The last month I've been deep in Maya and Zbrush with character crafting. My original inspiration was a character I had drawn up for Dungeons and Dragons with friends, but despite having a rather short life (dying twice in quick succession to a blast of light from a much more powerful magician), he made impression enough that I have fond memories of my experience with him.
So, with such an impression I drafted him as the first for possibly a whole line of such characters, and a showcase for anyone who might like a similar result.for their own player characters. Posable, usable in animations and quite possibly a source for 3D printing if the setup is right.
Magic users have had quite a compelling allure to them - masters of mystic arts, scholars and academics who shape reality. This talent, and a lack of armour for their class gives the opportunity to make them one of the more casually-dressed character types in games of D&D. Other classes certainly have a style, but one way I find magic users fun is how they can bring court style and artisan outfitting to an adventure.
For this particular character, this connection to courts was key to his design as the background for him was of an aristocratic family in decline. This particular member of the ruling classes, who I called Varthen, took to travelling the countryside after becoming an adult. Funding his travels with money made performing tricks which come innately to him at various villages with the occasional performance in a town pub. As well perhaps as other services that come from magical ability coming naturally to him or having a formal education.
These two factors: A noble background and a life on the road, created a character who was of privileged status but lived with few of the trappings. While I could have taken the angle of just a few trinkets to show his wealth, such as a signet ring or a necklace, I thought he'd go a little more flamboyant. Namely he would still be in touch with the fashions at court, and underneath a (relatively) simple coat would be a silver-threaded blue velvet doublet, linen shirts and silvered leather boots. Underneath a simple overcoat is a man of proud upbringing, who could weave his way through the royal circles if he so wished.
He's not fully human, more a half-elf. While this does make him rather Eldar-esque, elves in the D&D settings are often far more fairy-like than Lord of the Rings. Half-elves have often been described as a miawy point between human and elven beauty, so a half-human-half-elf is more along the lines of a handsome or beautiful human with somewhat pointy ears. To an elf, they'd look ugly with rather puny ears.
Most importantly it was really fun to design his outfit, particularly the designs of silver and padding on his luxurious buttoned doublet.
The other fun thing was learning tricks to rig up large pieces of fabric in the absence of ncloth programs. Varthen has two arrangements to make this work: The lower half of his coat has a grid of controls that link to nine different chains of bones while his half-cape is controlled by a single chain of bones much like a tendril coming from his shoulder.
There was a lot more work than I initially thought but that is part of the learning process. Some of the most fun things to work on were his hair, eyes (which are rigged with a blendshape to dilate), the pattern on his doublet and getting familiar with the rivet tool. Which I've found can be far more than a way to pin an object to a specific point on a mesh.
With him done, I've had various ideas on my mind where to go next. Such as offering various components for sale like his coat with attached rig or a blank version of his head. But also considering less human characters like dwarves, tieflings or lizardkin.
