Some Weird Fiction Artwork Inspiration For Your Old School Campaigns

Some Weird fiction as well as sword and sorcery inspirational artwork  for your Thursday morning folks

Quick Heads Up For Mike Lenoard Fantasy Artist & The 'Tire Fund'

You can reach Mike via his Deviant Art page right
HERE

 Or his Facebook page right over
HERE

On occasion there are friends of the OSR community that need our help, fantasy artist  Mike Leonard finds himself in real trouble. He's in a bit of some dire straits and needs our help to dust off with some commission work within the next five hours so he can afford tires for his car!  He's got a fifty mile round trip to work and back home.
I know what this sort of journey is like. My dad and I did it for five years back in the early 80's. Its no fun add to this the weight that he must be feeling.  I feel for the gentleman.
So I'm doing my part to get the word out there for him and his family. Here's the low down from his Deviant Art page : 

• Mood:  Suffering

I am in desperate need of some immediate funds. 

Flat tire, no spare, 50 mile round trip to work everyday.

Used car, had to ask the dealer for a jack. Tires weren't new, but weren't bald either. Bought the car 15 months ago.

Tire had a slow leak, but I babied it until last night. Got the jack out, jacked the car up a bit, jack doubled over on itself breaking.

Midnight, a friend answers the call, brings his jack.

Get the baby spare on, turns out to be the wrong size, locks the brake.

Put the flat back on to move the car off the private lot where I changed it, friend graciously gave me a ride home.

Now I need to buy a tire, although the matching one is in pretty bad shape too...

Flash commission sale!

I need a minimum of 4 commissions at half my character portrait rates ($25 an character!) and preferably 8 (to get a matching set of front tires).

Full color, character in a scene, big enough to print at your local shop at poster size (10,000 dpi on the long side). 

It's 8:50AM Central Standard Time, I need these in the next 5 hours!

Please help out a friend, get the word out, help an artist in a jam, And let's get this guy back on the road for his family.
Thanks folks 

Review and Commentary On The Vintage Clipart: Fantasy Volume 1 From Skirmisher Publishing For Your Old School Campaigns

Grab It Right Over 

HERE 

This product couldn't come at a better time, Vintage Clip art is a nice collection of genric public domain artwork that can be used for generating monsters, player hand outs, and any other twisted little thing that the DM's imagination can dream up. The collection is perfect for the DM on the run who needs a bit of connective imaginative artwork to hit the spot. 

This is the first in a series of products that reflect the growing system agnostic trend in game design that's been happening for the better part of two or three years now. A design choice that reflects the ideal that you as a DM should be able to design and mandate your own material in games. This product really picks up on this and magnifies it. 

According To Drivethrurpg: 

This download includes more than 20 different vintage clipart images from a number of sources and which were originally or subsequently published between 1880 and 1921. All have been scanned at 600 dpi and are provided individually as grayscale JPEGs and 12 have also been provided as black-and-white TIFFs (34 image files total). The purchaser of this collection is granted the non-exclusive rights to use these images in any commercial or personal projects they choose subject to the conditions of the included license. 

An eye toward variety has been taken in compiling this collection, and it contains an assortment of styles and themes, including five sets of complementary images that could be used in conjunction with each other. Several images suitable for use as full-page or cover illustrations have also been included, as has at least one suitable as a customizable text banner. Specific themes represented include giants, dragons, knights, fairies, Moon men, a haunted forest, and several sorts of conveyance, among them balloons, ships, carriages, horses, stilts, and a Victorian-era spaceship.


I can see a myriad of uses for this one volume of artwork, from monster creation to adventure, to solidly illustrating the look and feel of a campaign. This is exactly where I'll be using this set of artwork.

Using The Vintage Clipart: Fantasy Volume 1  In Your Old School Campaigns

When it comes to using this product, its nice to have a concise and well put together collection of artwork that I don't have to look over my shoulder to use in any OSR style game.
This is a great collection for an OD&D dungeon master and because of the generic nature of the collection its very easy to apply this collection to everything from your fantasy wasteland to the post apocalyptic landscape. I keep envisioning this collection being used by me for a Labyrinth Lord/ Mutant Future mash up campaign. I've got some thoughts on a campaign but I've got a pile of other material to through before doing such a venture.
This is also a great collection for a Lamentations of the Flame Prince rpg style DYI knock up campaign with heavy Victorian or steampunk influences. The fact is that these images could be used for a number of old school or any school style campaigns.
For a Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea these are a nice fit especially when peppering your old school sword and sorcery sandbox.
All in all its a nice little diversion from some of the usual artwork that we see today and one that I welcome to my table. I can see using some of these for an old school style DM's screen as well and a number of other projects that are sitting at the back of my mind.
Wait for this one to go on sale but grab it. Its a solid quality piece of artwork and one that I enjoyed. These clip art style collections remind me of when as a kid I'd wander the rows of art supplies, brushes, etc when I'd go to the malls and go into art supply stores. Back then art places specialized in good quality art supplies and this collection reflects another time when quality meant something. Grab it when you can and get to town creating your own adventures in whatever edition you'd like. 

Review And Commentary On Skirmisher Publishing's Vintage Clipart: Ships & Boats Volume 1 For Your Old School Rpg Campaigns

Grab It Right
HERE
Back when I was a kid wandering through the various craft and hobby stores one of the first things that I stumbled upon as a DM was clip art. With a simple photocopy I could show my players what their PC's were looking at and what wonders they were encountering. Who was trying to slice off their heads. Now Skirmisher Publishing has put together a collection of clip art that can be printed out and used however you'd like.
This collection reminds me of those old vintage books of great clip art that can not only show your players your vision of the adventure but be a source of new adventures to come.
It does exactly what it says on the Drivethrurpg blurb:
This book contains more than 20 vintage clipart images from a number of sources and which were originally or subsequently published between 1880 and 1926. All have been scanned at 600 dpi and are provided individually as or grayscale JPEGs and/or as black-and-white TIFFs, and one has been provided as a full-color JPEG (25 image files total). The purchaser of this collection is granted the non-exclusive rights to use these images in any commercial or personal projects they choose subject to the conditions of the included license. 

An eye toward variety has been taken in compiling this collection, and it contains an assortment of styles and themes, including various combinations of complementary images that could be used in conjunction with each other. Several images suitable for use as full-page or cover illustrations have also been included, as have several suitable as text decorations or for rounding out pages. Specific sorts of vessel depicted in this collection include Viking longships, Chinese junks, Egyptian riverboats, Greek and Carthaginian galleys, Crusader warships, a fantastic galleon, and a number of smaller craft like dugouts, dinghies, and canoes. 

This download includes both a low-resolution screen-friendly preview PDF that displays just one version of each of the images and a high-resolution printer-friendly catalog of all the included image variations.

I've got an Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg campaign coming up and all of the various cultures that happen to be shown in this product represent some particular aspect of a Hyperborean culture's water craft. This makes creating a particular impression or player hand out for adventures rather easy.
There are ton of uses for this book for a post apocalyptic campaign as well. Need a set of raider for that village that the wizard has been threatening. Thumb through and their in there. Need a  Neo trader's Chinese Junk and that's there too. Need a particular style of Human Purists who model themselves after the Crusaders and use their style of ships? Those are in there too.
The use for any old school fantasy game that has a Greek style culture is right there as well. These vintage art pieces echo a particular style that reminds me of some of the covers of Edgar Rice Burroughs original edition artwork.
All in all the collection isn't that expansive at all but it does a good job covering a particular subject and does a nice solid job hitting some of the best cultural high notes and does it very well. All in all I liked what I've seen in this series and this pdf makes a very nice addition to the DM's arsenal of tricks to pull from for OSR style games. Grab and download this one while you can.  

The *Foosh* Laser Pistol For Mutant Future And Other Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

The *Foosh* Laser Pistol - Damage 6d6+2  Trigger type Normal Range 400/800 ft Weight 1 lb Battery Power Cell, Belt pack, Backpack  Shots/ Battery 15/35/50

The Foosh laser pistol is one of the more advanced commercially available weapons that was manufactured during the Shadow Years. The weapon was a chemical laser whose reaction generated a distinctive waste flame super charger effect with each shot. The effect was created by the SDCCD formula and principle. The so called Super Duper Charged Couple Device feeds more of the lasing effect into the weapon enabling a more enhanced performance of the weapon then other laser weapon delivery systems. This enabled the pistol and the far more rare* Foosh*  laser rifle system to be fazed into the military, law enforcement, and even the corporate security forces of society before the Holocaust. The Foosh laser pistol is named after the sound of the laser effect shooting through the air causing small sonic ripples or booms.



Any miss handling of the 'Foosh' system when the weapon fires will cause 1d4 points of  burn damage to any flammable objects including the user
 These weapons were compact, light weight, concise, and accurate. The 'Foosh system' is easy to maintain and it comes with a solar charger to charge the pistol's electrical system that powers the chemical reaction for the pistols devastating laser pulse effect. The chemical cell is stored in the handle and has fifteen shots.



By the 23 century more advanced systems had superseded and then replaced the 'Foosh' system but these venerable weapons are still found often complete with chemical cells along with the solar charger units for chemical cells. The weapons are often found in old military bunkers, law enforcement fortresses, corporate bases and bunkers, the ruins of police buildings, military bases, and even civilian city ruins. It is far more rare to find the belt packs which hold the stable chemical elements enabling more shots to be fired; the belt pack plugs into the butt of the weapon and uses the electrical system of the pistol. The rare military back pack with the so called Prong system is much harder to find and found only in former military settings. A chemical and electrical simulation system  the  back pack unit enables the weapon's shot capacity to hit the high ceiling of fifty shots and brings the weapon into the military range.
The Foosh pistol and military back pack units were issued to sedition forces towards the end of the Shadow years and many have been lost to time. Many modern artifact collectors pay large sums for an original pistol and military back pack unit. Some have fetched 500 to 700 gold pieces to the right collectors. 


The 'Foosh' laser pistols often are tied together with the 'Sixth Day Scandals' when human corporate cloning experiments  caused massive social upheaval and strife. The Foosh  pistols were used by corporate forces to retire many of the so called Blank Clones. Clones copied from their originals when the Third Genetic Revolution began just before the shadow years.
 *Foosh laser pistol from The 6th Day movie  2000 

More Psychotronic Post Apocalpytic Movie Posters As Fodder For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

Behold the awesomeness that Google image search delivered to me this afternoon whist doing some research for an upcoming post apocalyptic campaign.
I've seen about ninety percent of these titles back in the 90's and words can even begin to describe how terribly wonderful some of these films are.

Mother's Black Hole Pistol Artifact For Mutant Future and Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

Mother's Black Hole Pistol

These are a four shot weapon that is sometimes found in the caches of former proto military and terrorist organizations secreted before the  Apocalypse. These weapons are made from off world materials and use a high yield quick capacity energy cell to create a particle beam reaction within their targets. The weapon only has four shots but these weapons are truly devastating to their targets causing a small implosion by exotic particle reactions. 

 '

Because of make up and structure of these weapons they are very difficult to detect and scanners as well as pre-holocaust sensors mostly bypass them. Anyone trying to detect one is at a - 4 on all detection rolls.
Each gun is worth 300 to 375 gold pieces on the open market and many communities have the death sentence for merely possessing these guns.
Each time these weapons are found there is only a 30% chance that the exotic ammo cells for these weapons are with them. These cells are worth 100 gold pieces each due to their rarity and collectability on the black market.
There is a 10% chance of caches where these weapons are found being booby trapped in some way.
 Each weapon shot does 3d8 points of damage and has a range of 300 ft. The weapon only has four shots but the target has a 40% chance of being knocked down and spun around by the impact as well as taking damage if hit. The weapon also leaves a small cloud of radioactivity in its wake after being fired. This cloud is harmless but detectable for four rounds after use. Certain robots, androids, and radiation sensors have a 20% chance of detecting these particles.
Only certain super science medical treatments, artifact medi kits, and certain exotic medical techniques may be used to heal the damage done by this weapon. Many of these are very expensive in the post holocaust wasteland.
These weapons are highly prized by artifact weapon collectors, assassins, terrorist groups, and some unsavory adventurers. 

For more information on the origin of the 'Black Hole Weapons'  go right over
HERE 

This of course is Leon's Gun from the film Blade Runner. For even more information on the real world gun please go HERE

This post was not meant as a challenge to the copy rights or trade marks of Blade Runner or the weapons depicted. This post is for entertainment purposes only. 

454 Magnum Revolver With 30mm Grenade Launcher Artifact For Mutant Future Or Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

A 454 magnum revolver with 30mm grenade launcher just perfect for retiring those andies, positronic horrors, and artificial people gone made in the post apocalyptic wasteland. This gun is often used by high profile bounty hunters, free lance Law Officers, robo hunters, and the occasional relic hunter adventurer who deals in military bases, and the like.  They are worth a cool 2000 gold pieces each or about 100 pds worth of trade goods. 

 The revolver has six shots and does 2d6 a range of 150/300 ft 

 The one shot 30mm grenade launcher is a one shot weapon and 5d6 points of damage and has a range of 30 foot.

These weapons are only rarely found and are often found without ammo, many communities have taboos on these weapons because of their association with legends of pre holocaust lawmen and bounty hunters. Robots and cyborgs will treat the character using this gun at -2 points because of the stigmata attached to this weapon among their kind.

The artwork is used without permission and the weapons are not real.
This post is not meant as a challenge to the copyright or trade mark holders of these images or artwork. 

I've seen them bandied about the internet as 40,000 dollar guns,etc.
They're actually the work of a very clever illustrator for the video game 'Just Cause 2' This is an illustration from artist Oscar Chichoni. Wish they were real...
I'm a fan of Oscar's work and he's an incredible artist.
You can find the artist's website right
HERE

Another Ten Pieces Of Post Apocalyptic Cover Art For Your Old School Campaigns

Today's post apocalyptic image search turned up some new material, some old material and some artwork that I've never seen before. These were some of the best pieces and Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time is of course absolutely classic.
Encountering an E.D.D.I.E cyborg unit in a game of Mutant Future wouldn't be a good option at all. A DM is probably looking at a TPK with one.
 As always these are not a challenge to the original copy right holders or challenge to the trademarks of them either. I'm simply sharing what I think are some great post apocalyptic pieces of artwork.
More coming up! 

10 Cult Classic Post Apocalyptic Cover Art Pieces As Inspiration For Your Old School Campaigns

So here's what a recent Google image search turned up for vintage Post Apocalyptic  cover art.Most of this stuff is very iconic and as a result is no way meant as a challenge or as a theft of the copyrights or trademarks of the original holders. 

There's some great stuff here and its gold for mining for your next POA adventure!

 Added bonus for today!

Can you dig it?