How to write for it
Write six short parts, in this order. The phrases under each part are from prompts on this page.
- 1SubjectWho or what it is, in one sentence. Give an age, a trade or a material.
a halfling river smuggler in her forties
a ship’s compass of tarnished brass
a toll town built along the back of a fallen stone giant
- 2DetailsThings you can see. Our portrait named five, and four came out clearly.
a small scar through her upper lip
grey-streaked curly hair under an oilcloth hood
a cracked glass face
- 3ActionWhat it is doing. One action is enough.
She leans on a barge pole and looks past the viewer.
mends a fishing net by candlelight
- 4Place and lightWhere it is, and where the light comes from.
Dawn mist on a canal behind her, low warm light from the left.
Warm candle light, with cool moonlight from a round window.
- 5FramingHow close, and from where.
Waist-up, 85mm portrait framing.
Medium shot from slightly above.
seen from directly overhead with no perspective
Wide establishing shot
- 6FinishThe look. Leave it out and you get a photo.
Painterly fantasy illustration with visible brushwork.
Oil painting with soft edges.
hand-painted tabletop map style
The six parts together
Portrait of a halfling river smuggler in her forties. Sun-browned skin, a small scar through her upper lip, grey-streaked curly hair under an oilcloth hood, a patched waxed coat with brass toggles. She leans on a barge pole and looks past the viewer. Dawn mist on a canal behind her, low warm light from the left. Waist-up, 85mm portrait framing. Painterly fantasy illustration with visible brushwork.
Open in studio fills in the model and the prompt. Set the size there. The studio shows the price before you make anything.
Two words against six parts
The wanted poster at 1k and at 2k
The wanted poster prompt at the two size steps.
The lettering is right at both sizes, and the long line stays on one line. At 1k the reward went onto two lines in larger letters, and the dwarf has a scarred eye in place of the patch.
The battle map at 1k and at 2k
The battle map prompt at the two size steps.
The same flat layout at both sizes, with everything in its place. The barrels are in two rows at 1k and in one row along the wall at 2k.
What else to know
The finish is the part that makes it paint. We built the portrait prompt one part at a time. The five pictures before the finish were photos, or close to one. “Painterly fantasy illustration with visible brushwork” gave clear brush strokes, in both runs.
A short prompt gets a smooth picture. “a wizard” gave a wizard in a stone alley at night, smooth and close to a photo.
Use compass words to place things. North-west corner, east half, south wall. The battle map put all three where the prompt said, at both sizes.
Lettering stays on its line. Three lines on the wanted poster, all spelled right at 1k and at 2k. The long line did not wrap.
A light direction can be lost. “lantern light from below” gave no lantern and even light, in both token runs.
Small states can get lost. The heron was to be asleep. It came out awake.
It adds the marks of the kind. The bugbear got tusks and pointed ears in both runs. Neither was in the prompt.
Size words need something to measure against. A halfling alone in the frame reads as human.
Six table jobs
The same six jobs go to every model, so you can compare one model with the next.
Character portrait
- Name things you can see.Skin, a scar, hair, a hood, a coat. The scar is hard to see in this run and clear in a second run. The other four came out both times.
- Say where the light comes from.“low warm light from the left”
- Give the crop and the lens.“Waist-up, 85mm portrait framing.”
Portrait of a halfling river smuggler in her forties. Sun-browned skin, a small scar through her upper lip, grey-streaked curly hair under an oilcloth hood, a patched waxed coat with brass toggles. She leans on a barge pole and looks past the viewer. Dawn mist on a canal behind her, low warm light from the left. Waist-up, 85mm portrait framing. Painterly fantasy illustration with visible brushwork.
The hood, the hair, the patched coat and the toggles are there, in clear brush strokes. She holds the pole and does not lean on it. Nothing in the frame shows her height, so the halfling reads as human.
Token
- Call it a round game token.“Round game token of a bugbear tollkeeper.”
- Ask for a ring.“A thick dark bronze ring around the token.”
- It does not cut the token out.“Nothing outside the ring” gave a white ground. This model has no Background setting.
Round game token of a bugbear tollkeeper. Head and shoulders, facing the viewer, heavy brow, an iron-banded leather cap, lantern light from below. A thick dark bronze ring around the token. Painted fantasy style. Nothing outside the ring.
A clean ring on a white ground. There is no lantern and no light from below, in both runs. He got tusks that the prompt did not ask for. For a cut-out, take the picture to Token Maker.
Battle map
- Lock the view.“seen from directly overhead with no perspective” gave a flat map.
- Place things with compass words.“in the north-west corner”, “along the south wall”, “the east half”
- Ask for one view.“One single view that fills the whole frame.” The map fills the frame, with no title, legend or grid, at 1k and at 2k.
Top-down battle map of a flooded cellar under a tavern, seen from directly overhead with no perspective. Flagstone floor. The east half is under knee-deep green water. Stacked barrels along the south wall, a collapsed wooden staircase in the north-west corner, a small rowboat tied to a stone pillar in the water. Even light, hand-painted tabletop map style. One single view that fills the whole frame.
The staircase, the water, the barrels and the boat on its rope are where the prompt put them, at both sizes.
Item
- Say it is on its own.“One magic item on its own” gave a plain blue-grey ground.
- Give the material and one odd detail.“tarnished brass”, “the needle is a sliver of blue ice”
- The finish words did not give paint here.“Painted fantasy item art, crisp edges.” gave a clean render.
One magic item on its own: a ship's compass of tarnished brass with a cracked glass face. The needle is a sliver of blue ice that sheds faint frost. Three-quarter view, soft light from above. Painted fantasy item art, crisp edges.
The cracked glass, the ice needle and the frost are all there. The letters on the dial are not compass letters. The ground is plain, not transparent.
Scene
- Open with the shot.“Wide establishing shot of…”
- Put something in the foreground.“A mule caravan crosses a causeway in the foreground.”
- Give the time of day and two colours.“Late afternoon, long shadows, muted greens and rust.”
Wide establishing shot of a toll town built along the back of a fallen stone giant. Houses line the spine, rope bridges hang between the ribs, market smoke rises. A mule caravan crosses a causeway in the foreground. Late afternoon, long shadows, muted greens and rust. Painterly fantasy landscape.
The giant is a mossy skeleton: a skull, ribs, a spine and an arm. Houses line the spine, market stalls stand under the ribs, smoke rises, and the caravan crosses a causeway in front. There are red marks like a signature in both bottom corners.
Handout with lettering
- Name the thing the words are on.“A weathered wanted poster nailed to a wooden post.”
- Give each line its place, and its words in quotation marks.“Heading in heavy black printed letters: "WANTED".”
- “One line of text” is kept.The long line stayed on one line, at 1k and at 2k.
A weathered wanted poster nailed to a wooden post. Heading in heavy black printed letters: "WANTED". Below the heading, an ink sketch of a one-eyed dwarf with a braided beard. Under the sketch, one line of text: "Brannoc Vale, for the theft of the Tollkeeper's Seal". At the bottom, in large letters: "REWARD 500 GOLD". Torn corners, rain stains, old paper.
All three lines of lettering are spelled right, each on its own line. The sketch is plain ink, with the eye patch and the braided beard.
Edit with a reference
Say what stays first, then what changes. In the studio, add your picture as a reference before you paste the prompt.
Keep her face, her hair, the hood and the coat exactly as they are. Change the time to night. Rain falls. One lantern on the right lights her face. The canal behind her is dark.
The same face, hood and coat, with the pole, the boat and the bridge in the same places. Night, rain and one lantern on the right.
Limits on CharGen
- Price
- 7 gold at 1k, 17 gold at 2k, 88 gold at 4k
- Sizes
- 1k, 2k and 4k
- Shapes
- 14, from 21:9 to 1:2
- Reference images
- Up to 10
- Negative prompt
- None
- Who can use it
- Members on a plan
| Size setting | What we got |
|---|---|
| 1k | 1024 × 1024 (1:1) · 880 × 1184 (3:4) · 1248 × 832 (3:2) · 1568 × 672 (21:9) |
| 2k | 1776 × 2368 (3:4) · 2512 × 1664 (3:2) |
