USE REFERENCE TO DESIGN A BOSS CHARACTER

I’m going to walk through the process of designing and painting an elaborate end-of-level boss character, ready for integration into our game engine. Our antagonist is Cichol, the Bloodless King. He’s a huge lich, an undead sorcerer king. He needs to be a terrifying foe with wow factor!

However, unlike an illustration focused purely on storytelling impact, I have to start from gameplay considerations. What are his attacks? Does he have to dash or teleport? Maybe our boss will scatter teeth that spawn warriors, summon a cursed sword or use darkness to shroud the play area. Perhaps eye socket gems will signify weak spots?

My design needs to ‘telegraph’ dangerous aspects of the character and communicate critical vulnerabilities. A game character’s form must follow their function.

I’ll need to think about rigging – designing him