u/Fading_Age

Hello,

for the past year I have been developing an indie tabletop Role-Playing Game and I'm currently looking for an artist to help realise the playable character races. For more context, I will provide further details just below.

About the Project

I am developing Fading Age, an indie dark fantasy TTRPG with a gritty, pre-apocalyptic medieval setting rooted in European folklore and mythology. The game is OSR-adjacent in design and aims for a bleak, grounded aesthetic: crumbling institutions, corrupted landscapes, and people trying to survive in a world slowly dying. The illustrations will appear in the core rulebook, published independently.

For a first impression of the project's tone and aesthetic, feel free to check out the current playtest release on itch.io: https://fading-age.itch.io

What I Need

I am looking for one artist to illustrate between 6 - 10 playable races, each as a package consisting of:

• 1× full body, male-presenting
• 1× full body, female-presenting
• 3–4 portrait busts showing distinct facial expressions and/or hair/face variations

All work needs to be done in black and white with strong linework and expressive shading. The main focus will be to capture the distinct features of each race and to portray different emotional expressions. Thus, facial expression will have to be one of your stronger aspects.

Design Philosophy

The races of Fading Age are humanoid at their core, built on human proportions and silhouette. Non-human features exist as strong defining accents: a beak, unusual eyes, a particular bone structure, subtle morphological differences that hint at a divergent ancestry. The overall read should be a person first. A character should register as someone with history, personality, and intent before the viewer processes what makes them physically unusual. Some races carry a quirky or offbeat personality, and I want that reflected clearly in expression and body language, not only in physical design.

Style

Expressive and characterful, not grimdark. Confident ink illustration with personality and warmth, even within a dark setting. The darkness lives in the world's edges, not in the faces of its people.

Visual references: Symbaroum for atmosphere, Forbidden Lands for grounded character work. Textured linework, expressive faces, readable silhouettes. No clean fantasy, no anime influence.

The Races

Full race descriptions will be shared privately upon first contact. All races are humanoid with specific fantastical or animalistic details; no two races overlap in visual or cultural identity.

Budget

$150 per race package (2 full bodies + 3–4 portrait busts).

Rights & Credit

Full commercial rights for independent publication (print and PDF). You will be credited by name in the rulebook.

How to Apply

Please share your portfolio and preferred working process in the comments below. Private messages will be (mostly) ignored. Sketch approval before finals is preferred. Selection will be based on stylistic fit. Share your work that best represents your style. Experience with character design, dark fantasy, or expressive illustration is a strong plus.

Please note that AI-generated or AI-assisted artwork will not be considered. All submitted portfolio work should be entirely hand-made. By applying, you confirm that any work produced for this project will be created without the use of AI generation tools.