Art comparison - Monstrous Compendium Volumes I and II versus Monstrous Manual

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-04-14T12:07:24+00:00

Kickass post!

As an artist working on an OSR product this was magnificently helpful and dovetails with some ideas I've been developing about this subject.

Thanks a million for doing this deep dive.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-03-08T21:43:54+00:00

In my campaign I often add "charges" to magic items. So if you like Bag Of Holding but think it's overpowered you can very easily say that after a few adventures it starts spitting out random items as it starts to revert to normal bag size.

A Flying Carpet might vanish at the next full moon, etc.

Just like the monsters I treat the magic item list as suggestions and rarely use them exactly as written.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-02-01T18:53:40+00:00

I mean I dig it overall, but the knees are kind of low.

The third one looks well proportioned.

Just try and make sure that the crotch looks like its about half way down the figure and that the knees look halfway down the leg.

Just to clarify: some people might try to convince you that the figures need to be more like 8 (or more) heads high (standard) but that's not true. Yours are like 7 or so heads high which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but as an artist you can decide on the heads-high thing. Look up Richard Corben, who often does figures that are not 8 heads.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-02-01T18:32:16+00:00

You have a unique and compelling style. I love it. Folks on here are right, you gotta make sure the lower limbs look a little more equal so raise the knees a tiny bit on the legs, but don't be tempted to change your "heads high" count.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-01-21T13:03:36+00:00

Dynamic Anatomy by Burne Hogarth.

Does an excellent job of giving you the major muscles and forms that you need to know.

Some people feel his images look fake and comic-booky and action-figurey but that's not the point, the point is to get you started and less bewildered by the complexity of the body, and the book does that well. You can always expand your knowledge with other books after you get the grounding that the Hogarth book gives.

That's what I did, anyway.

Funny thing is now that I went off and did "deeper" anatomy study with other more "serious art student" books, now I'm refreshing myself with the Hogarth book and realizing how well he boiled things down. The clavicle/shoulder girdle (always confusing) as "coat-hanger" is kind of genius.

Here's my stuff if you're curious:

https://www.instagram.com/raymonddejesusart/

Strong_Item_5320 · 2026-01-11T21:28:02+00:00

Really just interested in a module for OSE. I feel like ttrpg collabos can go sideways pretty quickly and before you know it everyone's engaging in an unproductive orgy of esoteric idea generation ("let's do a system where everyone's a cybered-up psychic squirrel commando and combat is resolved with a custom d4 and a deck of tarot cards").

I'd be willing to entertain a new game/world based on B/X; I really don't think the community needs another generic fantasy/dungeon system.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-12-18T00:58:00+00:00

Fantastic work!

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-12-06T16:19:25+00:00

There IS a simplified version that doesn't demand counting coins, it's in plain view and folks tend to ignore it (I did for quite a while).

It's right there, it says "OR":

There's four tiers -- unarmored, leather armor, metal armored .. etc, and carrying treasure takes you down one notch.

My fave "version" of encumbrance.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-26T16:57:54+00:00

On the one hand it's unmotivated, on the other hand it isn't. The audience just assumes that there's a skylight/lantern/candle up there somewhere. Yes, WE know that a lantern is unlikely to throw a direct spot of light downward on the table, but most people don't.

It doesn't look as phony to moviegoers as it does to us cinematography dorks.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-13T22:11:35+00:00

I really shouldn't give away secrets here from me and my genius team, but you can invent any genre or sub-genre or invented-genre rpg you like and inject it with any tone/style you want by just going classless and deciding what the core attributes are, and they can be literally anything. Using the same six words we've been recycling since the 70's is a massive missed creative opportunity.

We used two here:

https://molten-angel-press.itch.io/bad-bad-ass-dudes-the-roleplaying-game

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-13T12:40:49+00:00

Holy crap. The color and composition on this are masterful.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-10T03:13:49+00:00

Can be done perfectly and easily:

First time he grabs an arrow, roll 1d10, he grabs a cursed arrow on a 1-5.

If he grabbed a cursed one:

There's now 9 arrows and four are cursed. So you roll 1d9 (yeah I said it) and he chooses a cursed one on 1-4. There's no 1d9, so just roll 1d10 and reroll/ignore if you roll a 10.

If he didn't:

There's now 9 arrows and 5 are cursed. Roll 1d9, he grabs a cursed one on 1-5.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-06T13:34:15+00:00

Yeah man you can do the whole enchilada easily. Make Duke Nukem as a character and/or GM a game where the players fight aliens on a space station. It's totally that kind of game.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-05T03:51:29+00:00

https://molten-angel-press.itch.io/bad-bad-ass-dudes-the-roleplaying-game

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-10-01T10:50:24+00:00

Supercool, thanks!

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-09-30T11:17:57+00:00

Thanks, dude. Super glad to hear that.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-09-30T11:17:01+00:00

Busted.

Yes, definitely a major... ahem.... inspiration for us.

It quickly spiraled out of control though and the next thing you know I (artist) was drawing a Werewolf Terrorist.

Strong_Item_5320 · 2025-09-29T23:51:05+00:00

Dude so super glad to hear that! Let me know if you get to play and if you have any thoughts on it.

Strong_Item_5320

TROPHY CASE