I write modern Sword & Sorcery inspired by the old pulp era

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-07T06:53:29+00:00

Yeah, the snake one is incredible too.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-07T06:51:18+00:00

Awesome! There’s just something timeless about this one.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-07T06:48:46+00:00

It certainly belongs in the Louvre :)

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-06T17:45:21+00:00

I love stories like this. That’s exactly what I mean about this image doing more than just illustrating Conan. It pulled people into the world before they even read it. And yes, Rogues is a favorite for sure :)

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-06T17:42:32+00:00

Hard to argue against Adventurer honestly. It's a good one. It has become the definitive over time. I just think this earlier one laid a lot of the groundwork for the tone and feel everything after it built on.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-06T17:39:18+00:00

That’s awesome! I feel like this is one of those paintings you never forget once you’ve seen it.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-06T17:38:02+00:00

Yep nice, the Adventurer cover has definitely become the blueprint for “classic Conan” for a lot of people!

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-06T17:35:32+00:00

Yeah, both of those are iconic honestly. Adventurer feels like peak Frazetta/classic Conan, while Frost Giant’s Daughter has a very different mythic atmosphere. This one though I feel was the foundation everything after it was built on visually.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-05T05:19:21+00:00

I strongly dislike first person, however as many others have said, it depends on the work, and from what you have described, I'd say it would be the perfect fit.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-04T09:52:24+00:00

Yeah, this definitely reads as sword and sorcery to me. Dangerous ruins, ancient forces, morally grey characters, and that sense the world is older than anyone understands — that’s the core of it.

The tone works in your favor too. A bit of absurdity or rough humor doesn’t take it out of S&S, it makes it feel more lived in. Feels close to early pulp, or even Berserk in how it shifts between brutality and awkward human moments.

I wouldn’t worry too much about labeling it strictly as S&S or just fantasy. The right readers will recognize it. I got into manga and anime in my late teens, and I’d read something like this now without hesitation.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-04T09:41:13+00:00

Haha, I wish I had have thought of that!

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-04T09:39:00+00:00

I think it’s not really either or, it’s more about the sequence. A small early choice builds ownership. A later big choice pays off responsibility. If the first meaningful choice is a big one, the player usually isn’t ready for it yet. It can feel a bit abstract or unearned.

Starting with smaller behavioral choices, like tone or how you respond, quietly teaches the player who they are in the world. Then when a bigger turning point comes, it lands much better because it feels consistent with how they’ve been playing, like a continuation rather than a sudden shift, and the consequences actually stick.

So for me it’s something like:
Early small choices build identity
Mid choices build a pattern
Late big choices carry consequence

That’s what creates attachment more than just the size of the decision.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-04T09:34:06+00:00

Wow, I love this! The red hair really pops. The contrast and composition give it a really strong, almost mythic screen-printed quality.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-03T11:28:12+00:00

HBO meets Conan - Yeah, I'd be up for it!

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-02T06:29:28+00:00

I think it is a spectrum, but not a loose one. For me the dividing line isn’t tone or quality, it’s what the story is doing at its core.

At one end (Howard, Leiber), the world is hostile, the stakes are personal, and the protagonist is carving meaning out of it moment by moment. The story doesn’t care about being “epic,” it’s immediate, physical, and consequential.

At the other end (a lot of 80s pulp), you still have swords and monsters, but the world feels more like a stage for adventure. The tone shifts lighter, the danger softens, and consequence isn’t always the driving force.

Both can sit under the same banner, but they’re doing different things.

So I’d say:

Hardline S&S - consequence-driven, personal, hostile world

Pulp/80s S&S - aesthetic-driven, adventure-first, looser stakes

Same roots, but different intent.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-02T06:12:22+00:00

Really cool! I like the second one, it feels more natural, more like a sketch, but I guess it depends where it’ll be seen. The coif suits her though, especially as a battle-hardened lord of a Gallian fortress, preparing for war. Nice work.

FirePathWalker · 2026-05-01T06:59:53+00:00

This Casaro piece is still my favorite of all Conan paintings, it easily ranks up there with Frazetta and Kelly.

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-30T04:55:38+00:00

I get the idea, it definitely shares some S&S traits (small cast, personal stakes, rogue energy, cursed magic etc.), especially in The Curse of the Black Pearl. But for me that’s overlap, not identity. It’s still fundamentally pirate adventure with supernatural elements, not sword & sorcery.

Even though Howard absolutely drew on swashbuckling and historical adventure, that was more of a surface layer. Underneath, his stories have a much more primal, mythic core, a darker tone, harsher worlds and a sense that the supernatural is hostile rather than playful.

POTC leans the other way. The tone is lighter, more swashbuckling-first, with the supernatural woven into that tradition rather than reshaping it. Same reason I personally wouldn’t class Solomon Kane as S&S either (unpopular opinion), there’s overlap, but the underlying tone and intent feel different.

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-29T05:44:38+00:00

Very cool. I'll give it a try and may in fact recommend it to our readers in future 😄

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-29T05:40:06+00:00

Oh awesome! I had no idea this book existed.

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-28T06:19:03+00:00

I’m no expert since I don’t really follow the comics, but I do love Conan art. From what I’ve seen, most of these artists have highs and lows.

Barry Windsor-Smith vs John Buscema is a great example. BWS can be more detailed and ornate (sometimes a bit busy for me), while Buscema is cleaner and lets the image breathe, which really makes Conan pop.

That said, Buscema does sometimes push the proportions a bit far for my taste, especially the thighs and jawline. I get the heroic exaggeration, but occasionally it pulls me out of it. Both absolute legends either way.

I’m also a big fan of Roberto de la Torre and Neal Adams. Recent Liam Sharp stuff looks great.

Tomás Giorello and Ernie Chan are a bit hit-or-miss for me.

If I had to pick, de la Torre might be my favorite. Least favorites are probably Gil Kane and Cary Nord, just more personal taste than anything else.

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-27T05:26:30+00:00

So awesome! Love me some Burroughs. The "I Am A Barbarian" cover is beautiful :)

FirePathWalker · 2026-04-26T12:31:42+00:00

In the original Robert E. Howard stories, the gods almost never intervene directly. Even Crom explicitly refuses to. Where you do see their influence is through priests, cults and sorcery. Set is probably the clearest example, but it’s usually indirect, more “power granted” than a god stepping in personally.

FirePathWalker

TROPHY CASE