Ian Baggley is perhaps best known in RPG circles for his gorgeous illustrations throughout the first edition of the RPG Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, written by Jeffrey P. Talanian, and published by North Wind Adventures in 2012. Jeff began working with Ian way back when he published his first ASSH adventure, Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent in 2010 (you can also see an earlier form of that adventure in Knockspell #1). I have many favorites among Ian's pieces from the ASSH rulebooks, but among my top selections are "Longboat" featured on the cover of Volume VI: Hyperborean Gazetteer (page 177):
and "The Gate"---which I always think of as the conjuration of Azathoth, given the idiot pipers accompanying the high-priestess at her ceremony (rather than Hastur, as titled in the rulebook on page 219):
I purchased two original pieces of Ian's work over the years he sold them at GaryCon and North Texas RPG Con. The first is "The Gate," above, while the second was created for an adventure that Jeff ran at those conventions and later published (I won't reveal which title the artwork is from, however, to avoid spoilers for the module):
"The Shadow out of Time" is one of my favorite H. P. Lovecraft stories, and I thought that Ian did a fabulous job of capturing the Great Race of Yith in this piece!
Given his ability to bring the monstrous creations of H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith to life, Ian was my first choice to create the cover art for Tales of Peril, and he came through in spaces spades for this piece, which is the back cover art. It depicts one of the key scenes from the titular Maze of Peril novella, in which the heroes battle the servants of Dagon!:
Next time, the front cover!
Allan.
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Allan, you own the physical original of "The Gate"? Wow! That may be my favorite of Ian's work as well. Really a great artist; I've been a fan for years.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent piece, Allan. All the more reason to get the book.
ReplyDelete@Tony R.: yes indeed, it's one of my favorite pieces Ian has done :D
ReplyDelete@MS Tony: thanks :D
Allan.