Art, is it important to you, does it help your roleplaying?

[Koloth]

I found the illustrations in the AD&D(1e) books to be some of the best in book artwork of the game's run. Most were on point, educational (sometimes in a humorous way) and didn't take up a whole page. Sure, a full page color image is often cool, but many are just there and don't really tie in well to the topic. I do like Pathfinder's beginning of chapter illustrations with the follow on text story.

Images of weapons, armor and items are really helpful. Too many real world regional variations on what a 'short' sword is. Give me an illustration of the various weapons and a size reference. Also, include a sample of Tiny vs Medium vs Large weapons with size references if the game system includes different size class weapons. If a pixie's long sword is a halfling's dagger and a ogre's toothpick, it would be nice to know.

Monster Manuals and Bestiary books should have artwork for each entry with size references. Is that giant spider 2 ft wide or 20?

 

[TheSword]

Art is essential for me when playing VTT. If it isn’t in the product then it’s a job for me to go out and hunt some down.

However poor quality art is next to useless anyway. So if you going do a crappy sketch or a blobby pastel face id rather you not bother…

Case in point…

 

[Micah Sweet]

I found the illustrations in the AD&D(1e) books to be some of the best in book artwork of the game's run. Most were on point, educational (sometimes in a humorous way) and didn't take up a whole page. Sure, a full page color image is often cool, but many are just there and don't really tie in well to the topic. I do like Pathfinder's beginning of chapter illustrations with the follow on text story.

Images of weapons, armor and items are really helpful. Too many real world regional variations on what a 'short' sword is. Give me an illustration of the various weapons and a size reference. Also, include a sample of Tiny vs Medium vs Large weapons with size references if the game system includes different size class weapons. If a pixie's long sword is a halfling's dagger and a ogre's toothpick, it would be nice to know.

Monster Manuals and Bestiary books should have artwork for each entry with size references. Is that giant spider 2 ft wide or 20?

Exactly. Art for me is about telling me what things look like, often in relation to other things. Anything else is very secondary.

 

[Blue]

I appreciate that you posted this, I was curious to see if anyone was going to say "no ttrpg book art doesn't matter to me," because to my mind it'd be like someone saying "I don't like (any) music" so I couldn't imagine it. Thus I appreciate you sharing your perspective!

I'm glad I can give an opposite viewpoint and that you can appreciate it even if it's foreign from your own.

To me it's not that "I don't like any music", it would be more of "I rarely choose a videogame to play because of the background music". There's some seriously fantastic background music out there, as well as some utilitarian "gets the mood across" stuff. But just like art isn't really a factor for picking up an RPG, I won't pick up a video game for the music. I'll pick it up because I like the gameplay.

And just as I do like specific art in RPGs, such as NPCs, monsters or items I don't know, I can appreciate that one banging boss-fight music that really works, while the rest of the music isn't something I pay any conscious attention to.

 

[Blue]

Me, well I'm small potatoes atm, and well I am not a terrible artist. I came up with my own way to do black n white pics. They are simple, but for the most part, clearly illustrate my intended target. I also felt that when a player looks at the art, and they want to create their own, it feels a whole lot better to compare yourself to something you feel you can imitate, or even out do. I was hoping my art style would make my presentation relatable. I have hundreds of pics in my book and it took diving into every past art I ever made to fill my book.

I have a soft spot for the old AD&D-style art. One point in your favor is that I think consistent art is better than all over the place -- this piece aiming for hyper realistic, this one cartoon-y, this one with characters in an anime style. So doing it all yourself will have a definite feel that it will impart.

 

[Distracted DM]

I have a soft spot for the old AD&D-style art. One point in your favor is that I think consistent art is better than all over the place -- this piece aiming for hyper realistic, this one cartoon-y, this one with characters in an anime style. So doing it all yourself will have a definite feel that it will impart.

Agreed that consistency and a sense of direction's very important. There are some indie ttrpgs that use old art that's fallen into the public domain, and it can be very effective if they curate it well so it's all a consistent feel.

 

[jdrakeh]

It's important to me. Good art can absolutely elevate a product. Objectively bad art can ruin an otherwise good product for me. I'd prefer no art to bad art.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I was reminded again just recently of how important artwork is to me when perusing my new volume of "Delve" for Shadowdark, which I backed on Kickstarter. In the section with some short dungeons they chose an aesthetic for the dungeon maps that really just does not do it for me. I can parse the information well enough, but there's something about the style that just really turns me off, and it colors my appreciation of the adventures themselves.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I was reminded again just recently of how important artwork is to me when perusing my new volume of "Delve" for Shadowdark, which I backed on Kickstarter. In the section with some short dungeons they chose an aesthetic for the dungeon maps that really just does not do it for me. I can parse the information well enough, but there's something about the style that just really turns me off, and it colors my appreciation of the adventures themselves.

Not me. Art is gravy for me, and a lack of it (or a lack of quality IMO) doesn't affect the real (IMO) part of the product: the words. So long as I can read the map, it's all good