More Halloween!

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Turambar

I did this a loooong time ago. It is inspired by Tolkien's character, Turin Turambar, who slew Glaurung the Dragon in The Silmarillion. Here he is wearing the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lomin. Do I get any more geeky here?

Note: I rarely draw in this style anymore. I kept getting asked to design tattoos, which got tiring.

None more bold.....

...than the Kobold. I always liked kobolds as little scaly dog-men; not the kin of dragons and lizards that they are pictured as today. Watch your ankles!

It's not easy being green...

Humanoids, by and large, have a rough life. Sit around in dungeons, wait for adventurers to come though, get killed and have your stuff taken. At least this Goblin has stylish shoes for the occasion. I wonder if he shops in the same place as the Gnome...

Dragon Attack #3: Well, well, well....

I had a lot of fun drawing stone here. Can't tell, can ya?

Dragon Attack #2: The Red Dragon

This dragon is inspired by the drawing in the 1st ed Dungeon Masters Guide of the green dragon fighting a bunch of kobolds. Trampier did that one, I believe. I've always liked that drawing, and so this is my homage to it, as it were.

Dragon Attack #1: The Wyvren

I've never been too big on the Wyvren as a monster; they always seemed like a low-level dragon substitute to me. But, I have to admit they are fun to draw. My favorite part about drawing dragon-types is doing the wings. If you can make those look good, the rest is a cakewalk.

There's Gnome place like Gnome...

I've always hated the idea of Gnomes as technologists or tinkerers. I just like little guys in pointed hats. Am I so wrong, am I so bad?

Original Edition Character Options released!

I'm pleased to announce that Goblinoid Games has released "Original Edition Character Options"! Available now from Lulu , RPGnow and Your Games Now!

Daniel Proctor has done a great job really sifting the rules for Labyrinth Lord down into their classic elements and producing a wonderful guidebook to playing the game more in the traditions of the original 1974 ruleset. Plus, it's a much easier read than the originals!

Good job, Daniel! And who the heck did the art in this book? Must have been a genius or something....

The Thoul

The Thoul is probably one of my favorite D&D monsters, even though they really only show up once in the rulebooks (the Basic set) and are never heard from again. Part Hobgoblin, part Troll, part Ghoul; Thouls are created by a mad wizard at some long ago time and sometimes show up in part of a hobgoblin king's bodyguard.

Or what? Clearly, the Thoul is the work of a DM trying very hard to suprise his players with something they don't expect; a hobgoblin who paralyzes with a touch and regenerates damage during combat. But I've always seen them as something a bit more interesting. It seems to me, that being part this / part that / part the other thing would leave the Thoul with somewhat of an identity crisis. Eventually this drives them mad, and they end up a gibbering, ravening thing hiding in the deep dark of the dungeon that does not take kindly to being disturbed.

Anyway, here he is. Crazy as a outhouse rat and ready to eat your character. Yikes!

New Adventurer in Town...

I've always thought that Adventurers coming back from the dungeon all laden with treasure would attract a lot of attention from the townspeople. Anyway, that's what's happening here in "Back from Adventure".

Welcome to my Art Blog!

My name is Steve Zieser, and this blog is mainly to showcase my pen and ink drawings. I have been drawing for nearly all my life, and graduated from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa with a BFA in Printmaking. Only recently, though, have I started doing some freelance illustration for many fantasy roleplaying games and rpg magazines available on the web. My work has appeared in many publications from Dragonsfoot.org, and is also featured in Chris Gonnerman's Basic Fantasy Roleplaying Game. I have drawings in a couple of upcoming projects: Issue 3 of Fight On!, the old-school rpg magazine, and "Original Edition Characters", a supplement for Labyrinth Lord by Goblinoid Games.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my drawings. I certainly enjoy producing them!

Steve