Forged in Fire: Designing the Kazyr
When we started working on the fifth Shroudfall faction, we knew one thing very early: We wanted fire. That sounds simple enough.
Fire has been part of fantasy games forever. Fireballs, burning swords, flaming monsters ... you don't exactly have to explain to someone what a fire faction is supposed to do. And that was precisely the problem.
We didn't just want to make the fire faction. We wanted to create something that would immediately feel at home in Astira, while still looking and playing unlike anything we had made for Shroudfall before. That meant answering a surprisingly large number of questions.
Who are these people? What does fire mean to them? What shapes should define their armour? How much actual flame is too much flame? Are they disciplined warriors or destructive berserkers? What separates a Kazyr warrior from a human warrior who happens to have set their sword on fire?
And eventually: If this is what the Kazyr look like, how should they play?
This is the story of how we got from the first rough ideas to the Kazyr you see today.
Part I: Finding the Kazyr
Starting with an idea, not a miniature
The earliest version of a faction is usually much less defined than the finished models might suggest. For the Kazyr, there were a few ideas we wanted to explore from the beginning: a culture shaped by fire, an elite fighting force, a strong martial identity and a visual language that felt noticeably different from the existing factions of Shroudfall.
But almost everything else was open. And that's where concept art becomes incredibly important. Before thinking about individual miniatures, we had to find the visual vocabulary of the faction.
We experimented with silhouettes, armour shapes, clothing, weapons and different ways of incorporating fire itself. Some ideas disappeared almost immediately. Others survived several iterations before being replaced. And some small details from those early sketches eventually became defining features of the entire faction.
Slowly, a recognizable language began to emerge.
Early Kazyr concept art by Patrick Wagesreither:
Fire, but under control
One of the most important decisions wasn't about armour or weapons at all.
It was about what fire meant to the Kazyr. We didn't want them to be a faction of pyromaniacs running around setting everything ablaze. Their relationship with fire needed to be deeper than that.
That eventually became one of the central ideas behind Kazyr culture: The Kazyr do not worship fire. They learn from it. Their philosophy developed around three different aspects of fire: Ember, Cinder and Flare. Ember represents understanding, Cinder endurance, and Flare courage and action. Together, they became the Threefold Path that runs through Kazyr society.
That idea also gave us a useful filter for the visual design. Fire could be spectacular, but the Kazyr themselves shouldn't look chaotic. Their armour could be heavy and disciplined. Their poses could communicate confidence rather than frenzy. Flame could emerge from weapons, bodies and constructs, but it should feel like something being directed.
The distinction sounds small, but it became fundamental to the faction.
Building a visual language
Once we knew what the Kazyr were about, we could start defining rules for ourselves.
Not game rules: Design rules.
Certain shapes, materials and proportions began appearing again and again. Silver armour provided visual weight. Gold details created strong outlines and helped break up the larger armour plates. Cloth added movement and gave us space for warmer colours.
Curved forms became particularly important, from armour edges and weapons to the horns that would eventually become one of the most recognizable elements of the faction.
And then, of course, there was fire.
Rather than covering every model in flames, we wanted it to become another design element. Sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes it completely dominates the miniature. But it always tells you something about the model.
By this stage, we were no longer designing individual characters in isolation. We were designing Kazyr. That distinction matters - once the visual language was established, we could ask whether a new concept belonged to the faction before worrying about the details.
From warriors to living flame
The Emberwrought became particularly important in expanding that language. We knew we wanted elemental creatures, but simply adding a fire elemental beside the Kazyr warriors felt disconnected.
Early Kazyr Emberwrought concept art by Florian Stitz:
So the idea evolved. The Emberwrought became elemental fire bound within armour: creatures created through ancient rites, their living flames contained by carefully crafted shells. In the finished faction, they share armour forms and visual motifs with the Kazyr themselves, but exaggerate them into something much less human.
That gave us another axis to work with. At one end are disciplined Kazyr warriors. At the other are almost pure manifestations of flame. And between those two points there is a lot of room to explore.
Part II: When Art Starts Changing the Rules
This is where the process gets particularly interesting. Because while all of this was happening, we weren't designing the miniatures first and then asking: "Okay, what rules do we give these guys?" The rules were evolving alongside them. And ideas started travelling in both directions.
What should a fire faction actually do?
The obvious answer would have been damage. More fire. More Burning. Bigger attacks. And yes, Burning eventually became an important part of the faction. But simply making Kazyr "the faction that deals lots of fire damage" didn't capture what we had established through the artwork and lore.
These weren't reckless destroyers. They were fast, disciplined warriors who understood fire and knew when to unleash it. So the gameplay needed a similar rhythm. Control. Build. Commit.
That line of thinking eventually led us towards one of the defining mechanics of the faction: Cinders.
Putting the faction's philosophy onto the table
Cinders started doing something we really liked. They made the battlefield itself feel different when you played Kazyr. As Cinders spread across the table, they created pockets of power around which the army could operate. Kazyr warriors became stronger around them, but those same Cinders could also be consumed to fuel powerful abilities. Suddenly, the player was making a very Kazyr decision: Do I preserve the fire, or spend it?
The final faction design revolves around exactly that tension. Cinders provide ongoing benefits while they remain on the battlefield, but can also be consumed for immediate effects; opponents, meanwhile, can attack the Kazyr's infrastructure by destroying them.
And that is where the lore, visual design and rules really started clicking together.
Cinder wasn't just a word in the background anymore.
You could see it on the battlefield. You could build around it. And you could decide when it was time to let it burn.
Sometimes the miniature writes the rule
Zyrena is probably one of the best examples of the process working in the opposite direction.
Her design became increasingly physical and aggressive. She wasn't a commander who belonged safely behind the army. Everything about her suggested movement and direct engagement. So her rules needed to reinforce that.
She became the natural centre of a Kazyr force: an Essence Weaver who wants to move with her warriors, get into the fight and manipulate the battlefield from the front rather than simply provide bonuses from behind. Even individual visual ideas can create gameplay opportunities.
A weapon, a pose, an unusual piece of equipment.or, in Zyrena's case, those rather difficult-to-ignore braids, can make us ask: "Could she actually do something with that?" Sometimes the answer becomes a rule. And sometimes the rule changes the miniature
The process works the other way too. A mechanic might require a model to communicate speed more clearly. A unit designed to control space might need a stronger silhouette. An ability might suddenly make a weapon or piece of equipment much more important than it was in the original concept. So the miniature changes. Then the rules change again. Then someone has another terrible idea. And eventually we have a faction.
Designing the whole, not the parts
That's probably the biggest lesson from designing the Kazyr. Faction design isn't really about creating a collection of cool miniatures and giving them interesting abilities. It's about finding an idea strong enough to connect art, lore and gameplay. For the Kazyr, that idea became fire, not simply as destruction, but as something that can be understood, preserved and unleashed.
You can see it in the shapes of their armour.
You can see it in the Emberwrought.
You can read it in the Threefold Path.
And when Cinders begin spreading across the battlefield and you're deciding whether to preserve them for the next turn or burn them now for one decisive attack, you can feel it in the game as well.
That's when we know a faction is starting to work and that's when we break the game.
