The development and conceptual design processes are not independent; rather, they are intertwined more than we could sometimes imagine. Being creative processes, both are organic and very much alive, and sometimes what is discarded because it doesn’t make the cut for a certain project can (and often will) be used again to create something new. Here at Corvus Belli, we have what we call “the fridge” or “the freezer”, a quite Spanish idiom meaning that nothing goes to waste, and every single idea, no matter how small, can be worth exploring at the correct time.
And sometimes we receive unexpected surprises, as occurred with the conceptual design of our terrifying Needle, which came out as you see her now directly from a reject that was destined to be a Puppeteer. Ah, the Dead Flesh, they never disappoint!
Today we go back to the year 2022, when we were in the development phase of Warcrow Adventures, our fantasy dungeon crawler.
Interestingly enough, when we were creating and designing the Puppeteer, the Needle did not exist at all. Not even as a post-it note on a quite packed sticky paper wall. In fact, as a treat for you, the name “Needle” was assigned to another troop within the Scions. We were focused on the Puppeteers, who were one of the Scions’ units that appeared from a very early stage of the development process.
Our notes on the Puppeteer were very clear from the beginning, we knew what we wanted this troop from the Scions of Yaldabaoth to evoke and transmit once seen on the board. Puppeteers are elves that have been initiated in the study of the dead flesh and the arts and crafts of its modification. Whereas they are not as powerful as a Progenitor, and they cannot create their own reanimates alone, the team loved this idea of a puppet hanging from strings and being controlled by somebody in the distance. And since the Husks were animated via these strings of black rotten tar, the idea of a Puppeteer was just perfect.
When approaching the design of a character, be it a PC, an NPC, or an enemy, you don’t create an isolated blank canvas with numbers, statistics, and dice rolls, and then leave the artists with nothing to work with. The narrative of the character comes almost naturally, and even if it’s just a feeling, your imagination conveys an idea that later is transmitted to the concept designer.
On the few ideas we had for the Puppeteers, if there were two words that comprised exactly what the goal was for this character those were elegant and unsettling. Puppeteers had to be as graceful as they would be terrifying. These were not your regular infantry, but rather magical soldiers born from the darkest of your dreams, but not the kind of dreams that may not wake you with an accelerated heart rate. No. Rather, the Puppeteers dwell in those lucid visions that make you open your eyes at the darkest hour and when looking around at an empty room, you cannot shake the feeling that somebody is watching you. Close. Very close. Sorry, I got carried away. We are quite passionate about the Puppeteers.
Thus, we spoke with Grégoire about the possibility of having a refined and dignified wizard that did not walk, but floated, elevated in the air by the same tar she was manipulating. And Grégoire delivered. So much so that, when he presented us with the different approaches to the concept, there was one design that was, from the start, perfect. It was not what we were looking for for the Puppeteer, but the team could not take their eyes off it. There was something about this design that made us all agree instantly: we needed to create a character to fit those looks because we fell in love. Thus, Travellers, the Needle was born.
Out of the necessity to preserve such a wonderful design, we deliberately created another member of the Scions. The Needle would work hand in hand with the Puppeteer, and she would become the “fixer” of the dead bodies, sort of a tailor in the creepiest possible way. The role of the Needle is stitching, sewing, and patching the corpses the Puppeteers control, to get them ready for another assault. As we were advancing in the development process of the Needle, it was clearer that this role had to be filled, eventually. And it was all due to a rejected design proposal! As developers, we have to be prepared for anything - you never know when or where inspiration will strike!
Both conceptual designs were created by Grégoire Veauléger, and later the artists Roman Kuzmin and Gega Datunashvili illustrated the Puppeteer and the Needle. Here we have Grégoire, to tell us a bit more about the process of creating the visual dimension of the Puppeteer and, without him knowing, the Needle!
Grégoire Veauléger:
It's always a new adventure to be responsible for drawing something that has not been represented EVER - yet. And when the Puppeteers have been described to me I first had to connect with the team to have a clearer idea of who these ladies were. I mean, I knew that they were supposed to be elite troops, graceful, elegant, and creepy at the same time, but there are probably a million designs that could check all these boxes at once without fitting in their particular niche. And my job is to create something unique and tailored to my client's specific needs, so I needed more.
I remember clearly that I asked a lot of questions at the time: Are they a religious troop? Are they fanatics? Are they rich? Do they wear jewelry like high society members, or do they wear ornamental items like voodoo tribe warriors? Are they self-aware with ego and self-esteem, or do they totally abandon themselves to their cause? And so on... I know that it might sound weird and over the top, because obviously a lot of the information that I received could not be expressed clearly in the designs, but...
Guess what: Some of it did and I even got some precious fresh ideas from these conversations.
For instance, when I learned about the Puppeteers’ absolute fervor and devotion to their craft I had the idea to draw them barefooted, despite their rich clothing - in order to allow them to permanently be in direct contact and communion with the tar. This simple design element doesn't look like much on paper, but as a concept artist you have to keep that in mind: when you start with a blank page, every piece of information that you're able to get to help to reduce the spectrum of available options is a win and gets you closer to a good design. With these ladies, I could have gone with elaborate boots, golden laces, shoes, sandals, bandages, scarifications, ritual socks, and whatnot (this is Fantasy, I do what I want, yay!), and many other options.
So with other clues that I was able to extract from the team during my sneaky interrogations, I obtained information that helped me a lot to create a bunch of designs that I thought all had a shot for the role.
The fact that one of these designs has inspired the team so much that a new troop was born from it was absolutely awesome. I'm usually extremely proud when one of the designs I create is accepted because it means that I did my job well. So having two designs validated in a single shot is quite an accomplishment! So... I hereby present you the Needle, accidentally sketched by a guy who tried his best to draw something else!
Uh, now hold on... It suddenly sounds less like an accomplishment now...
No, no, wait. This was totally done on purpose! I, promise! I'm the best!
If you liked this article don't miss more from the "Behind the Characters" series or access Warcrow Adventures on the website to discover more miniatures and designs.
