DEFIANCE: Game Board Unlocked! (And a slightly silly looking armature)

An update on the tabletop game I'm developing.

Been hard at work doing… well, a lot of things. Between writing The Endless Deep, creating and teaching an in-person course for local novelists, ordering new books (I am SO excited to show you the new Oathbound cover! It’s INCREDIBLE) and applying for more markets, I have had my hands full.

In the middle of all that, I’m still developing Defiance, my tabletop game, an hour here and an hour there. Because I need small, low-stakes projects to work on to take breaks from my big epic projects.

Here is the gameboard. This is a screenshot of the board in Blender, so you can see sort of what it will look like when we’ve got physical copies.

I found a public domain stone tile asset, and with a fair amount of work in GIMP, I modified it to make a pretty cool stone floor. Then, with Krita, I drew snow drifting in through the door.

I think it’s pretty effective, and will be much more effective once I add the other terrain elements and playing pieces.

I added the game’s title and subtitle, and now we’ve got a playmat.

I’ve ordered a proof copy of the board in neoprene, which is the same sort of material mousepads are made out of. It’ll make for a durable gameboard that can be rolled up and unrolled. The manufacturer already shipped me the initial version of the playmat, and it should arrive sometime next week or so.

On the board, you can see a little grey model: that’s the armature for the Giant. :) At the moment, the sculpt for the Giant looks kind of like a cross between a balloon animal and a silly robot. I’ve been working out the rough pose, trying to get the foundation right before I begin sculpting the detail. I think I like the stance, there will be some more work to do on the proportions, perhaps.

Slightly closer look!

I have some folks playtesting, and I’ve already gotten some good feedback. Designing a game has a few things in common with writing a novel, but there are some things that are very different. I may do a writeup on that at some point, unpack some of that learning experience.

But, for now, gotta get back to the other things. I’ll be posting something about the new Oathbound cover soon enough. Because WOW I got a great illustration from the artist I commissioned, she knocked it out of the park, and I think you’re gonna love it.

— Cael