News — Janet Aulisio

Why do I love artist Janet Aulisio? There are really too many reasons to count, but it is safe to say her artwork has been a driving inspiration for me since I first saw it in 1990. Now granted, Janet’s work in the genre of fantasy and science fiction goes back well before that to novels and work on periodicals like Asimov’s, but to me it was her work on Shadowrun that captured my heart. Having had the opportunity to work with Janet over the years has always been a blessing, and she’s never disappointed in the way she takes...

Today I’m taking a look at FASA’s Earthdawn Companion. Earlier in the summer I showed some of the art of the Earthdawn core book, and this 162 page supplement, produced in 1994, is just one of a dozen truly inspired books for this game.I remember I used it extensively when I ran a campaign I called ‘Mother’ during the last stages of my college career. The campaign took place during weekend visits with my friends from high school, and in fact the first ever ‘The Week’ of gaming was run almost exclusively with Earthdawn during my last spring break.My girlfriend...

In the beginning, there was Shadowrun… and it was good.  Then, in 1993, FASA created Earthdawn as the semi-precursor to their breakout cyberpunk hit.  Much like the world of Conan reflects an age of Earth long forgotten, Earthdawn filled this same pre-history, which I have to say was infinitely cool considering the story from which Shadowrun was born.  However, somewhere along the line FASA took a turn that would unfortunately doom the game to a moderate hit that fell quickly into mediocrity.  To me, FASA had no concept of its own OGL, and thus failed to realize that the game...

In my continuing series of posts on old Dragon Magazine art, I’m going to be going over Dragon #136.  I’ve owned two copies of this Dragon, not because I particularly loved it, but because fate decided I should have two.  However, that isn’t to say there aren’t some very cool things in #136, as I found when rereading it for this article.  So before I get into the artwork, let me just give gamers a quick rundown of what resources they might enjoy inside. First, you get a great look at gaming cities, with a fantasy city builder by Thomas...

In 1988 I was a junior in high school and if I could lay hands on a Dragon Magazine I was pretty happy about it.  In those days, well before the Internet, you had to get all you advertising info from a magazine, and in the gaming industry that primarily meant Dragon.  It was there that I first saw the cover of Game Designers Workshop’s Space: 1889.  I remember thinking, OMFG, that is one of the coolest things I’d ever seen.  I mean, just the tag line of ‘Science-Fiction Role Playing in a More Civilized Time’ was enough to sell...