Retrospective: Jim Roslof's TSR Covers

In keeping with this week's remembrance of the recently deceased artist Jim Roslof, I've decided to do a different kind of retrospective today: a look at the covers illustrations Roslof did during his time at TSR. In preparing this post, what I immediately noticed was how few covers he actually did. On the other hand, the covers he did do include some of the ones I most vividly remember, even excluding those for modules B2 and D1-2, both of which I've already highlighted.

Take, for example, this cover, from 1980, Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

A reminder that spider-queens aren't always sexy.

I've noted before that Dave Sutherland's sole example of game design isn't one of my favorite modules, but it does sport one of my favorite covers. This piece sports all the usual Roslof hallmarks, such as a largely (or entirely) human cast of adventurers wearing "realistic" gear, but what has always stuck with me is his portrayal of Lolth in her spider form. Like the drow who serve her, all too often Lolth is presented as an ebon-skinned seductress rather than as a hideous demon, which is what she actually is. Granted, I suffer from a powerful arachnophobia, but, even so, there ought to be something creepy about any being one of whose physical forms is that of a spider with a humanoid head. Roslof perfectly captured that creepiness in this cover illustration, which is never far from my mind when I think of the drow.

Boo!

Another cover from 1980 is The Ghost Tower of Inverness. Though I remember playing this module back in the day (several times, in fact), it's not a favorite of mine, since its structure is clearly geared more toward tournament rather than campaign play. The cover, though, is burned into my memory. It doesn't depict anything that actually occurs in the module so far as I can recall (someone will no doubt correct me if I'm mistaken), but it nicely encapsulates the idea of a "ghost tower" in a single image.

Nothing says "super spy" like firearms and SCUBA gear.

Roslof illustrated more than D&D module covers, such as 1980's Operation: Rapidstrike! for Top Secret. I remember nothing at all about this module (which is sadly the case for almost all the Top Secret adventures), but I do remember its cover. Being a fan of the movie Thunderball, there's always been a strong association in my mind between armed frogmen and spies, so this cover really spoke to my imagination. The cover's also noteworthy in depicting a team of agents rather than a single one, which better matched what the actual play of Top Secret was like.

Is that Gollum?

1981's Secret of the Slavers Stockade is another module I don't think much of, but, like all the Slave Lords adventures, it played an important part in my Greyhawk campaign of old. Of all those modules' covers, this is the one that sticks most in my mind, for two reasons. First, there's the purple boggle on a leash. Like the module itself, the boggle is not a particularly memorable D&D monster, even when compared to other creatures introduced in the A-series, like the aspis or myconids. Yet, I remember it very strongly, perhaps because there's something mildly unnerving about humanoid being used as a bloodhound by other humanoids, I don't know. The second feature I like is the stance of the adventurers. Like a lot of the best old school art, we're seeing the moments before something exciting is about to happen. This cover doesn't tell a story of its own; it invites us to imagine for ourselves what that story will be.

Where it all began for me.

Though the 1981 edition of Dungeon! was not the one I first played, it is the one I eventually owned, whose cover image was this rather funky piece by Roslof. Unlike a lot of Roslof's work, this one isn't as "realistic," instead being fanciful and "sketchy" in appearance. If I wasn't already given to calling Erol Otus's work "dreamlike," I might use that adjective here as well. Even so, the illustration is classic Roslof, depicting adventurers on the verge of engaging an enemy, in this case a strange gargoyle-like creature whose exact nature occupied my thoughts as a younger man.

Conquistadors vs. Cave Men

I have a lot of personal fondness for 1983's Horror on the Hill, even though, by most measures, it's just another variation on the theme indelibly established by The Keep on the Borderlands. But my friends and I had a lot of fun with this adventure, so it's hard for my to be completely objective about its virtues and flaws, including its cover, which I really like. Again, we get human adventurers wearing historical armor -- including, this time, some very late medieval, early modern gear -- as they're about to do something. That they're opponents are Neanderthals only adds to its charm in my opinion, as their presence lends a pulp fantasy vibe to the whole thing that I find charming.

Yo Ho!

1984's Lathan's Gold is a module I don't remember very well. It's a solo adventure in which the player character must travel across many locales (mostly islands) to find enough gold to buy the freedom of your fiancée, who's been kidnapped by an evil nobleman. The illustration is something of a departure from Roslof's other pieces, in that it shows a number of non-humans in more fantastical attire. On the other hand, his eye for foliage is in evidence here, just as it was on the cover for The Keep on the Borderlands.

And there you have it -- all the TSR covers by Roslof that I could recall (and that I haven't already discussed). If I've forgotten any, please let me know in the comments, so I can expand and correct this entry.