Dragonmaster is a straightforward, trick-taking card game with a sword and sorcery theme. What makes it interesting is the spectacular art, which resembles that of another, better known Milton Bradley game from the same year, Dark Tower. Here’s a shot of the different screens in Dark Tower for comparison:
The same talented gent, Bob Pepper, illustrated both games. Pepper is probably most famous for his kaleidoscopic cover art for Forever Changes (1967), one of the greatest rock albums of all time. He also did numerous, ultra-stylized sci-fi/fantasy paperback covers from the late 1960s until the early 1980s, including a series of unforgettable Philip K. Dick covers for DAW. Less well known are his beautiful classical album covers—for Bartok, Schubert, Puccini, Bach. I’ll feature more from Pepper soon.
Once again we see the influence of the psychedelic movement of the 1960s on the fantasy renaissance of 1975 – 1985.
You can read a short interview with Pepper at Well of Souls, a Dark Tower fan site.
UPDATE: See a complete set of Pepper’s Dragonmaster cards here.
(Images via Board Game Geek)
2 Warps to Neptune 
Man, I LOVED this game. I used the crystals as gems in my D&D games back in the day.
I tried to nab one on eBay, but it went for over $50. Boo. Someone I know, however, has scanned all the cards. Hopefully he’ll post them at some point!
I asked for and received this game for Christmas of 1982. I asked for it solely on the basis of the art. I never played the game. I still have it and could get those scans for you if the person you know doesn’t come through for you.
Tom, I would LOVE to feature all of the cards here, or point others to your site if you scan and post them. They’re too beautiful not to share. I can ask my friend if he has any plans to post in the near future…
Give me a few days to dig them up and I’ll get some scans for you. My site deals with my garage and estate sale finds, so unless I come across one of these games, I won’t be using them for my blog.
I have those scans. Is there somewhere I can email them to you? I’d upload them somewhere, but I suspect they would downgrade the quality.
That was quick! My email is 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com. Thanks again, Tom. It’s really cool of you to do this.
This also reminded me of another game I had (have) called “Dungeon”. It was actually made by TSR and was a more board-game friendly version of D&D. My brother and I played that for hours. I had this version: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/424735/dungeon
A classic! The original fantasy board game. So jealous that you still have your games.
Sorry, one more comment. I really wanted “Dark Tower” when I was a kid, but it was so expensive, my parents couldn’t afford it. Back in the 90’s I came across it at a garage sale. It was $5 so I passed on it. I could kick myself.
I must’ve got Dark Tower about 1983, after the price had gone down a bit. It was one of the bigger Christmas presents I’ve received, regardless, in size and in price. (That box is huge!) I don’t even bother to look for it today. I know it’s out of my range.
As a kid, I found a near-new copy of Dragonmaster in a thrift store and snatched it up. I never got three other players together to try the game, but the character names and illustrations were great for D&D inspiration. I never had Dark Tower when I was young but made sure to get a copy as an adult. I still want to figure out a good way to tie these two games together.
Since I figured out Bob Pepper was the artist on both games, I try to pick up books with his illustrations on the covers.
Say, did anyone watch the special all-LEGO episode of the Simpsons and notice the parody of Pepper’s book cover illustration for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Do Minifigs Dream of Electric Sheep?) The sheep emerging from the head is pure Pepper.
Thanks for the comment, Tony. I’m trying to locate Pepper to see if he’s willing to do an interview. Obviously I’m not his only admirer. His “headcase” classical covers are probably my favorite (Discogs lists a good number of them), but the DM cards are damn close, and he’s clearly proud of them.
I did not see that Simpsons episode, but caught the cover here:
https://ca.celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celebrity-news/29-things-you-may-have-missed-in-the–simpsons–lego-episode-115024509.html
Hilarious, and a great find.
I’ve been a huge Philip Jose Farmer fan for most of my life, and until you posted the link, I never even connected the cover artist from my 1st editions of Flesh and Lord Tyger with Dark Tower. Wow, mind blown…
Does anyone remember another board game that used the same kind of interlocking crystals? I remember that it was science fiction based and not fantasy-based and I think it involved space stations. It was also more of a traditional board game than a card game I believe.
I loved dragon master and so did my mom cuz she loved card games and it was something that we could play together.
You are probably thinking of Milton Bradley’s Laser Attack (1978) (looks like an attack on the Death Star). MB later reused the same pieces in The Goonies board game (1985).