Upcoming: Battlechangers and Psi-Watch Bestiary

Having a full time job and 48 hours of work each week, minimum means I'm a little less dependent on RPG releases to pay my rent. That means that instead of smaller releases, I can work on bigger, more impressive books- quality over the blind grabbag of quantity. More art, more content, just better overall.

So what's in the pipeline?

Well, Battlechangers: Ironworks is just waiting on the last artwork from Amanda, Vic and Anthony. Than I'll lay it out and put it up on RPGnow. I plan to support it with Battlechangers: Multiverse, later in the year, which will be a big race-specific bestiary, focusing not only on pre-built NPC Battlechangers, but iconic characters from the non-D20 Battlechangers Quick Play RPG, as well as native bio-mechanical beasties. Also expect to see Battlechanger Iconic Characters built with specific settings in mind, like Otherverse America, Black Tokyo, Psi-Watch and Heavy Future. Eventually, probably at the end of the year, I'll recycle all these resources and more, to publish Battlechangers: Generation Two, a comprehensive second edition of the original Quick Play RPG. The mechanics for that are already finished, so e-mail me if you want a playtest packet.

I just sent a copy of Culture of Choice to my artists, so they can pick through it and select their illustrations. What Black Feats did for Black Tokyo, updating all the feats and powers fully to the Pathfinder system, Culture of Choice will do for the Choicer heroes of Otherverse America. I'll do similar sourcebooks (as yet unnamed) for the Lifers and Fed-Gov within the year.

Finally, I'm actively working on a yet-unnamed Psi-Watch Bestiary, which will be similar in size and complexity to the other monster books I've put out this year. That'll take longer. With Black Bestiary and Closed, I had a core of critters to draw upon from previous sourcebooks. I don't have as much material for Psi-Watch, and it takes a while to fill up a 200 page book with stat blocks. Expect this one in a few months.

So what art am I showing you today? A work in progress image of a Tyrakron robot from Battlechangers. I asked Anthony to make the robot look similar to the Bay Decepticons, as I've always wanted a visual distinction between the Tyrakron and Freegear factions. Freegear look very Gen 1, while Tyrakrons look very Bay-formers. Both are awesome, iconic looks, and making your factions visually distinct, as with the Lifers and Choicers in O.A. makes it easier for readers to get a handle on them.

I also asked Anthony to homage this image from Marvel Comics, wherein the Decepticon Straxxus dispenses death to a couple Autobot POWs.

Next up is a very rough sketch of Anthony's cover for the unnamed Psi-Watch monster book. As you can see, I decided to make the setting's Sentinel analouges, the Watchtower mecha the core baddies. Good choice, I think, especially with this awesome cover.

Blessed Be,
CHRIS