Behold below, in all his glory, my Rabbit Monk. His name (I can’t take credit for this wonder) is PETALS BEFORE THE STORM!
I am why the evil doer’s whiskers tremble.
-Petals
I am the stillness before chaos.
I am the one that hops in evil’s way by night.
I am the fury that is silent.
I am PETALS BEFORE THE STORM!
I am aware that I am no museum quality artist (this is why I use a lot of edited photography, cartography, pixel art etc. in my RPG visuals)- but I highly recommend everyone draw a pic of their characters. Even if their art skills can use improvement or they cannot devote much time to the project. Why?
- Some of your fellow players are visual learners – giving them a pic will help you better communicate your intent for the character.
- Drawing a character forces you to ask many questions that may help flesh them out – what do they wear? Why? What do people percieve them as based on how they look? How realistic is this? Do they keep an heirlooms on them? Where did they get them?
- Bad-at-drawing isn’t a permanent status. Even if you are starting with flat geometric figures – soon you will find a style that, even if it isn’t “museum potential” expressess your style in a very unique way.
- In a world where more and more table top games are being done digitally (which I think is somewhat bad – humans need in-person connection, but I digress) a drawing is a way to make your interaction online more personal
- The drawing will serve as a keepsake of the campaign when it ends
- Because, even if you are bad at drawing, doing things your bad at is how we grow.
- Most people draw a little better than they think they do.
. . . If you really want to draw it often there are people in RPG groups that enjoy drawing the campaign’s visuals.
Tips for Drawing from a Newbie Artist with Low Dexterity
- Even if you (IRL) have a bad Dex score, the color wheel offers ways to make many drawings pop.
- Show your character doing something, not just with feet side by side, arms down looking straight ahead. Movement helps any drawing feel more alive
- Using different media for the background and main character can produce some good effects
- Smoke, light, fire, projectiles and odd camera angles are all ways to help create a 3D look (as does the different media for the back ground).
- Certain objects can give you an excuse to not draw hands (at least in detail). Hands are tough. Even 4-fingered cartoon hands
- Use geometry. Petals is basically two pear-shapes with some lines thrown in for flavor.
- ClipStudio and Adobe Fresco are awesome if you have a tablet.
RPG Development Announcements
Martian Muckraker RPG
The Muckraker RPG now has rules-summary cards that are broken out by role. (This is more detailed than the single-index-card game. There is a card for the Galactic Master (either the permenant Galactic Master or the GM for this round), for the Lead Player Character of the round and for the supporting characters of the round.
I also have been to Hawai’i – which means I have a lot of visual resources for rainforest backgrounds. A Muckraker expansion is coming! And some of the new visuals will serve for short stories on this blog.
Will be doing an experiment with my players for the Muckraker Story Telling deck soon – play testing and refining for Muckraker is still ongoing!
Find Rahab
My newest one pager is (yet another) take on Cthulhu. Yes, I am aware that Cthulhu games are a dime-a-dozen now. (I might remake it with my own mythos once the Muckraker expansion is underway) But hear me out:
The Cultists in this game are not facesless monsters. They chose an extremist path because they believe Cthulhu is innevitable. It is your job to show them he isn’t.
Characters each have a specific existential fear and a key value that gives them strength. They must keep their hope and give the entrapped cultists the courage to hope again. Only then will you find Rahab – the key to R’ylehs final destruction.
https://www.reddit.com/r/onepagerpgs/comments/slehfz/find_rahab_a_struggle_against_the_heart_of_cthulhu/
I am not aware of many Lovecraft games that focus on interaction with the enemy cult and place the possibility of redemption front and center.
Yes Rahab is inspired by the biblical woman of the same name (Joshua 2-4, 6), but I will write more on that later.
Current draft of the game can be found here. Will wait for an itch.io until I decide if I want to further expand my own mythos.
Blood in the Night
A made a round of edits to this gritty fantasy stealth-heist RPG mostly focused on ensuring distractors do not become overpowered. More playtests and revisions to come. Game so far has not had a multiperson (as opposed to solitaire) play test, but my players have expressed interest in trying it out.
The Martian Muckraker 