Newbie who cannot draw to save his life

My first experience with RPG Maker was when I was entering Freshman year. I was taking a summer school class (Computer Animation) in order to fulfill a graduation requirement before even starting school proper. After finishing my first assignment well before anyone else, I decided to look at what other programs were on the school computers. One that caught my eye was RPG Maker VX. Since I enjoy RPGs, I decided to try my hand at my own. I found RPG Maker VX very easy to use, and while working on my assignments, I also worked on "A Deal of Swords". I chose to download the free trial so I could also work on it at home. I eventually finished "A Deal of Swords", but I haven't put it online yet, as I feel it is very rough around the edges. I recently got RPG Maker VX Ace on Steam when it was on sale, though I still have access to RPG Maker VX at school. I am currently working on another game. However, I have a problem that will really hinder me in the long run: I can't draw at all. In my Computer animation class, we were given specific resources to use, and in "A Deal of Swords" and in the game I'm working on, I have only used files from the RTP, and it's strange to see the characters I put into the game looking exactly like characters in other games. I'm worried about using files made by somebody else, since I'm worried about forgetting to give credit. I'm also dissatisfied with RPG Maker VX Ace's character creator. Another thing I'm worried about is that if I make a great game is that somebody might steal from it. What should I do?

Welcome to the group!

Sounds like you have quite a few concerns there.

You can always make your own resources or get someone else to make them for you. But remember if you get someone to make them for you they are likely to either charge you for it or demand that they be allowed to put it up for free use by anyone who wants it.

All you can really do to keep people from stealing from your game is to encrypt it before you distribute it.

It's not necessary to be able to draw, there is this thing called 'frankenspriting' i.e. using an image program (GIMP is free, and does almost everything that Photoshop does, and there are other programs too) you can take bits from one sprite and incorporate them into another.  Also, if you have a bit of money, you could buy Game Character Hub on Steam.  Alternatively, there is the free character generator which you can get here.  There is also a ton of sprites available in the Resources sub-forum.  So you don't have to be limited to what's in the default selection.

It's true that it can be easy to forget to credit someone for individual sprites, but if when you download anything you automatically add the artist's name to the file name, it is much easier.  Have a document in a handy place called CREDITS and just add people as you go along.

And welcome to the forum.

Welcome aboard buddy. Enjoy your time here.