How do you go about designing your character? Especially when I'm going to commission an artist.I have a general idea of what I'm looking for, but it never feels quite right.How do you know when your character looks the way you want?
>>98330225We are playing games, not writing/drawing gay fanfictions. Sorry wrong board.
>>98330273But this is the Puckee-21 board though? We're here for commission and "worldbuilding" talk.
>>98330275Aw shit sorry.
Vague character designs are a good thing actually, especially if your playing a standard fantasy RPG, your probably going to get a brand new magic sword after raiding a high level dungeon, are you going to commission a art piece every time you get new gear? I don't think so.
>>98330275Slay queen! Show that gamechud we worldbuilders are proud and loud!
>>98330225As long as you are happy with the character and the character thematically fits the fantasy game’s setting. Don’t make your character bright and neon in a setting that is to be dark and gloomy unless the setting permits it.Admittedly bad ideas can work if executed right. Just learn to be able to take criticism of the idea is bad and executed bad. I know I shouldn’t be talking about taking criticism when I say that.As for good design.I heard that keeping things simple in design helps. But it may as well be a tug of war between details and design.I guess try to imagine you’re designing a character to be animated by drawings and not 3d animation so you don’t want to make your top animators work themselves to death because you don’t have Hollywood money to bribe away investigations.
>>98330280Sorry for what?
>>98330225I just imagine it and compare the result with what I've imagined.Alternatively, you can prototype it - get initial version from some cheap/free artist (4chan drawthreads work, although it can be slow), generative AI, or some "doll maker" application such as HoneySelect, and use that as a reference for your final high quality version.
I have a folder where I put character images I find that I don't know the source of but have an aesthetic I find cool. Then I hew as close to it in description as possible. Put another way; I get the reference image first and work backwards to the character from there.
>>98330627>or some "doll maker" application such as HoneySelect, and use that as a reference for your final high quality versionDecent character creators from games like Nioh 2 or BG3 work too
>>98330225I make something that fits the personality of the character and the tone, theme, and time period of the game. Also, stuff I think looks cool.Of course, I draw my own character art so I don't really have a middleman to deal with, but I do draw comms and have done a few pieces for ttrpg character art so generally, my advice would be to be as descriptive as possible if you comm a character. Use lots of references, and give them color swatches for everything to be as accurate as possible.For actual design, just describe what you think sounds cool and fitting for the game and character. For example, picrel is my (only) current D&D 2024* (with a ton of my own homebrew the GM is using) character, a Silver Dragonborn Redemption Paladin of Bahamut. Conveniently Mithral is bluish in color, which means all I had to do was add some white trim and the holy symbol of Bahamut and I had fitting armor for the character. I considered all of that when designing the character. Of course someone devout to Bahamut would wear his colors, wear his symbol, wear armor that plainly represented his deity of worship. That's the sort of stuff. For something less overt, having a charm hanging off the belt or a brooch would be fitting for a character who has faith, but isn't like... a paladin or cleric or other holy class. But it's a small detail that adds a ton of character; it says something about your character, what deity they worship. How they dress. How they carry themselves. That's all stuff to consider.
>>98331632>posting OC on this godforsaken boardMore
>>98331885I'm going to be real with you a lot of my player characters are female or have a female component to them (I play a lot of Digimon digital Adventures, of my current characters two of them are male tamers with female digimon and the other is a female tamer with a female digimon) and I know how this site reacts to any pair of tits these days, let alone a guy who plays female characters, and getting 5000 replies of WOW TRANNIE or FUCKING GOONER or whatever the buzzwords are these days is tiring.I can post the current look for my Perfect Draw character I suppose. I'm playing The Prodigy Playbook (aka the not-kaiba playbook), and leaned hard into being the not-kaiba initially with my guy being rich and terrible at socializing, but he's come around and is ironically probably the most mentally stable PC in the party right now and has pretty much come around on the idea of the power of friendship and what have you. His ace is a big black/purple dragon and the theme is about it bringing about the end of the world, with a bunch of cards centered on being sacrificed to the big man to make him harder to destroy. He's wearing a glove because during the first duel of the "arc", he fought the big bad and lost wearing a shock glove (the gimmick of the bad guy organization is electrocution via battle damage during duels) and tanked it, but didn't fully pass the check to do so and suffered some Baggage tied to it as well as electrical scars on his hand.
>>98332733Might as well add onto this one since there's more art related, for the sake of the GM I did art of his sister, mom, and dad. I've also done art for most of his monster cards, though his Spell cards, Staples, and Artifact cards are basically all edits. One of the monsters I have I didn't do custom art for is just an edit of white stone of legend to be purple too, because it's an egg.Shoved the lot of them into an Imagechest album you can find here: https://imgchest.com/p/9p4noz3o57nTwo of these - Warlock, Devotee - have not been added to the deck. The retrain of Cursed - Cursed of the End, Agony - has also not been added. There is also retrain art for the Heralds I didn't add because they're recolors of Verum Clades and also are not in the deck yet.Also the GM has had to basically let me do retrains because a lot of my cards are under cost for the system's card building or otherwise kind of shit because I didn't know what I was doing at first, but I have a better understanding now.
>>98330225it usually starts with stealing a look or detail from something else, but in addition to that, i find that asking where the character is from and what they do help solidify a look. A former noble wouldn't dress the same as a street rat, yeah? The clothes should also suit their role, like how a straightforward fighting man shouldn't look the same as a magic man. Clothes are also informed by culture, and the mix of time period, climate, and other what have yous. Sometimes you can add stuff just to be cool.
>>98330225I just steal from existing franchises. It's not like the game is making money, no need to worry about copyright.
I refuse to beg to other people or throw away my money, I rather draw my own character myself even if it's a horrible MS paint drawing. It's MY character after all.
myself in fantasy armor > character stolen from pop culture > something original
>>98330225Well, for G A M E purposes you usually start stats-first, or at least with a thought as to what kind of playstyle you want. It'd be weird to play a turbo-aggressive melee mauler who happens to be a wizard, after all, right? Sure, you can play against type somewhat, but fuck's sake don't Orc Wizard it and jack yourself off about your cleverness, an axe with a metal handle and wooden head is unique sure, but also completely fucking awful and useless.Then you choose cool skills, abilities and feats, and you retroactively justify them, and make sure everything feels congruent. If you're gonna have a Fighter take Telekinetic, don't have it be just for some angle-shoot exploit, have it make some fucking sense in the fiction too. It's a bit more natural for like, an Aberrant Mind sorcerer, so there's a shorter way to justification that doesn't require you to make logic into a fucking pretzel.If you're asking for VISUAL designFirst of all, fuck off over to /i/ or /ic/.But second of all, shape language.Square = solid, reliable, enduringTriangle/spiky = intense, unsettling, dynamicRound = friend-shaped, soft, comfortingMake sure the silhouette reflects this, and in general stands out and tells you what the fucking DEAL is with your character. Sword? Outline. Board? Outline. Spells? Some kind of easily-read implement.Use posing, you wouldn't have a warrior shrunk down and skulking as a general rule, that's a rogue thing, I don't make the rules.For colors, don't choose more than 3 mains.Around 50% of one, 20-25% of the next, the remaining of the third, maybe some tiny accents in either a complementary or contrasting color, depending on if you want to draw attention or let the eye rest.Don't choose colors that clash too badly unless there's a reason; black and white go with anything.For stats, 3d6 down the linekthxbye
>>98333338But I don't wanna play you, anon, you're kind of an asshole
>>98333363Actually, I'm the dick and you're the asshole, buddy
>>98330678My brother, I do exactly the same thing. I just save cool shit I find in a character folder and pull from there.
>>98332796Mmm dragon girls
>>98330678That makes more sense for TTRPGs, of course if you want something else that there isn't good artwork for you're fucked
>>98333357Best post ITT desu
>>98333977Look, we have joked so hard about how bad the archetype in universe is, I've talked to the GM and made it canon that to sell more in-archetype cards in-universe, they've started printing waifubait cards. Funny enough, Lady of the End is actually a very good card in his deck. it has a custom effect that counts for 2 tributes which is what the ace needs to get his protection effect (it's a character thing, the character started with a very "might makes right, use anyone you have to for success" mindset imparted by his father and the deck was made to fit that character beat) and has {Followup} which is a core rule effect that lets you play another card. So the combo is Lady > Followup the Ace > tribute lady to empower the ace, go for game.With the right cards in hand I can even get two copies of my ace out with protections for both in one turn. Real fun game by the way, cannot recommend Perfect Draw enough if you can tolerate how loose the rules for it are since it's PBTA.
>>98333357I mostly agree with this post, even if it's harshly worded. I usually make mechanics first, then build the character around that so there's synergy between mechanics and personality and what have you, and since personality feeds into character design (it's best to have a design that clearly reads what the character does and who they are) it helps to have the mechanics down.The shape language stuff is also useful, but keep in mind colors too as was mentioned. Not just a triadic scheme (usually a solid path to take), but consider the hues. Warmer hues tend to impart a sense of energy and restlessness, which implies the character is aggressive and high-energy, cooler hues imply calm and focus which is better for a serious or calm character, and if magic has colors of significance in the setting and you're playing a caster, use metallic hues or neutral colors (Black/brown/white/gray) to pair with the colors of their favored magic in the form of robes.Black *should* be kept to a minimum on a more heroic character however; most often a brighter neutral would suit heroism better. Darker tones are often used to portray evil characters, so if that isn't your goal go for something brighter.
>>98334340Christ I'm tired I've been working in markdown all day working on homebrew stuff over on GM Binder, on pure reflex I used asterisks for italics. Anyway point stands.
>Concept first>Make sure that it's possible given the limitations of the system, if not then adjust>Build a background to fit with the concept>Find or gen a character refIs simple.
>>98330225Be detailed and specific. The artist can't read your mind. Avoid ambiguous descriptors like "vibes" or "mood", or character's intended role in the game. Focus on physical description and give the artist as many details as you can supported by ample reference material, preferably referencing other popular and well established characters.
>>98330225>>98330527>>98330627>>98330678>>98331632>>98332733>>98332816>>98333338I'm going to imagine your special dounutsteal OC as a fat, balding and ugly middle age alcoholic no matter how you desgribe them so your efforts are wasted.
>>98334389Big breasts are very crucial to designing and commissioning characters
>>98334389See, this is like the opposite of what I've heard artists say in this thread
>>98334389>>98334409Shit, thought I was in the drawthread.
>>98334412Yeah, drawthreads work the opposite, the artist wants freedom to interpret core idea of the request in his own way. Commissions are all about having the reference to follow.
>>98334394>desgribeCommon ESL L
>>98330225>How do you go about designing your character? Especially when I'm going to commission an artist.That's the neat thing. You don't! That's the artists job.>How do you know when your character looks the way you want?Again, artist's job.If you wanna commission an artist, I suggest taking these steps (by order of importance, 1st is most important). Not all steps need to be follow but it would be ideal if you do this:1) Find the artist that matches the artstyle you like. It's extremely bad practice to force an artist to work in style they are not known for.2) Come up with the feeling/vibe of the character. Imagine yourself in the room with your character and how would you feel next to him. This is like a baseline personality of your character.3) What is your character doing? Rarely do people just stand around. They are always doing/up to something. Your artwork (unless used for reference material in industry) should be a snapshot of your character in the middle of something.4) Background. Information on characters background can give the artist ideas on what exactly to add in terms of specific items, markings, writings, etc..People tend to think that they have the best idea of how their character should look like. Think of an artists more like lens, rather than a sentient printer. We make an INTERPRETATION of your character. Your vision and artist's vision of your character will never be the same. Also understand that we as artists always have a better picture of an artwork in our head than you. Unless you're an art director, you hire us because either we are better or you want something new, not because you're trying to save time.
>>98334531>People tend to think that they have the best idea of how their character should look likeDepends on the character but if I want something that looks like a FFXI Mithra and the artist gives me full furry, I'm not getting even anywhere near what I wanted
>>98334531>we are betterPic unrelated, right? God that's some awful shit
>>98334537Don't commission a furry artist then? Again artists is a lens. You have a choice of lens but you will never get 100% the exact picture you have in your head.
>98334544
>>98334557I haven't commissioned anything in a decade because I figured I would never get what I wanted
>>98334634That means three things. Either you don't have money for good artists, you can't communicate your vision or your vision is not as clear as you believe it is.
>>98335065>Either you don't have money for good artists, you can't communicate your vision or your vision is not as clear as you believe it is.We're not on discord sweetheart, you don't have to desperately defend every shartist on the internet because you're afraid they'll blacklist you from getting a commission from heshe and xer buttbuddies. You're ignoring the fourth option: the artists he paid didn't actually care about the commission and just phoned it in.
>>98330286FOOL!The progression of the character's gear in the art is part of the fun!
>>98334389>Avoid ambiguous descriptors like "vibes" or "mood", or character's intended role in the gameNot actually good advice.To be clear, this is not the most important detail. All the other things you've suggested after correct, and are things that take higher priority.But listen. I've got a character who's meant to be a charming scoundrel. Whenever I don't bring this up, the commission winds up looking wrong. Facial expressions aren't quite right. The pose is right but the stance is off. The clothes are right but they aren't right.And yet, every time I've said something like "scoundrel. kind of smug" or "smirking jackass" or "han solo type guy", the character looks like he's supposed to.
>>98335119>you don't have to desperately defend every shartist on the internetI think what we consider artists is not the same..>the artists he paid didn't actually care about the commission and just phoned it in.That actually falls into first option. No professional artist does that, which means he paid someone desperate or he wanted something so degenerate that forced him to commission sketchy artists with no reputation.
>>98335291>That actually falls into first option.It doesn't. Not all good artists are professional.
>>98330286>Lycanthrope: The Rape>Satan’s something-or-other>Revenant, Warlock, The Occult>Thai Cuisine
>>98335339But all professional artists are good. I would never commission a hobby artists because they don't have the proof of consistency. The only reason you would commission a hobby artists is to support them, not to expect a good artwork.
>>98335465>But all professional artists are good.No they're not.
>>98335465>The only reason you would commission a hobby artists is to support them, not to expect a good artwork.I can think of a lot of reasons someone might but trying to buy their friendship like a fucking loser is the last one on my list. Have some self-respect.
>>98335503Examples please?>>98335538>Have some self-respect.I know you're a poorfag but there are tons of people who like supporting young artist.
>>98335065Blow it out your assI did like maybe half of them but it just wasn't worth it
>>98335554Dude I don't keep an exhaustive list of artists who suck but somehow are making money.But sure. Yue Wang (aka Sakimichan). Dogshit artist and yet somehow is making a living off of it.
>>98335585>somehow are making money>sakimichan - an artist who draws porn for literally 15 yearsIncredible. Not only have you posted a porn artist, but you posted a porn artist that has been consistent with his work from 2009. I hope I don't have to explain to you how milking coomers works and how you don't need a high quality artwork to milk mentally ill coombrain locusts. And even if we ignore all of that, that dude's art is solid. You can't hate on the guy because he decided to not move past 2010 and keep milking his coomers forever with the same artstyle. If you think he doesn't do good anatomy, shading, background and whatever else and pack it up into something that can is fitting for his target audience (mentally ill coombrains), idk what other proof you need of his professionalism...>>98335579Did you try ai or picking up art yourself then?
>>98335994I don't like AI, I just went to doing what I used to and finding art online and matching the description to that
>>98335994>Not only have you posted a porn artistFirst, Pornography is art. Secondly Yue Wang calls herself a freelance concept artist. Therefore I can judge her based on that. Also, because I feel like it - Wang is a woman. There are photos of her.> And even if we ignore all of that, that dude's art is solid.It's not. When you look at Wang's art that's not following the template of "seasonal anime girl but with big tits, the same face and often very similar posing", it's all kind of bland. I am certain that you posted Dragon Tamed in order to prove that Wang is some great illustrator. She's not. She was, at some point, pretty okay. Had she continued to practice and work on her art, she probably actually would be really good.That is before her stagnation caused her artwork to get actually worse. Speaking of.>You can't hate on the guy because he decided to not move past 2010 and keep milking his coomers forever with the same artstyle.Yes I can for a number of reasons. First, whatever faint praise I have for Wang's work starts to evaporate when she starts working off what I can only call The Template. As she continues to do work off The Template, her art starts getting worse. We can attribute this to many things, but I think the easiest explanation is the best - why bother putting in effort when you can rinse and repeat every month for easy money?But second, even if we consider her as a porn artist only, she has failed to grow along side some of her peers. She started out far ahead of some of them in terms of her ability to render well, and has stayed in the same spot while other artists have grown in skill. If I judge her based on how good her art looks now, she fails. Her art has grown worse oever the years.If I judge her as a porn artist, she fails. She has been stagnant for years, phoning in her work for easy money.If I judge her based on being a concept artist, she fails.
>>98330225I look at the character options the game provides, see if any ideas jump out at me, build a starting character for that idea then ask myself four questions about the character:1. What was he before the game starts?2. Does he have a family, and who are they?3. What is his family's opinion of his adventuring life, and how does that affect him?4. Is he an adventurer/hero/runner because he wants to, and why?
>>98335538>trying to buy their friendship like a fucking losershow me in the post you're replying to where it said that
>>98336086>First, Pornography is artDebatable. I don't like elevating works that exploit our primal needs, because it often fails outside of the context of coombait>it's all kind of blandIt's enough for the coomers and it's better than most coomer art>If I judge her based on how good her art looks now, she fails. Her art has grown worse oever the years.>If I judge her as a porn artist, she fails. She has been stagnant for years, phoning in her work for easy money.>If I judge her based on being a concept artist, she fails.This is where we somewhat agree but her fundamentals are still on a professional level when you compare her with people working in the industry. She has the colours, the shading, the anatomy, mood, render and consistency.The fact that she decided not to move past 2010 and work on her unrealized potential is her choice. Her Template works. It's efficient, standardized, can produce HUGE amount of works (speed is a big factor that you don't mention) on a regular basis and it satisfies the needs of her audience.I have a feeling your standard of a professional are art directors which are like top 10% of the industry and overall applied artists
>>98330225I make My characters androgynous white-haired twinkmen because that's what I am IRL
>>98334394It's fine, aphantasia is a common enough condition. And so is not having an internal dialogue or any sense of imagination. Especially among terminally online types.>Donutsteal OCIt's called a Player Character. For a Tabletop RPG. But you're a nogames faggot, so I don't expect you to understand.
>>98336218NTA, but...>Debatable.No, it really isn't. It requires artistic skill to make good porn, and it can be an outlet for expression. That is all art is.>I don't like elevating works that exploit our primal needs, because it often fails outside of the context of coombaitThat's your own retardation and hangups coming through.
>>98336218>and it's better than most coomer artIt's really not.A consistent problem with their pornography specifically is that it's kind of lifeless. >This is where we somewhat agree but her fundamentals are still on a professional level when you compare her with people working in the industry. Not really. For a professional, she's always been kind of lacking. If we wind back the clock about 15-ish years, I'd say that she was someone who *could* be great. The potential was there.But I really must emphasize this: they have gotten worse. All artist will change over time, but generally speaking if someone does art regularly over the years (especially professionally), they will get better - even if sometimes how someone grows might not be to one's personal taste. Wang is one of the few artists where I can look at their art from years ago, look at their work now, and say that they've gotten demonstrably worse. Their composition is worse, their ability to draw the human form is worse, their work has become less evocative. I don't say this with any joy. I want to live in the reality where Yue Wang never creates a patreon, continues to grow as an artist, and starts getting paid to do actual illustration work. Instead, I live in the reality where potential was squandered, talent was wasted, and she churns out bland anime girl pinups.I say this genuinely: you could replace her with an AI and it'd probably take a few months before anyone noticed.
>>98335165I'm not joking, playing dress up with your character is part of the fun of RPG's
>>98336516>generally speaking if someone does art regularly over the years (especially professionally), they will get betterI disagree. Sadly I can only pull anecdotal evidence so I'd say around 70% of professionals I know become more efficient, but rarely better. Most of them are complacent with the position they hold and the level they are on so they are rarely pressured to improve, and most of them don't have the time or the drive to keep practicing after a 6-10 hour shift of drawing. Promotion is often given for efficiency and teamwork and not strictly improvement in art quality.Wang fits in there quite well except that she is a freelancer that is fine with milking her patrons forever with the same shit.
My go to is video game character makersBasically any MMO will help you make the basic template for your characterMy go to is TORAM cuz its rhe fastest and has a lot of options for hair but i also use FF14 But you can use anythingFuck it boot up dragon ball xenoverse 2 its only like 1 dollar rn
>>98330275Unironically one of the only few instances that puckee's input would be on-topic and relevant considering how much characters he commissions albeit most of commissions are boring and look like AI gens
>>98330225When it comes to the outfit i just look to whatever the aesthetics of the setting look like and work around those. If i know that the setting is far future south america or some shit i look at a traditional side, a futuristic side, and whatever would work well to accentuate the character's impression (based on personality and anything like classes or organizations theyre part of)When it comes to what the characters body type and features like their hair and skin color, i ended up making a 16k expansion to one of my games in part just to justify the random tables that i made.
>>98330911Bg3 characters look ugly as sin in vanilla
>>98342840I never specified vanilla, though I do like vanilla gnomes
>>98342846Modding a game means the game was a turd you needed to polish
>>98342855You are entitled to your wrong opinion but I'm only talking about using it as a character art generator
>>98342855Sometimes developer's vision just doesn't overlap with what players really want.
>>98342855>Every game ever must have every single piece of content ever created ever and cater to everyone ever or else it's A TURDI guess all TTRPGs and VRPGs are turds then.
>>98342855>>98346840Homebrew bros.....
>>98347572... are blight upon of the hobby.
>>98342840Never played it so I don't know which ones are modded or not
>>98350096
>>98347586Reminder that were it not for homebrew of Chainmail, TTRPGs would not exist. Homebrew is the lifeblood of the hobby, it's a mandatory inclusion because no game is perfect except the one you make yourself to suit your own tastes.
>>98336234>white-hairedDamn grandpa. Post asshole.
