More Visual Design Work

Here are a few more character designs. I am really, really digging this approach to the visuals. These are, far and away, the best superhero designs I've done. These evoke everything I like about Batman the Animated Series without simply copying the style wholesale. I have not been able to get this level of design work out of full illustrations I've done of supers, but in this format I can leverage my cartoony style to elicit some cleaner, more iconic designs. I'm really, really pleased with how these pieces are coming out...

Sentinels Revision Wish List

Since I'm at least working on a deluxe edition of Sentinels of Echo City, I thought it was worth asking what people wanted to see in this edition... here are my priorities right now:

1. Merge the absolute power guide into the core rules, and clean up/add to the traits (powers) listings. As it is, it's a pretty substantial list, but there may be a dozen or so powers I can add. Go ahead and send ideas my way. Add anything useful that came out of the various small supplements I published (maybe specific rules for underwater, space, other dimensions...)

2. Clean up the level vs. level modifier thing (see my recent post on the topic).

3. Specific rules for Battle Suits (I'll post about that soon) and maybe a magic system that is more comprehensive and super-heroic and less D+D ish.

4. Flesh out the game world and Echo City more substantially.

5. Give more information for the Game Master and add another layer of meat for those running games.

6. Clean up the language (for example, the overuse of the word 'take' for any modifier in any situation. At least change it to 'suffer' for penalties)...

7. Add some more starter adventures.

8. All of the art in a consistent, iconic style. All of the images will be like these:

I also would like feedback on format. I go back and forth between an 8.5" x 11" book with 2-column pages (probably around 128-144 pages when it's done) or the 6" x 9" 1-column format of the original book (probably closer to 200 pages when it's done). I think if people tend to use print, the larger book is better; if people use devices to read and reference the game, the smaller format with single columns is better. I'm not sure what people would prefer...

Sentinels of Echo City Deluxe has begun...

Let’s talk about level and hit dice

One of the things I notice as I look over the rules for SoEC is the use of Level Modifier. It’s a little bit clunky. I mean, it’s only one mechanic, and it’s easy enough to remember, but why not just have it be level, and cut the level scale in half (going from levels 1 to 6 instead of 1 to 12)? There are a few reasons:

- Level sets hit dice. If you cut level in half, you are effectively cutting hit dice in half as well. That is problematic.

- Level sets attack modifiers for creatures that are not built like supers. A dragon of level 6 should be getting better than +6 to attack.

These are simple enough to solve.

Option one: you set every level as granting 2d6 hit points. This makes level 1 characters more durable (a good thing for supers) and makes each level a bit more significant (since you are earning all of your bonuses every level. That’s nice). It also means that minions and normals have 1d6 hit points, which sets them off well from the superhero population. You can also increase ability points to 2 per level (maybe with a limitation that they cannot both go in the same attribute). NPCs that aren’t built as supers take level x2 as their base attack bonus. The level 6 dragon is attacking at +12.

Option two: you set hit dice based on the size or type of the character, a la Saga of the Splintered Realm:

1d4    Small Creatures

1d6    Medium Creatures, Normal and Exceptional humans (Tony without Iron Man armor)

1d8    Large Creatures; Enhanced humans, standard supers (85% of supers)

1d10    Huge Creatures; Especially hardy or larger supers (The Thing, Superman)

1d12    Giant Creatures (Dragons, Giants, probably Thanos, maybe the Hulk just because)

1d20    Gargantuan (Godzilla, Galactus) or entities (Hela)

You start at level 1 with 2D hit dice, and add 1D of the appropriate type, each level thereafter.

Either way, this is my proposed revised XP progression chart (with the second option HD thrown in):

Level - XP - Hit Dice

1 - 0 XP - 2D

2 - 150 XP - 3D

3 - 500 XP - 4D

4 - 1,500 XP - 5D

5 - 5,000 XP - 6D

6 - 15,000 XP - 7D

This means that Thanos, as a level 6 foe with CON 24 (+9) has 7d12+54 hit points, and he rolls well, so this puts him well over 100 hp, probably close to 125. Eh... maybe he's level 7 or 8, and we cap levels for mortals at 6.

Superhero Design Work

I had a lot of fun designing Cupcake Scouts (which you should totally check out, by the way), especially in terms of some of the visuals of the monster design work. I started playing with silhouettes as the primary way to convey images, and I ended up liking them quite a bit. They end up giving you more iconic interpretations of monsters. Just for fun, I did some of the same stuff for a theoretical second edition of Sentinels of Echo City, and these are the things I knocked out in a few hours... I like it for exactly its archetypal, iconic approach. These are not particular characters: they are iconic sorts of characters, although they also somehow evoke quite a bit. I somehow know a lot about each of them, without knowing anything at all.

An Army Ants Page... Just Because

For some reason, I felt like drawing an Army Ants page for the first time in three years... so I did. What the heck, right? I decided to play with color a little bit. I'm getting more confident and a bit cleaner in using color. My first few dozen tries at color have almost universally been a bit muddy. This is starting to look a little bit sharper...

And no, I don't plan on doing anything with this. It's just a page.

Cupcake Scouts the RPG Now Available

The Cupcake Scouts Song

We are the cupcake scouts

We’re brave and kind and smart

And when a vampire tries to bite

We stab it in the heart.

We are the cupcake scouts

And baking brings us joy

But sometimes we go to graveyards

The undead to destroy.

We are the cupcake scouts

We learn our lessons well

But if a demon rises up

We send it back to Hell!

Cupcake Scouts is a roleplaying game for two or more players. One player takes on the role of the Scoutmaster, the kindly spirit who sends the scouts to slay foul creatures and makes sure that they tuck in their shirts. Other players will take on the roles of cupcake scouts, girls who have joined a troop to make friends, learn how to bake, and drive the dark blight of chaos from this world.

            To play the game, you need this book, a few standard 6-sided dice, pencils, some index cards or paper, and an activate imagination. You should probably have some cupcakes or brownies, too, because those make everything better.

Order your copy now!

My Next Project

I've been working on a project for the last month, keeping it sort of on the down low... I am exceedingly proud of it, and I am excited to share it with you. I will tell a bit more shortly, but here's an image I drew today, an Imp Trickster.

More to come...