Here are all the males...
For this presentation I kept the same order for the numbered heads as they appear in-game, but chose a different orientation. So this time the different numbered heads are descending top to bottom. Left to right shows the views. I'll lead with the Githyanki as an example since I have the female Gith up there at the top of the page. The rest of the fantasy Races are spoilered at the bottom of this post, after a little commentary so as not to overload...
Githyanki Males
![[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]](https://i.ibb.co/h9bqZ67/githyanki-male.png)
The color coded heads show the views Red=Front, Green=Profile, Blue=3/4. I did this mainly for the forum's presentation and on mobile. It allows us to see the head views displayed a bit larger, which I thought should help us to scrutinize and compare the features more easily at glance. Went with 3 colors because the left facing view is sort of redundant, has the troublesome blur and just scales down the overall presentation on the boards, so I think 3 should suffice. Ideally the game would show a single view for each head and rotate them all simultaneously, but this works for a still. The Gith I think have had the most work done. They're the largest set and represent an ideal of fantasy abstraction i.e. they don't look human at all really, but still have a nice spread and a good sense of character.
I recapped all the heads in Red, for the Frontal view. I think I made the basic point with the Count Rugen hairdo on the previous page that the rest all look fairly human lol. Just so we could see the ears as well this time I reworked it. I tried to choose some hairstyles that would show the trims at the shortest lengths where possible, though there were some issues again with the Tiefs, and so I did a few riffs. Basically Red= scissors and clippers, Green= mostly clippers, Blue= side shaved with a razor Ragnar lol.
I chose that Blue hairstyle not just to amuse myself hehe, but because it almost shows what a proper texture differentiation for the scalp might look like. Unlike "bald" which is pretty waxy and monotone and kicks off a ton of blur, this shave on this cut suggests a bit more of the razor'd look. It might be more of an optical illusion here, but basically a subtle shift in tone and texture that we'd want I think for the under layer of some hairstyles just so the scalp isn't so pronounced.
I switched from a profile in Ochre to Green to keep with that first RGB idea, but kept the fighter gear, which gives a sense of how the neck is compressed with some races, esp Dwarves. Here with the profile view I also tried to find the shortest 'buzz cut' on offer. This hairstyle is actually the Abdirak trim, but from this angle you can't really see the side bangs, so it gives us an impression of what a more military style buzz cut might look like. The green view shows two lengths of buzz, again cause the Tiefs had limited options. The Tief length for Green is like one clipper size up on the sides with the Tiefbun there lol.
Right now the shortest styles we can get for a full trim after "bald" is still pretty long for some races, closer to an inch in length with the forward comb say or the tight curly. I tried to present a survey in Red. One thing I noticed is that the Dwarves seemed to have a bald option that shows some shadow closer to a buzz cut. Might be the lighting or the camera angle there doing a cast shadow for the Dwarves, but it gives a rather different look. You can compare with the Red Tiefs who I made bald for contrast. I almost made the Gith bald, but they end up looking a lot more like Goblins or Orcs without some hair, so instead they got a Faux Hawk for the front view. I did the shortest available for most the others in Red. Sadly the Halflings don't have the shortest option so they had to go one size up with the clippers on the tight curls. The Tieflings showed some weird artifacts with some of the short trims around the base of the horns too, so bald was the simple choice there just for the visual to compare with the shaves and buzzes. The Tief version of bald shows more variation in the scalp than some other races. Obviously there are many fantastic hairstyles, though some will clip and I wanted to show the ears this time. I've heard people requesting more of the shorter trims too, so thought it was worth tossing these in there just to give an idea what we might see for the shortest lengths, and since it shows the ears/browlines pretty well. I think the shortest trims could use a bit more texturing, both the short straight and short curled styles read a bit flat in the contrast, but those are the most "GI Joe" looks on offer right now.
One final point, regarding beards... Clearly it is quite possible to give a completely different impression with a beard, and some may decry the sight of beardless dwarves I'm sure lol, but I'd like to suggest that if the male models get to have beards (and hopefully more beards at some point), then the female models should also be given an additional customization option for parity.
Perhaps the females could get some headdress embellishments, more elaborate jewelry or piercings, something of that sort? 1 of those customizations should be a false beard too, Hatshepsut queen pharaoh style. It's cool that females can wear normal beards, but I mean something that is more likely to be regularly used would be nice. Lipstick would be an easy one, though I do feel like cosmetic makeup should be available to all. I think something like some headdress, ribbons, collars or chokers perhaps would be cool. Something for flair. A colored piece of cloth or jewelry could also help to distinguish the character in the same way that the BG1/2 character color choices did, but more individualized here to the head model. I think that would be a nice touch and something many people could get into. I'd also like to see some form of face covering, similar to a bandana or ninja mask as an accessory for all. It fits the setting well and gives a more bandit look. Anyhow, best we could do on short notice. Happy friday!
Humans
Elves
Half-Elves
Halflings
Dwarves
Tieflings
Githyanki
Pixies