Project:
The Muddied Stage / 泥土ノ檻ト仮面ノ劇場
A repertory cast of theatrical actors/persona.
Murmur/Fourth Wheel
1/13/26

##Overview:
This project aims to build a repertory cast of standing portrait “actors,” inspired by party-based dungeon RPGs (Wizardry / Etrian Odyssey lineage), but repurposed for theatrical roles rather than combat.
Instead of slaying monsters, these characters perform RPG-sprite adaptations of classic plays using RPG Maker MV and RPG Developer Bakin. The focus is on role-fit, costuming, expression, and long-term reusability rather than CG-heavy presentation.

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##Visuals & Tone
Aiming for functional, grounded fantasy clothing over anything excessively ornate. So like, Ragnarok Online (Classic) over Genshin Impact, if that makes sense. 
As a worldbuilding/creative constraint, I plan to create reference designs for the required costumes using equipment from Dragon's Dogma 2.

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##Production scope
8 character portraits with variations, 
completed over 4~6 months, one character at a time.
CG are not required; standing portraits are the primary asset.

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##Budget:
With 8 standing portraits, I'm budgeting up to $450 (70,000yen) per portrait, 
(depending on complexity and variation) 
Simpler ones may be well below this, but I'd like to see what it buys me in terms of variation and costume alts.

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##Stopping point:
This section is planned to be complete with the addition of The Chorus, as I plan to pause and produce "The Tempest" as a free-release demo/test-of-concept.
If I enjoy the work, there are, of course, many missing actor types remaining to fill out the troupe!

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##Deliverables per character:
-Base Standing portrait (Nude >> Undergarment >> Outerwear)
-An alternate posture, in some cases
-A range of expression toggles, the goal is to create portraits that clearly match the lines, with expression doing most of the narrative work instead of CG
-I'm interested to experiment with some techniques that don't see much use in RPG portraits, like makeup, eyeliner, and age marks
-PSD with layers at the end

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##Portraits required (8 total):
[Meta/Gameplay]
- "Ticket Girl" - Handles menus, admission, etc
- "Viewer" - Player perspective character for  diegetic framing

[Theatre troupe cast]
The first production I want to stage is a rendition of Shakespeare's "The Tempest".
It's a fairly secluded piece, so I'll make do with a limited cast:
- "Lord" - a Wizardly king-in-exile
- "Maiden" - King's daughter
- "Youth" - shipwrecked prince
- "Sprite" - a spirit servant
- "Half-man" - a goblinoid slave
- Chorus/Mob characters - various fill ins (low fidelity) 

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##First commission:
The ticket girl.
She has the least dramatic weight to carry, so she'll be my guinea pig of a first attempt to get a feel for budgeting, etc. 
She mostly needs to be cute and welcoming. I'd have more design input to contribute once this is undertaken, of course.

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##Collaboration & Pace:
I do have eventual aspirations for more RPG/eroge-like projects, but this one is intended primarily as an exploratory practice and test-run to see if I find fulfillment in marching little RPG maker sprites around the screen and posing/timing portraits.
As such, the pace can be easygoing, say maximum of 4 or 5 emails a month. I hope an expanded time frame lets adjustments be iterative without feeling like nags, too.