💰 Complete commissions guide
Master scriptorium commissions with a layer-first mindset. This page translates scoring feedback into repeatable habits so you can climb from “finished” to “celebrated.”
Commission archetypes
Use the table as a planning checklist. Score targets are aspirational milestones for players who want consistent excellence—not hard guarantees from the game binary.
| Type | Key elements | Score mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Battle scenes | Knights, castles, banners, weapons, readable formation | Push for balanced negative space |
| Romance letters | Lovers, flora, delicate borders, soft palettes | Harmony beats contrast here |
| Intrigue & secrets | Seals, shadows, partial faces, marginal clues | Guide the eye with diagonals |
| Fantasy maps | Coastlines, compass cues, mythic beasts, labels | Legibility over density |
| Religious devotion | Halos, architecture, Latin initials, restrained gold | Sacred symmetry reads instantly |
📊 Perfect score breakdown
Think of scoring as a rubric you can rehearse. These percentages are a mental model echoed in our advanced tips—not an extracted datamine.
~30%
Composition
Rule of thirds, focal intersections, and intentional negative space keep patrons reading the story first.
~25%
Color harmony
Crimson, ultramarine, malachite, and restrained gold feel medieval without turning muddy.
~25%
Historical flavor
Period weapons, believable beasts, and Latin touches sell the manuscript fantasy.
~20%
Borders & materials
Golden leaf and filigree should frame, not fight, the central scene.
Playbook for reliable highs
Start every commission by highlighting the brief’s nouns: who, where, what artifact, what emotion. Those nouns become a checklist you can place deliberately. After the first pass, squint: if the silhouette still reads, you are ready to refine borders.
When a commission demands spectacle, stage it in depth—foreground weapons, midground actors, background architecture—rather than widening everything along a single line. Depth keeps scores high because it mimics how real illuminations guide the eye.
Finally, loop back to the beginner guide if you need a refresher on layering hygiene, then visit the workshop page to see which unlocks make these habits easier.
Commission micro-FAQ
Do border materials always help scores?
They help border-related scoring, but overuse can fight your focal scene. Treat gold as punctuation, not wallpaper.
How many elements should I place?
Until the story reads in three seconds. For many early commissions, roughly a dozen strong pieces beats twenty noisy ones.