Read my description or I will steal your soul.
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Design your own original character, with a skin for their appearance, and a bit of writing to show how they fit in the world

  • About

    Hello everyone! And welcome to my first character jam! I decided to make this first one pretty heavily themed, because I felt like it would make it easier to participate in, and judge, if everyone has a lot more to work with.

    Sorry if this goes a little long, I just want to make sure that I don't explain things poorly. Especially since this is a bit more than a normal skin jam, and there is nothing more disconcerting than a ranked jam that has a bunch of rules and criteria that don't make sense!


    What is a character jam?

    That is the question you are almost definitely asking. Well! It's essentially a combo skin making and writing jam where you make a skin of an original character, and ‘lore’ who that original character is. You could also call it a character design jam.

    This might terrify you, if you are just a writer who doesn't know the first rule of shading, or if you are just a skinner who doesn't know anything about making the words make sense, let alone making them pretty.

    Well don't worry! For a start, this is a friendly contest, not life or death. You don't have to be the best, especially not at both! I tried to make the criteria pretty evenly split, so if you really nail the writing, and make a skin with block colours, you should get about the same score as someone who created a masterpiece of a skin and gave a sentence of lore.

    And I encourage everyone to give it a go! Even if you know nothing about either skill! Give it a shot! Try something new!


    Writing?

    Yeah, okay this is vague. But to be fair I kept it that way on purpose. You can just write a character description if you so choose, but! I would recommend not just filling out a form that lists age, gender, species, ect. Since you will be actively marked down for that, in criteria #3. Try instead to explain all that in a more coherent connected paragraph.

    Also a big emphasis on how the character feels, and thinks. While making sure you are clear about their position in the world is important, as it is a big component of criteria #5, I highly recommend you think about how the character feels about that position in the world.

    Viewing it through that lens will allow you to explore who your character is as a person, which is a big part of getting points on criteria #4!

    If you want to write in story form/character POV form, from your character’s perspective, go ahead! Under five hundred word drabble to over a thousand word short story, you should theoretically gain more points from doing so! I tried to make the criteria friendly to above and beyond, without making them entirely unfriendly to everyone else.


    Okay five hundred words down, and I think that’s pretty much everything at the top of the confusing list, now we are getting on to the LORE. Buckle up, because things are about to get real nerdy. I mean I used the term 'High Fantasy' that must have set off the alarm bells right?

    "Welcome to Triandalinous..." These words could be spoken by a bounty hunter tossing your character into the city jail, a family member distant or familiar welcoming them to a new home, by a bored guard who has accepted them through the gates, or just sarcastically uttered by one of their fellow locals, the options are limitless!

    But regardless the city of Triandalinous is the key point which all this revolves around, whether your character lives there or not, the question of why they are there should be answered!

    I’m going to provide you with some information about Triandalinous, trying to stay balanced on the line between too little and too much.


    History/Trade/Place in World:


    Triandalinous was an old place, a stronghold built and rebuilt over many ages past, it is not entirely certain what war it was first built for, but all thinking creatures know what war it stands to fight now. It is home to the neutral and the non-fighting good, a guardian that protects the worker, the craftsman, and the trader as monsters of all kinds stalk the lands outside.

    Rarely has the city been big enough to fit all who need its protection, so it is not infrequent to find the human forms of cruelty inside. But people rather risk being robbed, or used for the profit of others, then be torn apart by what stalks outside.

    As one of few standing and well defended fortified cities in its part of the world, Triandalinous is a major hub of trade, the rivers are safer than overland travel, and considerably faster. Peoples from all over the world find their way to Triandalinous, some staying once they have made fortune enough to ensure a good life there.


    People:

    Most of the thinking races that can be found in Estenal can be found in Triandalinous, whether they are wanted there or not. The most exotic tend to be among the adventures, the diplomats, traders, and studying mages. The guard also has a habit of accepting those who would not fit in elsewhere, probably owing to a long standing need for more hands to hold the spears, pikes, bows, and blades that keep most of the city safe. Magic being not always practical to use, no matter how skilled or powerful the mage.

    Climate:

    Triandalinous was a city of temperate extremes, it’s winters never got cold enough to freeze her rivers solid, but there was always need for people to shovel snow, and the shortest days of the year often necessitated ice breakers so that the wider barges could still drop their goods at the city markets.

    And in summer it was never as hot as those desert cities to the west, but the lakes and rivers would grow shallower, the people who worked would want for any rain, those who did not would lounge only ever in the shade and demand the service of any mage who could call to themselves ice.

    Really the best times in Triandalinous were the ones that came in between, when there was rain without bitter cold, food that was fresh and would stay so for a time without going dry or succumbing to rot. Although all seasons brought monsters of their own, the most ghastly ruled where there was already death and suffering.

    Hopefully that's enough to get your gears turning! And I know some of you are thinking: 'But where is the list of fantasy races and their special abilities?' Well I wanted you guys to have more freedom then that, Estenal is a world home to races which basically fulfil the basic human, elf, demon, ect.

    But you can add your own ideas, and your own spin on those things! As long as you don't try to set down the rules for everybody else It's fine. And if you aren't sure about literally anything- or just want some help on what to do, message me! Make a guestbook post! If you have an idea and you aren't sure if it fits the theme talk to me and I can help you high-fantasy-ify it.

    Okay, now to the rules, because those are important.

    1. Nothing inappropriate, you guys should generally know site content rules, but I don't want anything not PG in your writing or the design of your skins. If you have something you aren't sure about, or that you think is probably mild enough to be fine but might upset someone, put a little warning before your writing, and have it in a spoiler.
    2. No using AI for your final product, I don't care if you use AI to work on your ideas, or even get an AI to write you a draft, but the final product should come for you (and only you). And also just no old fashioned copy-and-paste/part-picking from somewhere, try to do it yourself! It's fun trust me.
    3. No completely blank, plain single colour, or noise skins. If you are really having trouble with the skin, look at a tutorial! There are plenty of very good ones, not as many for medieval skins, but the basic shading principles still apply. And you will be learning something new!
    4. No reusing or re-uploading an old skin, you can remake an old skin, within reason, but no slapping a 'new' sticker on something old. Maybe make an alternate version of a past character who lives in Estenal, but have them be at least a little if not significantly different.
    5. Original characters only, we have kinda covered this, but uh, just to reinforce, got to make your own character. It's fine to use random generators to get something to work with, but you have to do the heavy lifting on the character design.
    6. Be nice to everyone else participating in the jam, and have fun! Don't stress, I know rules are stressful, always feels a bit like I'm being accused of a crime when I read rules! But chances are you weren't gonna break 'em anyway, I just think keeping things nice and clear is helpful!

    I also have a guide on character development, right here, if you want some tips on how to develop character from a slightly unhinged weirdo who sorta knows how to write a story. I mean me, by the way. I'm the unhinged weirdo.

    1.6k words now, even more description! Oh the horror! How people must tremble before my many words!

  • Jam Overview

    Jam is over.
    It ran from March 13, 2025 @ 3:00 pm UTC to June 1, 2025 @ 1:00 pm UTC
    View results

    Basic Summary

    Ranked Jam accepted Skins from participants.
    Accepts only standard resolution skins.

    Read the about for more information.

    Judging

    Ranked by Participants & Contributors - Submission uploader and contributors can vote on other entries.
    Entries can't be updated during the judge phase.
    80 day entry period.
    7 day voting phase after the entry period.

    Rating Criteria

    1. Skin Design - Form
      Detail, proportions of the skin, you might give them less stars if it is too plain, or so busy you can't tell what's going on.
      Rated 1 to 8
    2. Skin Design - Colour and Shading
      Do the colours work well together? How is their shading? You might deduct stars if they didn't shade, or if they used colours that clash
      Rated 1 to 8
    3. Writing - Rhythm and Flow
      Does the writing feel cohesive? Are the explanations clear? Deduct stars if it they just list information, or if the flow seems off
      Rated 1 to 8
    4. Writing - Detail and Vibe
      Do you get a feel for who their character is as a person? Not just what they do, but why they do it?
      Rated 1 to 8
    5. Cohesion and Lore Relevance
      Do the skin design and writing match up? Do they seem to belong to the same character? Does the character fit the theme and the world?
      Rated 1 to 10

    Trophies

    First Place
    Second Place
    Third Place
    Participant
    View Jam Overview

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