Inspiration can come from anywhere, a random comment, an interesting picture, the news, history to name a few. Generally if you pay attention to those random thoughts that might pop up every now and again and record them you might just find you are sitting on a treasure trove of ideas you never realised were there.
Take how my Parrotbear ended up being created ...
When I'm sketching out new embroidery ideas I tend to just use any random left over bits of thread rather than throwing them away. So when I tried to sketch out an Owlbear based on a model I saw on the wall of my my FLGS (friendly local gaming store), I ended up with a randomly brightly coloured outline.
The question then became do run with a more brightly coloured design or fill it in with a more subdued pallet? It's at this point the idea of a Parrotbear started to bubble up maybe even a little back story as well - which I'll pop in at the end of the post.
I shared the dilemma online and the idea got fleshed out more. Does the Parrotbear use mimicry to lure adventurers into a trap? Were they created or naturally occurring? The kids reaction to the idea of possibly facing the creature in some future game confirmed it was definitely worth investing some more effort into.
Next thing you know a stat line appeared for using in game thanks to Jared Dahl - @mn-ttrpg-dad.bsky.social. And so I ended up with a unique embroidery, that also has a back story and stats to use in a future game.
Maybe I need to look at converting or sculpting an actual model next? I think maybe getting hold of an Owlbear miniature and changing the beak would be easier that trying to work from scratch.
So what do you think about my creative process? Do you do anything similar or have a completely different approach? Feel free to drop a comment below and let me know.
That backstory I mentioned, it's rough at the moment but I think it's an interesting starting point. I might try fleshing it out a bit more at some point ...
"Pete was an apprentice Mage who really wanted to be a Pirate sailing the sea and enjoying the fresh salty air, not stuck in a boring dusty tower learning how to make herbal tea for his master. Anything he could do to get closer to his dream excited him.
So when his master mentioned the art of melding different animals into a familiar. He was struck with making himself a small familiar based on a Parrot but with a bit more muscle. Having a goal to focus on changed him over night.
What his master didn't foresee was his apprentice trying to merge a bear cub into the mix, creating a horrific apex predator who just wouldn't stop growing. Things got out of hand when he broke it to Pete that the hulking beast needed to be destroyed.
Pete couldn't bring himself to kill his creation and was so distraught he failed to fully lock the cage that night. Knowing Pete would not do it himself his master went to deal with things.
Unfortunately for the master he unexpectedly found himself becoming a tasty treat for the blasted creature.
Freed from servitude to his old master Pete decided he'd give his dreams a go and ended up unsurprisingly being a rather successful pirate with his pet by his side."
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