Homage: 2000
Homage: 2000
After a small delay, Stan! has completed the cartoon homage from Episode 28 based on Todd Lockwood's cover for the 3E Basic Set.
A couple of weeks back, in Episode 28, while having a wide-ranging conversation with Julia Martin, I began work on a cartoon homage to one of my favorite D&D covers—Todd Lockwood’s painting for the initial 3rd Edition product, the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (or what more often is remembered as the 3E Basic Set).
One reason I like it so much, apart from the fact that I fall in love again with Lockwood’s style EVERY time I see one of his pieces, is that it really sets the scene for the new edition of the game. It’s an action scene that features all four of the most iconic (a word that will crop up again in a bit) D&D classes—fighter, wizard, cleric, and rogue—in action! It also features a dragon, the most classic monster in the game. It’s very much an aspirational piece. These are YOUR characters getting ready to kick some butt!
As we discussed when Todd was on the show (Episode 13), he and Sam Wood did most of the work of setting the visual tone for the new edition, and this was the image that introduced that work to the world. It also introduced something else that was new in 3E—iconic characters. For each player character class in the game, there was a specific character that would represent them in the core books. This image was our first look Regdar, Mialee, Tordek, and Lidda.
This cover was a great way to kick off a great moment in D&D (and gaming) history … and it truly is an honor to get to share my version of it. (Although, in truth, I already did so once before in a slightly different format—a coloring book version that was published on the D&D website about twenty years ago.)
As a subscriber to this newsletter, you’re seeing this art before it is released for general consumption. You also have the option to buy an art print of this or any of the cartoon homages (and if you’re a paid subscriber, you get a discount on those purchases).
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