Portraits with Purpose: How to Use ChatGPT to Generate Stunning, Story-Driven NPC Images
- Danny McKeever
- Jul 19
- 15 min read
A compelling NPC portrait does more than show what a character looks like. It sets tone, reinforces theme, and conveys story at a glance. But most GMs struggle with turning a character concept into a clear image prompt that produces consistent results.
I recently worked with a GM who was facing this exact issue. He was trying to use AI image tools to create portraits for his custom campaign, but everything came out wrong. The tone was off. The armor looked like it belonged in a different setting. The portraits didn’t match the grounded, low-magic world he was running.
I worked with him on how best to structure his prompts — layer by layer — to guide the AI toward accurate, immersive portraits. The difference was immediate. His NPCs finally looked like they belonged in his campaign.
"No one remembers the dungeon—they remember who they met inside." — Anonymous Dungeon Master wisdom
This guide will teach you how to do the same thing.
The Power of Structured Prompts
Structured prompts give your NPCs visual weight. They tell the AI exactly what you’re imagining, not just what the character wears, but how they feel, where they are, and what moment they’re in.
Without structure, prompts often fall flat. You might get a fantasy-looking character, but they won’t feel like they belong to your campaign.
With structure, you get:
Better visual storytelling
Accurate tone matching
Reusable frameworks across NPCs and campaigns
Most GMs approach image generation with vague prompts like “make a scary bandit riding a horse through a forest” or “draw an elven wizard casting a fireball spell.” These lack the depth and clarity needed to guide an AI model to a specific tone or world.
Structured prompts break the image into layers:
What the character is doing
Where they are
How the lighting works
What emotion or mood the image should evoke
By treating your prompt like a cinematic shot list, you give the AI a visual blueprint, not a random suggestion.
The result is consistency across images, alignment with your campaign’s tone, and NPC portraits that feel like part of your story instead of generic fantasy filler.
"When you create an NPC, you’re not just making a character—you’re planting a seed in the players’ story."— GM Marak
Let’s walk through what that structure looks like.
The Core Prompt Framework
I will focus on a generating a consistent portrait view of an NPC across different themes, dark fantasy, high fantasy, horror, steampunk and sci-fi. The portrait prompt format I use includes six parts. Each one adds detail without overwhelming the AI. It’s modular, consistent, and fast to build once you learn the rhythm.
Here’s the breakdown:
1. Scene Type
Portrait (Profile Image) A focused, upper-body image of the NPC designed for use in character sheets, digital tokens, or GM notes. Emphasize facial features, gear, and expression.
Action Pose (Dynamic Encounter) A full-body shot capturing the NPC mid-action—casting a spell, swinging a weapon, or standing defiantly in a critical moment. Ideal for use in cinematic reveals or encounter visuals.
Environmental Story (Mood Piece) An atmospheric image that shows the NPC within their domain—at a desk filled with scrolls, lurking in a misty alley, or commanding followers from a throne. Focus on storytelling through surroundings and posture.
Example: “Create a portrait-style image of a NPC for a tabletop RPG. The composition should focus on the character from the waist up, capturing their expression, gear, and visual mood.”
2. Composition
Split into three layers:
Foreground: What the NPC is doing or holding
Midground: Magical or narrative elements surrounding them
Background: The location and world they’re standing in
This layered structure helps the AI understand the scene and emotional tone.
Example (Dark Fantasy):
Foreground: The NPC kneels, one hand gripping a blood-soaked relic while the other steadies a cracked black blade across his knee
Midground: Wisps of smoke rise from a ritual circle etched into the dirt, its runes flickering faintly with violet light
Background: Shattered gravestones and twisted trees fade into a cold mist beneath a crescent moon
3. Visual Style
This section sets the artistic tone of your portrait. It combines art style, lighting, and camera angle to create consistency with your campaign’s theme.
Art Style
Choose a visual theme based on your world:
High Fantasy: Heroic Romanticism, Art Nouveau, Crystalpunk
Dark Fantasy: Painterly Gothic, Rot & Ruin, Baroque Horror
Horror: Lovecraftian Watercolor, Monochrome Ink, Surrealism
Steampunk: Industrial Realism, Brasswork Collage
Sci-Fi: Neon Tech Noir, Chrome Hyperrealism, Holographic Minimalism
This controls brush texture, color saturation, and tone.
Example (Dark Fantasy):
Art Style: Painterly Gothic — textured brushwork, desaturated tones, subtle grit
Lighting Techniques
Lighting adds emotion, contrast, and atmosphere. Describe where the light is coming from and what kind of energy it gives.
Use these approaches to clarify intent:
Split Lighting: Warm light on one side (torchlight, divine gold) and cold light on the other (moonlight, shadow, arcane glow) to show internal conflict or moral ambiguity
Beam of Light: A divine or magical spotlight cutting through the dark to illuminate their face or item
Soft Glow: Ambient magical or natural light — peaceful, mysterious, or otherworldly
Underlighting: Light from below (campfire, glowing runes), often used to create tension or menace
Backlighting/Silhouette: Light behind the figure creates a dramatic halo or outlines their silhouette, useful for secrecy or power
You don’t need to name the technique — just describe how the light feels and where it comes from.
Examples:
“A golden flame flickers across one side of their cheek while cold mist pools on the other.”
“A violet beam from a shattered window cuts through the dust and lands on their open hand.”
“A pulsing red glow rises from their armor’s cracked core.”
Camera Angle
Choose an angle that helps the viewer feel something:
Low Angle (Looking Up): Makes the NPC feel powerful, imposing, or divine
Eye-Level: Creates neutrality and connection, often used for allies
Slight Tilt: Adds unpredictability or instability — great for rogues, lunatics, or chaos figures
Close-Up: Focuses on facial detail and emotional expression
Wide-Angle Portrait: Frames the NPC within their setting — useful for storytelling and tone setting
Example:
“Painterly gothic style with split lighting — divine gold on one side, cold violet on the other. Wide-angle low shot, upward toward the NPC.”
4. Elements in Motion
Give your portrait life by including movement. The AI will interpret these as active forces in the scene:
Smoke curling
Hair or fabric blowing
Sparks or magical glyphs floating
Flickering candles or lightning cracks in the background
Choose 2 or 3 that tie into the NPC’s theme or powers.
Examples:
(Dark Fantasy): A thin trail of ash rises from the NPC’s armor, drifting upward and dissolving into the night air.
(Horror): A swarm of spectral moths flutters in slow, unnatural circles around the NPC’s head, wings flickering like dying embers.
(Steampunk): Steam hisses from vents behind their shoulders as a gear-driven pauldron shifts with a metallic click.
5. Characters & Creatures
Now zoom in on the NPC. Highlight:
Facial features
Scars, tattoos, or unusual traits
Posture and emotion
Clothing or gear (pick 2–3 meaningful pieces)
Optional: Add a second character or creature — like a familiar, a ghost, or a shadow.
Example:
(High Fantasy): A sun-kissed elven diplomat with braided silver hair, one hand resting lightly on an ornate scroll case. A hummingbird-sized dragonling perches on her shoulder, watching with mirrored eyes.
(Dark Fantasy): A gaunt human warlock, skin stretched tight over sharp cheekbones. One eye socket is empty, the other glows faintly beneath a bone crown. Behind him, the shadow of something vast looms, just out of focus.
(Sci-Fi): A cybernetically enhanced bounty hunter with a cracked visor and a scar running down a chrome-plated jaw. A spherical drone buzzes at his side, projecting holograms of wanted posters as it scans.
6. Mood & Symbolism
Wrap it all together with emotional tone and visual metaphor.
Pick a primary emotion (like awe, fear, ambition, sorrow) and one symbolic detail — an object or visual that reflects their inner world.
Examples:
“A cracked mask resting at their feet”
“A chain dangling from their wrist, broken and glowing”
“One eye glowing with arcane light, the other fully dark”
This is what makes the image more than just a portrait. It turns it into a narrative.
"The dice tell the story, but the faces give it meaning."
One NPC, Five Worlds
To show how flexible this structure is, let’s take one character — Ozzark, a trickster NPC — and run him through five campaign styles. Only the tone and style changes.
High Fantasy Ozzark
Ozzark extends a gloved hand, palm up, where a glowing, floating coin spins in the air. The other hand holds a lute carved with inlaid golden rune.
Tone: Heroic, whimsical, bright
Complete Prompt Example: Ozzark the Wandering Trickster
Create a portrait-style image of the NPC. Use the style and tone appropriate for the campaign type. Incorporate visual storytelling elements that reflect their role and emotional context in the encounter.
Scene Type
Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
Composition
Foreground: Ozzark extends a gloved hand, palm up, where a glowing, floating coin spins in the air. The other hand holds a lute carved with inlaid golden runes.
Midground: A swirling trail of illusory butterflies and shimmering motes of light spiral around him, reacting to unseen enchantments.
Background: Ornate tents embroidered with heraldic symbols glimmer beneath a golden canopy of leaves, suggesting a mystical, elven glade or a magical festival.
Visual Style
Style: Art Nouveau Fantasy — flowing lines, decorative flourishes, vivid color gradients
Lighting: Split lighting — warm daylight gold on one side, cool moonlit silver on the other
Camera Angle: Wide-angle low shot, enhancing his posture as both performer and enigma
Elements in Motion
A string of golden coins orbiting his hand like planets
Magical ribbon trails fluttering behind his movements
Illusions of jesters and dancing spirits flickering behind him
Characters & Creatures
Main focus: Ozzark’s refined, roguish features show a mischievous confidence. His leather armor is well-maintained and artfully mismatched, accented by magical charms — feathers, bells, and gemstones. His tusks are polished, and his eyes glint with ambition.
Secondary: A small fey creature perched on his shoulder, whispering secrets or grinning along with him
Mood & Emotion
Tone: Enchantment, charisma, playful mystery
Symbolism: The floating coin glows with both sun and moon symbols — a sign of duality, fortune, and the path between worlds
Dark Fantasy Ozzark
Here is a completed character portrait image prompt for Ozzark, following your structured template and using Dark Fantasy style:
Tone: Grim, survivalist, haunted
Complete Prompt: Ozzark the Bandit Jester
Create a portrait-style image of the NPC. Use the style and tone appropriate for the campaign type. Incorporate visual storytelling elements that reflect their role and emotional context in the encounter.
Scene Type
Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
Composition
Foreground: Ozzark leans on a rusted short sword, one hand tossing a pair of carved bone dice, the other gripping a dangling pouch of stolen trinkets.
Midground: Faded playing cards and bones scatter midair, suspended in a chaotic moment of laughter and danger.
Background: Tattered tents stitched from colorful scraps and old leather ripple behind him, smoke from a dying campfire blending into the misty forest beyond.
Visual Style
Style: Painterly Gothic — muted greens, shadowy browns, textured brushwork
Lighting: Split lighting — left side glows with a faint campfire gold, right side is cloaked in cold violet fog
Camera Angle: Wide-angle, low shot looking up toward Ozzark, giving him a sinister yet playful presence
Elements in Motion
Curling smoke rising from the dice in his palm
A playing card drifting midair, slightly burning at the edges
Flickering shadows cast by the campfire licking up behind him
Characters & Creatures
Main focus: Ozzark’s crooked smile and sharp eyes gleam under a mop of greasy black hair; one tusk chipped, his leather armor is asymmetrical and decorated with odd charms — teeth, buttons, and bits of ribbon
Secondary: A shadowy figure barely visible behind the tent flap — possibly a rival watching, or a memory haunting him
Mood & Emotion
Tone: Mischievous menace, grim humor, transience
Symbolism: One dice shows a skull, the other a crown — chance and fate forever tangled in Ozzark’s hands
Horror Ozzark
Ozzark leans forward into frame, holding a jagged blade crusted with dried blood. One eye twitches with unnatural glee as he offers a meat-stained coin between two long fingers.
Tone: Deranged, cursed, unholy
Complete Prompt: Ozzark the Crazed
Scene Type
Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
Composition
Foreground: Ozzark leans forward into frame, holding a jagged blade crusted with dried blood. One eye twitches with unnatural glee as he offers a meat-stained coin between two long fingers.
Midground: Strands of sinew hang like cobwebs between crooked tentpoles behind him. His armor appears pieced together from the remnants of victims — stitched skin, buttons made of teeth.
Background: A fog-choked camp with smoldering embers and claw marks across the tents. Hanging bones creak in the wind, and faint silhouettes loom just outside the firelight.
Visual Style
Style: Lovecraftian Watercolor — blended shadows, bleeding edges, shapes half-formed
Lighting: Uneven and harsh — left side sickly green firelight, right side drowned in ink-like shadow
Camera Angle: Low-angle close-up, slightly off-center, giving a sense of imbalance and dread
Elements in Motion
Blood dripping slowly from his blade and pooling into the earth
Smoke rising from the campfire, forming twisted faces that vanish when stared at
Flies buzzing in slow, unnatural spirals near his shoulder
Characters & Creatures
Main focus: Ozzark’s crooked grin is too wide — his tusks sharp and yellowed. His eyes are mismatched: one milky, the other glows faint red. His skin is pallid green with vein-like shadows creeping up his neck.
Secondary: A faint, translucent figure behind him — perhaps a former victim, mouth agape in a silent scream
Mood & Emotion
Tone: Unease, madness, predation
Symbolism: The coin in his hand bears a cracked mask — representing the thin veneer of charm hiding a monstrous hunger
Steampunk Ozzark
Ozzark stands beneath a smoking brass streetlamp, goggles pushed up onto his greasy hair. One hand holds a ticking pocket watch whose glass is cracked, the other grips a wrench-like blade etched with gear motifs.
Tone: Cunning, gritty, chaotic
Complete Prompt: Ozzark the Tinkerer
Scene Type
Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
Composition
Foreground: Ozzark stands beneath a smoking brass streetlamp, goggles pushed up onto his greasy hair. One hand holds a ticking pocket watch whose glass is cracked, the other grips a wrench-like blade etched with gear motifs.
Midground: Behind him, coils of copper tubing wind across patched leather tents, and gears sputter as if barely functioning. A jury-rigged card table glows with faint arcane symbols etched into metal plating.
Background: Dim, foggy alley of a clockwork slum — exposed pipes drip steam, and broken automaton limbs hang from hooks. Sparks fly from a nearby generator cobbled from stolen parts.
Visual Style
Style: Grimy Industrial Realism — soot-streaked textures, weathered brass and iron, dim gaslight hues
Lighting: Split lighting — warm glow from a nearby forge on one side, cold arcane-blue flickers from malfunctioning coils on the other
Camera Angle: Low-angle portrait, with a slight tilt as if caught mid-movement or in surveillance
Elements in Motion
Steam venting from shoulder-mounted tubing
Glowing filament inside the pocket watch pulsing like a heartbeat
Floating embers drifting from a nearby smelter
Characters & Creatures
Main focus: Ozzark’s leather armor is reinforced with riveted metal scraps. His jaw has a brass hinge where bone once broke. Eyes dart with paranoid energy. Trinkets hang from his belt: wind-up keys, glass lenses, and scrap-wire charms.
Secondary: A mechanical rat perched on his shoulder, gears ticking audibly and one eye glowing faint red
Mood & Emotion
Tone: Paranoia, cunning, grim resourcefulness
Symbolism: The cracked pocket watch stopped at midnight — suggesting time is running out or has already ended for someone
Sci-Fi Ozzark
Ozzark stands with a jagged cyber-blade resting across one shoulder and a glowing datachip spinning above his palm.
Tone: Fast, unpredictable, digital
Complete Prompt: Ozzark the Cyber-blade
Scene Type
Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
Composition
Foreground: Ozzark stands with a jagged cyber-blade resting across one shoulder and a glowing datachip spinning above his palm.
Midground: Neon circuits flicker along the lining of his tattered urban cloak, while a small holographic display hovers beside him — filled with wanted posters and encrypted glyphs.
Background: A rusted spaceport alley under alien neon skies. Exposed cables hang like vines, and distant flying transports streak across the smog-filled skyline.
Visual Style
Style: Neon Tech Noir — glowing colors, urban decay, sleek/flickering overlays
Lighting: Split lighting — harsh neon cyan from a sign to the left, deep magenta glow from a cracked display panel on the right
Camera Angle: Wide-angle portrait with a tilted horizon, suggesting surveillance or instability
Elements in Motion
Flickering static from a cracked HUD visor across one eye
Digital rain cascading in slow arcs around him
Spark bursts from a nearby junction box lighting his grin
Characters & Creatures
Main focus: Ozzark’s greenish skin is patched with cybernetic implants — one tusk is chrome, and his right eye is a pulsing scanner lens. His trench coat is reinforced with scrap armor and power nodes.
Secondary: A floating spherical drone companion with a cracked lens and flickering AI eye, hovering at his side
Mood & Emotion
Tone: Streetwise, unpredictable, survivalist edge
Symbolism: The datachip glows with a rotating triangle — a forgotten symbol of rebellion, now outlawed
Step-by-Step with Template
Follow these six steps and use the markdown template below to generate any NPC portrait. Leverage AI to help you fill out the template provided.
Step 1: Define the NPC
Briefly describe who they are and their role in your campaign.
Example: A scarred tiefling bounty hunter who wears a broken holy symbol and speaks in riddles.
Step 2: Choose the Campaign Style
Pick a tone:
High Fantasy
Dark Fantasy
Horror
Steampunk
Sci-Fi
This determines the visual art style, lighting, and mood.
Step 3: Describe the Encounter
Write a few lines describing where the NPC is found and what they’re doing.
Example: She stands in an abandoned cathedral, watching dust fall from the stained glass dome as blood pools at her feet.
Step 4: Fill in the Template
Create a [portrait-style] image of [NPC Name], a [NPC Role/Type] from a [Campaign Type] campaign.
## Scene Type
- Portrait-style image focused on the NPC's upper body and face, designed for character profile use.
## Composition
- Foreground: [Foreground Detail from Encounter or NPC – e.g., “A masked priest clutching a cracked censer that bleeds black smoke”]
- Midground: [Midground Detail from Encounter – e.g., “Ritual symbols burning with inverted fire beneath their feet”]
- Background: [Background Detail related to NPC or campaign – e.g., “A rotting cathedral shrouded in fog and vines”]
## Visual Style
- Style: [Visual style based on Campaign Type – e.g., “Dark Fantasy” or “High Fantasy Art Nouveau”]
- Lighting: Split lighting — one side [Light Emotion Color – e.g., “radiant gold”], the other [Shadow Emotion Color – e.g., “deep violet”]
- Camera Angle: Wide-angle, low perspective looking slightly upward, to evoke mystery and power
## Elements in Motion
- [Element 1 – e.g., “Crimson glyphs spinning slowly around the NPC’s head”]
- [Element 2 – e.g., “Tattered robes fluttering as if underwater”]
- [Element 3 – e.g., “Dust or spores rising from the ground”]
## Characters & Creatures
- Main focus: [NPC Description — e.g., “An elf warlock with eyes like molten gold and a stitched-shut mouth”]
- Secondary: [Optional additional figure or silhouette from the encounter — e.g., “A shadowy familiar curled around their shoulders”]
## Mood & Emotion
- Tone: [Mood Keywords – e.g., “Foreboding, divine, unearthly”]
- Symbolism: [Symbolic element from encounter — e.g., “One hand reaching upward into light, the other dragging chains into darkness”]
Step 5: Generate the Image
Paste your completed prompt into ChatGPT and ask it to finalize the image description. Then drop that into your image tool of choice (like DALL·E or Midjourney).
Step 6: Save the Format
This template is reusable. Once you've built one NPC, you can adapt it easily for dozens more.
Pro Tips for Better Prompts
Once you’ve built a few structured NPC portraits, you’ll notice a pattern — the more intentional you are with each layer, the more powerful and accurate your results become. These tips will help you sharpen your prompts and avoid common mistakes.
1. Avoid generic adjectives
Words like mysterious, powerful, or cool-looking don’t help AI understand what you want. Replace them with visual language.
Instead of:
“A mysterious warrior in a hood.”
Try:
“A figure in a weathered green cloak, one eye hidden behind a cracked lens, fingers twitching near the hilt of a curved obsidian blade.”
2. Describe storytelling, not stats
Don't say things like “Level 10 Fighter with AC 18.” That’s great for mechanics, but visual prompts need flavor.
Think in story terms:
What do they carry?
What does their posture say?
What moment are we catching them in?
3. Focus on mood over detail clutter
You don’t need to list every item they wear. Focus on 2–3 symbolic elements that reflect their story.
Examples:
A broken holy symbol tied to their belt
A ring of feathers clutched in one hand
A cracked coin with one side polished smooth
These details do more than a full equipment list ever could.
4. Use verbs, not just objects
Make your NPC active, even in a portrait. Show them doing something, even something small.
Examples:
Lighting a pipe
Flipping a dagger between fingers
Holding a map with a bloody thumbprint on it
This adds movement and character.
5. Reuse, remix, and experiment
The structured prompt isn’t a script — it’s a framework. Once you’ve built a few, start experimenting:
Try swapping campaign types
Change only the mood or camera angle
Push for more surreal or symbolic compositions
You’ll find that with just a few small changes, you can get completely new results while staying grounded in your world.
Conclusion
Portraits aren’t just art — they’re visual hooks. When your players see an NPC that feels like they belong to your world, they remember them. And when your portraits match the tone, emotion, and purpose of the NPC, they deepen your story.
With structured prompts and ChatGPT, you don’t need to settle for close enough. You can generate images that are accurate, cinematic, and completely yours.
Try it. Start with one character — and see how many worlds they can live in.