Bob Maurus - obscure TSR artist

In November of 1984 Issue 91 of Dragon magazine came out. It had a number of interesting articles, but one that really caught my eye was "Nine Hells Revisited" by Ed Greenwood. It was sort of a follow up to the popular Nine Hells articles from back in issues 75 and 76.

For some reason I really liked the artwork that accompanied the article, which was drawn by Bob Maurus. For a few months afterwards I filled my sketchbook with drawings of the Nine Hells inspired by Bob's style. I wish I still had that sketchbook, but it is long lost. Looking back at the work now I still have nostalgia for it.

Bob went on to illustrate an article in Dragon #95, but his most well known work is probably the cover and interiors of Ghost of Lion Castle.

D&D module BSOLO: Ghost of Lion Castle, TSR, 1984

"Nine Hells Revisited" by Ed Greenwood, Dragon magazine No. 91, TSR, November 1984.

“Mobility: If you can get a flying steed, use it.” (Bob Maurus, from “Battles above the dungeon: Basic combat tactics for the wide-open spaces” by Tim W. Brown, Dragon Magazine No. 95, March 1985.)

About That Magic Sword Forged from the Blood of your Enemies...

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/Vazu2YK

An Adventure for Guardians!

The Power of Fear

A Guardians superhero adventure for levels 1-3
Includes:
10 super-powered NPC’s
New super power
Multiple Maps

Marcus Grimwood, once known as the Teklord until he retired from superhero duties, was a genius super inventor from a family of wealthy industrialists. After tragically losing his partner, and the failure of his brilliant inventions to be accepted by the public, he concocted a scheme to create the ultimate power source. Grimwood did not realize that in his grief and frustration, he had gone stark raving mad...

The adventure takes place over several days as Grimwood unfolds his master plan to “harness the power of fear” and perform the final calibration of his Phobos Device.

Available in print here.

Mechanized Men of Mars available now

I didn't think I'd have this done until early next week, but I was able to finish up the maps and the illustrations and layout today. The adventure went through quite a few variations, but the core idea remained throughout play tests. It's a fairly solid one-shot, but it has enough sandbox elements that you could use as the start of a campaign. With a little local map of the wilderness area north of Helium. I do hope you enjoy it.

Print copy available on Lulu:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-denmark/mechanized-men-of-mars/paperback/product-22694699.html

PDF available on DriveThruRPG:
http://drivethrurpg.com/product/182983/Mechanized-Men-of-Mars

I experimented a bit with the cover trying to do something retro inspired by early D&D modules, but then added some contemporary flourishes to it.

Beasties is Available

Beasties, a collection of monsters, creatures, strange beings, traps, and encounters compatible with the Original Fantasy RPG and similar systems, is now available live on Lulu and DriveThruRPG.

27 Monsters
6 NPC's
37 Drawings
5 Maps
1 "Megadungeon" sample

Print edition on Lulu
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-denmark/beasties/paperback/product-22694390.html

PDF on DriveThruRPG
http://drivethrurpg.com/product/182958/Beasties

I did several homages to classic illustrations, new takes on some old stuff, and a bunch of brand new content all in the spirit of "OSR".

Every time I do a book I think this won't be too hard, I'll just write up some stuff, do some drawings, lay it out and publish it. Then the reality hits of just how much goes into making a good work, and all the details it takes to finish something. So this took longer than expected, but its out there now!

Note that the PDF/Book combo will be available on DriveThruRPG as soon as the print copy is approved. It is a process that takes about a week or two. I'll definitely mention it here when its available.

I'm still working on the adventure for Warriors of the Red Planet, if all goes well it'll be available early next week. Now that Beasties is done I'll have less distraction.