The big news goes up front: as of last week, Cavaliers of Mars is in editing (with Dixie Cochran) and art direction (with Mike Chaney)!

The art notes for this book are particularly extensive. We’re building a whole new world, so that means tons of detailed description and reference pictures. A lot of that reference material is for costumes, but a lot of it is also pictures of Martian landscapes and skies. I particularly like the Martian sunset I’ve used for this post.

The core book is organized around making information easily accessible to the GM, and easy for the GM to present to the players. All of our locations feature sets of characters, hazards, and story hooks that can be brought directly into play. Further, they’re numbered, so that you can roll a few six-sided dice and come up with a twist for your evening’s adventure, or even to shake up the middle of a scene in progress.

To supplement this, we have a chapter of GM tools which focus on generating non-player characters and adventures. Today, I’d like to highlight the character generator, which produces all sorts of interesting people, like…

…Green Castlagarda, an idiot prophet from the Tomb Valleys in Chiaro with astrological tattoos (+Resolve, +Descriptor trait), who wants to make their broken heart into unfeeling stone (+Resolve, -From trait), but the injuries they are hiding will kill them unless they get help.

…Prince Ariza, a laconic zealot from Surtur with a necklace of ears (+Resolve, -From trait), who wants to be the best they can be (+Resolve, +Descriptor trait, -Vocation trait) but the injuries they are hiding will kill them unless they get help

…Gorgeous Delirachio, an insightful adept from Noachiq with the appetite of ten hungry Pale Martians (+Resolve), who wants to save their lover’s spirit from the cold hell between the stars (+Resolve, gain “Necroastrology” trait at d8), but their enemies conspire to destroy them, and any close to them.

…Precious Redhand, an addict assassin from the Shanties in Arcadia with haunted eyes (-Resolve, +Vocation trait), who wants the respect of their distant mother (-Resolve, +Descriptor trait, +Vocation trait), but they need trustworthy accomplices.

Want to try it out for yourself? I’ve put together an online version! Click here for the Cavaliers of Mars character generator.

I’ll be back in the new year with more text and art previews. Enjoy the last days of 2016!