A few years ago I shared the backstory of Alavara Draxid, my character for our Out of the Abyss campaign. Well, she has quickly become one of my favorites that I created, yet I never got around to finishing my original design for her beyond a sketch. So it’s high time to fix that.
From the very beginning I knew I wanted her high charisma stat to come from her natural beauty, but I didn’t have the skill at the time to draw her the way I had always imagined. I ended up creating a mood board for how I’d like to portray her if I ever got the courage to try again, and left her be.
That is until a few months ago when I was listening to a particular bop that hit the right cord for me to visualize Alavara. I immediately had to drop everything and sketch her out.
She went from a spoiled brat that wanted to get rid of her nephew that took everything from her, to saving him from the clutches of the demon lords with her innate magical powers and becoming the diplomatic Governess of an adventurers outpost. She had successes and failures to eventually get to a point of no longer letting luck pick her journey.
And as a player I learned a lot about creating a character that develops as the main story progresses thanks to her. For one, it takes being at a table with other players that want to interact and have role play moments with each other. But to help set up the potential development, your character has to have a few red flags. Nothing that’s annoying to play with, but something that they can develop from. Of course, this only works for long campaigns. But I think it adds a nice side story that can help the party bond.
It’s kinda wild comparing between the two designs today. The wavy hair, off the shoulder dress, slanted eyes, scales on the shoulders, and braided back hairdo stayed with her design. Yet there’s a bit more symbolism in the latest edition to hint at her copper dragonic bloodline. And honestly, I can see more of that “princess” energy emanate from her in this latest version as well. Something the past didn’t really hit the mark for.
I think this is as far as her design will go for now though until I either get the chance to play her again or decide it’s time for another redesign. Who knows, maybe next time we’ll get a full render?
Hope to see you again soon,
Jessi
ArtsyRobotz 