Hiring an Illustrator for
Kinhaven
A Tabletop Roleplaying Game
A tabletop roleplaying game
Communities, courage, and hope
Hi! I'm Tucker, a dad who lives just outside Seattle in the US. I've finished creating an original tabletop roleplaying game where players build villages, protect communities, and explore a world inhabited by animal-folk.
The game's Rules Manual is a 135 page book.
While the game includes adventure and combat, its heart is not conquest. It is about stewardship, cooperation, curiosity, and the quiet courage of ordinary people, a cozy fantasy with moments of genuine danger.
Most of the characters will be anthropomorphic animals, but there are some humans as well.
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Imagine a world inspired by
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Redwall
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Studio Ghibli
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Everdell
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The Tea Dragon Society
Values
The game and illustrations will feature:
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Animal-folk and fantasy cultures inspired by every populated continent.
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Diverse genders & expressions
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Diverse body types
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Mobility aids
Hiring an Illustrator
I need a lot of illustrations for the game's rules manual
I have sketches I've drawn and short briefs for each illustration.
PART 1
Kickstarter Crowdfunding
To start with I only need a few illustrations.
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1 book cover illustration
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3 character illustrations
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3 prop illustrations
These pieces will be used to launch a crowdfunding campaign to fund the illustration of the book.
PART 2
The full project
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15 full-page illustrations
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3 Landscapes / cities only
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12 with 1-to-3 characters
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15 quarter-page illustrations
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5 Buildings only
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10 with 1-to-3 characters
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45 character illustrations
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No backgrounds
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13 prop sheets
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5 props per sheet
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Weapons, armor, potions, etc
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A typical week
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1 full-page illustration or
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2 quarter-pages or
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4 character or
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4 prop sheets
for roughly 9 months
* Or faster if you're up for it
It's a big project
Consistent, weekly side work for ~9 months
Ideally I'd like to hire one illustrator to take on the entire project.
I understand that not every illustrator has availability for a project of this size.
If you're intersted but can't commit to the whole scope, we can talk about dividing the work between 2 or 3 illustrators. In the minimum I'd like to keep all of the full-page / quarter-page illustrations with one person, all characters with one person, and all props with one person.
To clarify, I'm not asking if you're good enough for the project. If I invited you I feel confident your art would be great for Kinhaven. I'm just asking if you have the time to work on the project regularly.
What would it pay?
I'm a solo creator with no funding. So I'll be paying for the first batch of crowdfunding images out of pocket, but then we'll use the money raised to pay you a solid rate for the whole project.
The first batch
For the Kickstarter images I'd like to pay you your set commission rate.
This wouldn't give me the rights to use them in the game, only for the crowdfunding campagin.
After the crowdfunding
$5,000 to $10,000 USD
That's what I hope to raise for illustration.
We would then take the total money raised and work out a commercial rate per piece that works for you. If we need to reduce the number of illustrations or simplify the illustrations so that the money raised is enough to pay you, that's fine.
Pay would be weekly, or whatever works best for you.
10% Royalties
If the game sells and makes a profit, then 10% of the profit would go back to you.
Prominent Credit
Your name would be on the cover of the game, On the website, in the crowdfunding campaign. I'd want to use your signature lots of the images, etc.
Example Specs
This is just to give you an example of what the I'd be handing off to you.
I'd say about 1/3 of my sketches I really like the character's details, about 1/3 of them I feel neutral about, and about 1/3 of them I'd really love better ideas, better outfits, better poses, etc.
But if I invited you to this project than I am 100% am interested in working with your style. My sketches are more busy and detailed than I want the art to be.
If the sketch's pose is right you can just go with it. If you have a better idea you can try that. I want my sketches to be helpful to your final art, not limiting or
Male sage tortoise
He is thin and wiry
He has wrinkled green skin with a brown shell
His body language is sturdy, stiff
His expression is grouchy, wise, thoughtful
His outfit is flowing silky robes that wrap in front of him but leave his arms bare. Maybe he has on wooden sandals, maybe he's barefoot.
He has a natural wooden staff, maybe with a simple feather top, but no backpack or bags.
The game is well designed and looks nice
It just needs some illustration to bring it to life 😁
