DnD gifts made from the character they play
The best DnD gifts are a picture of the character they play, printed on a poster, a mug or a T-shirt. Their own art counts, and so do the mini they painted for it and the map the group keeps arguing over. Dice and rulebooks are easy to buy twice by accident. A picture of their character is not.
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This guide is for buying for someone who plays, or for the person who runs the game. It starts with the picture of their character that already exists, then matches it to something they will see or use at the table. Everything is printed from the file you upload, or from the scene preview you approve, and made to order.
Gifts for DnD players, from a picture of their character
A character that has lasted a few sessions usually has a face somewhere. Look at what the player already shares. That might be a portrait they commissioned or a sketch in the margin of the character sheet. It might be the token art the group uses online, or the mini they painted to put on the battle map. Each one can be printed, and each needs a different route.
- Art the player or an artist made. Send it through Print your original artwork: the file is cropped to fit the product and nothing else is done to it. If someone else made the art, ask them for the full-size file and whether printing it is fine with them.
- A painted mini. Send the photo through that same route unchanged, or place the figure in a new setting with Create a scene, described further down.
- No picture yet. Then the character needs one before anything can be printed. D&D character ideas that survive a campaign helps a player pin down who the character is, which is the first thing any artist will ask.
A poster of the character for the wall where they play
A portrait needs to be big enough to see from across the table. The art print is an unframed sheet of off-white, uncoated 250 gsm archival paper, sized anywhere from 8 x 10 in to 70 x 100 cm (27.6 x 39.4 in). A player who will never get around to buying a frame is better off with the framed print: A3 (11.7 x 16.5 in) or A2 (16.5 x 23.4 in), framed in natural wood or black.
All the poster sizes share roughly one shape, about 1 wide to 1.4 tall. Character art drawn to a different shape loses a strip from two opposite edges, and you see exactly where on the crop preview before checkout. Artists often draw right up to the edge of the page, so make sure the preview still holds the whole head, and the tip of any raised sword or staff.
See the art print or the framed print
A mug with their character on it, for game night
A mug is on the table every game night, which a poster at home is not. The custom mug holds 11 oz and carries the picture you upload, though not all the way around: the printed area is only part of the mug, and its side curves away from you. One character with a clear outline near the middle works better than the whole party in a row or a map full of small labels. Before you choose the image, read printing your art on a mug for what survives the curve.
A shirt or hoodie with their character on the front
For a player who would wear their character to the next session, the custom T-shirt is a white Gildan 64000 crewneck, sizes S to 2XL. The character goes on the front only, inside roughly 12 x 16 in, and the back stays plain. The custom hoodie is a black Gildan 18500 pullover, also S to 2XL, with a print area of roughly 12 x 12 in sitting above the front pocket.
Whatever is behind the character prints too. Art on a white page blends into the white shirt, while a portrait with a dark painted background becomes a dark box on it. The black hoodie reverses that: dark backgrounds disappear into the fabric and a white page shows as a pale panel. If you cannot ask their size without giving the gift away, check the label on a shirt they already wear.
Gifts for a dungeon master
The person running the game rarely gets to play one character. What they make instead is the world. There are maps and handouts, and a villain the players still complain about. A map they drew by hand prints well as a poster or a framed print, and the A2 frame gives a detailed one room. If a player painted the mini for that villain, a photo of it on a mug is a gift from the whole table.
Photograph a paper map flat and square on, in soft daylight, with no shadow from your hand or phone across the page. Pencil on graph paper is faint, so compare the photo with the original before you upload it. Our guide on how to photograph artwork has the full setup.
For the player who paints a mini for every character
Some players paint a new figure each time they roll up a character. A sharp photo of that figure is a gift on its own. Shoot it against something plain under soft light from a window or a diffused lamp. Get the camera level with the figure’s eyes, and leave room so neither the base nor the top of its weapon is cut off. The steps are in how to photograph miniatures.
Create a scene is the other route, and it is only for photos of painted minis. Pick one of five settings, The Tavern, Into Battle, Woodland Path, Hero Portrait or Paintwork Portrait, and the display base is swapped for ground that belongs in it. The shortest side of the photo has to be 800 pixels or more. After you verify your email you get a watermarked preview, and nothing prints until you approve one. Small details can drift, so hold the preview next to the original. Look at the face and hands first, then the gear and any freehand. The scene checklist covers the rest. If none of the previews looks like their character, print the original photo as it is. The tavern and the battlefield leave plenty of room around the figure on a poster.
Check the file before you order
Art saved for a character sheet or a virtual tabletop token is often small. The upload takes JPEG, PNG or WebP files no bigger than 10 MB, then measures the file's pixels against each size. Any size it would print soft is withdrawn and cannot be picked. If the only copy you have is small, ask the player or the artist for the original. DnD character art explains where a printable original can come from.
Permission, and art that is not theirs
Before the file goes up, you tick a box confirming you hold the rights, or have permission, to reproduce it. A drawing the player made is theirs to agree to. A commissioned portrait may still be the artist's to license, so ask the artist too. Art from the rulebooks, and from the published adventures and accessories, is not the player's, and it is not what this is for.
Brush & Paint is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast, and sells nothing of theirs. Every print is of a picture that is yours, or one you have permission to use.
Christmas gifts for D&D players
At Christmas the best present is one that shows you noticed their character. Pick the format first. A poster or framed print suits a portrait, and a mug suits a figure with a clear outline. A T-shirt suits bold art that still reads at chest size. The art print, framed print and mug pages list every size. DnD Christmas gifts covers stocking stuffers and Secret Santa.
Then ask the player for the picture. Something casual works: "Can you send me your character's art? I'd love to see it." Ask for the original file, because a screenshot from a group chat is usually too small to print sharply. If an artist drew it, the player can ask them to send the full-size file and confirm that printing it is fine. Leave the artist in the loop and let the player do the asking. With a painted figure, ask for a photo, or take one yourself using the steps in how to photograph miniatures.
DnD gifts by character class
You don't need to know the rules to choose well. The class hints at what the art looks like, and that decides the format. Here are three classes that show the range.
Wizard. If the portrait is tall and narrow, with a staff or a spellbook reaching up the frame, keep that height. The A3 framed print is 11.7 x 16.5 in.
Rogue. A rogue is often pictured in shadow. Dark art looks moody on a wall, but on the black hoodie a dark background vanishes, so check that the figure itself is light enough.
Cleric. Armor detail and a small symbol on a chest or shield are the point of the picture. Print those at A2 (16.5 x 23.4 in). Study the crop preview so the edges don't clip the symbol.
A gift for a couple who play together
When two people share a table, the gift can be a pair. Ask each for their own character's art, then print both at the same size so they hang side by side. Two framed prints in matching frames do that neatly. Two mugs, one per character, work if the art has a clear focal point.
If their characters have met in the story, one picture with both in it is a nicer gift, provided a single file exists. Don't stitch two portraits together yourself. The crop won't line up, and the seam shows. Order two items and expect that they may arrive separately. Checkout shows the details before you pay.
D&D gifts for a boyfriend or dad, and for an anniversary
Whoever it's for, the job is the same: find the character they'd pick as their favorite, and get the art file. What changes is the format. A boyfriend who wears his hobby might like the T-shirt. A dad who came back to the game after years away could use a mug to keep at his desk.
For an anniversary, the pair of characters from the couple section suits it. Or use the mini one partner painted for the other's character. A photo of that figure, framed, says more than a store-bought trinket. You don’t have to know the rules for that to land.
Buying for Christmas or a birthday session
Nothing is printed until you pay, so leave time before a fixed date and read the shipping information first. Checkout works out shipping for your cart and your US address, and the shop lists every size with its USD price.
For the rest of the table, try tabletop gaming gifts for group art and shared memories, or board game gifts for game night. A player with a new character and no name for it can use the fantasy name generator.
The gifts in this guide
Questions and answers
What do you gift a D&D player?
A picture of their own character, printed: their art unchanged, or a photo of the mini they painted, as a poster or on a mug. Ask which picture of the character they like best.
What makes a good present for a dungeon master?
Something made from the world they run: a map they drew, printed to hang in a frame, or a photo of a villain mini a player painted, on a mug.
Can you print artwork from the D&D books?
Not through us. The upload makes you confirm the file is yours to reproduce, or that its owner has said yes, and art from the rulebooks is not the player's. Print their own character instead.
Does Create a scene work with a drawing?
No. Create a scene is for photos of painted minis. A drawing or digital portrait goes through direct printing instead, unchanged.
What does every D&D player need?
A character sheet, a set of dice and the rules. The dice are the d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 named in the D&D Beyond Basic Rules, and D&D Beyond publishes those rules, with a character sheet to download, on its free rules page. Most players already have all three, which is why a picture of their own character makes the more personal gift.
What should you buy a new D&D player?
Wait until they’ve made a first character, because the gift that lasts is a picture of that character. The rules and a character sheet are free from D&D Beyond, so a new player can start without buying a book. Once the character exists, their drawing goes on a poster, a mug or a T-shirt as it is, and a photo of the mini they painted for it can be printed unchanged or set into a scene.
What do you get someone who loves dragons?
A dragon of their own. If they draw, how to draw a dragon builds one in twelve steps, and the finished drawing prints as it is on a poster, a framed print or a mug, unchanged. If they paint, a photo of a painted dragon model prints the same way. We don’t sell dragon art of our own, so the picture has to be one they made or one its maker lets you print.
Is D&D an expensive hobby?
It can start for almost nothing. D&D Beyond publishes the Basic Rules and a character sheet at no charge, so a first session needs dice and a group. Rulebooks, miniatures and paint are where the spending grows, and a table can add them one at a time.
