Sketches From A Geek A decade long collection of drawings from Star Ships to Hotels

Keith Foster

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Dedications: Charlotte Wachtel, The love of my life

Phillip Barnett, Still my brother

Chris Huff & Family, May the laughter never end

Marcus Hammers, MOTORCYCLE!!!

Haze, My little girl

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Contents: Introduction 5

Weapons and Devices 6

Planetary Vehicles 10

Methods of Transportation 20

Space Vehicles 26

Bases 36

Buildings 43

3D Models 53

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Introduction

How do I begin?

I think we all have a vivid imagination (some more than others). As a race we create or improve on what we see in our daily lives. Thats what sets us apart from all other life forms weve encountered. Chances are that will also cause our eventual downfall, or possibly, our rise from the ashes afterwards.

Throughout high school my own imagination ran rampant. There was no chain or teacher that could curb it, and my grades suffered because of it. The young man that started out as an honor student his freshman year ended up graduated with Cs and a D+.

During my sophomore year I found others with the same talents (Albeit much better at dividing their time between work and play), and they were my introduction into Role Playing. Every morning wed meet in the cafeteria and play a quick round of either Shadowrun or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Although most thought us nerds and called us worse it was more or less a reason to get together and goof off before the turmoil of class began.

The designated leader of that group is still a great friend to this day. Weve been through a lot of thick, a lot of thin, and hes helped me immensely despite the crap Ive dragged him through. In school we used to design new RPGs, ships, adventures, characters All while attending class mind you (sorry Mr. Nett). We even went as far as turning certain board games into role-playing games during sleepovers just to play them out. I can honestly say that most of my innovative moments were with him. He influenced the majority of my high school art during those gaming years.

After graduation, college didnt last long. I could say it was hard but it truly wasnt, I guess I just wasnt really cut out for it. In the end I just didnt want to give those cruel, underpaid community college teachers any more of my time so I quit. I dont want to give young readers any bad ideas, but it was the best thing for me at the time and when I look back I still dont regret it. During this whole period I began programming and 3D editing more and more, all the while drawing less and less.

Its 13 years since my drawing abilities Bloomed (more or less) and I still sketch when I can. I find, these days, that my preference is the computer. Im hoping that the ideas represented in this book can spark the imagination in its readers. Maybe seeing what a young man with no professional art education could do might prove that you can do it as well.

Near each sketch Ive given a short description of it, the year it was created, and/or why I drew it.

So enjoy. I hope that the things that sprung from my head can help you, dear reader. Whether it is with a role-playing game, story, or if you just need something to read in the tub.

Keith M Foster

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Chapter 1

Weapons and Devices

I think everyones dreamt up a weapon here and there, from stunning that annoying guy on the subway to blowing up the local bullys house from space. Im sure you know where Im coming from.

Most of this chapter consists of things Ive created for RPGs or short stories. Most of my team liked to create a special item or two for our characters, something that wasnt in the books to make us unique.

The knife to the right was made for my biggest Shadowrun character, a Were-Leopard named Rex. Looking back I cant figure out why I made it, because most of his opponents carried guns. Besides, by where the blades are located it looks like itd hurt to try and hold it.

I think I named this The Leopard (at least thats the name at the base of the blade. I drew it sometime in 93.

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Jeez, this one gives me flashbacks. This is another weapon I had created for my favorite character. Its a collapsible bow staff that contained a grappling line with two attachments (can anyone say Batman), three tube-shaped grenades at one end, and a medium-sized blade in the other end. As you can tell it also has a wide assortment of buttons in the center to control everything.

I drew this sometime in 92, probably in the spring during school by looking at the kind of paper its on.

Man, it would suck to accidentally push the wrong button at a critical moment. Luckily Rex never used this in any campaign.

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This bow staff actually made it into a few of my short stories. Unlike its predecessor it used magic to alter shape. It didnt have all the bells and whistles, but it didnt need batteries either. As an added bonus it was silent plus small enough not to get in the way during tight situations.

If you look VERY closely you can barely make out Rex holding the various parts. I drew him lightly so it wouldnt take away from the focus of the picture. Unfortunately he didnt scan in well.

I dont have a date on this sketch, but Im guessing it was sometime between 95-96. I think I drew it at home because it was in my very first sketchbook (which I rarely took to school).

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Heres the L-37 Destroyer (I dont remember what the L-37 stands for). I made this for a role-playing game I had created. I liked the design back then even though it seems as though the battery pack would get in the way a lot.

I got the idea for this from the original NES Zapper light gun, and a friend encouraged me to add a laser sight a few months after the initial design in 92.

Every star ship needs torpedoes, right? This was my answer to that question. As any star trek watcher can tell I modified Paramounts design to one more feasible for my universe. This warhead has thrusters on the bottom, top, and sides (they look like indented vents) and a small sensor array on the right side.

The launcher looks like something youd see on a submarine. It uses magnetic propulsion to fling the torpedo out before it can arm and guide itself.

I drew these back in 01 although it doesnt feel that long ago.

Heres the L-38 Destroyer. I made it quite a few years later in 04. Its the same basic design, but I improved on the battery pack and looks.

Im writing a story to envelop most of my Sci-Fi art on my web site called New Empire, and Ive made this weapon standard for the good guys.

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Heres the Big Daddy in terms of planetary defense. I originally made it to destroy asteroids, comets, and the like. But this gun could easily blast through the biggest of my ships, shielded or not (and youll see that they get quite big).

The lower half of this cannon is underground. All thats visible is the control building, the dome (emitter), and the four arms that focus the blast. The aim is only about 7 degrees in any direction, which means thered have to be a lot of them to protect a planet, or even a continent for that matter. It also takes 10 minutes to power up for 1 shot, so whatever its hitting had better be moving slowly or in a straight line.

I drew this in 99 with no specific place to put it; I just thought it was an awesome idea. Ive even posted it on my site as one of my better ideas.

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I barely draw anything thats mundane (like basic objects), but heres a couple that were good enough for me to share.

This is just a computer memory chip that I designed for an RPG I created. It was right before USB drives came out and this was supposed to be the equivalent.

I believe this was drawn around 95.

I call this a portable CAT scan, although it doesnt look very portable and current CAT scans today are probably smaller. Thats a bed at the lower right that slides into the main scanner.

I honestly think I just started doodling this one day without knowing what I wanted it to be. It just turned into a CAT scan towards the end.

I created this in 02.

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Chapter 2

Planetary Vehicles

Heres a Hover Drone I created while goofing off. I never used it for anything. It was just an experiment to see if I could put together a bunch of normal parts to make something neat.

This was made sometime in 95.

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This Chapter consists of mobile vehicles (manned or unmanned) that are restricted to an atmosphere. I never really sketch such things anymore (dont know why), but I have plenty from long ago.

This is a drone I made for Shadowrun. I call it a Drone Tank, although its more of a mobile gun. Its about the size of a large dog and the treads can reconfigure themselves independently in relation to the main body. This enables it to rise up a few feet and handle rough terrain.

The Mobile Tank was perfect for patrolling courtyards or forest areas.

It was drawn in 92.

Heres the W-40 Walker (I dont know why I named it that). Its the first (and weirdest) walking robot Ive ever drawn. I didnt make it for any reason either.

Theres two guns mounted behind the cockpit, one in the rear, and, of course, the set of claws in the front

I drew it back in 92.

Heres a cute little hover car I designed for shadowrun (kinda). I put it in as an option through a fence, but no one ever bought one.

Its a sportster with no weapons or mounting points. I drew it in 95.

I drew this hover tank in class one day. I never had a real place to put it, I guess it was just boredom.

Its equipped with 2 main barrels and three hover units (two in the rear, one in front).

I drew this in 92.

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Ah, another robot. This one is less for fighting and more for working. Its used to assist in cryogenic thawing. I never put this in any game or campaign, because I drew it just for kicks while watching Demolition Man on TV.

I made it in 94.

Heres a bomber I drew in 94. I dont see it as being very maneuverable, but Im sure itd fill a need somewhere.

The only problem I see in the design today is the lack of a tail wing(s).

Heres a giant hover carrier. Its about 9 stories tall and hovers around 20 feet off the ground.

I originally started drawing this as a building, but got the urge to change it half way through.

I drew it around 96.

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Heres an experimental version of what I called a Wave Flyer. It had no wings or hover-type engines; it just stayed aloft by speed alone, took off/landed like a normal airplane, and steered by vectoring its thrust. The two guns in the nose shot small, distorted crescent-shaped blades for slicing through other craft.

I drew this before getting into RPGs in 92. Theres no date or signature and it was outside of my normal sketchpads (It mustve been drawn in class).

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I really like this Hydrofoil. I was going to put it in Shadowrun and might still. It has a few missile launchers in the rear but thats it. It can also fit about 6 people comfortably.

I drew this in 02.

What better way to segway from boats to submarines than to include one thats both.

This is the S-307 (once again I have no idea why I named it that). Its a sub that can convert to a hydrofoil on demand. This sub cant dive nearly as deep as others, but its speed helps it get away from danger. It can also fire up to 10 torpedoes at once or up to 4 missiles while on the surface.

I drew this one in 92.

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Heres a steam-powered sub (I guess nuclear subs kind of fall under that category). I quite doubt this idea would work, but it was a neat concept. I never mention in the schematic what heats the water so let your imagination flow with that.

This is only a small two-seater sub with limited depth range. I drew it sometime in 95.

Heres a giant sub I created in high school. It was a big deal at the time, although I dont remember why, and I cant recall using this for any game or story. This submarine doubles as an aircraft carrier, but only has six torpedo launchers of its own.

I look back now and realize that this is the predecessor of the Torpedo class cruisers (in the Space Vehicles Chapter). The next two pages are dedicated to this sub (I never named it or its class).

I drew this in 92. 17

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Chapter 3

Methods of Transportation

Back in school whenever I designed a ship I ripped off the warp travel method from Star Trek. It wasnt really as much lack of imagination as it was lack of interest in trivial details. Now a days I use a version of slipstream travel I made up myself so I have something to call my own. Ive also used wormholes, space-folding, dimensional travel All of which Ive seen somewhere else.

This section also has a few modes of personal travel (gateways and the like). Sometimes characters in my games cant afford to get on a ship to make it where they want to go (or cant afford it). Once I even made finding a porthole generator the object of one adventure for a few extra points before the actual adventure even began.

Heres a basic thruster that I designed for a cargo ship (its animated in 3D on the Cargo Carrier too, p. 58).

The intake in front is used for atmospheric travel, but closes off when theres no oxygen available and the engine switches to ion-type propulsion.

This isnt that old, I drew it in 04.

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This is a wormhole generator that I never really used in any one game or story. Although I still think it was a good idea.

To the right (with four satellites instead of three) is how it would appear bringing another ship through. The generator is placed in one spot near a planet or station and is too big to be moved frequently.

I never gave it a set range, so theoretically it could open a wormhole to the other side of the universe.

I cant find the date I made this, but it was around 93-94.

The three control satellites perform various functions. I used an energy source that I called Liquid Energy. It was just something I created on the spur of the moment that would never work in real life.

The generator can only be controlled from its end, but can be set with a timer to open again to pull in another ship.

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This is the slipstream drive I created for my newest story. Heres the explanation of it from the story itself:

In order for a ship to create and utilize a Slipstream it must have two specific systems:

A Mass Dampener and a Graviton Generator/Emitter

Both of these systems together make up the Slipstream Drive.

The first step before generating a slipstream is for a ship to reduce its mass. The Mass Dampener generates a field around the ship that lowers its mass in relation to the surrounding universe. The result is a 700-ton vessel only weighing 1 or 2 lbs outside of the field it's generating.

The second step is to actually generate the Slipstream. The Graviton Generator/Emitter does exactly what it says. It creates a vast amount of gravitons and projects them in front of the ship in a "converging pattern". The graviton particles are spun at a tremendous speed when emitted from the ship and are technically Tachyons. This allows them to travel much faster than light (the amount of spin determines the extra speed the particles can achieve). The amount of spin is timed by the systems computer to slow in conjunction with the gravitons convergence with the other gravitons in its area. This mass of bundled gravitons form a ring it front of the ship (the distance ahead depends on the current speed, the ring forms closer when accelerating).

This ring is the strongest source of gravity affecting the ship and surrounding space. It's so strong that it affects light and Aether around it (thinning both inside of the ring); this gives the added bonus of reducing drag for the approaching ship.

By the time the ship enters the graviton ring it is already dispersing (as the gravitons continue on their original path) and the ship has already projected more "rings" ahead of it. As it disperses the gravity that a graviton ring creates quickly dissipates as well. Shortly after the ship passes through a fading ring it disappears completely.

These rings that the ship travels through go by so fast that the observer sees it as a tube (which is called a Slipstream). What little light that a graviton ring gathers at its strongest point is released as it begins to disperse. The color depends on the surrounding area but is usually light blue (the color of the surrounding star light). This gives the Slipstream a wavy, light blue, appearance unless it's near a larger source of light.

In order to exit from Slipstream a ship just has to disengage the graviton emitter. With it's mass still lowered spatial drag will immediately slow it to sub light speed. 22

Ive always loved this device. Its a portal generator for planet hopping. Think of it as a Stargate thats one-sided (just like the wormhole generator). It doesnt have a maximum range, but it is affected by gravity so the user has to plot a course. That course will change because of the movement of planets so the portal cant be held stable for more than a few minutes.

I got the idea for this from both Stargate and Timecop. I liked the way that the characters in Timecop appeared out of thin air, and it also wouldve sucked if I had to place one of these on every planet.

I drew this in 00 and never had a chance to use it, although Id love to.

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Heres an earlier porthole generator (its not compact at all). This one was designed to conform to the shape of a pyramid so it could be concealed inside. The actual portal appeared in thin air at the tip and a large set of stairs led up to it.

While drawing this I didnt have a clue what I wanted it to do (transport through space, time, dimensions), but I later used it in an adventure to get a group off a planet they were stranded on. I made finding it the objective and getting home the reward.

I created this in 98, but I believe the picture on the opposite page was created a few years later.

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