Some characters from The Heron Kings created in Hero Forge

Thanks to the crappy weather yesterday I pretty much stayed inside enjoying thick-cut bacon sandwiches, rye & Benedictine cocktails, and messing around on Hero Forge. This is a tool for D&D gamers and other like fans to design and order their own semi-custom character models as game pieces or whatever. I’ve never played board RPGs and don’t have much interest in them, but I was wondering how accurately I could render some of the main characters from The Heron Kings. Here’s what I came up with using little effort and the limited options available:

 

Ulnoth
The clothing options are very game-fantasy, so it was impossible to make just plain old tunic and chausses for any character. This is the closest I could come. The reddish hair is about right but there’s too much beard- no stubble options. Not too bad, though.

 

Taurix
The top and bottom clothing options are separate, but there’s no option for full-length mail. I was able to give him his long sable cloak, though. Pretty accurate, though I’d like to add a mix of gray into the beard.

 

Alessia
It was easier to find outfits for the characters before they joined to form the Heron Kings, so here’s Alessia before she got rid of her cumbersome gown. She’s got lots of medicines to  offer for healing your wounds, but keeps a blade ready, just in case…

 

Corren
Corren undergoes a lot of changes throughout the book as he loses his soldier’s kit, his wild hair and a lot of muscle mass. Here he is in his livery and gambeson while still in Pharamund’s army, taking some archery practice without realizing how useful it’ll be soon.

Vinian
I always imagined Spymistress Vinian with dark hair and eyes with clothing to match. Here she is with some secret correspondence and books of interrogation records. Of course it was impossible to render her burn scar with this tool so I turned that side away as much as I could.

 

And here are some characters from the sequel, The Heron Kings’ Flight:

 

Phynagoras
Behold, the Emperor of Kings! He’s initially clad in saffron robes in the book, but the only robe options were either too fantasyish or too ragged. This is a good representation of the kind of warm-weather outfit he might wear in Bhasa before invading Argovan.

 

Linet
Linet was one of the first characters I ever wrote, way back in grad school, and she hasn’t undergone too many changes since then. Here she is with bow at the ready before a campfire, still wearing her traveling backpack. I wanted to put all members of the Heron Kings in simple tunics but with enough variation to make them unique, and unfortunately the only choice includes a rope belt. We’ll just pretend it’s leather.

 

Eyvind
Eyvind is my other soldier character, and I put him in a gambeson as well. Here he could be sparring with sword and buckler or fighting to defend a bottle of the mysterious Vrril. I gave him a small goatee only because again, no option for stubble. Also a little earring he probably bought in Ólo from a Pelonan merchant after payday.

 

Aerrus
My other primordial character. A sarcastic, vicious little rogue, he’s as good at laying traps as at chasing down assassins. I dressed him quintessential green and brown ranger garb. There’s no option for chausses, so here I improvised by adding breeches and simply coloring his legs gray to simulate fitted woolen hose. Too clean-shaven but again, say it with me, no stubble option, and he’s way too young to look like Gandalf.

 

Davenga
General Davenga was almost the easiest to render, since there are a lot of armor options available. I liked this plate armor set, and realistically I don’t know if he would wear it in the hot sands of Pelona, but definitely in Argovan. Of course he should be quite a bit older than this model looks, but the only aged face model was desiccated and zombie-like.