#RPGaDay August 12, 2017
Ah, the counterpart question to August 5 and “Which RPG cover best captures the spirit of the game?” Well, if you look at my answer you will see that I took a minimalist approach there. With regards to interior art, I guess I have to admit I am actually often ambivalent to the art; only if it is REALLY bad do I notice it.
With two exceptions.
Marc Miller’s Traveller (aka Traveller 4) is often criticized for using Chris Foss artwork that many people say as NOT representative of Traveller. I respectfully disagree, Chris Foss is awesome! These days, Ian Stead is the hot Traveller ship illustrator and – as much as I love his work – it still doesn’t capture what Chris Foss does for me.
What actually captures my attention most are the black & white interior drawings not of ships, but of people that were drawn by Chris. Each illustration has some flavor text beneath it that is an adventure seed. Each is inspirational and the start of an adventure. Admittedly, each is minimalist; but Traveller has always been minimalist in my worldview. This is just right.
The second RPG that is the exception is Atomic Robo. I got into Atomic Robo the RPG before I read the comics. After reading the core book, I almost don’t have to read the comics. The interior art uses Atomic Robo and other characters to explain the game so well I occasionally just pick up the game to read the illustrations and not the rules!
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Traveller is always number one for me. I also liked the Chris Foss covers, but saw those images as inspiration and not Traveller ships. Other TTA ships worked better as Traveller ships.
But now there is a new RPG with amazing art. Tales from the Loop RPG.
Interesting perspective; refreshing to see a view that gets beyond the ‘standard’ Traveller ships such as the scout and free trader. ‘Classic’ as they are, I think they limit the CT game a bit too much and having plenty of variety is always useful.
As a kid I liked Chris Foss’ work, but I really didn’t like it in T4. I think the reason fans didn’t like it was simply that they did not look anything like Traveller ships. T4 for was a hard sell for me because of the artwork. Sounds petty, but I was raised on the Keith brothers artwork. Artwork in an rpg rule set is more important that many think as it sets the imagination of the players and refs.