Movie Night Character Sheet

Here's a link to the character sheet if you want to print out some more copies.

Have fun!

Movie Night!

Now available in print from Lulu!

Please play around with it, take it apart. Get rid of the stuff you don't like.

It's cheap (£3.99), so don't expect the world from it. It's meant to be a bit of fun.

I'll post up links to character sheets and so on later.

Buy it!

Movie Night

I've made a little roleplaying game.

I was a bit bored of running games like D+D and getting bogged down in round after round of combat rolls and the like. Sometimes you just want to tell and experience a story.

So I came up with a basic system for resolving 'scenes' as a whole. I played it with my daughter, Kitty (who's currently 7, but was 6 when we started). She played a classic fantasy game.

The idea behind the game is a simple way to tell cinematic stories. It's presented as being a way to do classic 80s style films like ET, Monster Squad, The Last Starfighter, Gremlins, Goonies and so on, with a little Stranger Things thrown in for good measure, but includes several story ideas, a full adventure and different settings.

One of my friends is a teacher- he managed to get his kids to play it at school (thanks, Baz!). They enjoyed it and ran it on their own.

I put it through some edits and the like following feedback. The intention is that kids and teachers, etc. can access it at any time. I'll keep the pdf freely accessible and the print version low cost.

It's just over 50 pages of printer-friendly layout. A5 with a full colour cover.

I'm just waiting for a proof print to turn up before I release it to the wild.

The art was done in sketchbook (that's my daughter in silhouette by the way). Logos and layout in inkscape then the textures overlaid in photoshop.

Woodland Warriors

I got a chance to do the cover for the new edition of the Woodland Warriors RPG for Beyond Belief Games (brought to you by the visionary Simon Washbourne of Barbarians of Lemuria, etc.) so I jumped at the chance. It was an opportunity to try something different in a fun style (plus, something I could show my daughter that she might like!)

The concept came out pretty full-formed, even down to the colour palette. I wanted to try and catch an 80s Bakshi, Saturday morning kind of vibe, with a hint of Ghibli thrown in.

The foreground was done with solid linework and mostly flats with one overlay layer of dropshadow. The character designs kept simple and distinct so they would work in a cartoon.

I took the bold step of not drawing the background and fully painted it. Which I think worked out ok. I am really please with those clouds.

There ar a couple of layers of noise and blue over the top for a slight accent to the cartoony feel.

I designed the logo- working up from a font in sketchbook by hand and then converting it to a vector in inkscape.

I think it came out pretty well. I sure had a lot of fun doing it!

You can get a hold of a copy of it here.

More Monkey

The Monkey RPG is kickstarting now so here are a few little insights into the character design process for you.

With such an iconic character as Monkey, you are blessed with both limitations and benefits. You can get away with leaving out a lot of detail as the character pretty much speaks for himself, BUT you do have to make sure you get a few essential  'markers' in there.

Here is an early first pass at him (my very first pass isn't here- those were pretty hardcore. Maybe you'll get to see them someday if I do an interpretation of 'Journey to the West'..)

There are also a couple of detail shots and a linework pic. It's important to always try to capture his humour. He should always look like he's planning something. Or amused at the prospect of what he's planning.

On the detail shots you can see that his belt is a kind of 'championship' belt. A bit  Hercules meets WWE(/F). It speaks to his martial aspect and it bears the symbol for immortality.

His big loin cloth (I do like these. Belts and cloths. Too much Conan, I guess?) says simply 'Monkey King'. He's THAT guy. He has his own name on his crotch.

You also get to see the legendary cloud-jumping/stepping slippers here. I decided to keep them pretty simple.

He wears his tiger pelt. It's one of those 'markers' that he just has to have. I made it an off-the-shoulder affair and have the tail on so I can play with it in movement.

And his eyes "are lit as if with the fires of heaven". He's a god, remember. The kind of god that knows stuff. The kind of god that f@cks sh!t up. He needs to look insightful, devious and cheeky all at once at all times.

If we get enough backers I'll share some more stuff with you. But in the meantime; check out the link, back the game and spread the word...

Monkey

Monkey!

The Kickstarter for this RPG is now live!

Check it out, share it about if you can.

Back it and I get to draw more pictures!

MONKEY!

The Exorcist

I am a huge fan of the original Exorcist film. It's one of my all-time top movies.
I love the script, the acting. The fx work was revolutionary. The cinematography is breathtaking.
The sheer effort put into its' production shines through every time.
Plus, I first watched it when I was quite young so it scared the shit out of me.
The cultural and anthropological study of possession in its many forms is one of my specialist chosen subjects, too.
So I was intrigued to see the new TV series of The Exorcist.
And then I was totally blown away by it.
If you haven't seen it: you need to.
And I had to pay my respects in some way, particularly to the two stand-out stars (not to detract from any of the other cast in any way- they are all absolutely amazing!); Hannah Kasulka as Casey Rance and Ben Daniels as Father Marcus. They both have amazing faces for drawing: both of them possess singular qualities which make them quite beautiful.
So here are my two quick tributes. Both done in black and white.
With Casey's I tried to capture the luminous quality, to show her innocence and to show a kind of divine light shining down on her. Her eyes are amazing so I tried to convey the "backlit by stars" quality they have.
Marcus' picture was an attempt to capture the sadness in him. He is a very powerful character but has a fragile core. I love how Ben Daniels is playing him; the depth and nuance he is bringing to the performance is amazing.
The pictures are both done with .5 linework and then a shading layer with airbrush.
Hope you like them.