It’s August and that means that the annual #RPGaDAY ‘question a day’ is here to celebrate “everything cool, memorable and amazing about our hobby.” This year we’ve decided to join in the fun and will be canvassing answers from the ENWorld crew, columnists and friends in the industry to bring you some of our answers. We hope you’ll join in, in the comments section, and share your thoughts with us too… So, without further ado, here’s Day 23 of #RPGaDAY 2017!
#RPGaDAY Question 23: Which RPG has the most jaw-dropping layout?
Darryl Mott: Check the credits. Does the layout credit say “Adam Jury”? That's probably a good choice.
Angus Abranson: I may be slightly biased but I loved the layout in Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space and The One Ring – both Cubicle 7 products. Dom did an amazing job on the layout in the first Doctor Who set we produced and Paul Bourne kicked The One Ring out of the park. Paul is one my favourite graphic designers – and artists – working in the industry. Thankfully there is a lot of competition too as graphic design and layout has really come on leaps and bounds and we have some great talent working in the industry. The guys and gals working on design/layout really deserve more praise and recognition than many of them get. I always feel I should give special mention to Fred Hicks too as it was his amazing layout on the pitch samples we did for Doctor Who that really helped get the first meeting with the BBC. He also persevered with the layout of Starblazer Adventures as it slowly crept to the 630+ page monster that finally saw the day of light. That alone makes me, and the rest of the C7 team at the time, indebted to him. Always a glass raised to you Fred!
Dennis Detwiller (Creator of Delta Green, Arc Dream Publishing): The “Worlds Of the Cypher System” books—Gods of the Fall, Predation and (upcoming) Unmasked. The art and layout (pulled off by Bear Weiter for Monte Cook Games) are just beyond fantastic.
Stephanie McAlea (Stygian Fox Publishing, The Things We Leave Behind): The French editions of Call of Cthulhu. By far. Or The One Ring.
Rich Lescouflair (Alligator Alley Entertainment; Esper Genesis 5E): Legends of the Five Rings, 4th Edition.
Kevin Watson (Dark Naga Adventures): Frog God Games, hands down, has the most stunning layouts. Chuck and Zack are really talented people and great acquisitions by Bill Webb. MonkeyBlood design would be a fast second
Darren Pearce (EN Publishing; Savage Mojo): I’d have to say the most jaw-dropping layout for me goes to the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who RPG book. I dig that layout so much. I had a small hand in writing for it, but the layout is all C7s and it’s fantastic.
Martin Greening (Azure Keep, Ruma: Dawn of Empire): I think the first RPG, well sourcebook actually, I came across where I found the layout something different was Monte Cook’s Ptolus (and eventually all the Cypher System books like Numenera and The Strange). The layout is clean, with good integration of artwork and colored text. And the sidebars. Great use as references to other locations in the book and full of tiny articles of information.
Simon Brake (Stygian Fox): I liked the clean layout of 3rd edition Unknown Armies. It looks almost like a magazine. Sometimes a bit of white space makes it a little easier on the eye. The fake parchment/torn edges look doesn’t really wow me like it used to.
Laura Hoffman (Black Book Editions; Polaris RPG): I was really fascinated by the layout of a the second edition of a German indie RPG called Malmsturm, where the whole book is beautifully crafted around the theme of roleplaying with metal music playing vividly while you beat those barbarians!
Federico Sohns (Nibiru RPG): The Firefly RPG is probably one of the best laid out games I've seen. It's so inviting to read through, and immersive, I have to give kudos for the guys involved and their great job.
Garry Harper (Modiphius Entertainment; The Role Play Haven): Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius Entertainment.
Ken Spencer (Rocket Age; Why Not Games): Have I mentioned that I like to walk around pretending that my iPad is a Next Generation datapad while I read Star Trek Adventures?
****
Originally created by Dave Chapman (Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space; Conspiracy X) #RPGaDAY os now being caretakered by the crew over at RPGBrigade. We hope you’ll join in, in the comments section, and share your thoughts with us too!
#RPGaDAY Question 23: Which RPG has the most jaw-dropping layout?
Darryl Mott: Check the credits. Does the layout credit say “Adam Jury”? That's probably a good choice.
Angus Abranson: I may be slightly biased but I loved the layout in Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space and The One Ring – both Cubicle 7 products. Dom did an amazing job on the layout in the first Doctor Who set we produced and Paul Bourne kicked The One Ring out of the park. Paul is one my favourite graphic designers – and artists – working in the industry. Thankfully there is a lot of competition too as graphic design and layout has really come on leaps and bounds and we have some great talent working in the industry. The guys and gals working on design/layout really deserve more praise and recognition than many of them get. I always feel I should give special mention to Fred Hicks too as it was his amazing layout on the pitch samples we did for Doctor Who that really helped get the first meeting with the BBC. He also persevered with the layout of Starblazer Adventures as it slowly crept to the 630+ page monster that finally saw the day of light. That alone makes me, and the rest of the C7 team at the time, indebted to him. Always a glass raised to you Fred!
Dennis Detwiller (Creator of Delta Green, Arc Dream Publishing): The “Worlds Of the Cypher System” books—Gods of the Fall, Predation and (upcoming) Unmasked. The art and layout (pulled off by Bear Weiter for Monte Cook Games) are just beyond fantastic.
Stephanie McAlea (Stygian Fox Publishing, The Things We Leave Behind): The French editions of Call of Cthulhu. By far. Or The One Ring.
Rich Lescouflair (Alligator Alley Entertainment; Esper Genesis 5E): Legends of the Five Rings, 4th Edition.
Kevin Watson (Dark Naga Adventures): Frog God Games, hands down, has the most stunning layouts. Chuck and Zack are really talented people and great acquisitions by Bill Webb. MonkeyBlood design would be a fast second
Darren Pearce (EN Publishing; Savage Mojo): I’d have to say the most jaw-dropping layout for me goes to the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who RPG book. I dig that layout so much. I had a small hand in writing for it, but the layout is all C7s and it’s fantastic.
Martin Greening (Azure Keep, Ruma: Dawn of Empire): I think the first RPG, well sourcebook actually, I came across where I found the layout something different was Monte Cook’s Ptolus (and eventually all the Cypher System books like Numenera and The Strange). The layout is clean, with good integration of artwork and colored text. And the sidebars. Great use as references to other locations in the book and full of tiny articles of information.
Simon Brake (Stygian Fox): I liked the clean layout of 3rd edition Unknown Armies. It looks almost like a magazine. Sometimes a bit of white space makes it a little easier on the eye. The fake parchment/torn edges look doesn’t really wow me like it used to.
Laura Hoffman (Black Book Editions; Polaris RPG): I was really fascinated by the layout of a the second edition of a German indie RPG called Malmsturm, where the whole book is beautifully crafted around the theme of roleplaying with metal music playing vividly while you beat those barbarians!
Federico Sohns (Nibiru RPG): The Firefly RPG is probably one of the best laid out games I've seen. It's so inviting to read through, and immersive, I have to give kudos for the guys involved and their great job.
Garry Harper (Modiphius Entertainment; The Role Play Haven): Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius Entertainment.
Ken Spencer (Rocket Age; Why Not Games): Have I mentioned that I like to walk around pretending that my iPad is a Next Generation datapad while I read Star Trek Adventures?
****
Originally created by Dave Chapman (Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space; Conspiracy X) #RPGaDAY os now being caretakered by the crew over at RPGBrigade. We hope you’ll join in, in the comments section, and share your thoughts with us too!
