An interview with RPG commission artist Will Nunes

Will Nunes

If you've been involved with the Star Wars roleplaying game scene, odds are you've seen at least one of Will Nunes' beautiful character portraits. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for me recently.

The Tabletop Lair: How did you get into art and more specifically, the world of RPG commissions?

Will Nunes: I’ve always done art, and I attended UMass Dartmouth for a degree in Illustration. Drawing pictures for people always sounded more appealing than working in an office. As for RPG art, that just sort of happened organically - I would draw characters from my TTRPG groups and post them online, and as I was doing other commissions at the time, I ended up picking up some RPG commissions. People shared those and it lead to more!

Will Nunes

TTL: What are your main influences?

WN: Mike McCarthy, an artist on the Fable series of videogames, was super formative for me through high school and college, and though my art has drifted very far from that look, I always find myself going back to see what I can learn from his work. In general, J.C. Leyendecker also had a huge influence on my art.

TTL: What's your process for each commission?

WN: I get some info from the client, and start getting them sketches, focused on capturing the important elements they’ve mentioned in the description. Once they’re happy with the sketch, I can start on the finals, sending updates along the way.

TTL: What's your advice for someone looking to get into RPG commissions?

WN: Draw your own characters and share them in relevant subreddits/discords. In this space, especially, I find there’s no better advertisement than just having your work visible

Enemies Unknown - A Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Old World Bestiary review

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Old World Bestiary

Published by Cubicle 7 (Black Industries 2005)

Design and Writing by T.S. Luikart and Ian Sturrock

Development and Rules Design by Chris Pramas 

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition's bestiary appropriately reflects the spirit of the game: familiar tropes from a murkier perspective. Patching up the core rulebook's lackluster adversary section, Old World Bestiary provides rules for most of the vicious and strange creatures that populate the tabletop wargame. 

Cubicle 7

In many ways it's a standard take on one of the classic RPG staples but the book is set apart by its framing. Divided between a player and game master section, the former is presented through an in-universe document, Perilous Beasts. An assortment of rumors and scholarly debate, with a healthy dose of ravings and hearsay, it collects what characters in the setting know about the beings inhabiting dark corners of the world.

Even the more authoritative sections are shrouded by uncertainty, with a letter at the end calling the entire work into question. 

It's a brilliant literary device and one that fits the lopsided, "Ratcatcher" tone of WFRP perfectly. Information that would be common knowledge to most players is often unclear at best to