Supers, supers everywhere!
With the release yesterday of the new superhero game ICONS from Adamant Entertainment my superhero fever has reached new heights. I’m getting my copy today after missing out on the pre-order due to some pay-pal woes, but if I had any doubt about the game, all the stellar reviews, and specifically Greywulf’s excellent 10 things to like about the ICONS RPG, cinched the deal for me!
However all this superhero madness has left me with the age olds conundrum, how do I illustrate the supers in my head? Some of you may be artistically inclined, and heck I can use existing art to represent my character, but how do I bring to life the specific superhero, or super villain, I can see so clearly in my mind?
You can go the art commission route, a great way of employing the many talented artists who offer their services. Although I have never contracted his services, I’m particularly fond of Storn Cook, I just love his style and think he captures the feel of supers so well.
But what if you are on a budget? Besides caped stick figures you can try out some of the applications available online that let you create your own superhero. HeroMachine is perhaps the best known, but I’ve never been a fan of the results, but I’ll admit the new version 3 alpha is a great improvement.
Personally I prefer Fábrica de HeroÃs, which I believe translates to Hero Factory! As the name suggests the page is in Portuguese, but it is pretty intuitive, and once you select a body type for your superhero, there is an option on the top of the menu where it says Idioma: to switch all menus to English. It may not be exactly what you want, but with all the different options and permutations, I’ve created over 50 heroes and villains using it. On this post you can see a sample of those creations.
Well that’s all for now. I’d love to know how the rest of you go around illustrating the characters in your superhero games. Looking forward to your comments!
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