Manuscript theme

From my own experience, and from reading around places like BoardGame Geek, one of the charges levelled against less highly-regarded games is that they don't implement their theme consistently. Whether it's modern slang in a game about the Ancient Greeks, or art nouveau illustrations in a game set in the Napoleonic era, these things break the immersion and therefore reduce the enjoyability of the whole gaming experience.

Blueholme looks like a great set of rules, btw, have a look at their G+ pages

One of the aspects that some OSR (Old School Revival/Renaissance/Resurgance) roleplaying retroclones do so well is that the publications mimic those of the time they are emulating - the 70s and early 80s. Using fonts that look like mimeographed text, consciously including drawings in that early b&w style, having solid colour backgrounds (usually blue)... it all adds to the feel, focusing the mind and tapping into the great wellspring of nostalgia so that the tone is set without requiring great screeds of exposition. It both provides a shortcut to a given aesthetic and style of play, and then maintains it - if consistently applied.

How then do I achieve such a consistent aesthetic, using design to clearly describe and maintain the setting in which I envision the adventures of Knights' Quest taking place? How do I tap into a sense of nostalgia (that apparently key ingredient of the success of OSR retroclones' design) for a game that isn't trying to be an updated rendering of an older, much-loved, game? [Yes, I know, there's only so much originality possible in a dungeon crawl]

Fortunately, the setting I wish to evoke is that of the medieval romance. Fortunate, that is, for two reasons aside from my own personal taste. Firstly, illuminated manuscripts are instantly recognisable and something whose written form is inextricably bound up with chivalry as well as, thanks to its bizarre marginalia, monstrous beings. Secondly, and of great use to a one-man-band publication like this, the stylised graphic approach of the monastic scribes has a distorted sense of scale and perspective - much like my own penmanship!

I couldn't really write about the imagery I intend to use in Knights' Quest without sharing some of it. First off, there's the title image itself:

Based on the idea of an historiated (filled with a story, people, creatures, related items) capital, simplified so that it would double as a recognisable logo at different scales.

Then, there's the logo for Round Table Games (which is... erm... just me, but mighty acorns and all that):

whose green and white segmented circle with red and white centre is based upon the glorious round table in Winchester:

This is my photo - it's such an impressive artwork to visit and stand before

And then, finally for today, is the first piece of character art for the Character Cards (more on them in a future post). It had to be a knight, really, so here you go:

I started with a pencil sketch, inked it a little, scanned and then coloured it. I'm still not sure whether I prefer it coloured or not; the only feedback I've had so far (thanks, JB!) is in favour of the line drawing. I really would appreciate opinions from others as well, so do chime in with your preference below, please.

Right, I'm off to bed to try and stop this 'lurgy in its tracks ahead of classes tomorrow.

Rab