Token Style

New here, and I've begun the process of creating art for the Marketplace. While I can see the appeal of having a consistent top-down look to the map, I personally am not a fan of that style and am looking to go more portraity. I've mocked up a few ideas and was wondering if folks would mind giving me some opinions on which styles they prefer. Style 1 (with optional transparent background) Style 2 I'm also interested in what you would like to see in a set. For example: 1) A set of dwarves in various classes. 2) A set of wizards from various races. 3) A random mix of classes/races. Basically just doing some market research to see what options people would like to see. Thanks for reading.

I, too, prefer portrait tokens over top-down ones, so this is nice to see. Personally, I prefer the first one, as the colored border seems to clash a bit in the second style. If the border were to match the background so the whole thing looked kinda like a woodcarving, though, that would be a neat effect. I think transparency inside the border runs into the same problems that top-down tokens run into: it makes it harder to distinguish what's part of the token and what isn't. So my vote is for opaque. I'd vote for a random mix. It's nice to be able to do a whole group using one set/style of tokens, and a random mix seems more likely to meet that need than a group of one race or class would be (excluding the odd adventure into the dwarven ruins or the wizards' college).

I'm a fan of the portrait-style token; IMO the only transparency should be on the outside of the token's border, for round & hex-shaped tokens. When it comes to sets, I prefer weaponless, so any weapon can be assigned to the mob without comments from the peanut gallery. If you're willing to do the same monster in a variety of styles (caster, bow, crossbow, swords, sword&shield, dagger, polearm) that's also nice.

I use portrait style also, using border to determine disposition (blue being PC/NPC party member, red for enemies, yellow for companion animals/familiars and white for NPC or neutral until known otherwise tokens ;) ). In terms of styling I prefer a mixture of styles (usually lifted from internet searches but shhhh) to find portraits that best sum up the creature/person. The hardest thing i find is a way to make it certain which way the token is 'facing' when using portraits (that being said a small 'north' indicator would do the trick on the outer circle i just haven't been bothered to do it yet!). Set-wise I am in complete agreement with GenKitty.

Very cool. Really appreciate the input. @manveti, the idea of the border matching the background on set two is interesting. Might have to mock up one and see how that looks. @ziechael, I had thought about including alternate borders in the set, I like your breakdown on color and will play with that. Thx. Looks like the mixed sets are the way to go. Thinking of ~20 tokens of the more common/base races, and filling out the rest with the uncommon/rare races. Not unlike a booster set for a TCG. :-) Typically when I work up a portrait, I and up creating a backstory in my head to help make decisions about details, etc. Was thinking of writing that up and making that available, so if you need a quick npc, there's a quick framework, basic personality, etc to draw on/modify/ignore as needed. Would there be any interest in that? If so, what kind of things would you be interested in? Thinking something like: Moglok, Orc. Minion with delusions of grandeur. Wants to become #2 in his tribe, but no one takes him seriously. Collects left lower incisors from his kills. Un-attached, but has secret crush on his Sargent. Loves books; thinks they burn good.

you could create an assortment of Square, Hex, and Ring Borders with transparent centers that GM's with even a tiny bit of photoshop/gimp know-how can drop over a picture to create their own tokens based off what ever portrait their players put into the Bio/info tab.