#miles does dnd

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hey who wants a preview of my brand new tiefling bard?

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i have like a million reference images saved and several sketchy concepts ive drawn and hate and a whole page of narrative ideas written in a teeny tiny font and yet i still haven’t finalized Judah Cabot’s design OR backstory

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Sorry for the lack of activity, here’s a sketchdump.

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I love doodling my boy with his little fins and fluffy hair but I love his cute hat too so here’s some boys in the cute hat (and one fluffy hair ‘cause I couldn’t resist).

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You’d think being stranded on a beach in a life-or-death situation would encourage some conversation.

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Been doodling my boy Fishbowl quite a lot lately, took the opportunity to practice coloring some (part-fish) orcs. I also made a skin palette for if he was human, in case I want to make an au later.

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The personality shift your characters go through when you first make them vs. after you’ve fleshed them out is fucking wild.

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!! i love fishbowl and i would love to know more about him if you're okay with sharing!!!

AAaah anon, you just made my night! I’d absolutely love to share! This got like, SUPER long, so I’m putting it under a cut:

Here’s some setting stuff first:

He grew up in a village called Zelelovsk, a small town on the shore of Lake Buruu, a deep, ancient, and ever-frozen rift lake. The area is cold and harsh, but the lake is an important stop on a trade route between two neighboring kingdoms.

The village’s main source of income comes from sheltering traveling merchants, but the villagers regularly engage in trade themselves, with both the traveling merchants and with other villages across the lake.

Locals fish, herd sheep and cattle, grow potatoes, cabbage, carrots, or beets, or, if they’re tough, hunt wild animals for their fur. These furs are especially valuable, and are usually traded for various foods from the south, cotton, silk, and tea.

Fishbowl’s father herds and hunts, while his mother is a successful trader. They are both half-orcs, as Fishbowl is. Most of the inhabitants of the lake are either orc, human, or a hybrid of the two.

Fishbowl’s father owns an ancestral glaive, a curved, single-edged polearm with a hook on its opposite side, used to catch an opponents weapon or armor. He tried to adventure once, but gave up quickly and now uses it to hunt.

There is a legend that a beast lurks beneath the icy surface of the lake, a giant sturgeon fish so ancient, it gained sentience, great wisdom, and magical ability. However, it’s widely believed to be just a fairy tale.

Alright, now some stuff about Fishbowl:

Was born an only child, and never was quite good at making friends, so he’s spent his life alone besides his parents. Other children his age mocked him for his interests, for speaking loudly, and for “acting weird.”

He is prone to feeling overwhelmed, and consequently shutdowns and failure. He is deeply depressed and self-loathing, and frequently disregards his own safety. He used to travel over dangerously thin ice, until he ultimately fell through when he was 11.

He nearly drowned, but encountered the beast of the lake. To save his life, it cursed him, causing him to magically grow gills, his ears to morph into fins, and his fingers to become webbed. He hides these features out of shame, and hates the fish for saving him.

Now 20, he rarely speaks to strangers unless necessary, and frequently comes off as impersonal and awkward in conversation. He has no idea how to make friends, or knows if he even wants to.

He also lacks any passions, and is unable to hold down a job. But he is incredibly strong, even among half-orcs, so he works by helping his parents haul cargo and hunt, and learned to fight with weapons.

Eventually, desperate to change his situation, he stole his father’s glaive, some supplies from his mother’s stock, and packed enough of his own things to carry comfortablybefore walking away from a business trip with his mother in a far off town, leading him to his current adventure.