Tool Talk

Digital drawing I like.

In 2009 I got my first pen tablet. It was a Wacom Bamboo, very small. I loved it so much I upgraded to a Wacom Intuos 4 medium tablet about a year later. I loved that one so much it's still on my desk right now, still in use, still working hard. What a god damn beautiful piece of equipment.

Anyway, prior to going digital I was deeply invested in my art tools. I obsessed over pens and brushes and brush pens and papers. In the 2000s I found that my favorite combination was a mechanical pencil (HB) + PITT brush pen + PITT or Micron .05 pen + Prismacolor markers + Paris Paper for Pens. This was the winning combo on which I drew all of my Pan-Gea art.

I went digital and found it to be so convenient and forgiving I just couldn't bring myself to draw on paper again for years. I mean YEARS. I had a brief period in the 2010s when I was drawing on paper quite a bit, doing stuff for Goodman Games and what-not (they had a no-digital art policy). After that, I switch back and forth but mostly drew digitally. The entirety of GOZR and about 50% of Black Pudding was created using my tablet.

But in late 2022 I suddenly started drawing on paper again. I can't even remember what happened to

Snot slug with Pentel brush.

make me switch. But since then, probably 95% of my art has been done traditionally. Almost all of the art I've created for ZSF (my space fantasy game) is on paper.

In the past week or two I've been sorting all my tools. I have a LOT OF TOOLS. Like, copious numbers of markers, pens, and brush pens. Nibs and brushes. Inks and papers. Some of these had to go away because they were dried out. But others were fine, some just needed a little TLC.

The tools on my desk right now that I'm favoring:

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

PITT Brush Pens

Sailor Profit Brush Pen

And I just revitalized an old fountain pen by Sensa and it has a deliciously smooth line... but it is unreliable as hell. In fact... it stopped working entirely and I can't seem to fix the damn thing.

I picked up a Kuratake brush pen (#50) and it's a dream too. Though, honestly, the line quality isn't any better than the much less expensive Pentel. The main difference is the Kuratake can take an ink converter so you don't have to rely on disposable refills. And it has a metal tube, which feels good.

Kuretake #50 brush pen (not my art or pic).

But I really do love that Sailor Profit brush pen's feel. Though it is a plastic tube, it has the shape and thickness that feels best in my hand. The only issue I have with that one is that the brush tip itself isn't as fine and precise as the Pentel or the Kuratake. It's very strange how much variation there is between these common brush pens, even though, speaking honestly, you can't go wrong with any of them.

Sailor Profit brush pen feels very nice.

In my opinion, if you are interested in trying a brush pen, you absolutely cannot go wrong with a Pentel Pocket Brush. They are very inexpensive and have wonderful tips. However, keep in mind that the Pentel does not take an ink converter. What this means is you'll have to rely on the Pentel ink cartridges.

But there are workarounds. You can refill those empty cartridges using a syringe. There is also a cool tutorial you can find that teaches you how to modify an ink converter to fit into a Pentel body, so you can just use that instead.

An ink converter is just a refillable ink cartridge. Typically you twist the top to suck up ink into the cartridge so you can put it into your pen or brush pen.

A very popular ink converter from Platinum.

Tool Talk

My camera really sucks

I love the Pental Pocket Brush. It is a brush pen, but not like the normal felt-style brush pens such as PITT or Tombow. Instead, the Pentel's tip is "real". That is, it is composed of actual hair-like fibers that come to a point and behave like a real brush. If you've used a synthetic brush (not made of actual animal fibers), then you know what this brush tip is like. It's basically the same.

The Pentel uses little cartridges, so when it runs dry you can just snap a new one in there. The tip is also replaceable, although honestly these tips don't seem to wear out. I'm pretty gentle with my tools, but if you're aggressive perhaps you'll have to replace it eventually.

Being a real brush tip, it is much softer and flexible than regular brush pens. The PITT, for example, has a firmer feel. You have to press a little bit hard to get it to produce a wider stroke. The Pentel will flair from micro-thin to very wide with the slightest pressure. This gives it a nice flowing vibe, like it is dancing along the surface of the paper.

The pigmented ink is typical for brush pens. I don't have any issues with it. The ink goes on dark but may fade a little with erasing, same as PITT, Tombow, Micron, etc. It takes alcohol markers like a champ.

There are some cons, though. Depending on your needs. For example, I actually love the tighter control of a PITT or Tomobow brush pen. Especially a nice, crisp, new PITT. You can't beat 'em. But the PITT's tip is fragile and will very quickly lose it's point and become a stubby blunt tip good only for fat lines and fills.

The Pentel retains its fine point. You can get ultra-thin lines with a careful hand. And, with a quick stroke, you get a nice dry brush effect.

Another great thing about these tools is they are relatively cheap. Last I checked, it was about $15 for the pen and 2 ink cartridges. You can get 12 ink cartridges for about $10. I checked on tips, but can't seem to find them anymore. Maybe they stopped selling them separately. Which is fine... just buy a new pen if necessary.

Hit Point Tracking Bubbles

The more games I run the more I learn about my own needs as a GM. One tool that I started using a few years ago and that has become indispensable to me is the hit point tracker, or hit point bubbles.

I want to say that I saw hit point bubbles many years ago in a module. But I honestly can't remember if that's true or not. I know that the adventures written for BasicFantasy RPG use hit point boxes and it is probable that I picked up the idea when I first started perusing the OSR in 2012 by checking out BFRPG materials. In any case, I used hit point trackers in my first module Howler and in every adventure since. And I use them at the table in any game I run.

The idea is simple. If the monster has 5 hit points you make 5 boxes, bubbles or some other mark. If a PC deals 2 points of damage you check off 2 bubbles. It's fast and easy and you can keep talking while doing it. There's no math involved, no drain on your brain even for a second.

Use a pencil, not a pen. Because trolls heal, right?

Here's an example of some hit point bubbles in one of the one-page dungeons for Black Pudding #1.

The Vexx is vexed!

You can also use the bubbles to remind you of events that might happen as a creature is wounded. Remember the “bloodied” condition from 4e? You can love or hate 4e but this concept is fantastic and truly useful. When a creature's hit points are reduced by 50% (bloodied) something special happens. They go all raging or they run or whatever.

The Vexx is getting scared...

This idea has proven so useful to me I started applying it wherever resource tracking is involved. I used bubbles on my one-shot and con game character sheets to keep track of spells, torches, or whatever else is needed. I didn't use them for PC hit points, but I definitely might start doing that.

Anything that keeps a game flowing and reduces downtime is a win. Ticking off some bubbles, to me, is far less mentally taxing than subtracting or adding numbers.