Our Bookmarks have gone to press

We have been working double time on The Mutant Epoch RPG these past months, and are in the home stretch now. In anticipation of the game's release this October, and making ready for our info-play testing booth at BicCon 2010, we've ordered a huge run of bookmarks. We've decided to use Keeper Kard out of Vancouver for the run of 2500 bookmarks, as I've used them for over a decade in my illustration and design career and have always been very pleased with their prices, service and the quality of the printing. Their turn around time is also excellent. Check them out at: http://www.keeperkard.com/

Since the bookmarks use the the cover of TME's Hub Rules book, we spent a few weeks going back and forth with the back cover blurb, and made a modified version for the back of the bookmarks. Special thanks go out to my editor Ann Silbernagel, my creative associate Bill Frymire, and Mark Lambert over at Trexlin .com http://www.trexlin.com/ for his enormous help and excellent suggestions on the text. We took a lot of Mark's wording and worked it into the copy, so he can expect a free copy of the book in the mail when it comes out!

As you can imagine, I am very excited to send these bookmarks out as the first step in getting the Hub Rules book off to press. As a graphic designer, I've sent many dozens of books to print, and it is always an exciting process, but working on one's own project and sending it to press for the first time has a level of exhilaration and stress to it that is not easily described without first

experiencing it for yourself.

As BigCon looms up at us like some armor and spike encrusted post apocalyptic RV, we've focused less on the preview site, blog and twitter feed and instead are using those hours to get the latest art into the layout, more play testing and more content for the official site. There is so much work yet to be done, and having the hub rules for sale at BigCon is no longer a possibility, but we do want to have a review copy there if humanly possible.

Anyhow, here are the bookmarks, click to enlarge

regards,

Will

Creative Director

Outland Arts

Here there be MONSTERS: Mutant Beasts

The art is arriving faster than we can place it in the layout these days, but we want to get these new images on the blog. Today’s offering includes both animals and humanoids that are destined to both terrify and challenge the player characters.

The Mutant Dog shown here is just one of many possibilities, as each pack or individual offers from the next. Found as both wild or domesticated, these canines are cunning, unpredictable, heavily mutated and relentless predators. One of my favorite PCs was killed by a mutant pit-bull in a narrow passage when the PCs shotgun ran out of ammo.

Moaners, also called rubble zombies are diseased, mutated, nocturnal humanoids who delight in torturing and eating humans, however are known to enslave attractive pure stocks of the opposite gender as mating companions… untie the tire of them or food supplies run low. When I saw the movie I Am Legend, I was thrilled to see a similar specimen come to life.

The Horrlify is of human design, a sort of mutated-reptilian dog thing with a powerful beak and randomly determined cybernetic implants. The few that are still around serve as attack-patrol animals for advanced factions, corporate holdover strongholds, and other technologically advanced groups.

Green Walkers appear to be sickly, diseased humans from a distance, perhaps even moaners, but are actually plants which inhabit the frames of humanoid victims, utilizing their sensory organs, skeletal frame and certain organs while living off the tissues of the host. Slow moving and relentless, these nightmares are disturbing to behold and tricky to dispatch.

Dune Spiders are enormous, fast running inhabitants of the wastelands and streets of ancient metropolises. They have evolved to simply run down and dismember their prey, forgoing the use of web or poison.

More beasties coming shortly!

WM

Got guns?

The art for the Mutant Epoch Hub Rules book is really coming along and we are in the last 90% of it now. Of course in the last blog entry I mentioned the addition of a new PC race and a bunch of skills being added to the book, which will of course mean more art, edits and layout, but we think its worth it.

Today we are offering up a few of the weapon illustrations. Most of these use ink wash over the underlying ink line drawing, followed by some touch ups in Photoshop. While time consuming, this process really makes these weapons stand out. I would love to have a few in small frames to sell or give out as gifts to the many people who have been so supportive of Outland Arts and this project in particular. Maybe a contest giveaway through Excavator Monthly magazine?

Enjoy,

WM

Art Preview: More Typical PA humans for the Mutant Epoch RPG

This week we have added some more art which has recently arrived for insertion into The Mutant Epoch RPG Hub Rules book. Many of these are for the Typical Humans section as were those submitted last week.

We are still hard at proofreading and play testing, doing layout and developing web content for the full website.

Enjoy!
Will