Behind the Scenes: Character Development

WARNING: SMALL SPOILERS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS POST. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

Ever wondered how the characters in Studium come to life? Today we’re pulling back the curtain on our character development process – a journey that weaves storytelling, visual design, and gameplay into a cohesive experience.

Breaking the Story

Every character begins in the writers’ room. Our team collaborates to “break” stories that might connect to the overarching narrative or focus on a specific dungeon crawl. This initial phase is where characters take shape – we explore their motivations, conflicts, and how they fit within the Studium’s world. Characters emerge organically from these story sessions, often surprising us with unexpected depth and complexity.

Crafting the Lore

Once a character begins to form, we develop detailed lore write-ups that define their specific role within the Studium. These documents dive into their background, relationships, and unique perspectives. This stage transforms a concept into a three-dimensional character with history and purpose, ensuring they feel authentic within our gothic fantasy setting.

Visual Design with “Lore Mandatories”

The magic happens when we move to visual design. Our Character Art Director receives a detailed brief that includes standard illustration requirements plus what we call “Lore Mandatories” – specific visual elements that must be incorporated into the design.

These aren’t merely aesthetic choices. A hidden eye, mysterious embroidered symbol, or scarred wrist – each detail is intentionally woven into the character design to tell a story without words. These visual elements create connections throughout the Studium world that observant players will discover as they play.

What can make this approach unique is how these visual elements can connect directly to gameplay. Some of these “Lore Mandatories” tie into specific game mechanics. That mysterious symbol might directly match a marking on an important destination, while a character’s scarred wrist could indicate vulnerability to certain damage types.

The Result: Layered Storytelling

Through this process, we create characters that feel purposeful and interconnected. Every design choice contributes to the rich tapestry of Studium’s world, allowing us to show rather than tell the connections threaded throughout the game.

The next time you encounter a character in Studium | No Exit, take a closer look at the details. That seemingly minor visual element might reveal something important about who they are and how they connect to the broader story we’re telling.