Erol Otus: Freaking Gamers Out Since 1976

April 30th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski
To my knowledge, this creature does not appear in any Monster manual, ever. Thank god.

To my knowledge, this creature does not appear in any Monster Manual, ever. Thank god.

Artist Erol Otus’ singular style was an integral part of Dungeons & Dragons in the early years of 1st Edition. Rather than aim for the verisimilitude of a Fields or an Elmore, or the idealized heroes of a Brom or a Frazetta, Otus created surrealist depictions of the fantasy worlds in our imaginations. They bordered on “whimsical,” but usually settled firmly on “weird” with a heady blend of “delightfully creepy.”

Matt Staggs has a great interview with Otus over at Tor.com, which touches on the artist’s style and inspirations, as well as his history with D&D (he’s not a just a painter, he’s a gamer). Incidentally, Matt is overseeing the gaming column for the resurrected Realms of Fantasy Magazine, which is certainly worth some attention. A magazine full of fantasy short stories delivered to my house every month? Sign me up.

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  3. 3D Dungeon Tiles Make Your Campaign Look Freaking Amazing
  4. “Blind Guy Wants To Play”
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Published by Ed Grabianowski on Apr 30, 2009 under RPG | Post your comment now

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2 Responses to “Erol Otus: Freaking Gamers Out Since 1976”

  1. Comment by mordicai
    May 1st, 2009 8:39 AM

    My friend has been talking about this guy all week– synchronicity, huh?

  2. Comment by Billy Gibbs
    January 17th, 2012 10:29 PM

    Ed, as we all know, if you stat it it can be killed. That thing cannot be killed.