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| 6/30/99 | ||
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Hey there!
This is Eric Campanella, one of the wacky artists on Torment! While no one was looking, I thought I'd stick one of these editorial thingies up here for your entertainment (hopefully). So come along, don't be shy. We'll sing songs and you just might learn a thing or two... Let's see... I think I'd like to give some tips on making characters. The first thing you should do (or at least I like to do is...have a good, stiff drink -- hey, it could be a soda! It just...doesn't have to be.) After that, my first recommendation is to think about a character, as a friend of mine says, from "the inside out". What I mean by this is that you should consider who the character is, what motivates him/her. Usually these factors will guide the outward appearance of the character. In my case, Chris Avellone, our lead designer (as if you didn't know...) gave me a very good idea of what the different characters were like on the inside. In fact, if YOU have trouble coming up with ideas, I'm sure Chris will be happy to come to your house and help you out personally (note: the opinions of this editorial are not necessarily those of Chris Avellone or any other person but me, and I'm on medication). From these descriptions, I got a very good mental picture of what the character might look like. Next, get into the head of the character, get a feel for how the character behaves and what they need to be doing. Their outfit and equipment will reflect this. For example... let's see... Annah is very acrobatic and dexterous so her outfit is light and made of leather. (see fig. 1,2) She has light arm and leg armor on one side which, combined with her agility, affords her better protection than full plate since this would hamper her movement. The armor is also somewhat mismatched since she is not particularly wealthy and probably acquired the pieces at different places and times in her life. The spiked shoulderpad is probably more for ornamentation and gives off an intimidating air. I would be dishonest if I didn't say the outfit is somewhat revealing partially to show that she is a free spirit and partially because it is appealing to me as an artist. Hey, at least I'm Honest! Her weapons are punch daggers, which are basically brass knuckles with blades attached to them. So she has wild-west style holsters on her legs for quick-draw action. Yee-hah! (action figure sold separately)
By contrast... now we'll look at Vhailor! (see fig. 3,4) He's a mighty, haunted suit of armor! The armor is full plate and should all match since he got it from his faction affiliation. It should also look old and rusted since he's been around for quite a while and probably doesn't care too much about spit-and-polish anymore. He also wants to intimidate the hell out of people so he's got BIG NASTY shoulderpads, a helmet that looks like rows of teeth and kneepads that glare at you as he smashes YOUR SKULL WITH HIS MIGHTY AXE! RHAAHAHA!! FEAR! DEATH! UNHAPPY THOUGHTS!! (...ooh sorry, back to reality now) Man! Am I long winded! You people still with me? I hope these tips help. Basically, what I'm saying is become the character, in some sense, don't just randomly pile "gear" on someone. Think about what that "gear" is for. It may not seem to make a difference on the surface, but in the end it tends to create a better, more fleshed out, character. (music swells up) And doesn't that make everyone happier? Have fun! Love,
Eric Campanella |
| Planescape: Torment & Design: © 1998 Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. © 1998 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Planescape, the Planescape logo, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Torment, the AD&D logo, and the TSR logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc. and are used by Interplay under license. TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Interplay, the Interplay logo, Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Productions. Exclusively licensed and distributed by Interplay Productions. All other trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective owners. |