Considering saving money on your #TTRPG book by using AI Art? Think again. Using AI Art is a quick way to tarnish your reputation as a new developer. What CAN you do if you're on a tight art budget? There are many ways - and as a publisher, I'd like to share them with you. See below 🔽 - ThreadSky

brettultimus.iopublishing.com • 97 days ago

Considering saving money on your #TTRPG book by using AI Art? Think again.
Using AI Art is a quick way to tarnish your reputation as a new developer.
What CAN you do if you're on a tight art budget? There are many ways - and as a publisher, I'd like to share them with you. See below 🔽

Comments

jackitk.bsky.social•97 days ago

📌

d5.social•94 days ago

Reputation aside, if you want any kind of ownership of your product, it's gotta be human-made.

Copyright case law is coming in fast, and it is not looking good for generated products.

dieselee.bsky.social•95 days ago

That's right! Fvck gen_ai

catmillo.bsky.social•94 days ago

for practical advice,
@shawntomkin.bsky.social also made a post about how you can bash together stockart into something news:
https://bsky.app/profile/shawntomkin.bsky.social/post/3lbap762hk22i

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•94 days ago

That's really neat! The only thing I would add is to ensure you're reading the artist's TOS, as some do not allow their art to be bashed/edited in this fashion.

generousheal.bsky.social•97 days ago

A very good reminder for all TTRPG content creators: Art can draw the crowd but good content can stand all on its own.

Sometimes even a pencil-drawn sketch can get the job done, I personally have always been a fan of artwork that is like, sketches of the creature like a hunter taking notes on it.

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

1) Have an Art Budget. Establish an art budget before even considering art solutions. Figure out how much you can afford or are willing to spend before starting your project.

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

2) Negotiate with Artists. This doesn't mean belittling an artist because they "charge too much" - artists have established their own rates by being in the industry - and plenty are willing to work on a lower budget by cutting back some of the extras they do with their pieces. Talk to your artist!

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

3) Stock Art. There are plenty of affordable stock art options with licenses that allow for commercial use. You can find a lot of great stock art for TTRPGs on sites like DriveThruRPG by searching "Stock Art".
Here's a direct link to the search query:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?keyword=stock%20art

dieselee.bsky.social•95 days ago

Not to plug too hard but @spiderqueenlong.bsky.social has done some amazing affordably priced stock art packs across many genres for characters + locations + more!

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•95 days ago

Plug em! The more resources the better!

dieselee.bsky.social•95 days ago

Yay! All her stuff can be found on our itch here: https://dieselshot.itch.io/

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

3) Small Crowdfunding. I know seeing TTRPG projects raise millions of dollars can be daunting, but you don't need to raise that much for cover art or small art spots. Even a goal of $1000 can get a lot of art made for your project—and if you have a great idea, people will want to fund it.

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

4) No Art at all. You do not need art to make a great TTRPG product. Make what you want, sell it as a Digital PDF on platforms like DriveThruRPG or DMsGuild, and use your profits earned to build an art budget for your second book. You'll even have started building your rep as a publisher.

catmillo.bsky.social•95 days ago

Having art is often the difference between people checking it out or not.
@aavoigt.bsky.social explains it here better: https://youtu.be/lrx-1edZom8?feature=shared
Not to discourage anyone, but adjust expectations. It's rough. Also check out the cuts the sites are taking. Dmguild takes 50%, while Itch only takes 10%.

brettultimus.iopublishing.com•97 days ago

CONCLUSION: There are plenty of solutions to using AI Art. The TTRPG space is community-driven - and AI Art steals from and harms real artists. If you decide to "go at it alone" by using AI art, do not be surprised if the community leaves you alone with the generative product you made. Good luck!

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