[FGG] Frog God Games "Dunes of Desolation" Art Preview

[Chuck Wright]

The title says it all. Please follow my link to the Frog Blog!

"Dunes of Desolation" Art Preview!

[Redapple6]

Awesome cover. Artem is really knocking them out of the park. Cover design is not to shabby either.:)

[Chaotic_Blues]

I'll be happy to have it in my collection.

[Tom Knauss]

Chuck did a great job finding the perfect art. That's why HE's the man!

[Chuck Wright]

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

[brvheart]

Very nice cover and art! My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

[Tom Knauss]

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

Then job well done Skeeter and artists!

[Chuck Wright]

Nice observation, I really hadn't thought about it, but I think that's because we all had a group-mind-think of "Laurence of Arabia". :D

[Tom Knauss]

brvheart wrote:

Very nice cover and art! My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

I can't say for sure, because I never communicated directly with the artist. There are some Western elements in the book, though it is still predominately Arabian Nights-themed, so I don't know if that was a conscious effort to synthesize the two or it's just coincidence.

[brvheart]

It wasn't meant to be a criticism. Just something I noticed. My wife plays a swarthy middle eastern half-elf pirate in Razor Coast.

[Tom Knauss]

brvheart wrote:

It wasn't meant to be a criticism. Just something I noticed. My wife plays a swarthy middle eastern half-elf pirate in Razor Coast.

I didn't take it as one. Now, the plains book has a lot of Western influences. In fact, one of the adventures is titled, "The lawful good, the chaotic bad, and the neutral ugly".

No, just kidding on that last part. At least the neutral ugly part.

[Greg A. Vaughan]

Dangit, Tom! I've been working up a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly game as a con event for a few months, and now you've gone and beaten me to it. It's okay, I was wanting to use it a Reaper Con (I think their theme is Old West this year), but I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. So you can have it I suppose. :-)

[Chuck Wright]

Three Mounts for Paladin Sarah

[Tom Knauss]

Greg A. Vaughan wrote:

Dangit, Tom! I've been working up a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly game as a con event for a few months, and now you've gone and beaten me to it. It's okay, I was wanting to use it a Reaper Con (I think their theme is Old West this year), but I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. So you can have it I suppose. :-)

I won't be able to make that either. There's still Fistful of Gold Pieces and For a Few Gold Pieces More available. Of course, if you're really daring, you can always do the lycanthrope version of High Noon called Full Moon.

[Chuck Wright]

I think that you could call it High Moon, Tom. :D

[Tom Knauss]

Chuck Wright wrote:

I think that you could call it High Moon, Tom. :D

You're right. Can't believe I let that one slip past me.

[Skeeter Green]

All cred goes to the artists on this one. Im just a guy pushing email around. The creativity we have available constantly amazes me.

i do remember the first time I saw the cover art, the efreet only had 3 fingers. Was kinda funny :-)

SG

[Zherog]

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

Which I guess just proves that sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

*

This is actually the first time I've seen the full cover. All I've ever seen up until now was the efreeti by itself - and even that was awesome.

The "Warrior" picture has fascinated me from the first time I saw it. The way it captures movement fascinates me. I find myself just staring at it when I see it.

*

brvheart wrote:

My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

That's interesting. I'm not at all saying you're wrong, or what you're saying is bad. But I'm curious what leads you toward that. Sandstorm doesn't really scream one setting or another to me. The rest give me a Middle East vibe. So I'm curious what it is that gives you a Western vibe instead.

[KaiserDM]

Zherog wrote:

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

brvheart wrote:

My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

That's interesting. I'm not at all saying you're wrong, or what you're saying is bad. But I'm curious what leads you toward that. Sandstorm doesn't really scream one setting or another to me. The rest give me a Middle East vibe. So I'm curious what it is that gives you a Western vibe instead.

I agree, I thought it look sufficiently "Arabian Nights" to me.

[Tom Knauss]

Zherog wrote:

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

Which I guess just proves that sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

*

This is actually the first time I've seen the full cover. All I've ever seen up until now was the efreeti by itself - and even that was awesome.

The "Warrior" picture has fascinated me from the first time I saw it. The way it captures movement fascinates me. I find myself just staring at it when I see it.

*

brvheart wrote:

My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

That's interesting. I'm not at all saying you're wrong, or what you're saying is bad. But I'm curious what leads you toward that. Sandstorm doesn't really scream one setting or another to me. The rest give me a Middle East vibe. So I'm curious what it is that gives you a Western vibe instead.

Warrior is pretty cool. It's exactly what I envisioned when I asked for it. And there's still a few more pieces that were not part of the preview.

[Zherog]

I think there's more than you're aware of, too. I'm pretty sure you haven't seen all the awesome images for the new monsters. ;)

[brvheart]

KaiserDM wrote:

Zherog wrote:

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

brvheart wrote:

My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

That's interesting. I'm not at all saying you're wrong, or what you're saying is bad. But I'm curious what leads you toward that. Sandstorm doesn't really scream one setting or another to me. The rest give me a Middle East vibe. So I'm curious what it is that gives you a Western vibe instead.

I agree, I thought it look sufficiently "Arabian Nights" to me.

If you look at the faces especially the warrior they just look a bit too european and not arabic to me is all. Yes, it has the Arabian Nights feel, I agree, but more Disney with pale skin and eyes and noses that are more 1954 than 2014. Even the pictures of the men with beards reminds me of a 1950's movie. I am not saying that the art isn't VERY GOOD, it is. It just looks Disney to me rather than a Iraqi/Afghani appearance. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be PC here. He just looks more like Aladdin than Saladin! Please, I am not trying to make an issue of it, just answering the question. The people look more gentile than semetic is all. But if Lawrence of Arabia is what they were going for, OK.

[Zherog]

No worries. I know you were just making an observation. I was just curious to get more information about it, is all. It's a totally fair opinion.

[KaiserDM]

brvheart wrote:

KaiserDM wrote:

Zherog wrote:

Chuck Wright wrote:

I would LOVE to take credit, but the art order was from Skeeter!

brvheart wrote:

My only comment though is the characters seem a bit too western and not middle eastern. Was that by design?

That's interesting. I'm not at all saying you're wrong, or what you're saying is bad. But I'm curious what leads you toward that. Sandstorm doesn't really scream one setting or another to me. The rest give me a Middle East vibe. So I'm curious what it is that gives you a Western vibe instead.

I agree, I thought it look sufficiently "Arabian Nights" to me.

If you look at the faces especially the warrior they just look a bit too european and not arabic to me is all. Yes, it has the Arabian Nights feel, I agree, but more Disney with pale skin and eyes and noses that are more 1954 than 2014. Even the pictures of the men with beards reminds me of a 1950's movie. I am not saying that the art isn't VERY GOOD, it is. It just looks Disney to me rather than a Iraqi/Afghani appearance. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be PC here. He just looks more like Aladdin than Saladin! Please, I am not trying to make an issue of it, just answering the question. The people look more gentile than semetic is all. But if Lawrence of Arabia is what they were going for, OK.

You're good man. We're not going to beat you up like that guy did over on the Tsar thread :P

[Tom Knauss]

I'd love to see the monster art, especially the kharam and zebbine,

[Greg A. Vaughan]

brvheart wrote:

If you look at the faces especially the warrior they just look a bit too european and not arabic to me is all. Yes, it has the Arabian Nights feel, I agree, but more Disney with pale skin and eyes and noses that are more 1954 than 2014. Even the pictures of the men with beards reminds me of a 1950's movie. I am not saying that the art isn't VERY GOOD, it is. It just looks Disney to me rather than a Iraqi/Afghani appearance. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be PC here. He just looks more like Aladdin than Saladin! Please, I am not trying to make an issue of it, just answering the question. The people look more gentile than semetic is all. But if Lawrence of Arabia is what they were going for, OK.

You never know how an artist is going to interpret an art order, and while the art is great, I agree with you, it's not a straight semetic feel. Though I think many folks would not even think to notice that level of detail, and when you're simultaneously reviewing dozens of art pieces for multiple projects sometimes if you even notice something like that you just sigh, say good enough and move on. So your observation is legitimate, it's just probably beyond the scope of what our budgetary and staff limitations are capable of.

For an especially hilarious WTF example check out ONS2: Death in the Painted Canyons by FGG (yes, this is a shameless plug). It's a GREAT little desert adventure set in our Lost Lands region called the Caliphate -- pure Saladin, in other words. The cover art is, of course, our generic ONS series cover, so I'm no talking about it. So let me begin with I LOVE this adventure. Ken Spencer (of Northlands Saga fame) did a great job in capturing the culture and environment, and developing it was a lot of fun. The art order did not go through me, so I never saw the interior art until I received my own copy of the adventure. I start thumbing through it and notice one picture that catches my eye. What do I find? FURRIES!!!!! I kid you not. I don't know if it was intended as a joke, was a mix up from an art order from another company, or what. All I know is that there is an illustration in the Arabian-themed adventure I developed that can only be described as furries. Don't believe me? (Of course, you don't!) Go here and buy it to see for yourself. (See how I did that?) ;-)

Greg

[brvheart]

I have it so I don't have to go buy it and I agree that it is much more of a semetic feel. It is early here and I have not had enough sleep but I am missing the furries for some reason. Which page is it on? I was most impressed with the cartography of the canyons itself. It alone makes me want to know where it is in the Lost Lands so I can run it! I have generally been impressed with the ONS series having run Scorned for one party already.

Edit: You do know that my players do take your name in vain every session of Tsar of late. What can I say, Greg's think a like!

[Greg A. Vaughan]

It's on page 9. It's kind of subtle, so I can see how it got missed during the art order process, but the more I look at it, the more I think furries. Check out the shady one hanging out round the corner. Is he a lookout? Is he selling drugs? I just don't know.

The Caliphate is 2 or 3 thousand miles due east of Tsen across the Isthmus of Irkainia in the Ashurian Desert. It's just across the Free Sea from Khemit.

My base assumption is that all players take my name in vain. If they don't, they should. ;-)

[Greg A. Vaughan]

brvheart wrote:

I have generally been impressed with the ONS series having run Scorned for one party already.

Scorned! (ONS5) is a pretty cool adventure by Nick Logue and Lou Agresta. I was super happy we were able to save it from the slush pile of the old Dungeon Magazine and get it into print. It's a lot of fun (for those who haven't seen it).

Yep, definitely another shameless plug.

[Chuck Wright]

Greg A. Vaughan shall now be known as "Shameless Hussy Frog"

[Tom Knauss]

Chuck Wright wrote:

Greg A. Vaughan shall now be known as "Shameless Hussy Frog"

I like that name.

[mach1.9pants]

Soon all the FGG credits will be like Skeeter's then.