David Trampier, R.I.P.

[Spookie Monster]

David A. Trampier, the Illustrator Who Defined the Look of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Has Passed Away, 1954-2014

The Southern Illinoisian, the regional paper for Carbondale, Illinois, has listed an obituary for David A. Trampier, the artist responsible for defining the look of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, from the first edition and onwards.



More thoughts here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an old-school roleplayer who wasn't regularly swept into Trampier's world.  His illustrations were the kind that would make you say, "Whoa!  I want to be like that guy!" and "I want to do that!" and "I want to have one of those!" and "I want to go there!" and "I want to fight some of those!"  What the Brothers Hildebrandt were to Middle-earth, what Ralph McQuarrie was to Star Wars, Trampier was to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and through it he influenced roleplaying in general and, indeed, modern fantasy in general.

Farewell, David Trampier, and thank you.

Spel

[Dhi]

Wormy had a lot of fans. During the oughties, fans (especially tabletop gamers) reached out to Trampier, or tracked him down, depending on your perspective. He was interviewed over the phone by, gosh, I forget who now, but I want to say Clark Peterson of Necromancer Games. Trampier was a nice guy and talked some about where his life had gone, and his dream job of driving a cab and being immersed in human stories. He did not want to be associated with D&D, and politely asked that nobody else try to contact him.

I certainly can't speak to his plans to get back into the community, since it was by his intention that nobody within it knew him very well. But I think it would be in the spirit of his wishes to be remembered not as David A. Trampier, D&D Artist, but instead David A. Trampier, Fascinating Human Being.

[Callie Del Noire]

It's a shame.. he had something really NASTY drive him out of the community but I will always remember my first experience with Dragon being his comic and Fineous Fingers.