art-style.html

Purpose

Use this style guide to keep future campaign images visually consistent with the established look from the high-level NPC portrait, ruined city gate, Duneveil Stalker, and Corpsebearer Shade images.

The core look is full-color cinematic fantasy RPG sourcebook art: grounded, detailed, atmospheric, and emotionally serious. Images should feel like they belong in the same campaign book or visual bible.

Core Art Direction

Style:

• Full-color fantasy RPG sourcebook illustration.
• Cinematic, painterly realism with believable anatomy, materials, lighting, and scale.
• Detailed but not cluttered.
• Dramatic but not exaggerated.
• Mythic, ancient, weathered, and grounded.
• Characters, creatures, and places should feel practical and lived-in, not pristine or decorative for its own sake.

Mood:

• Heroic, ominous, mysterious, and tragic.
• Quiet dread is preferred over obvious horror.
• Danger should feel present even when no monster is visible.
• The world should feel old, sacred, oppressive, and partly forgotten.

Visual Feel:

• “Campaign book illustration” or “bestiarist’s field illustration,” not cartoon, anime, comic book, or black-and-white storyboard.
• Realistic textures: sand, cloth, leather, bronze, stone, bone, fur, scales, chitin, old metal, worn wood.
• Strong silhouettes and readable forms.
• Use visual storytelling details that imply history, travel, ritual, survival, or loss.

Preferred Rendering Style

Use wording like:

detailed painterly fantasy RPG sourcebook illustration, cinematic lighting, realistic anatomy, rich texture, grounded magical realism, atmospheric depth, strong readable silhouettes

Avoid wording that pushes the image toward:

• black-and-white storyboard art,
• children’s book illustration,
• comic-book exaggeration,
• anime,
• glossy digital game splash art,
• overly clean fantasy armor,
• generic MMO character design,
• modern tactical gear,
• neon UI-style magic effects.

Composition Guidelines

Character Lineups

Use when introducing important NPC groups.

• Full-body view when possible.
• Clear head-to-toe silhouettes.
• Each figure should have distinct ancestry, role, clothing, weaponry, and posture.
• Characters should overlap slightly or stand in relation to one another so they feel like a real group.
• Gear should show use: scratches, dust, repairs, patched cloth, worn leather, dulled metal.
• The image should work as either an artist reference sheet or a campaign book illustration.

Single Characters or Creatures

Use when focusing on one NPC, monster, or adversary.

• The subject should dominate the frame.
• Pose should communicate personality or tactics.
• Avoid default roaring monster poses unless the creature is meant to be openly aggressive.
• For predators, use tension, stillness, patience, and controlled motion.
• For undead or supernatural figures, use ritual, silence, gravity, and inevitability.

Environments

Use when establishing locations.

• Wide cinematic landscapes are preferred, usually 16:9.
• A strong central focal point should draw the viewer into the scene.
• Use scale markers sparingly: broken columns, tiny figures, walls, gates, statues, ruins, roads, bridges, or distant architecture.
• Foreground details should imply story: footprints, broken pottery, discarded tools, bones, torn cloth, old offerings, weathered carvings.
• The environment should feel inhabited by history even when empty.

Lighting and Color

The palette should feel natural, ancient, and atmospheric.

Common palette elements:

• Warm sandstone.
• Pale gold.
• Dusty ochre.
• Burnished bronze.
• Deep umber shadows.
• Muted reds and dark crimson for fire or danger.
• Cool moonlit blue, blue-white, or silver for death, ghosts, night, or divine unease.
• Amber-white, ember-orange, or pale magical highlights as restrained accents.

Lighting principles:

• Use cinematic contrast.
• Let dust, mist, smoke, heat haze, or shadow soften the light.
• Warm/cool contrast works well: firelight against moonlight, hot sun against cool shadow, ember magic against pale stone.
• Magic should glow subtly and physically affect nearby surfaces.
• Avoid flat lighting.
• Avoid over-saturated fantasy colors unless the subject specifically calls for them.

World Texture and Material Language

This campaign’s images should share a sense of old-world desert fantasy without requiring every image to be in a desert.

Use materials like:

• Sandstone, limestone, basalt, carved stone.
• Bronze, copper, tarnished gold, dark iron.
• Linen wraps, sun-faded cloth, layered travel cloaks.
• Leather harnesses, pouches, ropes, waterskins, charms, scroll tubes.
• Gemstone inlays, old carvings, eroded reliefs, ritual markings.
• Bone, pottery shards, dry plants, cracked tiles, weathered wood.
• Dust, ash, sand, soot, smoke, age, and wear.

Even in non-desert locations, keep the same design logic:

• Practical gear.
• Ancient craftsmanship.
• Weathered surfaces.
• Ritual or mythic details.
• Environmental storytelling.

Character Design Principles

Characters should feel like real adventurers who live in the world.

NPC heroes:

• Capable but mortal.
• Confident but weathered.
• Their gear should say what they do before the prompt explains it.
• Avoid spotless armor or overly ornate costume design.
• Include specific weapons and tools.
• Use ancestry traits clearly, but do not make them caricatures.

Examples of useful details:

• Dwarf guardian: square frame, heavy shield, practical armor, stone or metal accents.
• Simiah scout: long limbs, climbing gear, bow, ropes, alert posture.
• Drakona caster: scales, horns, staff, controlled elemental glow, scorched robes.
• Faerie trickster/cleric: translucent wings, chitin accents, layered vestments, crescent symbols, subtle illusion.
• Clank warrior: bronze/iron/stone/wood construction, repairs, visible joints, heavy maul, unreadable face.

Creature Design Principles

Creatures should be memorable but not over-designed.

Core approach:

• Start with a believable animal, undead, construct, spirit, or mythic form.
• Add one or two strong magical traits.
• Make the creature’s tactics visible in its body language.
• Keep anatomy plausible enough that the viewer understands how it moves.

Predators:

• Low, tense, quiet, intelligent.
• Built for stalking, ambush, and movement.
• Magic should enhance camouflage, speed, or dread rather than turning the creature into a glowing monster.

Undead / spirits:

• Solemn, ritualistic, quiet, and inevitable.
• Use shadow, ash, smoke, veils, cold light, or partial transparency.
• Avoid gore unless specifically requested.
• Let posture and scene context create fear.

Magic and Supernatural Effects

Magic should feel diegetic, meaning it belongs in the scene rather than looking like a user interface or sticker effect.

Use:

• Ember glow inside crystals or cracks.
• Heat-haze distortion.
• Dust curling around feet.
• Moonlit shimmer.
• Shadow vapor.
• Faint blue-white spirit light.
• Subtle illusion shapes.
• Magical light reflecting on nearby armor, stone, sand, or skin.

Avoid:

• Floating UI symbols.
• Overly bright neon glyphs.
• Spell effects that obscure the subject.
• Generic glowing circles unless a ritual specifically calls for them.
• Excessive particle effects.

Environmental Tone

The campaign world should feel:

• Ancient.
• Sacred.
• Dangerous.
• Oppressive.
• Weathered by time.
• Rich with buried history.
• Beautiful and harsh at the same time.

The environment may be desert, ruin, mine, river valley, temple, city, oasis, underworld, mountain, or dungeon. The style should remain consistent through texture, lighting, and mood rather than requiring a specific place.

Default Image Prompt Suffix

Use this at the end of most future prompts:

Style: full-color cinematic fantasy RPG sourcebook illustration, painterly realism, grounded magical realism, realistic anatomy and materials, rich texture, strong readable silhouettes, atmospheric depth, dramatic natural lighting, ancient weathered worldbuilding details, serious mythic tone, beautiful but ominous.

No text, no labels, no modern objects, no UI elements, no cartoon style, no anime style, no black-and-white storyboard style, no overly clean armor, no glossy plastic surfaces, no excessive neon magic.

Prompt Template

Use this structure for future image prompts:

Create a [composition type] of [subject], in the established full-color cinematic fantasy RPG sourcebook style.

Subject: [Who or what is shown?]

Appearance: [Body shape, ancestry/species traits, age, posture, expression, silhouette.]

Clothing / Gear / Materials: [Armor, robes, weapons, tools, wear, travel details, symbolic objects.]

Pose / Action: [What are they doing? What emotion or tactic should the pose communicate?]

Environment: [Where are they? Keep it specific to the image, but preserve the broader ancient, weathered, mythic tone.]

Lighting / Mood: [Day, dusk, night, firelight, moonlight, dust, haze, shadow, etc.]

Style: full-color cinematic fantasy RPG sourcebook illustration, painterly realism, grounded magical realism, realistic anatomy and materials, rich texture, strong readable silhouettes, atmospheric depth, dramatic natural lighting, ancient weathered worldbuilding details, serious mythic tone, beautiful but ominous.

No text, no labels, no modern objects, no UI elements, no cartoon style, no anime style, no black-and-white storyboard style, no overly clean armor, no glossy plastic surfaces, no excessive neon magic.

Specific Aspect Ratio Guidance

• 16:9: Best for locations, action scenes, camp scenes, ruins, processions, and cinematic moments.
• Portrait / vertical: Best for single NPC portraits or creature bestiary entries.
• Wide lineup: Best for adventuring parties, factions, patrols, or groups of enemies.
• Square: Use only when a token-like or close portrait composition is needed.

Negative Style Rules

Do not use these styles unless explicitly requested:

• Black-and-white storyboard.
• Ink sketch.
• Children’s storybook.
• Comic panel.
• Anime.
• Chibi.
• Modern fantasy fashion shoot.
• Video game UI splash screen.
• Overly polished heroic poster with perfect armor.
• Generic D&D tavern art with no campaign-specific texture.

Quick Reference: Established Look

The existing images define this visual language:

1. High-level NPC party portrait

   • Full-body heroic lineup.
   • Distinct silhouettes and gear.
   • Practical, dusty, scarred expedition equipment.
   • Heroic but mortal.

2. Ruined city gate

   • Monumental ancient architecture.
   • Sandstone, dust, broken carvings, buried history.
   • Beautiful but ominous emptiness.
   • Strong focal point through a ruined threshold.

3. Duneveil Stalker

   • Realistic predator anatomy.
   • Subtle magical camouflage.
   • Low stalking pose.
   • Quiet threat rather than roaring aggression.

4. Corpsebearer Shade

   • Ritualistic undead presence.
   • Shadow, smoke, veil, cold light.
   • Tragic scene context.
   • Horror through solemnity, not gore.

Together, these establish the campaign’s image style: grounded mythic fantasy, ancient-world texture, cinematic composition, restrained magic, serious atmosphere, and strong visual storytelling.