From Placeholder to Finished Art: Building the Look of Monsters, Magic & Mayhem
When you make a game, you need to see it long before anyone else does.
Cards need pictures. Characters need faces. Monsters need to look like monsters. You need to know whether text is readable over an illustration, whether an image works at card size, and whether all those individual pieces come together to make something that actually looks like a game.
That creates a problem.
Artwork is expensive—and it should be.
Good artists have spent years developing their skills. A finished game such as Monsters, Magic & Mayhem requires a lot of illustrations, and commissioning all of them before you even know whether the game works isn't practical for a small publisher.
So, during development, we used placeholder artwork.
Some of those placeholders were AI-generated. Its fast. Its cheap.
They were never intended to be the finished artwork for Monsters, Magic & Mayhem. They were development tools: temporary images that let us build cards, test layouts, create prototypes, and figure out what the finished game needed to look like.
We didn't communicate that clearly enough.
And we heard about it.
We Heard You
There are strong feelings in the tabletop community about AI-generated artwork. We understand why.
Artists aren't simply vendors who provide pictures after a game has been designed. Artists are creators. Their interpretation of a character, creature, location, or moment becomes part of the game's identity.
We also realized something important. It wasn't enough for us to know that the AI artwork was temporary.
You needed to know it, too.
When people saw Monsters, Magic & Mayhem, they couldn't see our production plan. They could only see the game in front of them. If that version contained AI-generated artwork, it was perfectly reasonable to assume that was what we intended to publish.
It wasn't.
So we made the decision to remove it NOW.
There will be no AI-generated artwork in the finished Monsters, Magic & Mayhem. Or in ANY game we publish.
Instead, we're working with a human artist to create the game's illustrations.
Originally, we planned to do that in stages. Then we changed the plan.
Why Wait Until Kickstarter?
Our original approach was to have the game's artwork created as line art first.
The line drawings weren't placeholders. They were the actual illustrations created specifically for Monsters, Magic & Mayhem. The plan was to use those illustrations in the game during the Kickstarter campaign and then have the same artist develop them into detailed, full-color artwork after funding.
It was a practical solution.
But something kept bothering us.
If we're asking people to support the finished game, why shouldn't we show them the finished game?
Our Kickstarter schedule has moved. Monsters, Magic & Mayhem isn't expected to return to Kickstarter until at least May, and possibly June.
That gives us something incredibly valuable:
Time.
So we're using it.
Instead of launching with partially completed artwork and promising to finish it after the campaign, we're finishing it before the campaign begins.
The line artwork we've already commissioned will be completed in full color. The remaining illustrations will be created and finished as well.
By the time Monsters, Magic & Mayhem returns to Kickstarter, our goal is simple:
We want you to see the game you're actually backing.
Reviewers Shouldn't Have to Imagine the Finished Game
This decision isn't just about making the Kickstarter page look better. Long before the campaign launches, copies of Monsters, Magic & Mayhem need to get into the hands of reviewers.
Those reviewers shouldn't have to say:
“Imagine this picture in color.”
“This artwork is temporary.”
“The production copy will look different.”
They should be able to put the actual game on the table. When they show a card on camera, that's the card we intend to produce. When they photograph the game, that's what our players will receive. When they talk about the artwork, they're evaluating the real artwork.
That's better for reviewers.
It's better for potential backers.
And frankly, it's better for us.
If something doesn't work visually, we'd much rather discover it months before Kickstarter than months after it.
The Same Goes for Our Videos
We want to show Monsters, Magic & Mayhem being played. Not mocked up. Not carefully photographed from an angle that hides unfinished components.
Played.
We want people watching our videos to see the cards being shuffled, handled, drawn, revealed, and thrown onto the table during an actual game. When a monster appears, you'll see the monster. When a character finds something they desperately need—or something they definitely didn't want to find—you'll see the actual card and its finished illustration.
That makes a huge difference.
Marketing a tabletop game shouldn't require asking people to imagine what the tabletop game will eventually look like. We'd rather show you.
Why Not Just Use Stock Art?
Stock artwork certainly has its place, particularly for independent publishers. It's affordable, professionally made, and immediately available.
But there's a tradeoff. The knight you buy can also be someone else's knight. The monster lurking in your dungeon may be lurking in another publisher's dungeon next month.
For some projects, that's perfectly acceptable. For Monsters, Magic & Mayhem, we want something different. We want its monsters to be our monsters. We want its characters to belong to this game.
When you see one of those illustrations somewhere else—a website post, convention banner, advertisement, video, or card—we want you to recognize where it came from.
That requires an artist creating artwork specifically for the game.
It costs more. It takes longer. We think it's worth both.
What About AI During Development?
We're also changing how we handle placeholders.
If an illustration hasn't been completed yet, we'd rather show a description of what will eventually occupy that space than fill it with an AI-generated image.
That isn't quite as pretty when you're looking at something still in development.
That's okay. Development isn't always pretty. Sometimes a card says, essentially:
ART: A terrified adventurer running from an enormous monster.
And somewhere nearby is an artist who will eventually turn that sentence into something much better. We'd rather show you honestly where something stands in production than create the impression that temporary artwork is finished artwork.
Something Else Happens When You Slow Down
Moving the Kickstarter also gives us another opportunity. We get to show you the process.
You'll be able to see some of those original line drawings become finished illustrations. We'll be able to introduce you to characters and monsters before the campaign. We can show artwork as it's completed and talk about why particular choices were made.
Instead of disappearing for several months and returning with a finished box, we can open the Engine Room door and let you watch Monsters, Magic & Mayhem being built.
Some of that artwork will appear here. Some will appear in our posts and videos. Some things we'll probably keep hidden until the right moment.
We need to have some surprises.
But when the Kickstarter finally arrives, you shouldn't have to wonder what we're going to make if you support us.
You should already know.
Games Are Made by People
Dreadnaught Publishing uses technology. Of course we do.
Computers help us lay out cards. Software helps us prepare files for printing. Digital tools help us test ideas, communicate, calculate costs, maintain our website, and do a hundred other things that would have been considerably harder for a small game company thirty years ago.
But tools aren't the reason people play games.
People are.
And people are the reason games get made. Monsters, Magic & Mayhem was FULLY designed by people. It's tested by people. It's played by people. And the artwork in the game is being created by people.
The original AI placeholders helped us visualize an unfinished game. They've done their job.
Now they're gone.
And this time, when Monsters, Magic & Mayhem arrives on Kickstarter, we don't want to show you what the game could become.