Artsy GMs

[Wik]

Way back when, I had a gamemaster who had a fully-developed campaign world, but beyond a few notes, no writing to back it up. Instead, he had a sketchbook filled with drawings relating to his campaign world - local clothing fashions, what weapons looked like, how the orc raiding parties were set up, what trees and flowers looked like, etc... I have to say, the value of these drawings (he would show us drawings outside of the game, and as we skipped through his sketchbook he might say "That's how the humans of Kingdom X dress"). Really, that campaign seemed a lot more REAL to us than a game based entirely around the GM's written word.

I wish I still had that guy around, because it'd be really cool to have an artist in our group who could draw some of the things our group has accomplished.

Anyways, does anyone have any experiences regarding GMs who use their artistic skills to enhance their campaigns, and, more to the point, GMs who use art skills more often than their writing skills to set the tone of their game?

Oh, and this thread was inspired by a post from Treebore, over in the Gygax columns.

 

[Treebore]

To add a little more, it does help to use art, from any source, to "show" what the NPC's and homes, places of business, villages, towns, etc... Look like. Not only do I have my daughter and wife to do illustrations for me, but there are a ton of pictures on the web. Including old paintings and drawings of old castles, towns, villages, and cities. WOTC has those "Rogues Gallery" illustrations, so does Paizo, I believe.

The visual aids really help with cementing this other world, called the campaign, in the minds of the players. Often way more than words do, or possibly could.

I'm really glad to have a computer/laptop to help bring out this "visual" aspect, as well as two very good artists living in my home.

 

[Wik]

I did have a (different) GM who had an artbook, but it was from stuff he culled from the net. I found he often used art from other sources as a replacement for his own imagination, so that we'd enter a room and he'd show us a picture "This is what the room looks like".

*that* wasn't quite as cool as the arty GM... who, if memory serves, didn't actually show any art during the game. He was more inclined to use his art to spur his memory on, and to show interested players to get them interested in the game world he had created.

When I create my "Campaign booklets" before any campaign, I cull from every source imaginable, particularly Deviantart and Elfwood, as well as the online art galleries from wotc. I also pick up on pictures from the anthropology sites I visit, because there are a LOT of people wearing crazy outfits that I can steal. It's pretty easy to show a picture of some yanomamo tribesman and say "Yeah, they look like this... only, they're goblins".

 

[Dagger of Lath]

Anyways, does anyone have any experiences regarding GMs who use their artistic skills to enhance their campaigns, and, more to the point, GMs who use art skills more often than their writing skills to set the tone of their game?

Our group tends to have a lot of artistic work flying between us all. Particularly myself and another guy will each draw pictures for other people of something they describe, police sketch artist style. I've even 3d rendered and animated a machine my character was building just to show how it worked. We don't have the dedication of the GM that you described though, but still we draw one or two pictures of things from our game world each week. It really does help.

 

[Wik]

Our group tends to have a lot of artistic work flying between us all. Particularly myself and another guy will each draw pictures for other people of something they describe, police sketch artist style. I've even 3d rendered and animated a machine my character was building just to show how it worked. We don't have the dedication of the GM that you described though, but still we draw one or two pictures of things from our game world each week. It really does help.

Well then, if you're ever in the Victoria BC area, I think you have a gaming group waiting for you.

 

[kolikeos]

great idea. next time i'm running a game i'll have a skechbook instead of a stack of printed text behind my dm screen.

 

[Gold Roger]

I never really developed any artistic potential I might have, but I can do sketches that are decend enough so people that know nothing about drawing may not recognize them as bad. While not much (especially with about half the group able to tell), I sometimes sketch locations or monsters to get across a point. I may get mocked for some of them, but I still think that it adds enough.

 

[Aeric]

As an artist and a living history enthusiast, it always bugs me to see campaign worlds with no unified theme insofar as what people wear in the illustrations. Eberron is the biggest culprit of this; in one picture, you have a guy dressed as a medieval crusader, while in another picture, you have someone in a Victorian frock coat. Sometimes they're in the same picture. It's extremely jarring. I ran an Eberron campaign last year and when it came time to draw the PCs, I was at a loss as to how to draw their clothing. Just because it's fantasy doesn't mean anything goes, people!

When I finally sit down and create my own homebrew setting, it is going to be extremely art-heavy, as much for me as for anyone who might play in it.

 

[Quickleaf]

I've always used art in my games, usually my own, but sometimes images from whatever setting we were playing in. I would always sketch out major characters, but only rarely did scene or landscape pictures (though I liked those the best). Besides the maps, which were used a lot during play, my pictures were pretty much used between sessions (after the initial, "what does your character look like?" phase). I even ran a one-shot scenario where the character generation was entirely art based - super cool!

Btw, if you haven't yet, check out Mark Smylie's Artesia: Adventures in the Known World, for a beautiful art-heavy setting.

 

[Treebore]

Artesia does look friggin gorgeous! So does Qin.