Back in the day, Dungeons and Dragons was no stranger to controversy. Besides attracting criticism for it's portrayal of gods, demons and devils, and attendant accusations of encouraging devil worship, there was ongoing concern about the depiction of naked bodies, predominantly those of women.
Those expressions of concern finally precipitated editorial changes at Dragon Magazine, in reaction to angry letters over what was perhaps the best cover of Dragon Magazine ever, that of Issue 114, published in October 1986.
The contents of Issue 114 were in themselves controversial, as Dragon Magazine once again published a revised Witch class.
However, it was David Martin's depiction of a naked Witch on the front cover of Dragon that resulted in a new artwork policy. That new policy was announced in Issue 117, following several months of argument and counter-argument between those who supported the depiction of nakedness in Dungeons and Dragons art and those who opposed it.
The early versions of Dungeons and Dragons were billed as a game for adults. As the game grew in popularity, it garnered more teenage and pre-teen players. It is little surprise, then, that there was heightened sensitivity amongst the staffers of TSR and Dragon Magazine to the issues of nakedness.
The Dragon Editorial staff concluded that the above depiction of a naked Witch crossed the line.
While it is easy for us to disagree with their assessment, we were not in the pressure cooker with the 1980's morality police, they were.