I’m so depressed by this.
For those adverse to following links, David Trampier was an illustrator for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Inasmuch as a picture is worth a thousand words:
The art in the original D&D Brown Box set ranged from amateurish to awful, but it got the idea across. The level of quality was vastly improved by guys like Trampier. Sorry to see such a talented guy go. Rest in peace.
He’s rolling dice with Arneson and Gygax in a better place now. Very sad. Some of his art, like the Player’s Handbook cover, is iconic D&D and those illustrations were largely responsible for my initial attraction to Dungeons and Dragons. Pretending to be an adeventurer by using graph paper and dice seemed kind of dorky and too much like work to me as a kid, but damn that art drew me in, and soon I was leafing through the manuals and the modules, first to admire the art, then reading the actual words in between pictures. Soon enough, I was hooked. ;-)
RIP to all the original D&D folks who have passed. You’ll live on in the fond memories of thousands of kids like me who grew up with your creations.
Wormy was also, IMO, by far the best comic strip in Dragon Magazine (with all due respect to the wonderful Phil Foglio).
That’s very sad. Wormy was fantastic, and those early D&D illustrations set the tone for my adolescence. From what I know of his life, it was pretty troubled for many years - I hope he found some peace at the end.
I suspected that most people didn’t know the name, but if they saw the art they’d instantly remember it. I loved his black and white work that emphasized line weight - the fire giant (as I recall it - the one above on the far right) was always a favorite of mine.
Ah, a giant. That works. I was trying to remember if Neandertal Man-at-Arms was ever a monster.
Wererats, IIRC. And yeah, that’s a great image.
I wasn’t a DM, so I never got the 1st edition Dungeon Master’s screen. But I saw a lot of the back of it:
The armored figure bottom right is one of Trampier’s self-portraits :)
An interesting post by the owner of Castle Perilous Games and Books, a shop in Carbondale, Illinois, where DAT lived from the late '90s.
Thanks, Tramp. I wish the world had been kinder to you. RIP.
Thanks for the link.
Also a co-designer of the classic monster boardgame Titan, apparently.
DAT’s cover illustration for the 1st Edition AD&D Player’s Handbook – you know, with the thief removing the gem from the eye of the statue – is what sold me on the game.
It’s funny how his early AD&D artwork is so recognizable so many years later. It would have been great to see him progress as an artist through the years if he hadn’t walked away from it back then.
A light-hearted article on Five Iconic Illustrations Proving David A. Trampier Is One of the Best Fantasy Artists of All Time.
I didn’t get the rakshasa when I was twelve, either.
Or isn’t, since I discovered a few years ago that he apparently pretty much renounced the gaming scene entirely and intentionally stopped communicating regarding his past work because he thought he got screwed or something.
It’s not like Gygax and Arneson didn’t get screwed by TSR too, so it gives them something to talk about.