December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

[Steve Jackson]

I got to spend some brief but good time talking with Liz at the Flying Buffalo booth at GenCon. She showed me something she recently started doing - enhanced MAGIC cards. I had not known that that was a thing, even. I've seen some others since then. Hers are best :)

Did y'all know that the reason there are Gargoyles in Melee is that Liz drew one on the cover?

So what everybody is saying is that if we do MELEE minis, at least one fighter has to be wearing purple bell-bottoms. Do I have that right?

[ColBosch]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

So what everybody is saying is that if we do MELEE minis, at least one fighter has to be wearing purple bell-bottoms. Do I have that right?

That's literally the only thing I've gotten out of this entire thread, yes.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

So what everybody is saying is that if we do MELEE minis, at least one fighter has to be wearing purple bell-bottoms. Do I have that right?

I strongly say yes. And if you do a counter with them, the designating letter should either be an "L" or "D!" (And a purple-bell bottomed cardboard hero would be a "must" in my book!) ;-)

Oh, and Liz SHOULD be very proud of that cover -- it's one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen speaking directly to the contents of the game it depicts. Brilliant work, any way you cut it. I sincerely hope that Steve asks her to contribute pieces to the new version; I love her work (and Pat Hidy's, and Clark Bradley's too -- Clark did the original cover for Wizard). But I also hope that he can get hold of Robert Phillips (interior art for the original ITL/AW/AM) -- his work was truly evocative. Having said all of that, there are so many other artists (Dennis Loubet!) who contributed truly iconic art back in the day, to say nothing of all the amazing new talent coming up out there. So, I'm sure that whoever Steve picks will be a fantastic choice, though the "purist" in me genuinely hopes for at least one illustration from each of the above-named!

[SirRoke]

Originally Posted by JLV

I remember that article! I thought it was a great idea at the time (I hadn't run across the concept before, but I'd only played white-box D&D and TFT at that time), and very well written. It's informed my GM-ing ever since (magic is DANGEROUS). So thank you for sharing it! My paper copy died long ago, but thanks to the magic of Warehouse 23, I have it in electronic version! Now I need to go back and re-read that one again too!

Thanks for your kind words. I had to pull out my old paper copy of that issue of The Space Gamer and reread it today.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by JLV

Oh, and Liz SHOULD be very proud of that cover -- it's one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen speaking directly to the contents of the game it depicts. Brilliant work, any way you cut it. I sincerely hope that Steve asks her to contribute pieces to the new version; I love her work (and Pat Hidy's, and Clark Bradley's too -- Clark did the original cover for Wizard).

I've spent my entire career in the visual arts and can say with whatever dubious authority that confers that Danforth's, Hidy's, and Bradley's work for TFT was simply great, and that it set a benchmark, that, sadly, was not often met by later games. Mediocre art, particularly cartoonish work that caters to a puerile sense of humor, diminishes the overall enjoyability of a game (unless it is meant to be a silly one). I hope that the visuals of whatever SJ rolls out for an updated edition of TFT will have superb art that connects to the origins of the game.

[Falstaffe1965]

Let's stir the pot: would anyone be opposed to replacing hexes with a grid of squares where every other row is offset? Functionally, it's the same and wouldn't change the rules at all, and the squares would be a more intuitive fit for most maps (unless you do a lot of adventuring in a beehive.)

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Falstaffe1965

Let's stir the pot: would anyone be opposed to replacing hexes with a grid of squares where every other row is offset? Functionally, it's the same and wouldn't change the rules at all, and the squares would be a more intuitive fit for most maps (unless you do a lot of adventuring in a beehive.)

Shades of TSR's old Star Empires and Star Probe! While I know intellectually that you are correct, I always found maps drawn that way to be...unappealing, graphically speaking. Personally, I prefer to stick with hexes, especially since it works so much better for facing and other tactical issues. Though I will admit, I hope Steve can come up with some way to make hexes work better for dungeon mapping than the original did -- that was a pretty gnarly mapping system (and not in a good way, a lot of times), though it works very well for cavern systems.

Of note, Judges Guild used hexes for outdoor mapping in their "system" and it was quite effective. I also find hexes more useful for indicating "ranges" within which monsters will operate (and pursue) their enemies and other interlopers. Also, GURPS Orcslayer had a very nice hexagonal map of a Keep in it...

[larsdangly]

That is awesome that SJ has already touched bases with Liz Danforth! She has to be recruited for the great TFT revival. And there must be a fighter with bell bottoms. And a gargoyle. And a gargoyle in bell bottoms. But seriously, aesthetic matters: recent games with awesome artists (The One Ring; Dungeon Crawl Classics; Dragon Warriors) just pull you into the books and inspire instant attachment. Games with bland technicolor fantasy art or CG crap are major turn offs. I understand the outstanding original art is not available, but I'm sure you'll do the right thing...

I for one would explode into a fireball of hatred if the hexes were replaced with off-set squares.

[ColBosch]

Yeah, I say stick with hexes, too. At the least, you can find much more on the market made for hexes than for offset squares.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by ColBosch

Yeah, I say stick with hexes, too. At the least, you can find much more on the market made for hexes than for offset squares.

Alternately, use the capabilities of the PDF to have the raw image, and layered alternate grids?