Do What You Can
Stop focusing on what you "can't" do to make your TTRPG stand out!
Stop Whining About Art, I am Begging You.
Back when I was doing Take Flight, I actually got into an argument on Twitter with someone very annoying who was so frustrated by trying to succeed in TTRPG design that they tried to convince me encouraging people was morally wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never said “you’ll be the next D&D no problem” to anyone! What little I’ve achieved has taken years upon years, and is itself built around years and years of hobby work without any serious publishing attempts, so trust me, I know shit’s hard. But it’s also a wonderful way to reach people, a rewarding pursuit, and a meaningful hobby - a chase worth undertaking.
But the absolute worst of the frustrations I see is people who think they need a Wizards-style full-color book of lavish illustrations in order for anyone to care about their work (wrong), and that anyone who can’t afford that has no hope (wrong), and worse, that AI can help them (super wrong).
Do What You Can
Let’s start with a few truths:
A game book does not need to be fully illustrated in order to attract attention
Visual elements do help attract attention
Art, graphic design, and layout, are skills that can be self-taught, practiced, and developed
Free assets and tutorials for these are so easy to find it’s ridiculous
Using your unique skills will make your game truly yours
You can make your game visually interesting without hiring an artist or resorting to the Plagiarism Machine
What I Can Do
I have been a writer for longer than I’ve been a serious artist. I’ve been writing fiction for literally as long as I can remember, and TTRPGs since about high school. Art had been something I was interested in, but something that came and went - writing was my life.
I had to learn layout when my friends and I wrote our first TTRPG in college, because none of those slackers were willing to do it. So I taught myself how, and learned a little graphic design from a book I borrowed from the library.
When I made my first solo TTRPG, Headless Guide, I decided I would bust out my old watercolors and make my own assets for the game. I couldn’t afford to hire an artist, and I wasn’t confident in my graphic design yet, but I knew the game’s watery theme would fit handmade assets, so I did that. I just threw some watercolor blobs onto a piece of paper and scanned it, then moved those pieces around to fill the edges and corners of the layout.
The first time I ever illustrated my own game was Apex Predator. To this day, when I make a new Apex Predator game, I do the monster illustrations by hand. For Apex Predator 3, I hand-carved some printing blocks for the monsters for the first time! I think they look great, and I’m super excited to show them to everyone.
Ever since Headless Guide, I have been doing art every single day. I have been doing figure drawings, I have been sketching characters, I have been painting and carving and designing. In other words, I have been practicing. Some day, I want to illustrate one of my own games, and I’m not going to get there unless I work.
What Can You Do?
So enough about me. What about you?
What can you do?
Let’s break this down into two questions.
What Can I Learn?
You may not know dick about layout design, graphic design, or art, but can you learn? Can you download a free program? Can you study? Do you think that, with the right sources, you could get to a basic skill level?
(I recommend https://www.explorersdesign.com/ for templates and articles for making gorgeous games BTW)
Can you find free assets, like creative commons works on art museum websites or wikimedia commons? With a little noodling, do you think you could try and edit those into something new?
I’ve got a hint for you - it’s easier than you think.
What Can I Do?
Can you do funny little scribbles, like Grant Howitt’s single-page games? Art doesn’t have to be professional to be impactful.
Can you take interesting photos? With a little image editing, you can make some wonderful looking games using photos!
Can you write poetry or fiction? Can your words do more than just communicate the rules of the game?
Can you do another kind of art? Maybe you’re a musician and you can make a soundtrack for your game! Or maybe you’re a good cook and you can write a game that includes recipes!
Instead of focusing on whether you can make illustrations, think about what you specifically have to offer, what makes a game Yours.
That will make you stand out more than anything else.