Rob Lazzaretti is an artist whose work has appeared largely as a cartographer for

roleplaying game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s, particularly the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game from TSR.

Biography

Rob Lazzaretti was born and raised in central Illinois. His father was an avid wargamer, and introduced him to role-playing games; while they were at a hobby shop, Lazzaretti discovered the first edition ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

'' books, and as he puts it "was instantly hooked". Lazzaretti was really drawn into the RPG hobby through the game '' Call of Cthulhu'': "In 1984, my father and I went to the

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playin ...

Game Fair in Racine, Wisconsin. There I met

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and later creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game ''Call ...

, and he introduced me to the game. I was really drawn to the imagery." His interest in the visual elements of RPGs led him to consider a career as an artist: "Everybody in my gaming group had me drawing sketches of their characters. In high school, I was the kid drawing all the weird stuff for people I knew, like

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

album covers on the backs of their jackets. Art always seems to win people over, even if they think you're a geek." Lazzaretti went on to study fine art at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, but then switched over to design. Lazaretti worked as an intern at

Game Designers Workshop Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers. History Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding m ...

for a year, helping produce products such as ''

Dark Conspiracy ''Dark Conspiracy'' is a near-future horror role-playing game (RPG) originally written by Lester W. Smith and published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1991. Several newer editions have been published. Setting ''Dark Conspiracy'' is set i ...

'' and ''

Dangerous Journeys ''Dangerous Journeys'' was a roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' system. The game was originally announced as ''Dangerous Dimensions'' but was changed to ''Dangerous Journeys'' in response ...

''. TSR contacted him after seeing his cartography work on ''Dangerous Journeys'', and he took a job with TSR in 1993. He immediately began working on the

Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as dev ...

campaign setting: "It was a big responsibility. I hadn't done posters before, and suddenly I was doing a ton of them. Huge poster-sized maps. I couldn't believe how many there were. SR artistDennis Kauth was kind of my teacher and showed me the ropes." After working on numerous TSR products, Lazzaretti became the Art Director of Cartography for

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

, overseeing the production of maps for all Wizards of the Coast role-playing game products. This work included the ''

Dark•Matter ''Dark•Matter'' is a science fiction / conspiracy theory campaign setting that was originally published in 1999 by Wizards of the Coast as the second campaign setting for the ''Alternity'' role-playing game. It was written by Wolfgang Baur an ...

'' setting for the ''

Alternity ''Alternity'' is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by TSR in 1998. Following the acquisition of TSR by Wizards of the Coast, the game was discontinued in 2000 as part of a broader rationalisation of TSR's business holdings, bu ...

'' game: "I had a blast doing the cartography... I read Wolfgang's initial text and started doing conceptual stuff right away. It didn't even seem like work. I think ''Dark•Matter'' will be one of the best things I've done for years to come." Lazzaretti also helped to create a cohesive look for the core books and dungeon maps for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' third edition.

Works

Rob Lazzaretti worked as an artist on the ''

'' and '' Traveller'' roleplaying games before working largely as a cartographer for many ''Dungeons & Dragons'' products since 1994. He has also worked as a cartographer for other roleplaying game companies such as

Green Ronin Publishing Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games includin ...

and

Paizo Publishing Paizo Inc. (originally Paizo Publishing.) is an American role-playing game publishing company based in Redmond, Washington, best known for the tabletop role-playing game ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder''. The company's name is derived ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzaretti, Rob Game artists Illinois State University alumni Living people Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people)