#trampier

[steamedtangerine]

Ral Partha lead D&D miniature of a winged panther

1982

From David Trampier’s comic Wormy (from Dragon Magazine #69-70)

1983

[oldschoolfrp]

If a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass a-hoppin' -- Nathan Arizona Sr

(Flying frogs by Dave Trampier, Dragon 40, August 1980)

[wormycomic]

[dreamsrecurring]

[chronivore]

David A Trampier

[sandmandaddy69]

David A. Trampier

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

AD&D - Dungeon Master's Guide - Emirikol the Chaotic by Dave Trampier

[sam-seer]

Magic Mouth (Spell): An enchanted mouth suddenly appears and speaks a message... If placed upon a statue, the mouth of the statue moves. Material component: a bit of honeycomb.

Classic illustration from the Advanced D&D Player's Handbook (1978).

[gotankgo]

[thecreaturecodex]

If I Ran the Zoo: Monster Manual Minis, pt. 1

As you may be aware, WizKids is releasing a set of miniatures called Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection: Monsters A-C, that contains eight minis based on creature designs from the original AD&D Monster Manual. A-C is an odd place to divide, and that suggests that they’re planning a lot more of these, assuming that the first set sells well enough (and at $100 a box, it’s clearly a bit of a gamble). So, because I have Thoughts about what monsters they should make (and love talking about old monster art in general), I have compiled some ideas for what WizKids should include in future sets.

Monsters D-F

Sort of cheating with the title, because F is a very empty letter in the original AD&D Monster Manual. They could do a Frog, Giant. Or a Fungus, Violet. But that’s about it.

Demogorgon, Prince of Demons

Type III Demon (Glabrezu)

Bone Devil

Devil, Geryon I am limiting myself with demons and devils here; you could theoretically do a set with just these. Demogorgon is an obvious shoo-in; with Stranger Things, Demogorgon is more high profile than ever. Geryon I picked because he actually has stats in D&D 5e, unlike the other MMI arch-devils, and his design has changed a little, but remains basically the same. The Type III Demon and Bone Devil are the most striking of the non-unique demon and devil images, respectively.

Displacer Beast Another shoo-in. The presence of the beholder and carrion crawler in the A-C set suggest to me that they’re going to make a mini for each “product identity” monster from the MMI.

Doppelganger A bit of a weird pull, but look at his stride! Look at his panache! Look at his oddly shaped skull!

Dragon, Red The name of the game is Dungeons & Dragons, so they gotta include one. The Red Dragon is the most iconic of the colored dragon designs, and has often been used as a sort of “mascot” for D&D in general. The problem is, the MMI illustration is kind of doofy. I suspect that they’re going to use the design from the MMI cover instead:

Efreet Another case where there’s a more memorable image in the same edition to pull from. The cover of the Dungeon Master’s Guide has a great efreet on it, and that’s what I think will be the basis for the miniature:

Monsters G-L

Stone Giant There has to be a giant, especially since WoTC is planning a giant-themed book to come out soon. Of the MMI giants, the stone giant has the best look.

Stone Golem Same as the stone giant; a classic category of monsters with this as the coolest looking one. Alternatively, if having so many “stone” themed monsters seems redundant, an iron golem would be my runner up choice.

Gorgon A surprisingly iconic D&D monster; gorgons show up everywhere in AD&D 1st and 2nd edition. Like the basilisk and cockatrice, they’re based on a bestiary monster (in this case, Topsell’s History of Four-Footed Beasts).

Griffon This one is really for the compare and contrast. The 5e griffon looks like a more naturalistic hybrid of lion and eagle; the AD&D griffon is straight out of heraldry. Plus it’s another classical bestiary monster.

Intellect Devourer The spookiest piece of art in the Monster Manual. Plus, WizKids would save some plastic by making a Small mini.

Ki-Rin The art is striking, and the ki-rin is the cover model of Mordenkainen’s Monsters of the Multiverse. This is another one where the compare/contrast aspect might be fun; WizKids already has a miniature of the 5e ki-rin design.

Lamia Of the “sexy lady who is also a monster” monsters in the MMI (and there’s a lot of them), this is the one I think has the best shot of being turned into a miniature. Unlike the dryad, nymph or sylph, she actually looks monstrous. Unlike the succubus and the gynosphinx, her hair in the original pose can easily cover nipples. The hind legs, with their scales and hooves, are different enough from the 5e design to make a miniature interesting

Lich Of all of the undead, this is the one that’s the most specifically D&D, the one least likely to be encountered in groups, and has some of the coolest art. Skeletons, zombies and ghouls can be found en masse from a dozen different companies. David A Trampier’s lich is distinct.

[dndhistory]

188. Various Authors - Dragon #70 (February 1983)

This issue of Dragon brings slightly less than usual AD&D material, with a couple of long articles for other games,  but definitely enough content to keep fans happy and busy for the month.

It starts off with Ed Greenwood’s Smith NPC class exploration, followed by an article on the relative speed of boats and ships. Then we get Gygax weighing in on how to randomly determine social class backgrounds for characters, an idea that has been around since the early days of D&D and some of the earliest Dragon and The Strategic Review publications, but which now seems to be going forward as a component in the next rule revision. Frank Mentzer contributes two articles taking this idea on an complementing Gygax’s article.

Then there is an article helping us find a better way to calculate falling damage, through an exponential system, also by Mentzer. Roger Moore ads an article on how having “legendary characters” show up as NPCs can unbalance a campaign in his take on the Giants in the Earth column, while Gygax continues bringing us the Gods of Greyhawk. Moore also attempts to bring fantasy races into science fiction settings with Dwarves in Space, while Greenwood takes yet another go at bringing guns into AD&D.

[oldschoolfrp]

Imps and trolls mingle in a tree village, where job opportunities are posted below the tavern (Dragon 104, December 1985). Dave Trampier's Wormy strips included a number of full-page panels detailing fantastic magical spaces that feel real and lived-in, in which characters go about their daily business, interrupted by the actions of the story. There is a cinematic feel that makes me wish for a Ghibli Wormy film, with scenes lingering on characters simply existing in their environment.

[wormycomic]

[astoriachef]

[chronivore]

David A Trampier

[postcardaday]

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Module T1: The Village of Hommlet David A. Trampier, 1979