Choose Your Own Adventure, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf...some of you may recall these old gamebooks collections back from the eighties.

It was the glorious early days of (Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons, the golden age of Warhammer, of heroic litterature like Conan and Elric, or the horror of Cthulhu.

It was an age undreamed of, before the Internet and modern video gaming...

The most iconic illustrators of this era (to name just a few of them):

John Blanche: the Master, illustrator of the Sorcery series, and iconic artist of the Warhammer universe

Larry Elmore: Illustrator of all things Dungeons & Dragons

Gary Chalk: my personal favourite, his Lone Wolf illustrations are among the best of all time!

Iain McCaig: beside his amazing work on some of the best Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Iain also worked as a designer on some of the most famous movies of that time.

This LoRA will allow you to generate illustrations in the style of these old vintage gamebooks and early role-playing games.

The main features of this unique and very characteristic style of these collections are:

Black and white / ink drawings, with lots of pen-and-ink or pencil work, strong contrast and heavy cross-hatching for depth and texture.
Detailed but rough lines: the illustrations were not always realistic or refined, but always very immersive and full of energy (think of Tim Sell's illustrations for House of Hell).
Dark and dramatic atmosphere: sometimes weird monsters, heroic warriors, claustrophobic dungeons, the illustrations very often displayed unconventional situations or subjects.
Pulp / vintage fantasy aesthetic, typical of that (now) old school heroic fantasy, where the illustrators were free to set new artistic standards.
Dense and dynamic compositions, where characters and creatures are drawn in close-up or mid-action (that orc armed with a flail in Deathtrap Dungeon is still amazing!), with little empty space, packed with detail.

The trigger : CYOA

Generation tips for Flux: you can be more specific in your prompts by adding:

CYOA, a black and white, monochrome illustration in the style of old fantasy gamebooks and vintage fantasy role-playing games.

LoRA strengh: 0.7 to 0.8 give the best results.

For Illustrious, you can add the following keywords:

CYOA, illustration, black and white, monochrome, hatching style, fantasy setting,

LoRA strengh: 0.7 to 0.8 give the best results.

Of course, you can generate some coloful pictures (as some showcased picture show), just feel free to experiment with parameters, prompt, LoRAs.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and any pictures you share in the model gallery.

Gamebook illustration - Illustrious