An AI image generator for DnD character art turns a few lines about your character (species, class, gear and mood) into a portrait for the character sheet, a token for the virtual table, or a lineup of the whole party. In Toybox AI, Image Generator makes the picture from your description and can follow up to 3 reference photos, and Sketch to Life paints over a player's own drawing. Toybox isn't affiliated with Wizards of the Coast, and every prompt here uses generic fantasy details only.
What an AI image generator can make for DnD characters
Character art has a few jobs at the table, and each one suits a different shape. These are the common ones, with the size to pick in Image Generator:
- A character sheet portrait. Portrait 3:4, chest up, with a plain or blurred background so it still reads when it's printed small.
- A virtual tabletop token. Square 1:1, face and shoulders centered, a strong outline against a dark background.
- A full-body reference. Portrait 3:4, head to boots, for showing the group your gear or for painting a miniature.
- The party lineup. Wide 16:9, four or five characters side by side, described left to right in a fixed order.
- NPCs for the DM. Shopkeepers, rivals and villains, all with the same art style words so the campaign has one look.
- A monster of your own. Landscape 4:3, a creature you invented, with a person in the frame for scale.
- A scene or handout. Wide 16:9 or Landscape 4:3, such as a flooded crypt or a map room, with no text on it.
- A player's sketch as finished art. Sketch to Life paints over the drawing in the look you choose, such as Oil painting.
Build a DnD character prompt: species, class and gear
A good character prompt covers six parts in one or two sentences, starting with species. The System Reference Document 5.2.1, the free rules set Wizards of the Coast publishes under a Creative Commons license, uses the word species (the older 5.1 version said races) and lists nine: Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goliath, Halfling, Human, Orc and Tiefling.
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Species and build | The species, age and body type | "a stocky middle-aged dwarf woman" |
| Class gear | Two or three items people can see | "a warhammer, a round shield with a sun emblem" |
| One mark | A scar, tattoo, eye color or hairstyle | "a braided red beard threaded with iron rings" |
| Framing | How much of the body, and the angle | "chest-up portrait, three-quarter view" |
| Setting and light | Where, and what lights the face | "torchlit crypt, warm light from the left" |
| Art style | One style, named plainly | "painted fantasy portrait, visible brushstrokes" |
The class is mostly carried by gear and clothing. Pick two or three cues from its row; large items such as weapons and cloaks are the ones that still show on a small token:
| Class | Visual cues to put in the prompt |
|---|---|
| Barbarian | a greataxe or maul, a fur mantle over bare shoulders, war paint |
| Bard | a lute or fiddle, layered bright clothing, a feathered cap |
| Cleric | a holy symbol on a chain, a mace, vestments over armor |
| Druid | a gnarled wooden staff, armor of bark and leaves, a small animal nearby |
| Fighter | chain or plate armor, a longsword and shield, a dented helmet |
| Monk | loose robes, wrapped hands and feet, a plain wooden staff |
| Paladin | polished plate, a tabard with an emblem, a faintly glowing sword |
| Ranger | a longbow and quiver, a hooded travel cloak, muddy boots |
| Rogue | dark leather, a hood, two daggers, lockpicks on the belt |
| Sorcerer | sparks rising from bare hands, glowing marks on the skin |
| Warlock | an odd trinket or a pact book, a violet or green glow, a dark cloak |
| Wizard | a spellbook, a staff or wand, ink-stained robes with pouches |
For anime-style party art instead of painted fantasy, swap the last row of the builder for the style words on the AI anime generator page.
AI art prompts for DnD characters
Each prompt below is ready for the "Describe your image" field; change the details to fit your own character. Every character and creature is invented, and none names a published setting, villain or logo. For fantasy prompts outside the tabletop, the AI image prompt library has more.
Dwarf cleric portrait
Painted fantasy portrait of a stocky middle-aged dwarf woman, a cleric, with a braided red beard threaded with iron rings, chain mail under a white tabard with a sun emblem, and a warhammer resting on her shoulder. Chest-up, three-quarter view, warm torchlight from the left in a stone chapel. Visible brushstrokes, no text.Tiefling warlock
Painted fantasy portrait of a young tiefling warlock with curling black horns, lavender skin, solid gold eyes and a thin tail, wearing a high-collared dark coat. A small brass locket floats open in front of her, leaking violet light onto her face. Chest-up, dark alley at night, rain in the background, cold blue streetlight against the violet glow.Halfling bard token
Made for a square token, so the face stays large.
Head-and-shoulders portrait of a cheerful halfling bard with curly auburn hair, a green feathered cap and a lute strap across his chest, grinning straight at the viewer. Face centered and filling most of the frame, strong outline, plain dark blue background, soft front light. Painted fantasy style, no text or border.Goliath barbarian, full body
Full-body painting of a towering goliath barbarian with gray skin, dark geometric tattoos across her arms and a fur mantle over bare shoulders, gripping a stone-headed maul. She stands on a windy mountain ledge with snow blowing past, seen from a slightly low angle. Head to boots in frame, dramatic overcast light, painted fantasy style.Gnome wizard in a workshop
Painted fantasy portrait of an elderly gnome wizard with a wild white mustache, round brass spectacles and ink-stained purple robes, reading a spellbook by candlelight in a cluttered tower workshop full of jars and gears. Warm candlelight on his face, the rest of the room in soft shadow. Chest-up, whimsical but detailed.Orc paladin at dawn
Painted fantasy portrait of a scarred orc paladin with green-gray skin, small tusks and a shaved head, wearing dented silver plate and a blue tabard with a stag emblem. He kneels with a faintly glowing longsword planted in front of him as dawn light breaks behind him. Chest-up, solemn and hopeful mood.Innkeeper NPC
A face the DM can show when the party walks in.
Painted fantasy portrait of a broad-shouldered human innkeeper in her fifties with a gray braid, flour on her apron and a ring of iron keys at her belt, leaning on a scarred wooden bar. Chest-up, warm hearth light from the right, pewter mugs hanging behind her. Friendly but watchful expression, visible brushstrokes, no text.Homebrew river monster
An invented creature for an encounter. Choose Landscape 4:3.
Original fantasy monster: a crab the size of a wagon with a shell of mossy granite, one oversized claw of cracked quartz and glowing amber eyes on stalks, climbing out of a misty river at dusk. Low angle, a lone traveler with a lantern on the far bank for scale. Painted fantasy style, cold blue light, no text.Party lineup for a campaign banner
Choose Wide 16:9 for this one.
Painted fantasy group portrait of four adventurers standing in a row at the mouth of a cave, from left to right: a dwarf cleric with a warhammer, a tiefling warlock with a violet glow in her hand, a halfling bard with a lute, and a goliath barbarian with a maul. All face the viewer, sunset light behind them, same painted style for every character, no text.Character reference sheet
For keeping one character consistent later.
Turnaround sheet for an original human rogue: a lean young man with a short black ponytail, a thin scar across his chin, a charcoal hooded leather coat and two curved daggers. Three full-body poses in a row (facing forward, in profile, and seen from behind) on flat light gray, matching height, outfit and colors in each pose. Clean painted style.Keep the same character across images
Each run of an AI image generator draws a new picture, so a character needs help to look like the same person twice.
- Write a character block once. Species, build, three fixed traits and the art style, in one sentence. Paste it unchanged at the start of every prompt for that character.
- Make a reference sheet first. Run the character reference sheet prompt from this page with your character's details, and download the result.
- Feed your favorite image back in. In Image Generator, choose "Add reference photos" and upload the portrait or sheet you liked. Then write "the character in the reference photo" and describe only the new scene.
- Change one thing per scene. New pose or new setting, not both, so everything else holds near the reference.
- Expect some drift. The tool's own note says reference photos guide "the style, subject or layout", and an exact likeness isn't promised. Make two or three versions and keep the closest.
For how closely a result follows the picture you add, see the guide to using a reference image.
Portrait and token sizes for virtual tabletops
On a battle map, the SRD gives Small and Medium creatures one 5-foot square and Large creatures a 2 by 2 block of squares. Foundry Virtual Tabletop's default grid square is 100 pixels, with a 50-pixel minimum, and Foundry says most maps use a 70, 100, 140 or 200 px grid. A token has to read at that size, so keep the face large and the background plain.
| Use | Size in Image Generator | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Token | Square 1:1 | Face and shoulders centered, plain dark background, room for a round crop |
| Character sheet | Portrait 3:4 | Chest up, soft background |
| Full-body reference | Portrait 3:4 | Head to boots, simple floor and wall |
| Party banner or scene | Wide 16:9 | Characters left to right, space at the top for a title you add later |
| Handout | Landscape 4:3 | A room or object with no writing on it |
Image Generator saves a PNG with a background. For a round token, crop it in any image editor.
Turn a player's sketch into character art
Sketch to Life is for the player who already drew their character. The drawing goes in the "Your drawing" slot, where the tool's tip reads "Clear lines give better results." Next, pick a "Look": Oil painting and Watercolor suit fantasy portraits, and "Custom" takes up to 300 characters, such as "painted fantasy portrait, visible brushstrokes, torchlight". The "Notes" field inside "More options" (500 characters) is where details the sketch can't show belong, such as "the cloak is dark green, keep the pose from the drawing". Sketch to Life is on the Free plan and currently costs 70 credits. It takes children's drawings too, and Sketch to Life for children's drawings walks through every look.
What AI character art gets wrong
Hands, grips and straps need a check. Look at how each hand holds its weapon, and at shield straps and bowstrings, before you print. If one looks wrong, generate again with a simpler pose, such as a weapon resting on a shoulder.
Small text and symbols can come out garbled. Runes, holy symbols with writing and banners with names can come back as nonsense letters. Ask for "no text" and add names in an editor, or try the "Enhanced quality" switch under "More options" (+45 credits at current prices) for one short word.
Keep official IP out. The SRD 5.2 FAQ on D&D Beyond says some content, including the Beholder and the Aasimar species, is left out for brand, licensing and intellectual property reasons, and Wizards' Fan Content Policy asks fans not to use its logos and trademarks. Design your own monsters and emblems, and don't put the D&D logo on your art.
How to make DnD character art in Image Generator
- Open Image Generator and sign in. It's on the Free plan, and each picture currently costs 50 credits, or 95 with "Enhanced quality" turned on.
- Fill in "Describe your image" with a prompt from this page, changed to your character's species, class gear and marks.
- To continue an existing character, upload up to 3 earlier images through "Add reference photos".
- Choose a "Size": Square for a token, Portrait for the sheet, Wide for the party.
- Tap "Create image". Expect the picture in about 30 seconds.
- Inspect hands, weapons and the face. Pro plans can type a fix into "Want to change something?" (currently 85 credits), such as "make the shield round"; on the Free plan, reword the description and generate a fresh one.
- Save the PNG to your device or your Toybox gallery. Anything unsaved stays available for 24 hours.