Chris McDowall Author

Chris McDowall is a game designer based in Manchester, creator of the Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland RPGs. He also writes at bastionland.com and produces regular video and podcast content around game design. His games aim to combine minimalist rules with an evocative sense of flavour to create exciting, memorable moments at the table. Helge C. Balzer was born in northern Germany and, as a teenager, made short films, advertising spots, and worked as a storyboard artist. Later, he studied computer animation and concept art at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, going on to work as a matte painter, sculptor, animator, and concept artist for numerous international game productions. Alongside this, Helge has created award-winning short films as a director, production designer, and producer. Today, Helge lives in Germany, working as a freelance illustrator, concept artist, and art director in the entertainment industry for clients such as Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, Black Library, Fantasy Flight Games, Cubicle 7, Paizo, and many, many more.