UVG 2E - The Bestiary (Patreon)

Dear Heroes,

Greetings once more from the Layout Bunker. Last time I shared a preview of the expanded vehicles & equipment section from UVG 2E, today I give you: the Bestiary.

UVG didn't really have a bestiary, which was ... a bit of a shame, to be honest. To an extent I compensated with the factions section, but it really didn't do justice to some of the weirder creatures, which were left languishing with a blurb in the Glossary and some scattered text.

In the 2E I've consolidated the factions and some of those creatures together in a single chapter, while taking advantage of a relatively system-neutral creature description style that I graciously borrowed (obviously stole) from Skerples' Monster Overhaul (I'm also doing some art on that).

Now, the Bestiary is here for your delectation. Obviously, all the art's not in yet ... I'll get there. Hope you enjoy it, nonetheless!

The Layout Bunker

I'm sorry I haven't shared the Ziggurat Canyons of the Red Plume Soldiers yet - I haven't forgotten - but - simply put - I'm in layout crunch. With paper, production, printers, holidays, logistics, and everything, I've got a hard deadline by when to have the print file assembled if the UVG is to get printed and on sale in something resembling decent time.

Yesterday I got the proofing notes from the editor, and over the next few days, together with the last pieces of art, the UVG is getting reassembled for print. It's ever thus: feels like it should be a simple process, but getting a couple of hundred pieces of art looking just right always takes longer than I planned.

Anyhow, as I've mentioned before - by cutting some character rules and getting some extra pages, I've got the opportunity to make the art bigger. Let's look at some spreads ...

Yep, with more pages, I get to let the art do the talking for some of the shorter locations ... and to restore some art that got cut from the previous print edition.

Some locations, like Way Stone, let me finally share the full art. Yay!

Others are just getting more room to shine. Oh, and new art, too. The dome.

Long Ridge! And, hey, that's a vomish autofac. Be afraid!

The Great Rib - finally, get to print one of my favorite pieces in full size!

So, yeah. That's me, at work in the Layout Bunker. Wake up in the morning, layout for a couple of hours, eat, walk the dog, layout for a couple of hours, eat, walk the dog, layout for a couple of hours, sleep.

It's, frankly, a burnout inducing pace. But - fortunately (or not?) the deadline is soon. Soon you'll get to see if the work was worth it or not.

Synthetic Dream Machine

I still haven't 100% decided how to handle the big Seacat book. I might try and kickstart a special manuscript-edition hardcover print run.

However, I have the manuscript of the short-form rules 80% chiselled out of there.

One thing I can honestly confirm: coming back to the UVG, and playing around with the format ... I am definitely going to work more with the structure and style of the bande dessinée for the rule books.

This will mean more art, less text.

I hope y'all won't mind more art.

Take care, good Heroes, and I hope to have some more nice stuff to share with you next weekend!

Yours, grateful in art and word,

—Luka

PS: Time to share the monthly server link again: https://discord.gg/uBuvwYn4FA