Addendum to the picture above - I asked the player what the pet name means - assuming 'Sw'gemu' was just a cool, vaguely African-sounding tribal name... but he just told me that it actually stands for 'Star Wars Galaxies EMUlator', a fan-project for continuing to upkeep a famous and much-missed online Star Wars game. My players are too clever by half; there's probably all kinds of little references and 'easter eggs' in the characters but because I'm not a huge EU buff, I don't notice them...

I've been wearing a beard since my early 20s. I was an IT guy at an environmental consulting firm and was a bit self-conscious about looking too young. (And I did used to be mistaken for being younger, I got into the state fair at the under-14 price when I was 19.)

Now I've had a beard for about 15 years and I think I look weird without it. I'm just a beard guy I guess.

Addendum to the picture above - I asked the player what the pet name means - assuming 'Sw'gemu' was just a cool, vaguely African-sounding tribal name... but he just told me that it actually stands for 'Star Wars Galaxies EMUlator', a fan-project for continuing to upkeep a famous and much-missed online Star Wars game. My players are too clever by half; there's probably all kinds of little references and 'easter eggs' in the characters but because I'm not a huge EU buff, I don't notice them...

To be fair I always try and come up with something interesting for a character name. My current gadgetter/droidtech is called Izzy Kinbru, after famous engineer Isumbard Kingdom Brunel.

The day I got out of the Army is the day I stopped shaving. A razor has not touched this face once since 12 Aug 1993, and I have no intention of allowing one to ever touch this face again.

It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s that I started being able to grow a more appreciable amount of facial hair. I started with a goatee, which I was pretty happy with.

After I had spent a year or two with the woman who became my wife, I was told that I needed to have a full beard, and I’ve never gone back to the goatee since.

Sometimes I get more towards the “mountain man” end of the spectrum, mostly because I just haven’t bothered to trim my beard in months. Then my wife finally puts her foot down and insists that I get a trim.

Wait, you were forced to get a full beard by your lady? Mine would probably kill to know what my face looks like nekkid- I havent been (completely) beardless years before we met.

And I have to say, the sensation of generously scratching your beard is only topped by scratching another manly and a lot of times also hairy bodypart.

I shaved my beard once, it was the most shamefull moment in my existence. (and there are lots of shamefull moments to be sure)

I shaved my beard once, it was the most shamefull moment in my existence. (and there are lots of shamefull moments to be sure)

That's like a Dwarf thing that strips you of your honour, or like Samson shaving his hair and losing all his manly powers!

Oh well, it grows back!

Well since this topic is well and truly derailed, I may as well join in.

Like Joe Dirt, my facial hair naturally grows in patches. I couldn't grow a full beard even if I tried (and I have). I can't even grow a complete goatee. The left side refuses to complete so my face ends up looking like a backwards 'C'.

I joke with my wife that I must be a half-elf.

Ok, realtalk here for a moment about art:

My birthday is coming up. I'll be 23 in two weeks, which is lovely. My first ever play-by-post - the game that opened my eyes to probably my favorite RPG playing method - turns 7 months here in a few days, too. So, I was considering buying myself a present: a commissioned piece detailing the whole group. I might even go overboard and do one for the game I just started, seeing as I GM it and all. Obviously, everything depends on money - how much they charge, and how much I have.

There's one major obstacle to this process for me: I've never commissioned a thing in the history of ever, and especially not art. Does anyone have recommendations? Thoughts? Concerns? Totally unrelated questions I might answer?

Ok, realtalk here for a moment about art:

My birthday is coming up. I'll be 23 in two weeks, which is lovely. My first ever play-by-post - the game that opened my eyes to probably my favorite RPG playing method - turns 7 months here in a few days, too. So, I was considering buying myself a present: a commissioned piece detailing the whole group. I might even go overboard and do one for the game I just started, seeing as I GM it and all. Obviously, everything depends on money - how much they charge, and how much I have.

There's one major obstacle to this process for me: I've never commissioned a thing in the history of ever, and especially not art. Does anyone have recommendations? Thoughts? Concerns? Totally unrelated questions I might answer?

Have never done it myself so I can't really recommend a specific artist, but I thought about it more than once too, and looked around a little, but that was quite a while ago.

Most intermediate skilled artists I've seen (on site such as Deviantart) take around 40$ to 60$ for a single full body full color character, but it really depends on the artist.

For a whole group cover art style thing it will probably cost you some more than that depending on the number of characters, background, color-scheme etc etc, but from what I heard something like that is very much a haggling process.

Also even getting a commission from a decent artist may take quite a while.

They usually have waiting lists or "spots" that they open up when they have the time for it and for whoever comes first.

Then the process itself should include some back and forth in terms of communication, ideas, vision, sketches, until both sides are satisfied and the actual piece is produced.

As I said I wasn't actually involved in a commission myself, so take it with a grain of salt, but maybe this can porvide some pointers.

Just seek out artists that you like and look around their platforms if they offer commissions and shoot them a mail.

At the very least the asking is free.

The above is a reasonable explanation of the process I’ve seen artists talk about.

And there are at least one or two artists on this forum who do take commissions, so they can at least explain what their process is.

Odds are, that process probably isn’t too different from most other artists on DeviantArt.

Five years ago, I commissioned art for the folks in my group (the current superhero versions of their long-running PCs) for Christmas presents, from Storn Cook . He's great.

(Though I notice his rates have gone up since then - understandable! It was $45 each then.)

Looks great, coyote6.

So kickgirl, any chance you've got an online gallery or such that plays host to this cool pieces you've posted?

Kinda! I upload Star Wars arts to my Tumblr every once in awhile... as well as my other art stuff (and the occasional dorky pic)

You can check it out here! http://kick-girl.tumblr.com/

I don't want to spam the Forum with 10000 arts, but I have been enjoying drawing fake "comic covers" of our weekly Star Wars adventures. Here's a few I liked! There's more online on the Tumblr too. I never ever get tried of drawing Star Wars stuff hahaha

I like the surreal use of the colours on these pictures.

At any rate, really good stuff! Keep up the good work, Kickgirl.

Since we just gave a print of this to our GM who I know frequents the forums, I can finally show this awesome art we commissioned Tanya Roberts (who did some official Clone Wars art) for. Of course in the session that followed one of the players promptly lost an arm to an Imperial Guard. I present Thranta Clan, the group of emotionally stunted, traumatised former Jedi Younglings who cowpooped their way across the galaxy doing absurd things like stealing an entire Wookiee village out from under an ISB agent's nose or getting a listening post commander to stand down because he was sure we were ISB even after we'd set a rancor on his base and were carving up his men.

In order:

Kiraew, Chiss Pathfinder/Soresu Defender, coos over anything even slightly monsterous, is both lethal with her blasters and the lightsaber hidden in the grip of one of her blasters. Think Kyoshi from Avatar the Last Airbender in terms of personality.

Lin, Human Sage/Seer. Good at fast talking and battle meditation, slowly falling towards the Dark Side through zeolotry and "the Jedi right or wrong" while almost all the other poor traumatised kids are going "The Jedi really screwed up here". Lots of dealings with Hutts.

Draava, Zabrak Ataru Striker/Protector. The Korra to Kiraew's Kyoshi and possibly the least emotionally damaged of the group by stint of being overenthusastic and mostly happy to deal with anything that comes her way. Got proposed to by the lead Nightbrother who wanted her to be the new Nightmother after Prip started sowing discord between him and the surviving Nightsister. Basically did most of the flashy lightsaber duels single-handed.

Amli, Chiss Artisan/Shien Expert. A paranoid genius who basically kept us all alive for 10 years with her Mechanics, Computers and general paranoia. Doesn't really say much but when she does it's usually hilarious. She suggested we rename the ship we just stole from under Imperial noses from The Last Word to The Final Say because it was a nice combination of both a rude hand gesture and plausible deniability.

Prip, Human Shadow/Maurader. Alcoholic Token Evil Teammate, even though his idea of evil was more in line with Crowley from Good Omens. Never got around to having a lightsaber, much prefering his vibroknuckles. The player was exceptionally disappointed when we found out about lightsaber gauntlets with two months to go. The aforementioned limbless one, was prepared to do a Heroic Sacrifice in the grand finale but we managed to keep him alive. Comes up with the most outrageous lies and usually gets away with them (the last one of the campaign was trying to persuade some Inquisitors-in-Training they were really being used for organ harvesting for the Emperor. The roll was a flat 0 Success, 0 Failures with an advantage. We were so close to going out on a high...)

Chal, Seer/Healer. Lovingly described as "a neurotic Wookiee who has an unnerving habit of always sticking her foot in her mouth". Usually quite tightly wound up and managed to have a rather cathartic scream at an Inquisitor in the last session about how "Oh, now you want us to join you? What about 10 years ago in this very place where you sent three shocktroopers to murder us in our beds !" She was a joy to play because she somehow managed to be even more messed up than I am. The excuse "At least she hasn't done a Skywalker-level screw up" was used.

So after watching all this awesome art in the forum and you guys drawing your campaigns i couldn't help myself and try and join the fun.

This is what i came up with, as i haven't touched a drawing instrument for 12 years give or take and i wasn't a great drawer but i am amazed at what i came up with, so that's nice

Hope you like it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3Tal-6qy4DvUEVPQ0ctekpiVnc

(i don't know how to upload images... i am that old, nor do i think i can)

Suma99, love the characters! They definitely look like they belong in a cartoon show. Amli just looks/sounds like she would be my fav to watch hahaha! But they are all just bursting with personality.

Metushelah, digging the pixel art too!! Even in pixel form I can tell Prince Illar has a sweet haircut.

Huh, been away too long and I have an astonishing lack of SFW stuff to share

Although in my absence, they final brought out the Bounty book, so let's say 'hi' to Kandy 'where's my !&^%$£*@# Signature Ability already?! ' Valouri, She's by far the most Always Chaotic Evil member of the group, especially since getting her hands on the artefact she calls the 'Sphere of the Stupid Duck Things I Brutally Slaughtered'. About fifteen years ago, she had a 'Carrie' moment in a top secret base where they were training little girls how to be vicious Jedi killers, and neither Kandy nor the Alliance were ever quite the same again. She's sort of described as the love-child of Deadpool and Harley Quinn, but frankly that doesn't do her justice. Nobody quite knows when the killing sprees will end, but we do know for certain that there's much blood yet to be spilled.

And yes, she's wearing the 'Ventilated Scalene' armour from Knights of the Old Republic. Because, *cough* 'ventilated' *cough*. There's a story to this one, both horrible and touching all at once, in the same place as always.

I don't want to spam the Forum with 10000 arts

But we, on the other hand, absolutely insist that you do.

Your pictures somehow feel like my games play .

And just in case you thought all our games were nothing but wall-to-wall bikini models in ridiculous outfits, here's a new PC who started recently, a kind of Wild West style gunslinger with a troubled past:

(The MarcyVerse; now with 5% less cheesecake!)

The MarcyVerse is the best 'Verse .

Although I'm still waiting to see someone (well, two someones, technically) specific .

But that's really neither here nor there. He looks fun, and since I saw Magnificent Seven the other day, westerns have been on my mind, so he gets extra awesome points!

And just in case you thought all our games were nothing but wall-to-wall bikini models in ridiculous outfits, here's a new PC who started recently, a kind of Wild West style gunslinger with a troubled past:

(The MarcyVerse; now with 5% less cheesecake!)

Yeah... I'm betting from the waist down he's just sporting the Bantha hammock and crocks..

And just in case you thought all our games were nothing but wall-to-wall bikini models in ridiculous outfits, here's a new PC who started recently, a kind of Wild West style gunslinger with a troubled past:

So, how do I get to play in this MarcyVerse of nothing but very NSFW DeviantArt cheesecake models?