Welcome back to Troop Spotlight, the blog series where each week we look at a different Troop from OgreWare’s Calling All Heroes! This week we’re looking at the Rogue.
I always enjoyed making these slightly (or not so slightly) over-the-top costumes for characters. Looking back over my older work, you can see that my characters, whether they were my gaming characters, stars of my comics, or protagonists from novels I worked on back then, all wore pretty ridiculous outfits, with endless belts, buckles, and sashes that really had no purpose other than…yeah, I got nothin’, they had NO purpose.
In looking over the Rogue’s character design, I found myself wondering “why do I put so many buckles on costumes?!” And that led to a traipse back through my art, which led me to…tabletop gaming miniatures.
A quick primer for those not in the know: Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons use inch-tall figurines to represent the players’ characters, as well as the monsters they fight. These miniatures actually generally come to you unpainted, and you, the player, paint in the colors and details. (And while these days I paint in watercolor, my first painting ventures were actually painting these miniatures, in acrylic.)
The other thing those not in the know might not realize about gaming miniatures is that they are absurdly detailed. For inch-tall characters, they pack in details like you would not believe. Complex hairstyles. Belts and buckles. Fashion details. Accessories. Shoelaces (I’m not kidding).
Really, when I look back, I realize that the first detailed costumes I drew were around the time of my first D&D campaign. Before that, my characters wore simple dresses, or T-shirts and jeans. After D&D, and after gaming miniatures, though? Complex hairstyles, belts, buckles, and the like became the norm, rather than the exception.
While I occasionally catch flak for adding ridiculous details to my characters’ outfits, I honestly still enjoy the aesthetic. If you’ve ever met me in real life, you know it’s not MY aesthetic – I maintain much more a T-shirt-and-jeans level of detail in my own clothing. But until I have a very good reason to change, I’m probably going to continue drawing straps and buckles and details galore.
That’s about all for this week’s Troop Spotlight. If you’d like to try your hand at Calling All Heroes, click here to play in your browser, or here to download the .apk file to play on your Android device. As always, if you have any comments or questions, let us know via the Contact form. Have a great day!
-Taylor