UPDATE: Plus One Exp will have a limited number of copies of Chain×Link at Gen Con! Stop by Booth 449 and be one of the first to get a hold of the game! Drop by the booth on Friday, August 1st at 1:00 PM to have your game signed by me and Andrew!
In anticipation for the release of Chain×Link, my semi-cooperative dungeon-defying RPG, I am covering one aspect of the game’s design and development each week in July. Obtain a copy of the game by subscribing to the RPG Zine Club by Plus One Exp before August or purchasing the game directly from the Plus One Exp store once available.
Meet the Team
Chain×Link (CxL) would not be possible without the evocative art and masterwork layout of Tony Tran and Andrew Beauman. In this post, I interview Tony and Andrew about our collaborative process to develop the visual identity of the world and game.
Throughout the interview, I’ve sprinkled in my own commentary to speak more to the goals and motivations of the project.
Please introduce yourself!
Tony: Hey, name’s Tony Tran—I’m an illustrator/designer from Australia, Melbourne. Lurker of interest circles but mainly got my roots in the TTRPG space. I love experimenting with art styles and mediums. You can find me on … most platforms as @tonytranrpg (Bluesky – Instagram – Mastodon) but also as @mrcattears (No further questions your honor.)
Andrew: Howdy! I’m Andrew Beauman, an illustrator and designer from Western Michigan. I cut my teeth in the metal music scene as a graphic designer and then worked for non-profits and traditional marketing agencies creative directing for the better part of a decade. In recent years, I’ve been coming back home to my illustration roots and redeveloping my style while making TTRPGs both independently and with a creator co-op I’m helping to start. I’m mostly on Bluesky these days and lurking in a handful of TTRPG-centric community discords. You can find my games on itch.io and you can see more upcoming projects from me and other people I work with at Infinite Citadel.
What is your tabletop roleplaying game background? What do you like playing?
Tony: I cut my teeth in D&D—still run one game, but I’ve been running 2E Cairn and enjoy the rules lite aspects. What I “like” would probably be the fantasy setting; it’s a familiar space and biggest baseline I got to draw from, but would love to get into more sci-fi / horror.
Andrew: I started back in the 3.5 D&D/Pathfinder era of the hobby. I dabbled outside of that but my roots are very “trad.” That has taken a lot of un-learning as I’ve explored more story-forward games, or games that don’t utilize the, “Game Master is the prime-driver of the story,” format. These days I’m mostly attracted to smaller zine games and random things on itch.io but also still pull tons of inspiration from games like Microscope by Ben Robbins, The Zone by Raph D’Amico, Band of Blades by Evil Hat, and Mothership by Tuesday Knight Games.
How did you start working on Chain×Link? What drew you to this project?
Tony: Plus One Experience (POE) reached out to me about CxL after Ethan mentioned my style in their discussions. Once I read the pitch and saw the early gameplay, I was immediately hooked. The concept of playing as a unit where proximity creates meaningful constraints really appealed to me, especially with the mechanics Ethan developed. The setting/idea of prisoners navigating a space where forgotten ancient lore has been abused for power; the very same could be the undoing. Harnessing that could reshape their freedom/destiny. That was very inspirational and sold me on it.
Andrew: Ethan and I overlapped through a podcast I had been a part of where we interviewed him about his previous project, PREQUEL, and connected about another game I had worked on that leaned heavily on teamwork mechanics. Then, when this project came around, POE reached out to me on Ethan’s request to see if I was available, and I jumped at the request. It was a perfect fit for my interests. It overlaps with the kinds of games I like to make and Tony’s art made for an exciting new element of collaboration!
Note from Ethan: CxL was produced in partnership with POE and their RPG Zine Club. The RPG Zine Club seeks to platform new TTRPG creators and to give them the resources and support needed to produce their first physical game. It’s a great program that connects you with many writers, designers, illustrators, and layout artists. This video provides information on the RPG Zine Club production and submission process.
The Collaborative Process
What was your design process? What inspired you? How did you hone in on a visual identity to set the game apart?
Tony: Ooooh, with most projects I just begin moodboarding and digesting the document—letting what visions start to shape in my head. I use a tool called Kinopio that helps me organize my chaos and enables me to collaborate with creators easier.
Inspiration came from many things; I have folders and folders of images. More collecting than referencing…but it’s enough to give me a kindling of inspiration to start something drawing and go from there—usually I don’t know how it will turn out until I start.
The identity development was highly collaborative. I started with moodboard images to explore possibilities, but once I began designing, new connections naturally emerged and visual patterns started clicking into place. I’d then check in with everyone to see if the direction felt right—if not, we’d realign and iterate. Since I’m not tied to any particular style, I’m always open to adapting based on the team’s vision.
Andrew: Developing visual identity is about riding lightning. I, for sure, use mood boarding and processes like that, but when I finally get that pinnacle piece that “sings,” then I feel like I can start building. For this project, I think that came around when we got moving on the cover and some of the visual language in the initial spreads for the Reputes. I began working with the illustrations Tony provided and extrapolated symbolism and geometry from them to create a full world that they could inhabit. Each new thing introduced to the visual lore asked questions of its context and why it was there. It’s that visual worldbuilding that guided the process for me.
Note from Ethan: One of the goals for the art style of CxL was to differentiate the game from that of other dark fantasy dungeon-crawling games. CxL is not an “OSR” game typical of that genre as it relies on a different procedure of play. As such, we did not use black and white ink illustrations typically seen in OSR games. Additionally, while I loved the angular style of Mike Mignola, I wanted to avoid this art style as it was already reminiscent of the art in another fantasy revolutionary game, Spire: The City Must Fall.
I assembled a moodboard for Tony with images including some of Tony’s own art and art from Supregiant Games’ Pyre. But in truth, I wasn’t sure what the visual identity of the game and world was yet. To maintain budget, I wanted the art style to be more evocative and “sketchy” rather than refined and painterly. Arriving at an art style that was economical and evocative was probably one of the trickier parts of the process. It required a lot of exploration by Tony. This was partly by design, as I wanted to see how Tony interpreted the text, but also created a longer development period.
Andrew and I discussed layout expectations early in the project. We wanted to prioritize readability, so we avoided illustration-heavy layout like that of MÖRK BORG. I envisioned this game in only three colors: black, white and purple (to represent the magic-enhancing mineral that the Breakers are condemned to mine). We settled on a rough balance of 80% white, 15% black, and 5% purple. I love black and white with tasteful spot color, and Andrew knocked this out of the park. Andrew is skilled as both a layout artist and illustrator, so he was able to take Tony’s illustrations and give them additional spot coloring to enhance the cohesiveness of art and layout.
What was your favorite piece or layout spread that you did for Chain×Link?
Tony: Covers are probably my favorite pieces in most projects, and this one’s no exception. I might be biased, but covers set the entire tone…so there’s something almost leadership-like about that responsibility. My second favorite would be the breakers using their chains to fight a warden. The raw energy and the creative way they weaponised something meant to bind them yet protect them against the forces that put it on them—felt like a powerful message; a bit of tai-chi “softness overcoming hardness”.
Andrew: For me it’s not so much in a single piece as it is in the little details. Tony created a bunch of random little rocks and piles of chains for spot art and things I could scatter throughout. Most notably he came back with these little two-eared bunny characters that were so fascinating. I have no clue what inspired them, but I LOCKED IN on them, and not only did I make more because they look so iconic, but because they felt like a symbol and a parallel to the characters in the book. So as I worked, I started hiding them throughout spreads. Just like the members of your Chain…hiding when they need to, eating only scraps, avoiding oppression, taking care of their own, working within a broken system to survive, and doing so in spite of that system. I fell in love with the little guys and I hope you do too. They’re all over the book. I should probably total up how many are in there. Make it a game for yourself when you’re looking through it!
Advice and Retrospective
Do you have any advice for folks that want to work with illustrators and layout artists in the TTRPG space? What would be helpful for you to know when working on a project? What would you like to know from them?
Tony: Communication is key for team synergy—use a shared channel (we used Discord) and create a shopping list of needed art with ideas/prompts. Having layout and illustration talent collaborate directly makes image creation easier and allows quick scaling. I suggest a 50/50 approach:
- Let the layout person block out text placement first so illustrators know their space and can adjust compositions accordingly.
- Also create some sizes based on inspiration/shopping list that could benefit the game/layout. This way both perspectives are covered—contributions are open and balanced.
Andrew: “Layout” is complicated to give advice for. I’m still figuring out what it means to collaborate with others and how to communicate about it. It really comes down to communication, compensation and personal investment. I offer illustration AND layout and often have to gauge what someone is looking for when they ask for “layout.” Often they’re talking about something like MÖRK BORG, which is akin to a full art book, vs. something more templatized and simply text layout with clean headers. So the first thing is to be clear about what you’re looking for and what you’re able to pay for, because the former is far pricier or requires a larger personal investment from the artist you’re collaborating with.
Note from Ethan: There was a lot of back and forth between the three of us as Tony shared his explorations. Once Andrew started layout, we were able to identify parts of the game that required additional spot art or additional detail on certain illustrations. Tony requested a small list of potential spot art illustration pieces from me, and he was able to quickly churn out a few for Andrew to play with. This part of the layout was highly collaborative, as Andrew would iterate on layout and share his work. This would in turn inspire Tony to make a few tweaks so that the illustration would fit the space. This was most evident in the design of the front and back cover.
Since we were such a small team, I wanted to start the conversation between illustrator and layout artist as early as possible. In many ways, all three of us wore the hat of “art director” at different points of the process. I firmly believe our final result would not be possible without the collaborative and iterative nature of our design process.
Anything else you’d like to say? It can be about Chain×Link, the design process, teamwork and communication, or TTRPG art/layout in general.
Tony: The CxL process was excellent. The tri-chat was highly collaborative, and Ethan embraced the worldbuilding process, making it fun to expand ideas together. Andrew did stellar layout work, adapting my pieces. I only provided color for the cover—all interior art was black and white. Seeing the final layout with Andrew’s color work was a pleasant surprise that really elevated the project.
Andrew: This was an incredible collaboration. Tony hit it right on the head. I loved being able to trust the other team members to own their part and then come together to genuinely elevate each other’s work. This book turned out so much better than I could’ve hoped and that’s largely in part to what happens when you work with other skilled artists that pull the best out of you.
Concluding Thoughts
Chain×Link would not be possible without Tony and Andrew’s work and enthusiasm for the game. Multiple times throughout the project, we all praised each other’s contribution, and how those contributions inspired our own, elevating the entire project. I firmly believe that a game is not just the game design and writing, but very much the art and layout design as well. All of these things come together to create something that attracts a passerby and convinces them to purchase the game, read the game, and play the game. All of these things influence how the game is interpreted. I am truly proud of the game we put together. I hope you enjoy the game as much as we enjoyed making it!