I saw an artwork of Anubis on Google Images that portrayed him having 2 pairs of upper limbs. I really liked the idea (this was before I started work on the Hindu gods, who coincidentally have multiple pairs of upper limbs as a common design motif) and decided to incorporate that into Mythosphere's version of the character. 

More information about the character:

Anubis

Role – Carry


Skill 1 – Gatekeeper’s Grave
Anubis casts a spell that accesses the enemy hero. If the level of the selected enemy hero is divisible by the level of this skill, the enemy is dealt with heavy damage.


Skill 2 – Cry of the Dead
Whenever a friendly ally or enemy hero dies near Anubis, his stats increase.


Skill 3 – Throne Ascension
Anubis casts a magical veil that encapsulates his body, giving him temporary magic immunity.


Ultimate Skill – Underworld Ticket
If the selected enemy hero’s HP is below a certain percentage, Anubis immediately executes him or her. The enemy hero’s respawn time is increased.

And that's all folks. All 18 characters from the 1st version of Mythosphere has been designed. I'm referring to it as the "1st version" because I have since made some amendments to the Game Design Document, replacing the popular gods among my students with other candidates for the next batch of students to pick from. I'm not sure if I will design any of these new batch of gods as I aim to focus on Inktober and then on polishing up my 3D sculpting and texturing skills in the upcoming weeks.

​Till next time.

There are a lot of similarities when it comes to the process of designing Egyptian and Hindu gods. Both cultures have animal inspired deities and they tend to have a ton of ornamental accessories and a funky color scheme. I explored these features on Horus and on tomorrow's Anubis.  For this variant, I went for a younger teenager proportions.

More information about the character:

Horus

Role – Initiator


Skill 1 – Falcon Flight
Horus leaps and glides to the selected area.


Skill 2 – Falcon Punch
Horus punches a random enemy at melee range, stunning the enemy for a long duration.


Skill 3 – Pharaoh’s Tomb
Horus encases himself inside a tomb. While inside the tomb, he casts an aura that increases HP regeneration for himself and nearby allies. He remains immobile within the tomb. The tomb has 1000 armour but has 0 magic resistance. Horus dies if the tomb is destroyed.


Ultimate Skill – Eye of Horus
Nearby allies gain +1000 armour for a certain duration.

Osiris was interesting to design as there were so many different directions you can take for this character. I lost my thumbnails, so unfortunately I can only show the final design. Drawing ellipses in perspective has always been an issue for me. For the anklet behind Osiris, I had to seek the aid of 3DSMax to provide a reference.

More information about the character:

Osiris

Role – Pusher


Skill 1 – Dark Resurrection
When this spell is off-cooldown, Osiris has 2 lives.


Skill 2 – Dark Whisper
Osiris can convert any enemy or neutral creep into a friendly ally.


Skill 3 – Dark Aura
When activated, any unit (friendly or enemy) constantly looses Mana but their HP regeneration rate is increased.


Ultimate Skill – Mummified Golems
Osiris calls raises Mummified Golems from below the battlefield. These Golems are controllable units that deal large amounts of damage to enemy structures.

Tsukuyomi turned out to be the only gender-bended character I designed for Mythosphere. I went with a few approaches, including one with a similar concept to her sister, Amaterasu's final design where there is a design motif at the bottom of her gown (in her case, some wispy smoke). Eventually, I decided on the first concept, which was inspired by the concept of bats.

Tsukuyomi is a god of the night, and bats were a fitting representation of it. I gave her a blindfold and wings, both the signature characteristics of a bat. To spice things up, I added the aurora borealis on her wings; I just enjoy painting that natural phenomenon. 

More information about the character:

Tsukuyomi

Role – Pusher

Skill 1 – Dark Soul
Tsukuyomi uses half of her total HP to create a clone of herself. The clone has half of her stats and can be controlled by Tsukuyomi. When the clone dies, she dies.


Skill 2 – Wave of Terror
Tsukuyomi unleashes a wave of dark energy that damages any enemy within an AoE in front of her.


Skill 3 – Death Pact
Tsukuyomi uses her HP to deal damage to a single enemy or enemy structure.


Ultimate Skill – Soul Steal
If casted during night time, Tsukuyomi swaps her HP with an enemy.
If casted during day time, Tsukuyomi swaps HP with an ally.

I wanted to explore the darker side of Susanoo for Mythosphere's design. In this variant, the slaying of the eight-headed Orochi has ignited the bloodlust within him. He now hunts for new prey to satiate his hunger for battle.

In hindsight, I may have designed the character a little too dark for the LUCENT faction.

More information about the character:

Susanoo

Role – Initiator


Skill 1 – Ccccharge!
Susanoo charges into a selected area in front of him, dealing damage to the targeted enemy and himself.


Skill 2 – Mana shield
When activated, whatever damage taken by Susanoo is inflicted onto his Mana pool instead of HP.


Skill 3 – Storm Cyclone
Susanoo spins so quickly that he forms into a tornado. When in this phase, he has increased movement speed, his attack becomes AoE and he is magic immune. However, he takes 1.5x more damage.


Ultimate Skill – Orochi Slash
Susanoo moves at lightning speed, attacking 8 times at any enemy. The attacks may be focused on 1 single enemy if it is the only enemy nearby. When attack, he exclaims “Ryuu ga waga teki wo kurau!”

Japanese deities are really fun to design. Perhaps because they are so overrepresented in popular culture, the artist actually has the liberty to explore more adventurous designs. For Amaterasu, I tried a more traditional Kanon-esque approach and a child, shrine maiden variation.

I ended up with the design that was inspired by the game Okami. The main character of the game is a wolf who receives power from Amaterasu to restore balance and peace upon the world. When running around, the wolf leaves a trail of flowers, symbolizing the life-giving power of the sun. I thought the idea of a life-giver was pretty neat and decided to try it out for the 3rd design. The end result looked great (and unique) so I went with it for the final.

More information about the character:

Amaterasu

Role – Support


Skill 1 – Firestorm
Amaterasu casts a wall of fire in a selected area. Enemies standing on the fire will get damaged and burned. Allies standing on the fire will get healed.


Skill 2 – Passing the Torch
Amaterasu can channel this spell to a friendly ally. When this spell is channelled, the ally will receive an increase in HP regeneration rate. Amaterasu is immobile during the channeling.


Skill 3 – The Chosen One
If Amaterasu has more than half of her Mana pool remaining when she dies, she is instantly revived.


Ultimate Skill – Praise the Sun
Amaterasu directs the sun beams to a selected area. She teleports to that selected area, healing everyone (both ally and enemy) to full HP.

How do you transform a folklore hero into a villain? For Rama, this was the main design problem I had to tackle. I settled on a slender, sorta Illidan-esque frame for the final design. Chronologically speaking Rama was the last god I designed, so I tried to put in everything that I've learned in this yearlong process into this character. 

More information about the character:

Rama

Role – Carry


Skill 1 – Gilgamesh’s Will
Rama can change between melee and ranged attack at will.


Skill 2 – Godly intimidation
Rama’s aura reduces the enemies’ attack and movement speed whenever they are near him.


Skill 3 – King’s Crown
Rama’s passive enables him to receive more gold per kill as compared to other heroes.


Ultimate Skill – Calling of Vishnu
Rama splits into 3 different avatars of Vishnu – Rama, Krishna and Buddha. Each of them is a controllable unit and they possess different abilities and roles. 

While designing hanuman, I made a conscious effort to differentiate him from the other popular Monkey God - Sun Wukong. I ended up with a more feral form, highlighting the "dark" side of the NEBULA. The selected design also gave a unique spin on his signature mace weapon. I chained it onto his buttocks, forming a makeshift tail.

More information about the character:

Hanuman

Role – Jungler


Skill 1 – Blur
Hanuman’s evasion rate is much higher than other heroes, enabling him to avoid attacks more frequently.


Skill 2 – Chant of Life
Hanuman can channel a prayer that heals his HP overtime. Hanuman is immobile while channelling this spell.


Skill 3 – Windwalk
Hanuman can become invisible for a certain duration. During this time, his movement speed is also dramatically increased. Should he attack before the duration is up, the attack will receive a damage boost but he will become visible.


Ultimate Skill – Dark Radiance
Hanuman’s ultimate is a passive ability where dark energy emits from his body constantly, burning any enemy who dare stands near him.

As with the other anthropomorphic gods like Fenrir, it was difficult to come out with unique reimaginations of Ganesha. The requirements of having an elephant head plus his role of an initiator means that he has to have a certain amount of bulk to his frame. I tried going for a dual upper limb set-up, theoretically making it easier for  a 3D modeller and rigger to create the 3D asset. However, I really liked the multi upper limb silhouette as it sets him apart from the other gods in the game.

More information about the character:

Ganesha

Role – Initiator


Skill 1 – Battle Fury
Ganesha’s passive Battle Fury enables him to damage all enemies within an AoE with each attack.


Skill 2 – For the Herd
Ganesha will charge towards the selected area on the map in the shortest route possible, traversing over otherwise impassable terrain. Which charging, Ganesha is immune to magic.


Skill 3 – Hammer to Fall
Ganesha slams his hammer onto a single enemy. The enemy receives damage and is stunned.


Ultimate Skill – Samsara
Ganesha’s HP, Mana, spell and item cooldowns and physical position are reversed to what/where they were 5 seconds ago.

Chang'e is the Chinese moon goddess. Legend has it that she lives with a group of (jade) rabbits on the moon. For the final design, I went with a gigantic rabbit that ferries Chang'e around on the game map. This version of Chang'e is younger than her classical interpretations and attacks by playing on her Pipa (Chinese guitar).

More information about the character:

Chang'e

Role – Support


Skill 1 – Sonata of the Moon
Chang’e sings to the sky. If it is night time, allies around her recovers large amount of Mana. If it is day time, allies around her recover small amount of HP.


Skill 2 – Moonrise
Chang’e sings to the sky. If it is night time, she summons spirit rabbits that attack the enemy for a certain duration. If it is day time, she gains a temporary movement speed boost.


Skill 3 – Rising Wind
Chang’e summons a whirlwind that sends an enemy into the air. During this time, the enemy is stunned but cannot be attacked or healed.
Ultimate Skill – Elixir of Life
Chang’e revives any friendly ally who was killed in the past 3 seconds in an AoE around her. After all, real heroes never die.