Rogue Quest Level 4: The Rogue

It's level up time in Rogue Quest - the collaborative painting / modelling / gaming project I'm working on in partnership with JB/Asslessman over at Leadplague. My first character was my female Barbarian, Dy-ana.

After JB's very nice wizard from last week, I've taken up the baton yet again with my next adventurer. I was very keen from the outset that I would reflect some of the species diversity common to dungeoneering parties. Although human adventurers are typically well represented, dwarf fighters, elf rangers and even half-orc barbarians add real spice to the mix.

I knew that I wanted to include a squat in my party. Rather than make my squat a traditional barbarian or fighter character, I decided my short-beardy fellow would be a more subtle individual, playing the part of a rogue / thief.

Dwarf Rogue

In my mind, rogues should be discreet, able to blend into shadows, or disappear in a crowded market place. What they shouldn't be, is overtly warlike, festooned with weapons or covered in armour.

The obvious choice was to paint up one of the rather nice Citadel squat adventurers. This set of 5 models is just great - they're so characterful with their individual outfits and gear. Happily, my mate Graham had some spare and was able to provide me with my source figure - adventurer #5:

Citadel's lovely squat adventurers

Adventurer #5 got the nod from the 4 squats I had available - there's so much character in his world-weary face. I also particularly like his vaguely Western-style outfit and slightly comedic hood. Most importantly, he looks like a loner / drifter. Certainly capable of a heist for a valuable set of data-slates, or rare jewelled xenos artefacts!

There are many traders and brokers on the Subdanian fringe worlds who have encountered squat adventurer Jebediah Corbain. Sometimes he buys information - rumours about lost treasures or abandoned facilities. Sometimes he discretely sells unusual artefacts or strange pieces of tech. Rarely does he stay on any one world for long. Often he is alone, but sometimes he is accompanied by exotic or rugged companions - they are never with him the next time he is seen. One day Corbain will never be seen again. Most of his contacts will never notice his absence.

I wanted to keep the open stance and see Jebediah's nicely detailed front, so I turned him into a sort of grizzled gunslinger. His left arm is from the original squat plastic arm sprue, while his right was sculped with the addition of a laspistol from a plastic Necromunda Orlock ganger. I quite like the resulting hip-shooter pose - it reinforces that Western look even more!

I kept Jebediah's colour scheme fairly traditional, with a tan coat, white shirt and black boots and gloves. His blue hood is the same spot colour as used on the trim of Dy-ana's dress. I plan to use this colour on every member of the adventuring party as a way to tie them together, even though they will get quite different colour schemes overall.

I also attempted to add a touch of detail to Jebediah's blanket bundle by painting it in a plaid/tartan design. It's not a fully accurate representation, but I think it does enough to give the correct impression.

A rather scruffy close-up of Jebediah's blanket.

Jebediah and Dy-ana fend off a pair of rabid cultists!

Before I hand back to JB for the next instalment some time next week, I just wanted to mention the exceptional work of Alex over at Leadballony, who's decided to make his own Rogue Quest adventuring party after seeing what JB and I are working on. So far Alex has painted up three excellent figures, all from different manufacturers, and has done a stellar job in tying them together!

Right then JB - back to you for level 5!

See also:

Rogue Quest Level Two: The Barbarian

Rogue Quest Level Six: The Bard

Rogue Quest Level Eight: The Magic User

Rogue Quest Level Ten: The Cleric

Rogue Quest Level Twelve: The Paladin

Rogue Quest Level Twelve and a Half: The Fighter