Cosmetics and whatever happened to the Official Discussion thread feedback?

[Aelonwy]

NPC Fashions 4: Fashion Styles of the Rich and not-so-famous

From left to right we have Lukas Pietre (Market Place Jewelry Broker), Kayla Skywhisper (House Phiarlan Collector), Kariya irVannis (House Cannith Token Giver), Serral Trevin (House Jorasco), Jovus Moonbeam (House Phiarlan) and Horus Maqueath (House Phiarlan).

I think with a few tweaks the first one could make the best bardic tunic for guys. Skywhisper's dress, is also featured on the Fatespinner and I've always wanted it... possibly because its violet or maybe because it has an Alphonse Mucha-like aesthetic. The third one has many nice details from the pattern on the fabric to the lacing and the pearls or beads on the waist piece but I'm not too keen on the shoulders, sleeves and leggings which make an other wise nice piece look a little too busy. Trevin's Robe now that is an interesting item. On the upper-left of his chest is a dragon or wyvern almost hidden in the metal pattern on what looks to be a robe made mostly of leather with decorative metal studs and embossing. He also has a dragon or possibly gargoyle belt buckle. Essentially, Trevin's Robe is a very masculine robe that I could actually see being worn to Renaissance fairs. Moonbeam on the other hand, well he's obviously been trading with the drow of Menechtarun, and if the robe's base fabric were a dark blue, violet or red I think it would be very appealing to players. The final one I include because its sort of available to players but it always has a blue blanket on top or other accessories hiding all the details and patterns of the base item.

[Aelonwy]

I'll return to NPC fashions later and my own take on them but now inspired by Saekee's Suggestions for new Risia Recipes thread, I have a holiday cosmetic.

I combined three different items to create this festive outfit. Rakshasa Hide, recolored to more resemble a Siberian Tiger, the Wilderness Cosmetic from the Legendary Shadowfell expansion pre-order made up the base armor and the boots off the Hardened Hide. Both the Wilderness cosmetic and the Hardened Hide boots were color adjusted to a Happy Holidays Red, and the belt from the Wilderness Cosmetic was tuned to a nice green for contrast. Hope everyone likes it.

[Saekee]

I'll return to NPC fashions later and my own take on them but now inspired by Saekee's Suggestions for new Risia Recipes thread, I have a holiday cosmetic.

I combined three different items to create this festive outfit. Rakshasa Hide, recolored to more resemble a Siberian Tiger, the Wilderness Cosmetic from the Legendary Shadowfell expansion pre-order made up the base armor and the boots off the Hardened Hide. Both the Wilderness cosmetic and the Hardened Hide boots were color adjusted to a Happy Holidays Red, and the belt from the Wilderness Cosmetic was tuned to a nice green for contrast. Hope everyone likes it.

The red & green make great contrasting hues while having the same timber--the white is brilliant--festive but not overtly so, hence good for year round too!

[Aelonwy]

The red & green make great contrasting hues while having the same timber--the white is brilliant--festive but not overtly so, hence good for year round too!

Thank you. Originally I had been playing around with these elements in a more monochromatic style, white on gray on darker gray with some black details for a sort of Hoth-esque fashion, but the holiday style came out surprisingly nice.

Any future NPC fashion collages will probably be Forgotten Realms based. There won't be too many screenshots of enemy NPC fashions because they are much more difficult to get close to without aggro and snap a pic while they are still standing straight and facing forward.

I think I will begin fiddling with the images from the previous collages before I post more.

[Pyed-Pyper]

I'll return to NPC fashions later and my own take on them but now inspired by Saekee's Suggestions for new Risia Recipes thread, I have a holiday cosmetic.

I combined three different items to create this festive outfit. Rakshasa Hide, recolored to more resemble a Siberian Tiger, the Wilderness Cosmetic from the Legendary Shadowfell expansion pre-order made up the base armor and the boots off the Hardened Hide. Both the Wilderness cosmetic and the Hardened Hide boots were color adjusted to a Happy Holidays Red, and the belt from the Wilderness Cosmetic was tuned to a nice green for contrast. Hope everyone likes it.

Wow. What a change. The Rak hide is perhaps my least favorite looks in the game, especially from behind. What you did looks great.

[Aelonwy]

Wow. What a change. The Rak hide is perhaps my least favorite looks in the game, especially from behind. What you did looks great.

Thanks. Hmm. Oddly enough despite its propensity of yellows and oranges I don't dislike Rakshasa hide that much. I actually like the bare-waist effect it has on female characters, and really I would much rather have the belly button of my characters show than the open-crotch look of so many heavy cosmetic armors. Seriously?! That was a terrible idea. On the other hand, some of the details of the Rakshasa hide come off as awkward and the gourd hanging off the belt is really only suitable for someone role-playing a drunken master. Specifically, besides the gourd, I find I also dislike the silly ankle boots with brushy socks, and that paw or tail or whatever that dangling bit of tiger hide is at the waist, hanging from the belt. I removed it from my design. But the tiger hide, and the lion's mane are actually pretty neat and it would be interesting to see more natural hides used in armor design. Mostly we just have various scales and the poor persecuted owlbears.

Now that I think of it we need a dwarven or fighter cosmetic with a pewter or bronze mug hanging from the belt.

[Saekee]

Thank you. Originally I had been playing around with these elements in a more monochromatic style, white on gray on darker gray with some black details for a sort of Hoth-esque fashion, but the holiday style came out surprisingly nice.

Any future NPC fashion collages will probably be Forgotten Realms based. There won't be too many screenshots of enemy NPC fashions because they are much more difficult to get close to without aggro and snap a pic while they are still standing straight and facing forward.

I think I will begin fiddling with the images from the previous collages before I post more.

If you need pics of any mobs, some of us can use stealth to get right in front of them.

The Hill Giants could use a little help...

My main is stuck in the heroic vow but I have a level 15 Prowler on Wayfinder for some testing. Poorly geared, but I could get close to stuff in that level range or below!

[Saekee]

and that paw or tail or whatever that dangling bit of tiger hide is at the waist

it is a good luck rabbit foot.

I can't believe we used those many years ago in high school.

[Aelonwy]

If you need pics of any mobs, some of us can use stealth to get right in front of them.

The Hill Giants could use a little help...

My main is stuck in the heroic vow but I have a level 15 Prowler on Wayfinder for some testing. Poorly geared, but I could get close to stuff in that level range or below!

I just TRed my pure rogue so she's only 6th level. Otherwise, my monk/rogue Qstaff build sucks and is still only 17th lvl because playing her depresses me, but I could probably take her to get most of the heroic screenshots I might want. I was thinking of images of the Forgotten Realms drow when I typed the above. Those priestesses have some of the best outfits in the game. No worries. I'll get the images I need when the time is right.

[scipiojedi]

I just TRed my pure rogue so she's only 6th level. Otherwise, my monk/rogue Qstaff build sucks and is still only 17th lvl because playing her depresses me, but I could probably take her to get most of the heroic screenshots I might want. I was thinking of images of the Forgotten Realms drow when I typed the above. Those priestesses have some of the best outfits in the game. No worries. I'll get the images I need when the time is right.

Can you post your build? I'm working on a monk/rogue Qstaff build for next life and I want to make sure it doesn't suck Cause most of my builds that look awesome on paper tend to suck in game. Something is lost in translation between the paper and the game engine.

[Aelonwy]

So this is my version of the male archer's outfit on page 4 of this thread, post #78.

So I made quite a few alterations although they may not be readily apparent at first glance. First off I made the brown (on sleeves and braiding) a darker, richer color, I recolored the undershirt pale gray/white, I recolored the center piece, the skirt and leggings to match the upper pieces. I got rid of the funky knee pads. I retouched the strapping and belt on the abdomen that had been either poorly painted or semi-transparent when layered over the original base armor. (Check original image for weird yellow piping line going over everything when it should be underneath.) I tried the arrow-like buckles on the boots in the image on the far right. I adjusted one to a green that appeals to me and one to a sweet dark blue. On the dark blue one I applied the quiver and its strapping, and I altered the belt at the waist to match the quiver's strapping, and used the symbol on the backside of the quiver for the buckles on the belt and shoes.

Please tell me what you guys think of the changes. I imagine this would look fantastic with the swash buckler hat or maybe that ornate golden random gen helm with the points that curl.

[Aelonwy]

Can you post your build? I'm working on a monk/rogue Qstaff build for next life and I want to make sure it doesn't suck Cause most of my builds that look awesome on paper tend to suck in game. Something is lost in translation between the paper and the game engine.

Most of the suckage for me is the constantly breaking staves, some of them so quickly I'm starting to feel like I'm fighting with oversized pencils rather than magic weapons. Why do neither rogue nor monk have Item Defense in their staff trees? or access at all? You'd think at least mechanic would have some idea how to use Item Defense. Also mine started out as a handwrap build that transitioned into qstaff because I don't like to fight mobs from so close we could be kissing. They need to relearn the meaning of personal space. Also Sweeping Strike sounds really good on paper but the mobs don't seem to stay down long enough to do much with it.

[Saekee]

So this is my version of the male archer's outfit on page 4 of this thread, post #78.

So I made quite a few alterations although they may not be readily apparent at first glance. First off I made the brown (on sleeves and braiding) a darker, richer color, I recolored the undershirt pale gray/white, I recolored the center piece, the skirt and leggings to match the upper pieces. I got rid of the funky knee pads. I retouched the strapping and belt on the abdomen that had been either poorly painted or semi-transparent when layered over the original base armor. (Check original image for weird yellow piping line going over everything when it should be underneath.) I tried the arrow-like buckles on the boots in the image on the far right. I adjusted one to a green that appeals to me and one to a sweet dark blue. On the dark blue one I applied the quiver and its strapping, and I altered the belt at the waist to match the quiver's strapping, and used the symbol on the backside of the quiver for the buckles on the belt and shoes.

Please tell me what you guys think of the changes. I imagine this would look fantastic with the swash buckler hat or maybe that ornate golden random gen helm with the points that curl.

Definitely a subtle improvement that grows with you. I personally do not like outfits that are ostentatious, since it feels like parade clothing; however, that is part of the fun for players. Like you mention, an ornate helm/hat would go well with these. One of the archer helmets that I like is on Tulip the Quip that you posted earlier. Actually, I like her whole look, I think that is great archer-style gearing.

[Rys]

I'll return to NPC fashions later and my own take on them but now inspired by Saekee's Suggestions for new Risia Recipes thread, I have a holiday cosmetic.

I combined three different items to create this festive outfit. Rakshasa Hide, recolored to more resemble a Siberian Tiger, the Wilderness Cosmetic from the Legendary Shadowfell expansion pre-order made up the base armor and the boots off the Hardened Hide. Both the Wilderness cosmetic and the Hardened Hide boots were color adjusted to a Happy Holidays Red, and the belt from the Wilderness Cosmetic was tuned to a nice green for contrast. Hope everyone likes it.

Awesome! I would prefer a different color (maybe some brown tones?) other than red and a different belt. It would look like a hunter then. Did you try to recreate Santa's outfit?

[Aelonwy]

Definitely a subtle improvement that grows with you. I personally do not like outfits that are ostentatious, since it feels like parade clothing; however, that is part of the fun for players. Like you mention, an ornate helm/hat would go well with these. One of the archer helmets that I like is on Tulip the Quip that you posted earlier. Actually, I like her whole look, I think that is great archer-style gearing.

I suppose if I wanted to make this look somewhat less ostentatious, I would remove the braiding on the abdomen entirely and replace with more of an undershirt appearance as might be seen with a man's medieval/renaissance doublet. I would also remove the skirt from the tunic and replace with leather pants. (Although I think it looks pretty snazzy for an epic level hero maybe not for a fresh-off-the-boat-clearing-the-sewers type.) I do come from a perspective of renaissance and fantasy fairs, as well as the costuming in fantasy movies some of which can be pretty outlandish. **cough cough Excalibur cough Court Jester cough Flash Gordon cough** Would you like me to try making such changes just to see what it would look like?

[Saekee]

I suppose if I wanted to make this look somewhat less ostentatious, I would remove the braiding on the abdomen entirely and replace with more of an undershirt appearance as might be seen with a man's medieval/renaissance doublet. I would also remove the skirt from the tunic and replace with leather pants. (Although I think it looks pretty snazzy for an epic level hero maybe not for a fresh-off-the-boat-clearing-the-sewers type.) I do come from a perspective of renaissance and fantasy fairs, as well as the costuming in fantasy movies some of which can be pretty outlandish. **cough cough Excalibur cough Court Jester cough Flash Gordon cough** Would you like me to try making such changes just to see what it would look like?

hi, if you feel up for it! The Renaissance garb often seen in historical paintings was really only worn by the super wealthy--those colorful clothes were very costly. I know movies tend to ignore this but like you I prefer the fantasy medieval anyway.

[Aelonwy]

Awesome! I would prefer a different color (maybe some brown tones?) other than red and a different belt. It would look like a hunter then. Did you try to recreate Santa's outfit?

Most of the items I used to make this especially the base Wilderness Cosmetic were already shades of brown, Rakshasa Hide is originally a combination of tawny yellows and oranges with some brown and some gold. Hardened Hide was an orangey-brown, a sort of burnt pumpkin color. I was already working on a combination of the items but in monochrome more or less for what almost looked like a Star Wars Hoth-esque costume. Saekee's suggestion thread for some winter holiday cosmetics to be added to the risia festival recipes inspired me to adjust the colors to something appropriate. We already have the cosmetic robe that looks like ice so rather than blue and white I decided to go with the colors I most associate with the holidays... white, red, green. I wasn't trying to recreate Santa necessarily but to make something holiday appropriate that would fit in well with the game. If it makes you think of Santa... maybe my cleric should eat less cookies?

[Aelonwy]

hi, if you feel up for it! The Renaissance garb often seen in historical paintings was really only worn by the super wealthy--those colorful clothes were very costly. I know movies tend to ignore this but like you I prefer the fantasy medieval anyway.

Uhm I don't know about you but my characters tend to have upwards of ~250k plat. I'd say they're plenty wealthy to be dressed Hollywood fantasy style. Still I'll take a look.

[Aelonwy]

Today I have the female Archer's design.

Not many changes necessary. I increased the saturation to make it less gray. Added the shoulder pieces and belt from the male archer's set as wells as the buckles on the belts and boots. The only thing that might make this more appealing to me would be to replace the boots with knee-high Grecian lace up sandals... but I can't find a cobbler anywhere in Stormreach.

[Aelonwy]

Sorry I've been busy, here is the male archer costume with pants I swiped from another outfit I like... oddly enough Belmont d'Cannith didn't seem to mind.
I did replace the leather braiding on the abdomen by revealing more of the undershirt. I suppose if I were the artist making this from scratch instead of the critic cobbling this together from screen shots I would have made the leather of the pants match the arms and the padding on the knees and thighs match the pauldrons and bracers. But at this point I think I've spent enough time on this one style and given some reasonable ideas of what could be done with this NPC item.