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My Character's Name Is 'Uh-oh'

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I wasn't trying to be a wise guy. I just figured that with all the multisyllablic eleven and draconic names, it really wouldn't be all that strange to have a human PC who decided back at Level 1 that it would be pretty symbolic to go by the name of "Uh-oh." Whether he's a success or a failure as an rpg adventurer, the name would make sense.

Recently I've had an out-of-the-blue urge to buy some of the downloadable (i.e. convenient and inexpensive) Pathfinder role-playing games from the Paizo rpg company. It was more out of an exercise in nostalgia (i.e. mental health maintenance) rather than any sort of a plan to try and convert my grown-up-with-kids-of-their-own D&D 4.0 (5.0?) friends to play a tabletop rpg with me. (Pathfinder is basically D&D 3.5 when D&D changed from third edition to fourth edition.)

Also, I've always been a fan of Wayne Alan Reynolds' artwork, especially his depictions of character classes. (If you've played D&D or Pathfinder anytime within the past decade, you've seen his artwork. Trust me.) In the Pathfinder rulebooks (just glance at the covers to see what I mean,) Wayne Alan Reynolds does the impossible by depicting a fighter, wizard, rogue, etc. in a way that makes the character look cool yet it's hard to tell whether the character is a low-level starting character or a high-level I-eat-pantheons-for-breakfast character. (This in particular inspired Uh-oh's appearance and the very particular wording I used in the labels on my colored-pencils-and-some-digital-Paint-for-the-details drawing of Uh-oh.) One turn-off that I suspect some rpg players notice only on an intuitive level is that visually, a L1 character has "Noob" written all over him/her, while a L18 character looks awesome but c'mon you're NOT going to live long enough to ever reach high-level. (and nobody wants be caught dead carrying that Level 1 ladder for their character portrait.) Whether it's to get from L1 to L2 or from L19 to L20, there are a several opportunities when you can die (or worse, depending on your DM), and at lower levels there's more pressure because you can get bragging rights by getting killed by a lich but only humiliation if you get killed by a kobold or by tripping over a tree root. As a result, the tendency IMO in fantasy rpg artwork is for the party to often look all decked out in glowing lights and somehow wielding an Excalibur in each hand. Wayne Alan Reynolds' PC character artwork does the impossible by drawing somebody cool who is still within reach of the player. That's what I was going for with this drawing.

Plus, I appreciate how WAR often draws what I call big-belt-and-skirt-with-knick-knacks. i.e. He seems to "get" that when playing a tabletop rpg, players simply aren't going to find matching sets. Their mismatched appearance and all the do-dads dangling from their belts and pouches are very reminiscent of the hard-earned bits of treasure which their characters discover at great risk to their lives in a monster-filled dungeon. It makes sense that they would have weapons, armor, and magic items from a variety of cultures, shapes, and appearances; and when you still have to fight your way back OUT of that dungeon, you're not going to toss away that +2 magic axe just because it's glowing blue instead of red when you like red better. :-)

Well, I'll admit I also really needed a break from my killer course and simply felt like creating a make-believe D&D ninja as if I was 20 years younger. :-) Sue me. I like Uh-oh, and it was genuinely fun to try out Uh-Oh by running him through one of Pathfinder's L1 adventure modules (in-between quizzes and lab reports) over this past week. :-) (I won't bore you with his backstory. Just enjoy the drawing.)
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DarthRonius's avatar
Ah. :D You're a Wayne Reynolds fan too?