Author: John LeBoeuf-Little

With SaV, every playbook has an iconic character associated with it, so that when we visualize the art for the book, we can draw from a pool of immediately recognizable people. It’s a pretty standard approach, but communicating the characters clearly and effectively took a bit of work.

I think the best tool we used was to explain the characters separately from the scenes we showed them in.

Mevakor Shrike. Male Memish – Memish are humanoids from the water planet of Mem, and have smooth blue-to-purple hued bodies and hair similar to the arms of a Cuttlefish. Mavakor is generally light blue and wears small golden rings on the ends of his hair. Ritually scarred with the holy words of the Prophet Ruum that glow when he infuses himself with Way-energies. (A Mystic is like a Jedi from Star Wars.) Mevakor generally wears loose-fitting natural clothing that leaves a lot of his arms and chest exposed. He has a wooden sword on his back he can infuse with energy to cut through almost anything. He’s quite a drinker, and is often found with a bottle of whiskey or gourd of alcohol.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bcTTDLuBdLhkz6oTtZ3Rul8y7LWJx1_g

This gives a good feeling of Mevakor as a character – giving options for Brett to pursue or elements that can be introduced whenever it makes sense in the picture. And it’s not limited to characters! We outlined a lot of things, including planets, various factions, how technology looks, how ships look, essentially building up a manual of style for the SaV universe.

That said, making portraits that a) demonstrate the character clearly, b) doing a thing that that character should be associated with, and c) has a sense of action to it is rather hard actually! But using this ‘describe, then pose’ technique, is a really good way to make tight scene descriptions that communicate a lot.

Aria is working out in the ship’s weight room. The room is spartan but serviceable. She’s doing barbell squats, but the shot is waist-up, showing the barbell resting on her shoulders. She’s in a cami, which shows off her tattoos, and her face shows the weight she’s holding.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=15YaM7rFy3DGkwmtiW18c-FXREz1nkZkt

In a lot of ways, this turned writing the art spec into an activity more like writing a screenplay, and we borrowed a lot of screenplay terms like scene headers that described the ‘shot’, a very short gist of the scene, and the lighting:

Playbook: Pilot (page 86)

Full Page

Exterior/Interior/Space, Ship Console from outside the Ship, Interior Lighting

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W2B2RwfqYzoF-ijylEE9RlFt6Jq-hY5f

In all, the art spec alone was about six thousand words; despite being the by-product of the art process, it has become a resource all unto itself. I’ve never written one of these before SaV and now I can’t imagine doing without one.

I wanted to talk briefly about art and RPGs; with putting out SaV, we’re doing a lot more art planning than ever before. I’ve had to put together art specs for the first time. And it’s been a cool excursion into thinking about visual media.

Here’s the art description for the homeworld of Aketi.

A verdant jungle-world full of incredibly hostile natural life. We see the Base Camp One, where heavily-armed guards patrolling the tall, metallic walls, watching the jungle for signs of fauna. Research crews pack for their next expedition in uneasy truce with the poachers doing the same across the quad. A smuggler discusses arrangements with a prospective client in a tent while a private barista makes them drinks.

Deciding what to include in the spec is its own form of art: You need to specify enough that it conveys an image to the artist, but doesn’t constrain their ability to be creative. And specifically, for landscapes, you have to create a sense of space that feels like it could really exist. Brett Barkley has done an amazing job visualizing these scenes.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1aStNk4bywdQezNkwJUO4_q0l8oF-Vxg8

This outside-looking-in view really gives the impression of being surrounded by the hostile natural forces of the planet. The craggy mountains in the background give the sense of untamed land. I love the way this comes across in the rough, and it’s exactly how stories in Aketi should feel. Pressured on all sides, with a hint of untamed wildness.

Here’s another example of the homeworld Indri.

The thick, rust-colored clouds create a dusk during the day on this industrial planet. The smokestacks and various-colored flames from gas burn offs make an impressive skyline from the warehouse-surrounded premier spaceport of Reeves. Rows of hovercars in traffic flying from district to district while advertisements blare on buildings around them. Pedestrians holding specially-treated umbrellas to prevent acid rain damage, walk hurriedly on metal sidewalks. Slow-moving containers being shuttled to warehouses or the spaceport.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1laGMQogXuQyeSDYJClBaUoON95qWy5SP

The way this view is so angular and tight gives it an intensely urban feel that I love for Indri. Everything is square and mechanical and gives you the idea of tight, packed spaces. Which is what we want adventures on that world to feel like!

Anyway, if you’re a fan of SaV or just RPG art, enjoy. For my part, it’s a true joy to see our visions presented in a way that is so immediately identifiable for what they are.