# Making Tokens for VTT



## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

So I made the move to running games online using a VTT (*Roll20*). Inevitably, I get into full-prep mode wanting to get as much done, ready, and on-hand then I could possibly need or use. Let's face it--there is such a thing as having too  much free time on your hands, especially if you're like me (a completionist, and a perfectionist, and probably some other "-ist"s). But instead of working on campaigns, maps, adventures, etc., I've  find myself focusing on more cosmetic stuff. Specifically, tokens.

Now, I could've just used some easy tool to make a ton of uniquely bland tokens, but then I saw some not-so-typical examples and thought "I could do that!". I may not be an artist, but I can use the heck out of photoshop. So first thing I did was purchase a large pack (or three) of nice-looking borders for tokens. And then I started scouring the internet (and my own library I've built over the years) for images.

Fast-forward a few weeks of toying around with techniques, and here's what I come up with:











And there's a lot more. It's become sorta a hobby within a hobby for me. But since I know I'm not the only one making the move to VTT, whether by choice or by necessity, I thought I'd start sharing a few so others can make use of them, too. Enjoy!

EDIT: The portrait frames were part of a set I purchased from DriveThru RPG. You can find them here.

EDIT 2: As I mentioned above, I am not an artist. The artwork is not mine and may be subject to copyright, etc. Apologies if I didn't already make that obvious. This is intended to show off my techniques and utilization with Photoshop. 

If you have any issues, please report this thread to the admins so they may decide if this post is appropriate. I am not going to devolve this into a spectacle on the usual arguments with the usual suspects on the subject.


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## Nebulous (Apr 25, 2020)

Excellent!  Those are really nice


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## Nebulous (Apr 25, 2020)

I've been doing some too in Roll20, but not quite as nice as those you have.  In fact, all of Roll20 has become a new hobby, I tinker with maps and lighting endlessly now.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

Nebulous said:


> I've been doing some too in Roll20, but not quite as nice as those you have.  In fact, all of Roll20 has become a new hobby, I tinker with maps and lighting endlessly now.



I know what you mean! I've been delving into scripts, creating monsters, and landing pages. At some point, I might actually start running games, too!


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## Nebulous (Apr 25, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> I know what you mean! I've been delving into scripts, creating monsters, and landing pages. At some point, I might actually start running games, too!



Nah man, just prep campaigns for the next year and don't actually run one, lol


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## Nebulous (Apr 25, 2020)

But you inspired me!  Our dwarf cleric had a lame token, I haven't liked it the past couple of weeks, and it's my brother, so i just took the liberty to upgrade it for our Curse of Strahd campaign.  I don't know what I would do without Photoshop either.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

A few more from today's batch...


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## Morrus (Apr 25, 2020)

These are gorgeous! Don’t suppose you could do a goblin wizard?


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

Morrus said:


> These are gorgeous! Don’t suppose you could do a goblin wizard?



Sure! Can you give me some context to work with? PC? Boss monster? Theme?


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## Morrus (Apr 25, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> Sure! Can you give me some context to work with? PC? Boss monster? Theme?



It’s just my current Pathfinder PC - a well-dressed goblin wizard (a noble) who loves fireballs!


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

Morrus said:


> It’s just my current Pathfinder PC - a well-dressed goblin wizard (a noble) who loves fireballs!



Goblins and fire? Easy enough. I'll see what I can put together.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 25, 2020)

@Morrus Goblins and fire, easy. Well dressed? That was a little tougher. Hope this little guy fits the bill!


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## Morrus (Apr 25, 2020)

That’s fantastic! Thank you!


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## DWChancellor (Apr 26, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> @Morrus Goblins and fire, easy. Well dressed? That was a little tougher. Hope this little guy fits the bill!
> View attachment 121391




Amazing what a little editing can do to Ezren!


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## Guest 6801328 (Apr 26, 2020)

These are great.


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## Ovinomancer (Apr 26, 2020)

To be that person, the images you're using may be subject to copyright.  You should make clear that you're "borrowing" them from the internet at large and they aren't yours as an artist.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 26, 2020)

Ovinomancer said:


> To be that person, the images you're using may be subject to copyright.  You should make clear that you're "borrowing" them from the internet at large and they aren't yours as an artist.



I thought I was obvious, but ok. Made it more clear. Thanks.


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## Hoffmand (Apr 26, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> @Morrus Goblins and fire, easy. Well dressed? That was a little tougher. Hope this little guy fits the bill!
> View attachment 121391



Nice. Very nice


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## Ovinomancer (Apr 26, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> I thought I was obvious, but ok. Made it more clear. Thanks.



Asking people to give credit to artists really shouldn't draw snide comments (speaking of your edit).  And, you should never assume it's obvious that you're possibly infringing copyright and/or not crediting artists unless you think it should be an obvious conclusion that you're the jerk.  I didn't want to assume and gave the benefit of the doubt.  

What you do in the privacy of your game is whatever -- don't care.  When you're asking for congrats in public, though, for taking uncredited art and even offering to create fir others with uncredited art, you've crossed a line.  Don't treat ne like a jerk for politely pointing this out so it can be addressed.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 26, 2020)

@Ovinomancer I'm sorry you took it that way. I thought I was being humorous. Or do you assume everyone here just doesn't want to be friends? 

Anyway, I'm not going to take this thread further in the direction you're trying to go. I don't believe either of us is the appointed authority on the subject of copyright, etc, but you're certainly not in a position to offer an analysis on anything I mean, say, or do. I have done as you suggested, but you don't also get to critique how I do it. So if you really have an issue, please feel free to use the *report *button. Let the admins know. I trust they will tell me if there is something else that needs to be done, or if my posts are not appropriate.

And if none of that makes you happy, then there's also the *Ignore *feature. Frankly, it's the one thing that helps keeps me sane here some days.


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## Ovinomancer (Apr 26, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> @Ovinomancer I'm sorry you took it that way. I thought I was being humorous. Or do you assume everyone here just doesn't want to be friends?
> 
> Anyway, I'm not going to take this thread further in the direction you're trying to go. I don't believe either of us is the appointed authority on the subject of copyright, etc, but you're certainly not in a position to offer an analysis on anything I mean, say, or do. I have done as you suggested, but you don't also get to critique how I do it. So if you really have an issue, please feel free to use the *report *button. Let the admins know. I trust they will tell me if there is something else that needs to be done, or if my posts are not appropriate.
> 
> And if none of that makes you happy, then there's also the *Ignore *feature. Frankly, it's the one thing that helps keeps me sane here some days.



In your critique of my responses (and isn't it odd you critique me but claim I cannot critique you?), it appears that you mistook my intent, for which I apologize.  My suggestions were meant in a friendly way, as many don't often think about how what their doing is using other's work without permission or credit due to the ease of being able to do so using the internet.  I only wished to apprise you of the situation, so that you might make a choice as to how you wanted to approach this.  I didn't try to guess or impute your intent, so I didn't see how it was obvious what you intended, and commented that your choice seems to miss the thrust of my suggestion.  I would implore you again to provide, at the minimum, credit to the artists whose work you clearly appreciate and are displaying here.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 29, 2020)

In case anyone is looking to wrap up their high-level campaigns soon...


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## Nebulous (Apr 29, 2020)

Love it Jacob! I know you didn't draw that tarrasque, but I do like how you photoshopped it into a token.


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## Nebulous (Apr 29, 2020)

This is a repost, but @pogre painted a physical coffin mimic recently and it was so badass I had to make it into a token for VTT.









						2020 Pogre's Miniatures and Models - Sebeki from Crocodile Game and a Wild Boar
					

First up is 3D printed coffin mimic I printed and painted up:    Next is a plastic chaos cultist from GW:    Models completed in 2020: 9




					www.enworld.org


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 29, 2020)

I didn't draw this one, either. Now your players can decide how the world ends! 

The frame borders were created by Gabriel Pickard, which you can purchase as a set from here. Super cheap and super cool!


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## Ovinomancer (Apr 29, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> View attachment 121513
> I didn't draw this one, either. Now your players can decide how the world ends!
> 
> The frame borders were created by Gabriel Pickard, which you can purchase as a set from here. Super cheap and super cool!



Who did draw the image?

Gabriel Pickard has made well more that a hundred dollars from me.  Honestly, it's likely more than $200.  He's, by far, my favorite artist in the Roll20 market and also provides full downloads of the sets for use outside of Roll20.  He grants permission for steaming use of his art, but it's otherwise under commercial licensing.


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## Nytmare (Apr 29, 2020)

I don't have a TON of free time at the moment, but would love to throw my hat into the ring if you need a simple frame or two in a material other than just colored marble and you can't find it anywhere else.


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## CleverNickName (Apr 29, 2020)

If you're taking requests, how about making a token out of this wizard?  (Image credit: Zach Stella, for Wizards of the Coast.)  This is the art for the "Tefiri, Timebender" card, in the MTG "Dominaria" set, and it's gonna be my next wizard.


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 30, 2020)

@CleverNickName I don't know about taking requests, but I like a challenge. Here you go!


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## CleverNickName (Apr 30, 2020)

@Jacob Lewis Woah, thanks!  That looks amazing!


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## LordEntrails (Apr 30, 2020)

Great work Jacob. You've got a lot of lucky players 

These tokens are worth zooming in on!


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## Jacob Lewis (Apr 30, 2020)

PF Goblins are the best! But you can't have just one (or you can, but that's boring). 






Plus, you want to have bosses stand out.






And then there's the specialists!


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## LordEntrails (Apr 30, 2020)

Go Goblin!


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## Jacob Lewis (May 1, 2020)

LordEntrails said:


> Go Goblin!



My complete set contains 18 individual goblin tokens, each with a different color and/or style frame. And I have another complimentary set where the images are enlarged. Easier to see details without needing to zoom in on a larger table.


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## Jacob Lewis (May 1, 2020)

@Nebulous I didn't think I could do much with a mimic to give it that 3D effect, but I was wrong.


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## Nebulous (May 1, 2020)

Jacob Lewis said:


> PF Goblins are the best! But you can't have just one (or you can, but that's boring).
> View attachment 121562
> View attachment 121563
> Plus, you want to have bosses stand out.
> ...



Those are badass. I do love the style of PF goblins


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## Stormonu (May 1, 2020)

Skill Level: YES

Those are some mighty fine tokens, great job!


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## Jacob Lewis (May 5, 2020)

Surprised it took this long for me to come up with a dragon token! Enjoy!


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## Jacob Lewis (May 10, 2020)




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## Jacob Lewis (May 11, 2020)




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## Jacob Lewis (May 13, 2020)

They might be (fire) giants.


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## LordEntrails (May 13, 2020)

I really like that dracolich. And now I'm going to have to plan a plot line with fire giants!


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## Jacob Lewis (May 14, 2020)

And now the Frost!


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## Jacob Lewis (May 14, 2020)

Stay Frosty, friends!


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## Jacob Lewis (Jun 3, 2020)

Looking for an updated portrait of Tiamat, went with something a little more nostalgic instead.


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## doctorfabius (Nov 4, 2020)

Wow, amazing work, congratulations! Would you have time to create and orc paladin of gozreh using a trident? (I known, this is a though one) XD


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## RiTz21 (Feb 4, 2021)

Holy cows! Tokens on STEROIDS!!
I'm addicted!!!! more more more!!!


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## MichaelSomething (Feb 4, 2021)

Liking and commenting so I can come back later


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## Jacob Lewis (Feb 6, 2021)

Hey, folks! Sorry I haven't been here for a while after losing interest in gaming online (and just being online in general). I actually stopped doing tokens some time ago, but I do have a few more to share. I'll start with this newer, much-cooler hydra from PF2. Enjoy!


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## Jacob Lewis (Feb 7, 2021)

Kobolds anyone?


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## Philip Benz (Aug 4, 2021)

I just ran across this thread (after finding the brilliant hydra token on google) and have to say a big THANK YOU to Jacob.
I've been running a highly modified Serpents Skull campaign for PF2 on VTT and I have to say these tokens are simply gorgeous.
I do most of my tokens using Token Stamp 2, and it does a fine job, but these bad boys just blow all that away! Thanks again.


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## Thomas Shey (Aug 4, 2021)

Hmmm.  Now I'm wondering if Pickard's frames can be integrated into TokenTool somehow.  I'll have to look into it.


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## Ovinomancer (Aug 8, 2021)

Thomas Shey said:


> Hmmm.  Now I'm wondering if Pickard's frames can be integrated into TokenTool somehow.  I'll have to look into it.



Be sure to check the license under which you purchased them to make sure you're not violating it.  Artists need to eat, as well.


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## Thomas Shey (Aug 8, 2021)

Ovinomancer said:


> Be sure to check the license under which you purchased them to make sure you're not violating it.  Artists need to eat, as well.



I'm not going to be _selling_ them; I just want to use it when making my own tokens because TokenTool is easier than doing it manually.


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