When I was a youth, my father took me to the mall to pick up his own personal copy of the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook by Gary Gygax. He was in a gaming group and was buying one for himself. I don't remember him purchasing it from Waldenbooks, but afterwords we walked a little way and sat down in the pizzeria and sat down to look at it.
I'm sure I asked a lot of questions that day, but I have one clear memory that stands out among all others. It still resonates with me to this day.
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| "A Paladin in Hell" David C. Southerland B&W Page 23 of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook |
The thought of that faceless man, entering a Bosch-like hell, surrounded by a blinding aura of good is haunting. Alone, with courage he takes on inhuman monstrosities. It spoke to me of adventure and sacrifice.
To this day paladin is one of my favorite classes.
One of the wonderful things about the OSR are the large number of homages to classic art. Here are a few of the best.
My personal favorite homage is the Hackmaster one:
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| Hackmaster Player's Handbook, Unknown Artist Page 55 |
Homages are nothing new, here's a second edition homage by Fred Fields, with an entire accompanying module. The module is written by Monte Cook and has an old school deadliness. It even features Emirikol the Chaotic!
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| A Paladin in Hell, 1988 Fred Fields, 13"x15-1/2" Oils on artboard |
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| A Paladin in Hell, Unknown, Page 91 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide |
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| A Paladin in Hell, Carl Frank, Fiendish Codex II |
Here is an Unintentional Homage by Craig J. Spearing.
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| Dragon #388 Cover by Craig J. Spearing |
