Painting a character portrait in Brushes with Death

This article contains story and character details for the upcoming DLC Brushes with Death. If you’d prefer to avoid even light spoilers ahead of release, look away now!

The story that awaits you in Brushes with Death begins with a chance encounter by the roadside. Wandering around the vicinity of Trosky Castle, you’ll soon stumble across a peculiar man, mumbling away to himself while tied to a tree. 

How you come to befriend this curious character, and explore the strange circumstances of his life, sit right at the heart of this first of three narrative expansions planned for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.

“You’ll quickly realise that the story the painter tells you about his capture isn’t quite true,” explains Vladimír Mareček, narrative designer at Warhorse. “He seems to be a really strange person all round. He even has a painted human skull that he talks to!”

This eccentric character emerged from a desire to give players a new shield-painting mechanic they could use to stamp more of their identity into the game. The system works by combining symbols with colours, while further symbols can be unlocked through gameplay achievements.

“From a practical standpoint, we knew we had a great shield system with our own in-house painting mechanics,” explains Mareček. “We wanted to give that to our players, with some basic UI elements of course.

“From there, we tried to come up with a story that would give players a reason for painting their shields. We developed the idea of the painter, and we knew at the beginning we wanted to do something…not smaller in scale, but more personal.

“I really like these stories that are more about personal struggle, rather than just a struggle between kings, “ he continues. “Those stories can be really awesome - and awe-inspiring - but in the end we also need smaller-scale moments that can be way deeper, rather than just broader.”

In practise, there are two very different types of storyline you’ll explore in Brushes with Death. In the first kind, you’ll help the painter with his most pressing needs: securing new business opportunities and finishing up tasks, while working towards the significant goal of painting a monastery altar.

“Some of those quests are built around drama and friendship, but there are very funny quests too,” says Mareček. “One involves you getting someone drunk, for example, then masking yourself as the devil to try and scare them away from the job the painter wants!

“That can go completely wrong though. You can get drunk faster than him, and so you might have to change your plans…”

Beyond these core story quests though there’s a second side to Brushes with Death. Some of the most interesting content dives deeper into the circumstances behind the painter’s eccentric personality, and the story of his life.

As it transpires, there’s a tragic background to his predicament, and a macabre explanation for that skull too. As you learn more about this character, you’ll have the opportunity to steer him on a new path and make peace with the past.

“You can try to help him find a way to forgive himself for what’s happened in his life. It’s a very complex matter, of course. You can’t just wave a wand and everything’s magically OK, but you can at least set him on the right path if you want to.

“From the first time you meet the painter he seems like such a lovely and interesting guy. He makes jokes with you sometimes, he tries to offend just to make you laugh, and he’s a really fun character. It’s more like real life where there’s always some comedy mixed in with the drama.”

The result then is a more complex portrait of a character, and a vehicle for Warhorse to tell a different kind of story in a familiar world. It’s a story you’ll be able to explore for yourself when Brushes with Death arrives on all platforms on May 15th