You Can’t Hate AI Art and Demand Free Campaigns

The people who hire me are exactly the kind of players you’re describing. I run six campaigns—three are completely full with 6+ players, and the other three each have one or two seats available. These aren’t casual drop-in tables. These are players who want high-quality, reliable games and don’t have much free time. A lot of them log in 30–40 minutes after getting off work and want a session that’s worth that limited time.

And you’re right—there is a real way to gauge whether a DM is good. Look at their tables. Look at how long their campaigns last. Look at their reviews. Talk to their players. It’s no different than meeting someone shady in real life—you can usually tell. Consistent long-running tables and repeat players don’t happen by accident.

Also, a good DM doesn’t run every table the same way. You adapt your style to the group. My Tuesday and Thursday tables are heavy “rule of cool”—they’re a bunch of lovable degenerates with a bit of murder-hobo energy. My Friday and Saturday tables are much stricter, with only light rule bending and a lot of imagination I have to account for. My Sunday game is 100% homebrew everything, which means I have to be ready for anything and everything to go off the rails at any moment.

That flexibility and consistency are part of what people are actually paying for.

And you telling me what you think or sharing your opinion isn’t hate—I don’t take it that way at all. That’s how discussions are supposed to be. You’re all good, man, and I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

Quote from NLK>>

Believe it or not, this comes up constantly. I’ve had multiple conversations across StartPlaying.games, Reddit, and Facebook where players complain that there aren’t enough free campaigns. I’ve personally reached out to people looking for games, offered them tours of what I provide, and shown them the full scope of my work—only for some to take offense that I charge while also using AI for certain images.

Every few days, I hear the same arguments from 15 to 20 different people: disbelief that I charge $20 per session, followed in the same breath by criticism of an AI-generated banner for a free dice giveaway, along with the claim that I “should have paid an artist instead.”

What they don’t seem to factor in is that I don’t even keep the full $20—StartPlaying takes about $3 per seat, every session.#

What makes it worse is that my wife gets the brunt of it. She handles our advertising, schedules the meet-and-greets, and personally welcomes everyone into the server—so she’s the one fielding most of these complaints and hostility.

The contradiction is hard to miss: being told not to charge for my time and labor, while also being told I should spend more money on commissioned art.

There's no contradiction—you're not being told not to charge for your time and labor—you're being told your services aren't wanted, but if you feel justified in charging for your time and labor, you shouldn't use tools that steal the work of others.

I've always been in the camp of "There's nothing wrong with paid DM'ing, you don't have to use it if you don't want to". But equally people don't have to pay you if they don't want to, you're not entitled to their money.

Quote from Davyd >>

I've always been in the camp of "There's nothing wrong with paid DM'ing, you don't have to use it if you don't want to". But equally people don't have to pay you if they don't want to, you're not entitled to their money.

This is the sensible position right here.

Using AI to make an NPC picture does not write the story. It doesn’t build the world. It doesn’t create the NPC’s background or lore. It doesn’t design the big bad. It doesn’t choose who sits at the table. It doesn’t make the story engaging or drive it forward.

The only thing AI did was generate an image.

And somehow, because I used a tool to make a picture, people act like I’m no longer allowed to charge for the hundreds of other things I do—the writing, the prep, the worldbuilding, the maps, the continuity, the player vetting, and the session design.

Using a tool to generate an image doesn’t erase the value of everything else I create. 

They don't advertise for free games? But they still have a few free campaigns. They have said every Sunday Campaign is free. The issue is people going to a DM knowing they charge and complaining they use AI slightly when they charge.

Quote from NLK>>

A lot of people in this community hate AI. A lot of people say, “Pay artists.”
And I do. Whenever I can afford it, I commission real artists.

But why is it that art must always be paid for…
while games—actual campaigns run by real human DMs—are expected to be free?

Quote from NLK >>

Using AI to make an NPC picture does not write the story. It doesn’t build the world. It doesn’t create the NPC’s background or lore. It doesn’t design the big bad. It doesn’t choose who sits at the table. It doesn’t make the story engaging or drive it forward.

The only thing AI did was generate an image.

And somehow, because I used a tool to make a picture, people act like I’m no longer allowed to charge for the hundreds of other things I do—the writing, the prep, the worldbuilding, the maps, the continuity, the player vetting, and the session design.

Using a tool to generate an image doesn’t erase the value of everything else I create. 

What it sounds like you're saying now is that you think people shouldn't be mad at you for charging for stolen content when you're also charging for non-stolen content.

Quote from NLK >>

Using AI to make an NPC picture does not write the story. It doesn’t build the world. It doesn’t create the NPC’s background or lore. It doesn’t design the big bad. It doesn’t choose who sits at the table. It doesn’t make the story engaging or drive it forward.

The only thing AI did was generate an image.

And somehow, because I used a tool to make a picture, people act like I’m no longer allowed to charge for the hundreds of other things I do—the writing, the prep, the worldbuilding, the maps, the continuity, the player vetting, and the session design.

Using a tool to generate an image doesn’t erase the value of everything else I create. 

That's literally not what's happening

One does not have to agree with your position to expect you to be consistent to it. Ignoring all the other ethical issues, AI is not just a tool—it's a plagiarism engine. It steals from people who actually create, grinds that up into mincemeat, and outputs generic, uncanny, vacuous slop.

If you think you deserve to be financially compensated for your labor, then the artists that made the content your "tool" gorged itself on deserve to be compensated for theirs.

It may not erase the value of everything else you create, but it does erase the notion of any rhetorical high ground you might have about your right to be compensated for your work as a DM.

I am one of those Folks that gave a Paid DM a $200 tip for putting up us when he started sounding stressed, but I sure as Shar ain't thinking of bookin anyone who uses AI.
Maybe you are just signaling to the community that you are cheap, so the cheapskates are the ones a flockin to ya.

The AI tools I use aren’t free—I pay for them because I need very specific results for very specific tasks. The people who build the tool are being compensated. And if I paid an artist for every NPC token and every banner, I’d have to charge my players more. Artists aren’t cheap (nor should they be), and that cost scales fast.

And honestly, people like you hate AI so much that the moment they see any of it, they act like everything attached to it suddenly has no value.

Also, most digital art workflows already use AI or ML-style features under the hood. Photoshop has things like Generative Fill, Content-Aware Fill, Select Subject/Object Selection, and Neural Filters. GIMP users rely on advanced automation and plugins like Resynthesizer for content-aware filling and cleanup. So the idea that “real art” tools are somehow pure and non-AI just isn’t true anymore.

So the argument isn’t “AI replaces artists.” It’s: I use a paid tool for simple assets like tokens and banners, so I can keep my session price reasonable. The actual value players pay for is the campaign quality, prep, consistency, and reliability—not whether every single NPC portrait was commissioned.

TADA

See, the standard for a paid DM is that that money will go towards paying for the resources, i.e.,  goods & services, needed to make their price worthwhile.

If you are using AI to cheap out yet are charging at prices that would constitute costs of effort, 9/10 people are going to feel like you overcharged & ripped them off, regardless of how "good" your DMing is.

Paying an exorbitant price normally means you're hiring a celebrity, or someone with a work pedigree outside of easily manipulated social credit ratings.

If you're just hiring some rando who uses AI & charges like they have those qualities, then what is your money going towards w/that price?

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

See, the standard for a paid DM is that that money will go towards paying for the resources, i.e.,  goods & services, needed to make their price worthwhile.

If you are using AI to cheap out yet are charging at prices that would constitute costs of effort, 9/10 people are going to feel like you overcharged & ripped them off, regardless of how "good" your DMing is.

Paying an exorbitant price normally means you're hiring a celebrity, or someone with a work pedigree outside of easily manipulated social credit ratings.

If you're just hiring some rando who uses AI & charges like they have those qualities, then what is your money going towards w/that price?

• D&D Beyond library personally purchased: ~$2,200 total
  (Books I bought so players don’t have to.)
  
  And I pick up new D&D Beyond releases as they come out, if a player wants to use something for their character.

  Monthly costs I cover:

  • D&D Beyond – Master Tier (content sharing): ~$6/mo

  • Fantasy Grounds Ultimate (VTT subscription): ~$10/mo

  • Inkarnate (Creator tier): ~$8/mo

  • Paid AI tools (NPC tokens, banners, assets): ~$20/mo

  • Discord Nitro (HD streaming & perks): ~$10/mo

  • Discord server boosts (heavily boosted, ~Level 7 equivalent): ~$70/mo

  Subscription subtotal: ~$124/month

  Important context:
  All my players need is a free D&D Beyond account and a free Discord account. I cover the books, the VTT, the maps, the streaming quality, the server infrastructure, and the tools needed to run the campaigns.

  Everything beyond “show up and play” is on me. 
  
  Now be honest—how much would I realistically have to add on top of all of this to cover six campaigns worth of commissioned art, and how much would that cost end up being pushed onto my players?

  For example, if each campaign has a few hundred NPCs, even at a very low rate like $5 per portrait, that’s already hundreds to thousands of dollars per campaign. Add in major NPCs, villains, factions, city banners, and promotional art, and that number climbs fast.

  So the real question isn’t “why don’t you commission all the art?”
  It’s “how much would session prices have to increase for players to cover that cost?”

  Because that cost doesn’t disappear—it just gets passed directly to the table. Or to me. 

Quote from NLK>>

The AI tools I use aren’t free—I pay for them because I need very specific results for very specific tasks. The people who build the tool are being compensated.

And if I paid an artist for every NPC token and every banner, I’d have to charge my players more. Artists aren’t cheap (nor should they be), and that cost scales fast.

And honestly, people like you hate AI so much that the moment they see any of it, they act like everything attached to it suddenly has no value.

Also, most digital art workflows already use AI or ML-style features under the hood. Photoshop has things like Generative Fill, Content-Aware Fill, Select Subject/Object Selection, and Neural Filters. GIMP users rely on advanced automation and plugins like Resynthesizer for content-aware filling and cleanup. So the idea that “real art” tools are somehow pure and non-AI just isn’t true anymore.

So the argument isn’t “AI replaces artists.” It’s: I use a paid tool for simple assets like tokens and banners, so I can keep my session price reasonable. The actual value players pay for is the campaign quality, prep, consistency, and reliability—not whether every single NPC portrait was commissioned.

 It's not about "AI replaces artists", it's "AI runs on content stolen from artists"

You've danced around every point made in a desperate attempt at self justification and apologetics.

It's perfectly fine to say you don't want AI.  If a DM chooses to spend a huge amount of time on their games, that was a decision they made.  The statement "I don't want AI art in my games and am okay if that means less prep on the campaign" is just fine.

Adults get to make assertions about what they are okay with.  They get to make these assertions even if they don't make sense to you.  If your assertion is that you don't want any AI generated content in your campaign, then I just play with someone else because I like AI for backstories and extras for my character.  If you're Brandon Sanderson you can probably write  a great backstory, but I'm not.  The chance of me paying a human for art (or backstories if that were ever a thing) for my games as a player is essentially zero.

My experience is most art that was used in campaigns prior to AI was just stuff sourced from Google images anyway.

Quote from NLK >>

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

See, the standard for a paid DM is that that money will go towards paying for the resources, i.e.,  goods & services, needed to make their price worthwhile.

If you are using AI to cheap out yet are charging at prices that would constitute costs of effort, 9/10 people are going to feel like you overcharged & ripped them off, regardless of how "good" your DMing is.

Paying an exorbitant price normally means you're hiring a celebrity, or someone with a work pedigree outside of easily manipulated social credit ratings.

If you're just hiring some rando who uses AI & charges like they have those qualities, then what is your money going towards w/that price?

 

• D&D Beyond library personally purchased: ~$2,200 total
  (Books I bought so players don’t have to.)
  
  And I pick up new D&D Beyond releases as they come out, if a player wants to use something for their character.

  Monthly costs I cover:

  • D&D Beyond – Master Tier (content sharing): ~$6/mo

  • Fantasy Grounds Ultimate (VTT subscription): ~$10/mo

  • Inkarnate (Creator tier): ~$8/mo

  • Paid AI tools (NPC tokens, banners, assets): ~$20/mo

  • Discord Nitro (HD streaming & perks): ~$10/mo

  • Discord server boosts (heavily boosted, ~Level 7 equivalent): ~$70/mo

  Subscription subtotal: ~$124/month

  Important context:
  All my players need is a free D&D Beyond account and a free Discord account. I cover the books, the VTT, the maps, the streaming quality, the server infrastructure, and the tools needed to run the campaigns.

  Everything beyond “show up and play” is on me. 
  
  Now be honest—how much would I realistically have to add on top of all of this to cover six campaigns worth of commissioned art, and how much would that cost end up being pushed onto my players?

  For example, if each campaign has a few hundred NPCs, even at a very low rate like $5 per portrait, that’s already hundreds to thousands of dollars per campaign. Add in major NPCs, villains, factions, city banners, and promotional art, and that number climbs fast.

  So the real question isn’t “why don’t you commission all the art?”
  It’s “how much would session prices have to increase for players to cover that cost?”

  Because that cost doesn’t disappear—it just gets passed directly to the table. Or to me. 

 $2200 1-time purchase

$108/Month you could cut from your expenses if you didn't pay for AI, didn't boost Discords, and used Maps instead if budget is a concern.

Quote from NLK >>

I also have two kids. A wife. I am writing a book.
And I still dedicate 9–10 hours a day per campaign to make sure every single session that night is fully prepared and immersive.

Sounds to me like you are massively overextending yourself as you try to turn a hobby into a business, and it's not working, and you're stressed as a result and lashing out at the wrong targets -- people who aren't giving you their money, and never will

Quote from NLK >>

I’ve personally reached out to people looking for games, offered them tours of what I provide, and shown them the full scope of my work—only for some to take offense that I charge while also using AI for certain images.

So because the math isn't working on the business you're trying to launch, you're cutting corners by using AI art, and getting pushback on it. Which you should, because by using AI, you've become part of the problem

Quote from NLK >>

Fourth, your scheduling argument is just wrong.
I dedicate 9–10 hours per day total, spread across six campaigns—rotating prep, maps, NPCs, lore, and encounters.
I never claimed 9 hours per campaign. That’s a misread, not a contradiction.

You literally said "9-10 hours a day per campaign"  in your first post. No one misread anything

There is an easy solution to how you can DM games without either using AI or paying for custom art: just accept that you're a hobbyist, and find art that you already have access to that's good enough. The books you've already paid for have art, and there's quite a lot of art out there that you can use for noncommercial purposes without any licensing issues. Sure, it might not be a perfect match for your mental image, but your players probably won't care, and you can always take the oddities as a challenge and change your mental image (for example, I use a lot of maps from reddit. Many of them have weird things on them that I would never have put there on purpose, but 'why is that thing there' can actually result in creativity).

Quote from NLK>>

The AI tools I use aren’t free—I pay for them because I need very specific results for very specific tasks. The people who build the tool are being compensated.

And if I paid an artist for every NPC token and every banner, I’d have to charge my players more. Artists aren’t cheap (nor should they be), and that cost scales fast.

Also, most digital art workflows already use AI or ML-style features under the hood. Photoshop has things like Generative Fill, Content-Aware Fill, Select Subject/Object Selection, and Neural Filters. GIMP users rely on advanced automation and plugins like Resynthesizer for content-aware filling and cleanup. So the idea that “real art” tools are somehow pure and non-AI just isn’t true anymore.

So the argument isn’t “AI replaces artists.” It’s: I use a paid tool for simple assets like tokens and banners, so I can keep my session price reasonable. The actual value players pay for is the campaign quality, prep, consistency, and reliability—not whether every single NPC portrait was commissioned.

If the NPC portraits aren't important to the value the players are paying for, why are you doing it at all? 

If the art has no value, why not just use existing art, stock art, clip art, whatever?

Quote from jl8e>>

Quote from NLK>>

The AI tools I use aren’t free—I pay for them because I need very specific results for very specific tasks. The people who build the tool are being compensated.

The people who built the tool did so by scraping vast quantities of material they had no right to off the internet. The text generators, for instance, used (among other things) an enormous library of pirated books, and I have no reason to think the art people's hands are any cleaner. The tool they built is nothing without the material they took.

Ooh, this is a fun one. My sister-in-law is one of the people affected by this. She's a published author and two of her books are confirmed to have been scraped by AI. Something she only learned after the fact.