James A. Crabtree is an American artist whose work has appeared in fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related materials.

Career

Jim Crabtree attended the University of California, where he was a member of a game club attended by several other students who would become RPG writers and artists. After graduation, Crabtree's first artistic credit was for the interior art of ''

Hawkmoon ''The History of the Runestaff'' is an omnibus collection of four fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of '' The Jewel in the Skull'', '' The Mad God's Amulet'', '' The Sword of the Dawn'', and '' The Runestaff''. Charting the adventur ...

'' ( Chaosium, 1986). He then worked as an illustrator for TSR, producing black-and-white line drawings for ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' as well as interior art for popular supplements like '' Night Howlers'' (1992), ''

House of Strahd ''House of Strahd'' is an adventure module for the 2nd edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1993. Plot summary In ''House of Strahd'', the player characters are stranded in Barovia, and must brea ...

'' (1993), '' The Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings'' (1994), ''

Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs ''Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs'' is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995. Contents ''Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs'' is part of the "Wanderer's Chronicles" line ...

'' (1995), '' Den of Thieves'' (1996), ''The Illithiad'' (1998), and the second edition of ''Dark Sun''. Crabtree also provided art for several other game companies, including White Wolf ('' The Book of Shadows'', 1993; and ''

Digital Web ''Digital Web'' is a tabletop role-playing game supplement originally published by White Wolf Publishing in February–April 1994 for their game ''Mage: The Ascension''. A second edition, ''Digital Web 2.0'', followed in October 1998. Contents ...

'', 1993); Iron Crown Enterprises ('' Spell Law, 3rd edition'' 1995), and Pinnacle Entertainment Group ('' Deadlands: Hell on Earth'' , 1998; and ''Deadlands Reloaded!'', 2006). Crabtree was featured in a special article in Issue 256 of ''

'' titled "Rogues", which displayed 14 of Crabtree's portraits of rogue-like characters with the note, "When it comes to drawing rogues, Jim Crabtree feels he has an advantage. Many of the characters you see here came from sketches made at conventions and embellished with touches from characters in his own game."

References

External links

* American illustrators Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people) {{D&D-stub