Cataclysm Cover

This morning I roughed in the cover layout for Doc Stalwart Annual #2: Cataclysm Across the Cosmos. I decided to go ahead and include all of the characters that KS backers had requested for their commissions - it is 19 characters in total, so I was able to fit them into my homage to Mike Zeck's cover to Secret Wars #1. If you're going to swipe a cover design, may as well go for one of the most iconic of all time. 

Stalwart Adventures #1

So... it's been an eventful few days. The bad news is that my white blood cell count crashed because of chemotherapy and I ended up in the hospital for a few days as they work to get me back up to speed. The good news is that I have my computer with me and a lot of time, so I have been able to get work done on Stalwart. I finished Stalwart Phile 2 this morning, and I finished Stalwart Adventures #1 this afternoon. They are posted on DriveThruRPG. They are both PWYW, so head over and grab them. 

Stalwart Phile #2

Stalwart Phile #2 is now available as a PWYW release on DrivethruRPG. If you are a KS backer or a member of the FB group, you already got a link to the pdf. This will pair nicely with issue 3, that will stat out the Great War-era group Freedom's Four, and which will build on the theme of fighting Nazis. Because, again, we punch Nazis in the face. Because maybe we need a reminder of that once in a while. 

Multiple Birds

Well I've had a productive morning! I finally got the inspiration for something that was going to go into the core rules, but I never solved it (and which was suggested by Tony L. originally - who also suggested the letters page)... I wanted to include a 'classic advertisement' somewhere in the book from the early 80s, but never really figured out how to make the page work. However, my Facebook feed in the last week or so has included a bunch of Hostess ads from the early 80s, and I realized that was the sweet spot, and the perfect ad to include. So, I went ahead and created that page... but, I also solved a few problems. I haven't actually drawn many pages of comics in a long time (I did a page for the Core Rules, but I drew that over a year ago now I think)... I didn't have a process in place to create a page. I didn't have any sort of routine. So, I went ahead and created a blank page in paint that was 2000 pixels wide and 3000 pixels tall. Working at 50% size, I did a rough layout/thumbnail. Then I moved to 100% and blocked in some 'pencils'. Then I put in the dialogue. Then working between 200% and 300%, I did the black and white for the whole page. Then I did colors for the whole page. 

And I am very happy with how it turned out. So, here it is... the black and white and color versions. And, I now have a process in place to create the pages for Cataclysm (or any other comic pages I do going forward). The proportions ended up being just right for the various tools I use in Paint. FYI, the whole process took a little over three hours.  

Thinking about tyranny...

I have no idea WHAT contemporary news could have me thinking about Nazis and fascist dictators... but I started to cobble together some villains for my intrepid Freedom's Four to face. I love how these are coming out. I have both original characters and some public domain characters, so I'm thinking that I'll basically have two Stalwart Philes dedicated to Nazis. I mean, it turns out that there are never enough Nazis to punch in the face. Here are two more. I particularly like how Iron Maiden turned out. For Captain Reicher, I just took the public domain Captain Nazi and re-skinned him. I was not comfortable drawing a swastica at all, and I figured that he's a member of the Great Reich, so he needed their symbol on his costume.

Errata for Stalwart '85

A hefty prizeless goes to Rick Hull for bringing these to my attention. Please feel free to send any typos/corrections my way. I don't plan to correct the books (since many of you have physical copies), but for the purpose of being as accurate as possible, here is the list of errata for Stalwart '85:

• Antigen: Evade should be 5 (Tag Evade +1)
• Clockwork Killer: HP should be 13 (12 +1 Tag)
• Emissary: HP should be 30 (Tag HP+2) 
• Lord Wrack: Focus should be 7 (Tag Focus +1)
• Messenger: SP should be 8 (Tag SP +2)
• Typical Javelin Agent: HP should be 12 (no HP tag)
• Javelin Knights: Mind D8 (4); Reflex D8 (4)
• Rochambeau: HP should be 20 (Tag HP +2)
• Blue Sun Boy: Force should be 8 (Power D16), Evade should be 5 (Reflex D10, no tag)
• Earthquake Kid: HP should be 17 (HP +1 Tag)
• Gamma Grrl: Evade should be 5 (no tag)
• Stalwart Sentinel: Focus should be 6; Force should be 7
• Typical T.E.N.D.R.I.L. Agent: Level should be 3, Endure should be 4
• Aria, Daughter of Ancients: Evade should be 4
• Zero, the Final Robot: HP should be 34 (HP +2 Tag)

Stalwart Phile #1

After a few rounds of edits, I think that this is actually correct! You can now get a copy of the Stalwart Phile #1.

I finally stopped trying to be clever and did what I wanted to do originally, which is follow the format for the Marvel Phile from Dragon Magazine back in the day - a short article with 3-6 character stat blocks, and no particular frills. I'm going to alternate between my characters/world in odd-numbered Stalwart Philes, and PD characters in the even-numbered Philes. I'll be posting these with a direct link to the pdf to the FB group and the Kickstarter, but I'll also put these up as a PWYW release on DriveThru in case you feel like tipping and to increase awareness of the game to the larger community.

Thanks!