Images can enhance an rpg; breaking up the flow of white space, and presenting readers with a visual representation of the style and theme of the book. Purchasing original art can be expensive. Which can be a bite on start up and smaller publishers whom may have little to no budget to pay an artist with, or maybe you simply can't find an artist to work in the desired style or within the range of your deadline. It's times like these that stock/clipart comes in handy; giving you already completed art that you can drop into your product, and at prices usually less (sometimes much less) than what it would cost you to commission that piece from an artist. One of the immediate downsides of this is that both in the cases of stock or clipart, it doesn't tend to be a unique purchase: any number of people other than you may have copies. This can result in your product being less visually unique.

This collection contains 82 images of fantasy-themed characters. As has been covered by other reviewers these are 3D images; primarily of humans/elves, though there are other races represented, as well as different ethnicities and genders. The figures are posed in a mix of static and action poses, though some of the stances look awkward and unnatural.

The individual images I sampled were all 385 pixels wide by 533 pixels high, (5.347" wide x 7.403" high) with a 72 pixels per inch resolution. They are all RGB formated jpeg files, and feature a blank background. While not the best format for manipulating artwork, jpeg files are easily viewed cross platform, and more easily manipulated by those whom may not have advanced graphics programs. The solid color background makes it more difficult to composite a background into an image if you should want one. I also converted some of the images to greyscale; both to see how they looked, and because my printer doesn't do color. There was some loss in image quality, though they were still perfectly fine for most purposes.

The usage license for these images is one of the most brief and permissive I've seen. The only activity it forbids is the resale of the images themselves; which is a given since purchase of these sorts of collections gives you usage of the work, but not ownership of the actual images. I was unable to find any mention of a specific artist or artists who should be credited. This would be nice not only to give credit where credit is do, but if someone wished to contact the artist about additional work. Perhaps more information is available on the Sacrosanct Games website.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A variety of images, suitable for everything from character sheet portraits, to use as images in a larger product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: An often seen problem with these type of CG images, many of the surface tones look artifical. In addition, some of the figures are in poses that seem awkward and/or unnatural.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The old adage ?Show don?t tell.? is as true in roleplaying games as it is anywhere else. Would iconic monsters ever have become ?iconic? without the great illustrations showing what they looked like? It?s obvious that Sacrosanct Games understands that a picture really is worth 1000 words. Just by looking through Fantasy Clipart Collector Set 4 it?s easy to tell that they appreciate visual storytelling. As the title implies, this is a collection of clipart themed for the fantasy genre. With more than 80 images, this file is loaded with options. He artwork is all computer generated #D graphics. There are a selection of heroes & villains, rogues, wizards, warriors and humanoids. The artwork is all full color, and the poses are very dynamic. There are a few static ?mug shots? but for the most part we see the characters in action, or at least in a dramatic pose. Each image is a single figure against a solid color background. The images are in the popular JPG format, which will make viewing them in any standard web browser a snap. Aside from the Humanoid file, which includes creatures like medusas, orcs and demons, most of the artwork is of humans, with an occasional elf or dwarf snuck in for good measure. It?s nice to see a variety of ethnicities and cultures is represented as well. Obviously in a collection this size there isn?t room for everything, but I was pleased to see adventurers of color, and costumes that weren?t just versions of the clothes from Lord of the Rings. Tribal shamans are right here along with dark necromancers, and ninja right beside Norman knights. There?s vary little gratuitous ?cheesecake? here either, with the loin cloths equally shared among both male and female figures. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Variety. There are a nice assortment of figures in this collection. Very few of these images feel like "standard" fantasy illustrations. The artwork is relatively gender and ethnically balanced, which is a pleasant surprise in a fantasy RPG product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Computer generated artwork always feel "cold" to me. The skin tones never seem quite warm enough, and the facial expressions are never quite realistic. This is most likely just a personal preference, and should not reflect on the quality of the artwork.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

For all you clipart fans, here are 82 images of a variety of different types. These images consist of the images found in Warrior set I, Wizard set I, Rogue set I, Hero&Villain set I, and Humanoids set I.

Ok, so the images you can see on this products page are pretty representative. From the Humanoids I particularly like the ?flesh golem?, which has a particularly Frankenstein-esqe feel. The orc warrior is also pleasantly gruesome. (Upper left image in the sampling of images on the products page.) From the Hero&Villain set, the hero 3 and villain 3 (the central image from the sampling of images on the products page) are my personal favorites.

Overall, the image quality is consistently good. As with any collection of images they will not all strike your fancy, but overall I believe this collection is a worthy one if you are looking for images of the relevant types. They have a nice distribution between male and female images that might match up with what you are looking for. You can find a tribal shaman (think feather headdress, fringes hanging from the knees, and a spear) or a dark skinned female wizard with her dog familiar, a light skinned female wizard with her big cat familiar, or an Elven wizard casting a spell and holding his staff.

To rousing games and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A solid variety from among the 82 images.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are a couple of images that seem out of place to me, but that could just be me.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

This was a great way to get royalty-free clip art to use in certain circumstances. I have used it in our add for the Gen Con Play, and in a Magic: the Gathering card-creation contest for the artwork. Some of the clips are excellent, others are OK...but it was much better than doing the work myself. Click here to see how I used these packs (combined with other graphics) to make the Gen Con ad. The artwork was modified, of course. http://forums.gencon.com/?f=21&m=6203<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Great product well worth twice the value.

About 25% of these have been added to the Dragonwizards Monstercard collection coming to RpgNow end of 2004.

Full sized figures were excellent. (About 75%) of them Small figures such as dwarves were average.

I'm going to be using these to create 28mm miniatures, so some of the flaws will not show. When printed or displayed at a larger size, the figures have a rubbery and stiff look. At the small size, however, they are simply beautiful.

I purchased this after having purchased the Warriors collection some time ago and using a few of the images in our products. While the images are not perfect, the price and liberal licensing make this collection the best money we've spent on art to date.

Well worth the price.

These figures are excellent examples of cgi art. They cut and paste well into background images, and do not look out of place on photographic quality pictures. Ideal for interior art or creating your owm cover art.

This is a very good set of images at a very decent price. We use these as avatars in-game for a MMORPG/MUD hybrid called Dark Grimoire (www.darkgrimoire.com). Having a collection of images this large, all made in the same style, was exactly what we needed.