In homage to Joseph Manola’s brilliant post, “If Romantic-Era Artists Ran D&D Campaigns” over at Against the Wicked City:
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898): Gloomy, melancholy, eccentric sort of guy runs a distinctly Biblical-feeling OSR game when he’s not reading Schopenhauer. Insists on running only OD&D because the “old masters” knew best. His worlds can best be described as “the Old Testament on LSD.”
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | Prehistoric dire tortoise lumbers across the landscape |
| 2 | Rapacious sphinx demands answers to riddles lest it devour the characters |
| 3 | Disembodied head sings maddening song |
| 4 | Wandering Cleric (level 1d10) will prophesy characters’ futures |
| 5 | Hydra |
| 6 | Vengeful angel attacks the most morally corrupt character |
Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901): Runs dark, classically-themed hexcrawls full of bizarre interpretations of Greek mythology. There is a sense of exploring a vast, eerie dreamscape filled with vague, mythological figures. Starts with Mazes and Minotaurs, but he eventually switches to Fate and runs very narrative-heavy games with strong allegorical overtones.
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | 3d6 rowdy centaurs have a boisterous brawl that threatens to draw characters in; at the end, everyone still alive gets drunk and has a wonderful party |
| 2 | 2d6 sirens tempt party to suicide |
| 3 | Pirate vessel crewed by 10+1d20 pirates attempts to take characters hostage |
| 4 | 1d4 cyclopes decide to eat the characters |
| 5 | Beautiful maiden or youth chained to a rock as a sacrifice for a coming sea-monster |
| 6 | Medusa |
Félicien Rops (1833-1898): Exemplifies the style of D&D that horrified Christian parents imagined in their most febrile nightmares during the 1980s Satanic moral panic. All but requires his players to create characters with Evil and/or Chaotic alignments. Runs creepy horror games, Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Has a tendency to make players uncomfortable with explicit descriptions.
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | A coven of 2d6 depraved witches conducting unspeakable Black Mass |
| 2 | 1d4 Succubi and/or Incubi, tempt characters into sordid acts of debauchery |
| 3 | Wandering Cleric (level 1d10) dedicated to a profane god and 1d6 cultist followers, probably in the midst of an unpleasant ritual |
| 4 | Vampiric sybarite seeking new blood-donors |
| 5 | Death |
| 6 | Satan |
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851-1913): Originally one of Böcklin’s players. An authoritative DM, he gets really angry when anyone uses violence to solve problems. Most NPCs are druids or ghosts or druidic ghosts, usually naked, usually telling you about your alienation from God, or the nature of injustice. His games are rich tapestries of ideas, where you get experience points for getting closer to cosmic harmony. There’s never any treasure worth taking, and no one is interested in money, anyway. He started with some version of D&D but has house-ruled it beyond all recognition.
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | 2d20 frolicking water elementals urge characters to cast their clothes and worldly possessions into the water |
| 2 | Stern vegetarian ghost lectures characters about the evils of eating “lumps of animal flesh” |
| 3 | Alluring druids demonstrate the artificiality of monogamy, invite characters to join |
| 4 | Elder earth elemental brings forth a bounty of organic vegetables from its body, providing magical healing |
| 5 | A sphinx asks riddles with answers like “peace” and “nature,” alternatively sermonizes about the destructiveness of organized religion |
| 6 | Enigmatic stag crosses your path, stares at characters soulfully |
Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898): Runs two games: an Oriental Adventures game that’s vivid and richly realized but borderline-offensive in its depiction of a monster-haunted mythological Japan, and a very dark Pendragon game where everyone is a fallen knight or a scheming princess or a demented fairy or something and the chivalric code barely conceals our violent, transgressive passions. All treasure dispensed in jewel or clothing form. Develops intricate house-ruled subsystems for disease progression, seduction, and disguising yourself, but ignores or handwaves most of the rules-as-written in the actual books.
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | Sophisticated ghoul lectures characters about art and tries to convince them to let it eat them |
| 2 | Demented magic-user (level 1d10) casts beguiling spells and phantasms |
| 3 | 1d6 diseased revelers, masked, intoxicated |
| 4 | 2d6 sinister fauns play creepy music and follow characters around, serenading them; refuse to stop |
| 5 | Sinister knight/samurai blocks the path, demanding answering to macabre riddle |
| 6 | Coldly furious female fighter (level 1d10) seeks vengeance, utterly destroys anyone impeding her |
Harry Clarke (1889-1931): Sets all of his games in Ravenloft. Constructs excessive, horrifying deathtrap and funhouse dungeons, usually designed by psychopathic wizards/vampires or reclusive weirdos. In any given session there is a high probability of ending up dismembered or buried alive or mind-controlled or just insane. TPKs commonplace.
| Roll 1d6 | Random Encounter |
| 1 | Every surface in the room sprouts poisoned saw-blades |
| 2 | 2d6 diseased zombies, former victims, shamble forth from a crumbling wall |
| 3 | Rug-covered pit trap leads to oubliette, currently occupied by 1d3 ravenous cannibal prisoners |
| 4 | Hallucinatory gas-trap leads to paranoia and amorphous horror |
| 5 | The door to the room seals behind characters, and dirt begins filling the room |
| 6 | Insane vampiric warlock (level 1d10) broods over his library, attended by a demonic servant |
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