Upcoming Release: GTKG

The Guide to the Known Galaxy will be releasing within the next couple of weeks, and I thought I'd include some preview art and commentary here. I've done all the art myself, working dititally in Corel Photopaint 9.






This first image depicts two of the setting's iconic characters- Cassie Andra Feneris (Crucible) and Steve Mortari (Facade). Originally the focus of the Otherverse when it was a comic, I've decided these two, along with the other two members of their strike-team, the New Power, will pop up often in adventures, in game text and across various Otherverse America releases. It won't always be obvious where you'll see these iconic characters- trying to find all their appearances and peice together their backstory (which is indicitive of Otherverse America as a whole) will be a pretty big part of the line.

Right now, these two are depicted in all their superheroic, post-human glory, and are a pretty damn good example of the kind of Player Characters you can build with the new Lifechain Feats (basically semi-divine superpowers) included in the Guide.






This pretty motherfucker right here is a member of the Stonecutter alien race, who are pretty much THE major galactic power in the setting. Imagine the Dutch East Indies trading company at the height of its power, or an interstellar version of the Spanish Conquistadors, and you've got a pretty good idea of what this species is all about. They're incredily strong, durable and capable of very limited shapeshifting, each member of the species is incredibly wealthy thanks to their well-run, post scarcity economy (something I dearly wish we had right about now) and they're a couple of milleniums higher tech than humanity. There's alot to love about the species, both from a storytelling and a power gaming perspective.

Finally, this last image may not be very worksafe.


Give you some scroll down space.......

A bit more....

That is The Genesis, and he's a God (Capital G) in the best Jack Kirby sense of the word. He's the living incarnation of high technology, innovation and man-as-creator, and because he's a god, he doesn't have to wear pants if he doesn't want to. And he never wants to....

Anyway, that's some images for you guys to mull over.

Talk to you later,

CHRIS

Working hard on the Guide....

Just a quick post. Right now, I'm finishing up Guide to the Known Galaxy, so I'd thought I'd give a status update.

I'm putting together the last few pieces of art for the product, and out of a 170-page manuscript, I've actually laid out about eighty pages or so. I'm just starting on the chapter dealing with Lifechain mutations, which are basically very, very screwed up superpowers which genetically link player characters (and monsters) to the 'epic level' threats of the setting. It's sort of a high tech, superheroic take on Lovecraft or the idea of demi-gods. Kinda cool, and I think you'll all like it.

I'm doing the art myself, and like all my projects I'm using Corel Photopaint 8 to do the art. I picked this program up about five years ago, and I'm comfortable and familiar with it in a way that I'm not with the Adobe graphics programs. I've tried finishing my art in Photoshop and I'm never satisfied with the results, since by now I'm so used to the Corel interface. Anyway, look for some art previews here soon, as well as the actual release pretty quickly.

CHRIS

Third Edition D20 is Still Alive!

Hey, guys, gals and hermaphadites, how's it going?

It's been a busy month for me, both with my civilian job and on the game design front. Psi-Watch released early this month, and seems to be doing fairly well. From the sales I'm hoping that alot of you are enjoying this new take on D20 Modern Psionics. I'd like a little bit more word of mouth on it. Give me some reviews- good, bad or indifferent. I'd like to hear from you guys on what you liked, what you're using in your home campaigns and what to include in future releases.

I'm also releasing a bunch of 3.5 Fantasy stuff. The Thinking Races are a line of revisions to the core races of D&D. The first installment of this standalone series "Diverse Humanity" is up now at all the usual places, and "Core Revisions" with its new takes on Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes will be up soon. I've gone ahead an purchased some absolutely awesome art from Amanda to illustrate the third book in the series, which details the archetypes and races that aren't 'core', but that always manage to find their way into fantasy gaming anyhow: pixies, merfolk, minotaurs, and the like.

Below is the rough sketch for the Sirens player race, which are delicious when pan fried with butter and lemon. Or with beer batter.....



I've got several more Thinking Race PDFs on deck, some of which are waiting for art. In addition, I've got some D20 Modern/Future advanced classes on deck in the tradtion of the work I've done for Marc's D7 Advanced Class Update Line. Also, look for some short, free PDFs mixed in there, as a thankyou for your continued patronage. I'm also working on some support for Black Tokyo, as my best selling product (EVER) I feel that setting definately needs some love.

Right now, I'm focusing very heavily on my own personal universe: Otherverse America. I'm in a wierd place with O.A. it's a setting that's very personal to me, and something I'm passionate about, but I know as a commerical project it is (to put it mildly) a huge risk. I'll be releasing Guide to the Known Galaxy first, probally within a month! I'm doing the art myself, first because it's cheaper and easier, and secondly because this setting is my baby, and I want to do as much as I can on it myself.

I read this Wizard interview with Kaare Andrews a few months back, before Reign premiered. In it, he says that he may not be the best artist, or the best writer, or the best colorist, ect, but since he was doing it all himself, that's something special, something very few other creators can do. That idea of being a self made, one-man-band creator appeals to me alot.

Anyway, talk to you later, and once Guide to the Known Galaxy hits, I'll probally be giving away the original art for it and Psi-Watch. Not quite sure how to go about that, but we'll see.....

CHRIS