THE STONEHEARTH MASSACRE
Lyra and her lawyer Trefn fight to clear her name from a horrifying tragedy, but the case spreads far wider than her sanctum...
It’s the year 1738 DR on the Sword Coast. The weave has been restricted and optimized for everyday industrial progression; recreational magic has been heavily limited. There isn’t as much adventuring as there were in the old days.
Lawyer Trefn works case-by-tedious-case, comes home to their studio suite, drinks the night away, and repeats. They’re given a rather peculiar case one time, defending a woman who was found at the scene of a massacre with 40 dead. A frightened cleric framed with the murder of all of these innocent dwarves in her sanctum…
Characters
LYRA •Cleric of Truesilver
Lyra, an orphan raised by tieflings in Hilbrand's slums, found solace and purpose in her Dwarven culture and the teachings of Truesilver.
As a cleric devoted to compassion and family, she seeks to protect and provide for her wife, son, and community with unwavering dedication.
TREFN •Clockwork Sorcerer
Trefn grew up a wealthy child, surrounded by law and business, and later grew up to take over the family law firm.
They discovered they had an innate calling for magic as a young kid, as they would often freeze random plants and creatures with sneezes or waves of a hand. They didn’t explore this power much, but did learn to control it, just in case…
RIPPER •Beast Path Barbarian
He doesn’t know much about himself; he was dubbed the name “Ripper” by some peers after shredding a carcass of a gnome to feed on.
He’s often clouded by pure rage, gets lost easily, and doesn’t ever remember having consistent friends or family. He finds solace in ripping apart whatever he can sink his claws in, and relishes in bloodshed.
D'ANTE •College of Swords Bard
D’ante began as a soldier at the age of 4 to protect his tribe and coast from creatures like sahuigans and harpies. They served until the age of 14, when they retired and decided to join a group of other Marinbul in a traveling music troupe.
He traveled across the Sword Coast performing at weddings, pubs, festivals, and venues of all kinds. He gained a great reputation among many people young and old, and hopes to continue spreading joy with their music.
????? •Arcane Trickster Rogue
In 1391 DR it was a blacksmith when it died: it knows that much, but not much else. The shadowcurse corrupted it, captured it, and it was forever lost in the shadow of what the land once was. Its soul found refuge in a cracked clay pot in 1492 DR once the curse was lifted, and it slumbered dormant for years. It remembers so little, and as the years went on, it continued to lose more and more of itself.
New Race •Marinbul
They're docile friendly creatures who typically live in coastal areas. They have lifespans up to 50 years old, grow up to 15 feet tall as threy grow older, and tend to move really slow.
They have a lot of flubber – the more flubber the better! Their trunks aid in eating and drinking, and can make sounds for communication between members of the species.
They love music and craft, and pride themselves in their sense of strong community and bonding.
Weapons
POWER WORD BLASTER
This is the murder weapon of all of the game's slaughters. Designed by enslaved gnomes, the government wanted to craft the ultimate weapon that would be able to end wars in a single blast.
It functions like a regular firearm, but is imbued with a version of "power word kill". The weapon unfortunately falls into bad hands, and it's up to the players to get it back.
SCALEPOINT DAGGER
A precious heirloom passed down Trefn's lineage, used as a symbol of wealth and family status rather than an actual weapon.
ORNATE HAND CROSSBOW
D'ante's a middle-aged creature with a taste for things ornate and fancy, he is proficient in hand crossbows and some melee weapons from his days in the military, so he put his cash into buying nice crossbows when he joined the crew to fight.
SCAVENGED MACE
Ripper makes new weapons for himself out of scavenged parts from those he rips apart. His current mace consists of a ripped-out tiefling horn and a gnome skull, wrapped in thorny vines and held with a train spike. He swings it around to knock his foes in the head.
Building the Concept
Objectives of the Project
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Design five characters that were completely different from one another
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Design props and weapons tailored to their characters
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Work on art style consistency
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Gain proficiency in 3D mesh sculpting
Illustrating
Under the instruction of Chris Lyons - ITDI 560
Focusing primarily on character design, I wanted to create a lineup that could display my creative thought process as well as my rendering skills. I wanted my lineup to be consistent, compliant with the story in question, but also unique enough that they're unlike your typical cast of characters. I created two new races so I wouldn't fall under the typical "D&D cast" of average humanoids.
D&D is a fantastic base to build unique campaigns and characters around.
Sculpting
Under the instruction of Stan Rickel - IDDE 302
What was initially going to be just weapon design, my professor encouraged me to try and sculpt my characters with their weapons in order to provide context to my weapon sculpts, but also gain even greater proficiency in 3D mesh sculpting.
Nomad Sculpt was the affordable and accessible software I settled on (ZBrush was not as accessible for me), and I took to it extremely fast. It gave me a great understanding of 3D sculpting tools and interfaces.
Branding & Detailing
Inspired by Wizards of the Coast - Dungeons & Dragons
Using WOTC D&D's brand language as a guideline, I wanted to practice brand language compliance by fitting my concept campaign in as if it were a book published much like Curse of Strahd or Descent into Avernus.
I also wanted to go the extra step with my sculptures: printing and painting them as if they were released in a campaign set, or as collectible merchandise.
The following project is a homebrew story using the D&D Forgotten Realms universe curated by Wizards of the Coast. This is a personal academic project and not a real product for profit.
I am not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Wizards of the Coast, or any of its subsidiaries or its affiliates. The official WOTC website can be found at https://company.wizards.com/en.
Story, character concepts, illustrations, 3D models, and character sheets produced by Louis Drum.
D&D Homebrew book cover template produced by Mr_Bluey on Reddit.
Under the instruction of RIT professors Chris Lyons (ITDI 560) and Stan Rickel (IDDE 302).
Software used: Autodesk Fusion360 (weapons), Adobe Fresco (illustrations, character sheet assets), Adobe Photoshop (character sheet formatting, book cover formatting), Nomad Sculpt (character figures), Blender/Adobe Dimension (figure optimization), Preform Slicer (printing/slicing)