I am not a fan of exotic new races/species in RPG settings, simply due to the logistics of character art.
I run all of my games online. My policy is that every non-background NPC receives artwork; many times, even the background npcs get art. Most of the time, I pull this art from the internet, and I have grown extremely experienced at finding exactly what I need. For extremely obscure and specific pieces, I turn to AI. Rarely, very rarely, if I can afford it, I will commission an artist for a particularly important piece.
This means that the vast majority of my NPCs are human or human-adjacent. I am fine with this. Artists draw human and human-adjacent characters more than any other type of character, and AI datasets work poorly outside of the milieu of human and human-adjacent characters.
Thus, when I pick up a new RPG setting, and it happens to include exotic new races/species, I find myself in a metaphorical pickle. If the new races/species look sufficiently human or human-adjacent, I can usually throw together some art to represent them. However, if these new races/species look strange and unique, then my art options are severely curtailed; and I dislike this.
That is just me, anyway. Does anyone else here struggle to find art for exotic new races/species in RPG settings?
This problem is easily surmounted by theater of the mind. If there needs to be an image and for whatever reason I decided it was weird looking enough to warrant art, I either use a stand in, or just pick what is close enough. It doesn't need to be perfect, just good enough. Good on you for having unique art for everyone, but that seems like a lot of work that just doesn't need to be done. The lizard servant doesn't need to be art of a lizard janitor, just some lizard in clothes a label saying servant. The players will get it if they aren't stupid.
>Does anyone else here struggle to find art for exotic new races/species in RPG settings
No. This is the biggest waste of prep time I've ever read lmao who gives a frick about token art? All my PC and henchmen tokens are drawn by one of the players, he sometimes does NPCs too. Other than that who cares exactly?
no, i have a generic image for every race if i need combat tokens, if an npc is important i just describe how they look. i know other people who are super autistic about character art too, so it's not just you, but that seems exhausting to me. i'd rather spend my prep time making cool dungeons.
>I am not a fan of exotic new races/species in RPG settings
>simply due to the logistics of character art.
So you essentially just admitted you don't play?
I tried searching for Loxodon porn on Rule 34 but couldn't find any. I feel your plight anon.
>new races/species
Lots of "exotic" races are DECADES old. They're not new, it's just that they had barely art in the past so when people rediscover them they're forced to make new art
just use e926 for character art, bro
Im always rather picky about art myself, has to be of a certain quality and all that.
I'd just find some cool old art or try my hand at sketching stuff up, anon.
If you're using AI this is more or less a solved problem, though? Between controlnet, image masking, and img2img, and just messing around with using different model and lora combinations you should be able to get what you need with a little persistence.
This. It's easy to create non-humans with AI unless you're using something like Designer that limits you to taking whatever it gives you on the first gen.
Its slop
Seems like endlessly looking for the image than you want is even worse. Even worse yet if you use pictures with mismatching aesthetics.
Nope, I just use the classics.
I make my own art, even though I'm bad at it.
I struggle to find art of Anime Elves that I liked
>anon are you fricking jokeing?
I dislike most anime elves as being either too coomerish or not in a style I enjoy.
I understand your struggle, anon.
That is a cute one
Sauce?
Hunting for the ideal art will often leave you wanting. When it comes to NPCs that aren't major recurring characters, "good enough" is good enough. Because even if it doesn't line up perfectly with your vision, it still conveys what kind of character you're going for.
As for specifically exotic races, it's a burden. But the nice thing is, GIMP and Photoshop exist. You can take one of those "close" images and add in the necessary details yourself. Will it look as good as a professionally-made piece? No. Does it need to? No. Your players will be happy with your cobbled craftiwork all the same. But uh, try to stick to humanoids.
Guys help me balance my planning for next session
>study rules 0 hours
>plan game scenarios 10 minutes
>find and upload character art 130 hours
>shitpost on /tg/ 14 hours
Please help me my campaign is floundering
>I am not a fan of exotic new races/species in RPG settings, simply due to the logistics of character art.
Compared to many other reasons given, this is at least reasonable.