Is it time to consider art for the PRD monsters?

[Evil Lincoln]

At least the Bestiary 1 monsters?

I say this as someone who has long had access to the bestiary PDF, and all the digital images therein.

The original SRD had the illustrations of all the monsters available as part of the OGL. Those images have become rather ubiquitous, and I see them turn up in all sorts of search results and the like. As a Pathfinder player, I'd rather see the Pathfinder images when I search for Pathfinder monsters, not 3.5's.

When I refer a totally new player to the PRD in order to get a feel for the rules, I think it would be great if there was some art there to entice them. After all, art is still one of Pathfinder's strongest selling points. The current method gives PRD newcomers the impression that the game is all about huge blocks of uninterrupted rules text, and frankly, that isn't so.

I understand why Paizo's been guarded about its art hitherto, but I feel like enough time has passed. Art on the PRD would actually sell more Bestiaries, not fewer.

Please consider.

[Liz Courts]

Artwork is one of the things that are considered Product Identity under the Pathfinder Compatibility License, and is part of the reason it's not included in the Pathfinder Reference Document.

[The Gleeful Grognard]

May I ask why you would have new players perusing the bestiary anyway?

I doubt it would sell more bestiaries, also as liz said, just not viable for them to release.

[Sean K Reynolds]

Evil Lincoln wrote:

The original SRD had the illustrations of all the monsters available as part of the OGL.

I'm not sure that's true.

www.d20srd.org may have the 3E MM art hidden under little buttons, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the art is actually Open. Note that the site's art-buttons actually link to the Wizards site's gallery of illustrations from the Monster Manual. For example, the ankheg page has an art button linking to http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG15.jpg, which obviously is on the Wizards site and not stored locally on the d20srd site.

Barring any official documentation from Wizards declaring the illustrations are Open, they are Closed.

[Evil Lincoln]

Fair points all.

Still, I dislike the lack of art in the PRD.

It's not about me being unwilling to buy stuff, I own all the bestiaries in hardcopy. I just think it would be good for getting the Pathfinder standard out there.

[Draco Bahamut]

There is so much art on the blog.

[Silence among Hounds]

You have an entirely valid point but you must keep in mind the people at Paizo do need fed.
Unfortunately that's the problem with a capitalist society. People need fed. Back in Cheliax, we just gave the saps the bare minimum. Alas! This is not Cheliax.

[rknop]

You also have all those halfling slaves in Cheliax to do all the work for you.

[Vic Wertz]

I'll be frank—we republish all of the mechanics for free; we need to offer *some* reason for people to buy the book. I believe that the artwork is the enticement for a lot of the Bestiary PDF sales.