So I see a lot of creators arguing that they need to use AI artwork in their TTRPG projects, because it is too hard to make their own, or too expensive to hire artists to do it for them. Well, this is bunk, pure and simple. While I would agree that for TTRPG creators just starting out, contracting artists can indeed be prohibitively expensive, there are plenty of other options outside of using AI to add art to your book.
Look at Kevin Crawford of Sine Nomine Games, for example. He started out using royalty-free and public domain pictures and art for his early games, and they looked great! In this case, Google is your friend, as those same resources exist even today. In fact, that’s what I plan to use for my projects, for the most part*.
(*) I have previously purchased some artwork that I may be using for some of my projects, but that remains to be seen.
Anyway, I know that you can get some very attractive artwork by using AI, and thus I can understand the temptation to use that for your TTRPG projects. Hell, I’ve generated some really cool AI pictures, that would look great on a tabletop roleplaying game!… But I’m still not going to do that on one of my projects, because it is frankly wrong.
Artists deserve to be paid. Full stop. AI steals from actual artists, stealing their style while providing no compensation in return.
It. Is. Wrong.
So if you can’t create art yourself, and can’t afford to pay artists for your project, use royalty-free and public domain art, instead. It can be a bit tricky to find appropriate art for whatever project you’re creating, but trust me, it is out there to be found.
AI “art” is a cop-out, and remember that it is banned from most distribution platforms. Just don’t go there.
