A few comments to begin with. All images must be black & white or greyscale. We are looking for a variety of styles, sizes and subject materials. The mediums that look best are digital media, oils, pen & ink, watercolor, and mixed media. The art style must be realistic, other styles will be considered on a case by case basis.
Compensation: Gratis. Basically, compensation will be in the form of:
- Published exposure in an RPG.
- Published exposure in a commercial online downloadable e-book.
- Agreement to contact you for further paid work in additional publications, should
this become possible and if you are interested.
- A complimentary copy of the final product.
- Anything else you think might be a good idea that doesn't involve cash I don't have.
- That's all I can offer. Sorry. :-(
If you are interested, please email me.
Cover Art
Description: Must capture the many facets of the game. It should show some of the aliens, perhaps a robot, a vehicle, etc. The PC's should be the center of attention (reflecting the nature of the game). The PC's should feature a variety of strange and exotic SF equipment (but not be walking gadget factories). The whole scene should be an engaging action scene with lots of detail. It needs to capture the imagination and make the view wonder what is going on. This is the first thing new players will see when the look at the rule book and should be engaging and interesting.
Intent: to capture and spark the imagination, and make a potential player want to read the rules and play the game.
Melee Combat
Description: A character cleaving into a robot with a power weapon of some sort. Glowing sparks and electricity can be seen coming from damage to the robot, especially where the character hit. There are other characters around laying covering fire against the rest of the pursuers. This unfortunate robot happened to surprise the group from another direction. Scene should focus on the melee combat at hand.
Intent: to highlight the excitement of melee combat.
Space Combat
Description: A heavily armored spacesuited marine forcefully boarding a hostile starship in space. He might be tearing through the last remnants of an airlock hatch. He wears power armor and carries a heavy weapon. His back mounted maneuver unit is flaring brightly as he maneuvers. He has several partners in the distance.
Intent: to illustrate the Space Marine profession.
EOD (Demolitions) Expert Occupation
Description: A soldier that is trained to employ explosives in tactical situations. He might be blowing up a bridge, or setting a trap in a road to destroy an advancing column of hover tanks. He might also be diffusing an enemy bomb or and mine.
Intent: to illustrate the EOD Expert profession.
Fighter Pilot Occupation
Description: He is walking away from a wicked looking space fighter. He appears to be on the deck of a large ship of some sort, perhaps a spacecarrier.
Intent: to illustrate how cool Fighter Pilots are.
Microbots
Description: These are small robots the size and shape of actual insects. This might be a close up image of a mantis microbot picking through the pieces of another microbot (mantis microbots are repair and recovery units). There are very small gears, cogs, circuit boards, etc. lying all about. The wreckage is of a microbot fly. In the background are large objects to give scale. Perhaps everything is occurring on a desk in an office. There might be the blurred outline of people in the office, perhaps turning to leave. They seem unaware of the diminutive robots.
Intent: to illustrate what microbots are, how small they are, and the fact that they tend to be hard to notice.
Future Life
Description: Some sort of vast image of downtown. Soaring buildings reaching 60-200 kilometers into the sky, with monorail trains running between them, automated taxis move through the road, strange creatures of all types walk the side walks, there should be lots of greenery around, as well as vehicles flying through the air in the distance. Perhaps large floating blimps ala Blade Runner with bill boards on them. Image should be of a very busy, very high tech, very futuristic city. There should be a lot of things in the image, all of which are clamoring for attention.
Intent: to illustrate the chaos and excitement of a big city in the future. The viewer should be able to look at the image for a long time and still find new and different things in it.
Cross Country Travelers
Description: A mixed group of adventurers hiking across country. They are armed, but their weapons are slung or holstered. They carry rucksacks of various styles and sizes, along with other items.
Intent: to illustrate a group hiking cross country.
Encumbered Character
Description: Anything depicting an obviously encumbered character. It could be an scene of a character choosing what to carry, or perhaps ditching a heavy weapon out of ammo, or whatever. Could also be a pose of a character that is encumbered with all kinds of gadgets and weaponry.
Intent: to illustrate the concept of encumbrance, and that the less you carry the more mobile you are.
Grenade Combat
Description: A character that is either throwing or about to throw a grenade, or perhaps firing a large ominous grenade launcher.
Intent: to illustrate grenade combat.
Martial Arts Kick
Description: A character delivering a devastating kick to someone.
Intent: to illustrate a kick melee attack.
Martial Arts Throw
Description: A character executing a throw against someone.
Intent: to illustrate a throw melee maneuver.
Robot Montage
Description: All types of robots from cleaners, to personal robots, to spy robots, combat robots. From wheeled to legs, to rotors to hovercraft and anti-gravity. Can be biped robots, quadruped robots, etc. A big cluster of robots; they can be posed for the image.
Intent: to illustrate the wide variety of robots and design possibilities the robot design system allows.
Super Power Weapon
Description: A character with a Power Linkage in use. He is carrying loads of power systems (a backpack power system, one on each hip hanging from his belt, perhaps bicep or thigh packs as well), and they are all linked together via a network of microthin wires and feed to his nasty rifle that he is aiming at something.
Intent: to illustrate a power linkage device in action.
Projectile Weapons
Description: Any variety of ranged weapons. Can be a pistol, carbine, rifle, heavy weapon, shoulder weapon, etc. Projectile weapons use solid chemical propellants to force a solid projectile out the barrel of the weapon and deliver energy through kinetic shock. Basically, your everyday handgun or rifle.
Intent: to illustrate various types of weapons in the weapon section.
Needle Weapons
Description: Any variety of ranged weapons. Can be a pistol, carbine, rifle, heavy weapon, shoulder weapon, etc. Needle weapons use stored mechanical energy (compressed springs) to launch clusters of small needles out the barrel of the weapon. They damage the target by inflicting numerous cuts (using serated needles) or by injecting drugs (using drugged needles). Needles will penetrate clothing and light armor because they are so thin and will slip between the threads of the fabric.
Intent: to illustrate various types of weapons in the weapon section.
Flechette Weapons
Description: Any variety of ranged weapons. Can be a pistol, carbine, rifle, heavy weapon, shoulder weapon, etc. Flechette weapons use an internal shredder to simultaneously shred small blocks of fibrous high density plastic and shoot it out the barrel towards the target. Flechette weapons are similar to needle weapons, except the projectiles are not uniform, they are larger, do not hold drugs, and are a lot stronger than needles. Flechette weapons will penetrate most fabric based armors very easily and inflict multiple lacerations and puncture wounds to the target.
Intent: to illustrate various types of weapons in the weapon section.
Beam Weapons
Description: Any variety of melee weapons. Can be a pistol, carbine, rifle, heavy weapon, shoulder weapon, etc. There are a variety of beam weapons available, firing everything from protons to laser beams.
Intent: to illustrate various types of weapons in the weapon section.
Energy Melee Weapons
Description: Any variety of ranged weapons. Can be a sword, staff, whip, chain, tun-fa (nightstick), sai, kami, etc. There are a variety of weapons available.
Intent: to illustrate various types of weapons in the weapon section.
Robot Power System
Description: The back of a tracked humanoid robot. Between it's tracks is a large power pack. The power pack is being installed / removed, or perhaps being hooked up for recharging.
Intent: to illustrate a common example of robotic power systems.
Jury-Rigging
Description: A person jury-rigging a robot. The robot's access panel is open. There may be other people around. They are waiting for him to finish. It is out in the open field or one a mountain side. Their vehicle is in the background, it is damaged, but works.
Intent: to illustrate a scenario when a character might attempt to jury-rig an item. Illustration will accompany the jury-rigging rules.
Large Sums of Money
Description: A shot of a mercenary or perhaps a casino of some sort. Something indicating a large amount of money being moved around.
Intent: to illustrate one of the many ways a character can attempt to get large sums of money (typically used when characters express interest in purchasing homes, starships, etc.). This will accompany the section that addresses the issue of getting large sums of money.
Robot Assembly
Description: Could be deep in the heart of a giant robotic manufacturing plant. The robot is being put together, perhaps on an assembly line. Lots of machinery everywhere, not a living sole in site, nor will there ever be.
Intent: to provide and interesting and stimulating illustration for the robot section.
Gun Store
Description: One or two characters in a gun store. They are at the counter, the viewer is behind the characters so all we see is their back. They are clearly adventures and they are talking to the shop keeper. Behind him are all sorts of bizarre weapons on tables, in stands, and on display. There may be a weapon on the counter as well, and weapons in the counter top that is clear.
Intent: to illustrate characters making purchases.
Sample Dice
Description: Image of each kind of die (d4,6,8,10,12 & 20). They should be scattered on a table or something, perhaps in a futuristic setting. The image needs to be a super close-up. Each die should be sitting so it's maximum value is showing.
Intent: to illustrate what each die is, kind of like a visual reference for those that don't know.
Personal Robot
Description: a generic robot built by an individual for a variety of purposes. This one has bipedal legs and two manipulators – no head. It is standing behind it’s owner. Maybe acting as muscle?
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Function Robot
Description: robotic vacuum cleaner, street sweeper, floor buffer, etc. It has a single manipulator and wheels.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Vend-a-Bot
Description: robotic vending machine on wheels
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Security Robot
Description: similar to rent-a-cops. This one has three manipulators, a built in laser rifle and moves on several large wheels. It uses both radar and motion sensors.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Recon Robot
Description: non combat military scout robot. This one uses radar, IR, motion and magnetic scanners. It has four legs and no manipulators. It has a variety of stealth options equipped, such as a dynamic camoflauge hull, holographic screen, video cameras, telephoto lenses, etc.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Warfighter Robot
Description: grunt robot, similar to the BattleDroids of the Trade Federation, but not wimps. These have three legs and two manipulators that have weapons in place of their lower arms. They use IR, UV and radar sensors. The arms each hold a single large rail gun. They mount large power backpacks. They also have a laser uzi mounted discretely on their chest or sensor turret.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Assassin Droid
Description: these robots are spherical. They use IR and olfactory (smell) sensors to track their targets. They float in the air on three small anti-gravity pods. They have no limbs, but have four nasty weapons mounted in them: two different types of energy rifles and twin projectile weapons that fire explosive rounds. They also have protective energy screens.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Siege Unit Robot
Description: large, monstrous, four legged, slow moving, heavily gunned robot. These monsters are super intelligent and self aware, making them one of the most deadly opponents on the battlefield. A single Dragon unit can turn the tide of most battles. The heavy turret carries a long rail cannon and a coaxial support fusion rifle. The right weapon mount carries a support laser rifle and automatic grenade launcher in over/under configuration. The left weapon mount carries a support particle rifle and disruption blazer in a similar configuaration. The dragon also is electro-directive, thus it can direct raw energy from its power supply at targets.
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Service Robot
Description: shaped like one of the sentient species, used as store clerks and valets, personal robots, and the like. This one is shaped like the Meylor species (large land dwelling octopii).
Intent: to illustrate the sample robot provided in the appendix.
Bleeding To Death
Description: A character lying face down in a growing pool of his own blood.
Intent: to illustrate the concept of blood loss and the lethality of combat.
Strobe Grenade
Description: A strobe grenade pulses an extremely bright light (the light is like a strobe light and is blinding). I imagine a strobe grenade going off in the center of a group of people. All around can be seen people attempting to turn away and shield their eyes from the horrific light. Everyone has weapons drawn, some people have dropped their guns. Clearly there was a fire fight in progress here.
Intent: to illustrate the effects of a strobe grenade.
Alien Creature: Snap Dragon
Description: These small (1/2 meter) brightly colored plants attack by lashing out with their barbed, whip-like branches. They have no bite attack.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Man Trap
Description: This large (3 meter) dark green and brown cluster of vines attempts to entangle it’s prey. Once entangled, the vines quickly lacerate and destroy the food. They have no strike attack.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Root Tunneler
Description: These (3/4 meter) burrowing animals tunnel underground near the roots of large trees and eat the fresh root growths and underground moss. A Root Tunneler can burrow underground at a rate of 210 meters per minute.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Bug Zapper
Description: These (1 meter long) animals use an EM field to stun their prey. When frightened, they can direct EM energy at an attacker.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Springpod
Description: These small (2 meter) animals resemble small boulders. They are drymollusks - they live on land and absorbe oxygen through their porous rock-like skin. They have a single powerful muscle on their bottom side which they can use to propell themselves with great force toward prey. They cannot bite, and their muscle is only strong enough for a single damage causing attack per turn, after which their attacks will only Stun a target.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Treedog
Description: These small (1 meter long) omnivores are very curious animals. They scury about almost akwardly on their five pod-like feet, occasionally stopping to use their central pod-foot to pickup or sniff something. Almost never aggressive, they are easily frightened.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Field Snail
Description: These huge (5 meter tall) invertebrae snails crawl across grassy fields eating wild grass and weeds. They are blind and detect everything using their sense of smell. They have a large wide shell that covers most of their body. Only the head is exposed.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Tree Eater
Description: These stocky (4 meter long) four legged herbivores have three rows of large plates on their back for regulating their body temperature. They have very short fur, and a hair tail that reaches to the ground. Their large vertical jaws are multiply hinged to allow them to easily chew on large jungle trees. Their hide is extremely thick and they take ½ damage from physical attacks. Due to their size and bulk, Tree Eaters will never enter or cross water.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Mauler
Description: These (1 meter long) carnivorous animals are covered in long quills and have vicious claws. When cornered or frightened, the animal can shake itself (like a wet dog), which throws off many of it’s small quills in an attempt to wound attackers on either side of it.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Rexmundi
Description: These (10 meter wingspan) large-mouthed carnivore avians hunt the skys and open ground for food. They have a wickedly spiked tail that delivers heavy damage. Their claws are too small to be used as weapons, however their huge mouths have a complex bone and muscle structure that causes anything entering to be shredded to a pulp - necessary because their digestive system is very weak. They can fly between 42 m/t and 63 m/t; when on the ground they can only walk. These flying beasts have hunting grounds that span hundreds of kilometers. It is rumored their tail spikes and saliva are both poisonous, but this has not been confirmed.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Swarm
Description: These “animals” are actually a swarm (2 meter cloud) of biting insects with a collective animal awareness. In combat, they take full damage from area affect weapons (such as flame weapons), and all other weapons deliver only 1 point of damage per die rolled (so a 3d8 weapon would do 3 points). Although their attacks are melee attacks, they cannot be defended against with weapons or martial arts.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Razor Fish
Description: These very small (1/2 meter long) carnivorous fish have a long triple edged thorn on their nose.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Octacrab
Description: These small (1 1/2 meter wide) carnivorous crabs feed on dead and decaying animal matter in the water. They have four legs that end in claws, and four arms that end in claws.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Burnfish
Description: These medium size (2 1/2 meter long) carnivorous fish secrete chemicals through their scales, which burn to the touch.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Seaterror
Description: These giant (12 meter long) carnivorous fish have light and dark blue mottled skin and reign supreme in many oceans. They are fast and fearless and will attempt to eat anything smaller than themselves. Fortunately, they only feed once every nine days.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Soothie
Description: These very small (1/2 meter tall) jelly fish have translucent skin and what appear to be feathers protruding from the top and bottom of their bodies. They travel in schools and emit a powerful hormone that will heal 5 hits of damage to most organic creatures. There is enough hormone to heal once per two days.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Metalimpet
Description: These (3 meter tentacle span) omnivorous fish are a cross between crustacian and cephelopods. They have a bell shaped shell, with three tentacles protruding from the lower open edge. Their mouth is located at the center of the tentacles. They can latch on to almost any surface underwater and will eat algae and some types of oxidized metals.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Trench Crawler
Description: These huge (64 meter long) carnivorous underwater animals always travel in mated pairs. They have a number of small fin-appendages along their sides to aid in movement, and their underside is covered in millions of tiny suction cups. Their mouths consist of several overlapping plates of bone which they use to crush their food into a pulp prior to injestion.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Salt Suckers
Description: These large (32 meter long) fish strain salt from the ocean water using large filters in their mouths. They cannot strike, but they can (every other turn) attempt to catch opponents in their mouths and create a suction that delivers bite damage.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Floater
Description: These huge (12 meter wide) flat carnivorous fish float on the surface of the water and wait for prety to swim below them. Then, they sink down and envelope the prey and rest along the bottom while they digest their food. Floaters are roughly circular in shape, with large slits in the middle and radially along their outer edge. Their underside is coated with microscopic hooks that prevent prety from escaping and also allow the floater the ability to climb rock walls and boat hulls. Floaters are aggressive and can survive out of water for about an hour.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Water Walker
Description: These small (1/2 meter leg span) insects are bright blue and red. They prey on other insects and small fish. They have long toed feet that spread in all directions, allowing them to walk on the surface tension of the water.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Petrodweller
Description: These (2 meter long) omnivorous fish are a sickly yellow color and feed on fish and plants around underwater mining operations. Petrodwellers thrive in poluted waters and will die if moved to cleaner ecosystems.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Sphereworm
Description: A sphereworm grinds up rock and broken shells in its mouth and uses its saliva to create a thick paste that it surrounds itself with. As the sphereworm grows, it continues adding to the sphere and also begins to carve out the inside and redeposits the paste on the outside of its shell to allow it room to grow. Sphereworms cannot attack on any turn they move. (2 meter diameter)
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Seanet
Description: These strange (21 meter diameter) carnivorous fish resemble large floating nets in the water. They are flimsy, extremely strong, and difficult to see. When a fish swims into the a seanet, it gets tangled and cannot escape. The seanet then slowly wraps itself around the fish and spends the next several hours digesting it. (Once a successful Control maneuver is executed, it gets a free bite attack each turn thereafter; seanets do not have strike attacks.) When the seanet opens again, the undigested bones of the fish sink to the ocean floor.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
Alien Creature: Pincerfish
Description: These small (3/4 meter long) fish live in shallow water and use their pincers to cut the underwater plant life into pieces small enough to fit into their mouths. Although menacing looking, they are harmless, even the pincers will do little more than tickle someone bitten by one of these fish.
Intent: to illustrate a sample creature provided in the appendix.
