OSR. I’d also like to see what the folks in the OSR are capable of. Surprise me!
James Raggi in a recent post which you can read here. In the last third, he addresses the topic and challenges OSR publishers to top him. I know that James Raggi has a tendency to raise people’s hackles, but I do have to admit that I don’t see anything wrong with folks rising to his challenge. I know there are some amateur folks out there that have some awesome talents and it’d be nice to see them being put to use doing things other than aping the conventions of the past. Now, having said that, I’m not a big fan of the big spikes, guns, skulls, and chains that along with anime influenced stuff tends to populate the comics and other mass produced commercial fanboy fantasy stuff these days. I tend to prefer stuff with a bit more verisimilitude (Like the artwork in the Osprey books for instance). But you know, some slickly done dungeon tiles, nice color work, etc would be nice.
Along the same lines, Blair over at Planet Algol raises another point about adventure paths in the OSR (again, you can read it here). Some folks seem to think such a thing would be anathema to the old school gaming style. I am not so certain. I think the GDQ series of modules lays out a perfect road map. Or the Slavers series. It seems that the idea for a connected series of adventures has been around for a while, why not pick it back up?
At any rate, there is a lot of good stuff being done in the OSR. I’d also like to see what the folks in the OSR are capable of. Surprise me!
I'm used to being 'odd man out' in terms of taste in RPG artwork. That said, I'm more interested in seeing some of the work that results when the gauntlet is picked up than in whether Raggi or some challenger 'wins.'
ReplyDeleteFor my own part, I am my own worst critic. I enjoy my stuff while I am working on it, but by the time I am done I usually see 100 things I wish I had done differently and my own work looks too derivative to my own eye of stuff I've seen before.
Some of us are taking Planet Algol's suggestion and running with it, contributing to a "Sea of O'sr" Sandbox-Style Adventure Path (if that's not an oxymoron). You can read about it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://quicklyquietlycarefully.blogspot.com/2011/02/request-for-3-hour-islets.html
As you can see, the idea of a spiffy print version has come up already, though who knows where that will lead exactly.
@Stefan - I love your style and would hardly consider it derivative. I really respectf artists whose style you can peg on first sight. I aspire to that. At any rate, I think as artists, we are always our worst critic. As to Raggi and his challenge, I don't think there can be such a thing as a winner, but It would be nice to see folks trying different things. We'll see where it goes I suppose.
ReplyDelete@Carter - I have been following it a bit but thanks, I'll keep poking in and seeing how things are progressing.