Design Guide

Welcome to the Dragolet Design Guide! If you're about to send in a design approval, whether that be a new MYO or an update to an existing Dragolet, this guide will have all the info you need to ensure a smooth approval. If anything in this guide seems unclear, please feel free to reach out via an onsite ticket or our discord for clarification!

Dragolet Anatomy and Basic Requirements

To make sure the species looks consistent, all Dragolets must adhere to the following anatomy rules and guidelines. The ones marked with a * are for standard Dragolets, and may be overriden by certain traits. Please keep in mind that although you have a ton of freedom to make your dragolet look how you want, we cannot accept dragolet designs that are made to look like they have certain traits without actually having that trait. (example: A dragolet that has fur styled to resemble additional pairs of wings, making them appear to have the Seraphic Wings trait.)

Additionally, although dragolets are fully capable of walking bipedally when they feel like it, please keep your masterlist art on all fours! This is just for consistency's sake, so that anatomy looks somewhat the same across masterlist entries. Floating/jumping type poses are fine, they should just have more feral anatomy rather than anthro. Please feel free to depict them walking however you want outside of their masterlist art, including depicting them as more anthro.

Reptilian Nose

A Dragolet's nose is pretty simple! Just two slit nostrils. Dragolets cannot have dog, cat, or other animal noses, but may have markings that mimic the look.

Mammalian Ears

Dragolet ears can be inspired by any real-life mammalian ears, but they must be visibly present (so no platypus ear slits)! They should also not be so heavily stylized that they no longer resemble ears. Ears may be mismatched, and do not have to be symmetrical. Dragolets should only have one pair of ears.

Small/Stunted Wings

Every Dragolet has a pair of small, stunted wings. Their wings should be small in proportion to the rest of the body. A good rule of thumb is to keep the wings about the same size or smaller than the head- but keep in mind that this may not be a good metric for art with chibi proportions. Standard Dragolet wings may be draconic/batlike, feathered, or one of each.

Dragolet Feet

Dragolet feet are a bit odd-looking: they have five digits on each foot, including an opposable thumb. Each toe is tipped with a nonretractable lizardlike claw, and the bottoms of their feet have squishy pawpads. The claws and pawpads can be any color. Dragolets on the masterlist must adhere to proper anatomy- this means that claws, pawpads, and thumbs must be depicted if they should be visible. However, you can feel free to simplify them as shown!

Dragolet Eyes

Eyes can have any color iris, pupil, and sclera. They can also have any simple pupil shape. Eyes do not have to be symmetrical, and can have different colors or pupil shapes as desired! Eyes must have at least a visible separation between iris and sclera, but pupils do not have to be drawn. Each eye should only have one pupil at most.

Fluffy/Furry Texture*

All standard Dragolets have a coat of fur. Your Dragolet does not need to be excessively fluffy or be covered in a furry texture, but we recommend including a tuft of fur here and there to ensure your Dragolet doesn't look hairless. Dragolets may have any fur length, texture, or style!

Dragolet Tails*

Standard Dragolet tails are lizardlike in design, and can either end in a tapered point or a spade. "Lizardlike tail" in the context of this species just means that the basic structure should resemble a lizard's tail, albeit with a coat of fur. It can be thicker (like a leopard gecko) or thinner (like a long-tailed lizard) or even curled (like a chameleon.) More unrealistic shapes like springy or kinked are okay too, as long as the basic structure looks like that of a lizard's tail (as opposed to something like a horse or rabbit tail), and it ends in either a tapered point or a spade.

Optional Additions

Variety is the spice of life! Even ignoring fur pattern and color, Dragolets can look different from each other in many, many ways - from the hair on their heads to the tips of their toes. The following aren't actually traits in the sense that they are tracked on the site in any way- they are simply things that are free to change about your Dragolet as you see fit. There are very few rules pertaining to these aspects, but we'll outline them below.

On Missing Limbs

Although most dragolets are capable of regrowing limbs lost to injury thanks to the same lingering strangeness with their biology that causes their inconsistent lifespans, many dragolets cannot. It is also possible for Dragolets to hatch from the egg without having fully developed one or more limbs. We're leaving this in the hands of our users- please feel free to interpret your dragolet either way. You may change whether or not your Dragolet is missing a limb whenever you like and at your own discrection, no item needed.

However, we do ask that if a dragolet is permanently missing more than two limbs, that they be given some kind of visible support, such as a wheelchair or prosthetic. The technology of Serpentem and the alternate Earth it resides on is roughly equivalent to that of our own Earth, with some minor advancements and improvements thanks to the advent of magic. We ask that depictions of prosthesis remain somewhat grounded in reality (ie. no shooting rocket fist or transforming at will into a gun). Thank you!

Adding Traits

Dragolets only have two types of traits- Draconic and Enchanted.

Both of these traits encompass things that are highly unusual for the dragolet species as a whole- things like multiple tails or being covered in magical flames. Much like basic dragolet features like fur and tails, there is a lot of room for interpretation with these traits. If you aren't sure if your idea is doable, please feel free to send a sketch through Design Approval for us to look at before you commit to it with lines and color. There are no additional rarities for the traits within these categories, but some may be easier to obtain than others just due to how often they're made available through the onsite shops.

 

Draconic Traits call to mind the ancient dragons from before the curse. These traits can be added to a dragolet through the use of particular plants and fungi that interact oddly with dragolet biology, causing pre-curse traits to resurface. It is also possible for dragolets to be born this way, though it's considered extremely rare for it to happen to a pair with no visible draconic traits, themselves.
A list of Draconic Traits can be found here.

 

 

Enchanted Traits are more magical in nature, and never occur naturally. They can come about in one of two ways- either a spell cast directly by Casimira, or via ancient draconic-age artifacts that are still steeped in magic after all this time. Dragolets are never born with Enchanted traits, even if both of their parents have them, as they are not genetic.
A list of Enchanted traits can be found here.

 

Creating a New Design

As long as your dragolet follows the anatomy and trait rules listed above, the sky is pretty much the limit! There are no restrictions on what or how many colors you have, and almost any kind of body design is acceptable. Nonoffensive words can be incorporated into a design, but we ask that they only be in English for the purposes of moderation. Above, you can see three examples of completely standard dragolet designs that could be made using just a MYO with no additional items! Just keep in mind when designing that dragolets should be unique, and should not copy or heavily reference any characters you do not own.

Characters Based on Characters

Dragolets that are inspired by or based on characters from mass media such as television, comics, or books are allowed. All characters of this nature must be disclosed to Dragolet staff during their design approval- this is so we can properly label any CBCs (character-based-characters). This label is not a badge of shame- it simply discloses the character's origin, in the event that you fall out of love with them someday and decide to trade or resell. This ensures no one feels lied to or cheated when they find out the character they purchased might not be 100% one-of-a-kind.

Some additional rules that apply to CBCs are:
★ We do not allow CBCs based on small projects, especially projects with a sole creator, no matter how popular the project may be.
★ The actual design should be more "inspired" than directly copied or colorpicked. [example]
★ The design should be able to stand on its own and appear distinct even if identifying features such as hairstyle or accessories are removed. [example]
★ The design itself should not use copyrighted logos or directly reference the original media. [example]

These additional rules are in place to make sure that even two dragolets based on the same character do not resemble each other too heavily. We recommend making a completely unique design with an inspired color palette, and then adding the character-specific features afterwards!

You may also create dragolets based off of characters that you personally own, provided that this is allowed under their original species and/or designer's terms of service. These characters can look as much or as little like your existing character as you'd like, but must be disclosed to Dragolet staff during design approval so they can be listed as an import. Much like the above, this is simply a label to let users know that other versions of this character exist outside of this group. Please keep in mind that privately owned characters that are imported into Dragolets cannot be sold separately from their dragolet version. If you sell the original character, the dragolet version MUST go with them, and a dragolet imported/based off of a privately owned character cannot change ownership unless the original design and all derivatives are going with them.

Editing an Existing Design

When editing an existing dragolet's design, we put the changes into three different categories: silhouette, color, and markings. Small changes to each of these aspects are free, while large changes will require the use of various design alteration items. While we strive to be as consistent as possible, please understand that particularly borderline alterations are inherently going to be subjective as to whether they're large or small. For your convenience and for a faster approval, we recommend picking up a design alteration item for any medium-sized changes you aren't certain will qualify for a free edit. You are able to combine free edits and item edits- as an example, you can alter a dragolet's color within the bounds of free editing while using an item to completely alter their markings.

Additionally, please keep in mind that any designs uploaded to a particular masterlist entry are permanently tied to that entry. This means that if you completely overhaul your dragolet with a brand new design, you cannot then reuse the previous design on a new MYO slot. If you aren't certain as to whether or not you may want to use both designs in the future, we recommend picking up a new MYO for your idea, instead!

Silhouette

The "silhouette" of a dragolet refers to the shape of their fur, ears, wings, and tail. Small changes might include a simple swap from draconic wings to feathered, or altering the texture of some of the fur. In general, if the design still pretty much looks like the same character even after disregarding the color and markings, it is probably okay for a free edit. Larger edits that completely reimagine the look of a dragolet's features will require the use of a Pro Styling Kit.

Color

The color of a dragolet has to do with the palette of colors used in their design. Small changes might include putting a low-opacity overlay over the whole thing to lighten up the entire palette slightly, or changing a couple of the less-used colors while leaving the major colors unchanged. Placement of colors should stay largely the same. Large overhauls to the character's palette or color placement will require the use of a Pro Fur Dye Kit.

Markings

The markings in a dragolet's design are the actual patterns and shapes that make up your dragolet's unique look. Small changes might mean expanding one marking to make it bigger and more prominent, or altering the shape of an existing marking. Very large changes to the dragolet's markings will require the use of a DIY Tattoo Kit for Kidz.

Submitting to the Masterlist

Step by step guide coming soon!