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That Paranoia cover is a classic. Is it Jim Halloway?
Other classic RPG covers that triggered an instant purchase for me: Shadowrun 1e (getting Elmore to do that was probably the biggest contributor to the "crossover"--from AD&D--success of that game) and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay first edition.
Both of those covers perfectly sold what the game was about.
(Which, as it happens, is what we were going for as well.)
I also recall CoC 3rd Ed. cover as much better than 5th Ed. Is not that 5e is bad (when talking about CoC, you can't really say "this edition is better than that one"), but the 3rd edition cover had that "investigators + hidden horror + very probable horrible, sudden death" feeling which captured the spirit of the game.
And that's what the Pathfinder cover does. It tells you exactly what is the game about: kicking asses, high-fantasy style
Every time I see a new thing from Paizo, I become more and more proud of my "superscription"
I think I found out why the red dragon is more mobile: it is facing right, so to us who read from left to right, he seems to be moving towards the characters. The green dragon, OTOH, seems just poised, because he stops our eyes from moving.
Nice insight.
There's also much more tension in the red's pose. There's no tension in the green, it's just standing there comfortably. But the red's forearms are raised and curled, and even its back legs are tensed in a crouch; it's not in a comfortable 'resting' state, so it feels more like it's about to immanently explode into action.
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Ah yes...I can smell the glee.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piratecat
I honestly don't remember the last time I decided to buy a book solely on the basis of the cover. Paranoia 2nd edition, maybe. But damn -- even if I weren't already, even if I'm not planning on running a Pathfinder campaign, I'm in.
Another significant difference is that the character sheet cover art order probably asked Wayne to depict four characters, which meant he put significant "art time" into background characters. That also led to a more complicated (and less "in your face") composition, which doesn't help.
I was going to say some of that. The other benefit to fewer humanoids is there is not only more room to bring the dragon to life but there is also more room for that fighter to really look like he's power attacking.
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Didn't WAR do the d&d 4e PHB1 cover too? What happened there? That is a rather lousy picture. It doesn't even remotely compare to his other work (like for example the Pathfinder cover).
I'm annoyed because I am stuck with a goofy looking, puke-green dragonborn warrior and a wizard lady posing for no apparent reason (maybe there is a camera?). Maybe I can paste the character sheet artwork onto the the front cover...
Didn't WAR do the d&d 4e PHB1 cover too? What happened there?
"Art direction" is what happened. Or in other words, someone saying "Hey Wayne, draw it like THIS! More of THAT!"
I kinda like the 4e core covers, but ranking them against the Pathfinder and the character sheet cover earns them 3rd place.
In first place? 4e character sheets. I like that best of the 4e pictures.
/Magnus
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Both of those covers are glorious. My excitement level just jumped up a couple more notches!
I whole-heartedly agree -- and the pages on Twitter also look stunningly good! Now it's going to be a long, long summer until August... *sigh*
Paizo should give their Art Directors a raise, because they've consistently done an amazing job -- I can't recall a single Paizo product that has suffered from poor or mediocre art direction!
Wayne is pretty much the only D&D artist whose work I really enjoy since 3E was released. Just love it. Not a fan of Lockwood, Wood, and the other 3E guys at all. WAR's Eberron covers are probably my most fave pieces of his.
And true to form, those PF covers are amazing, especially the monster book! Even though the PF iconic PCs annoy me (stylistically) , and I won't be playing PF, the covers make me want to buy the books anyway!
(I may just fork this thread to further discuss that...)
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I'm looking forward to Pathfinder and I usually love the stuff that Pazio does. However I never been a fan of any of their art. (Thats sortof inaccurate, generally monsters are cool.) However as soon as they do something resembling a PC ... gah. I like my armour to vaguely look like armour that's historically accurate. I like people in surcoats and chainmail. I like spellcasters in robes that cover a large proportion of their skin. I like weapons that seem a resonable size for the character to be carrying.
There's something about the core book cover that I find very compelling, but the PCs details just ruin it for me. In a lot of ways i like the simple evocative black and white art of OSRIC and some 1st edition products a lot more. One of the reasons for this is I can use these illustrations an say here's a sketch your characters are shown of X monster, or here's a tapestry you find in the keep,dungeon etc. Maybe its just that simple inspires imagination, whereas a 'snapshot' (type of art) doesn't, in some ways it seems to limit it.
I guess I'm the first major criticism. I do find the Bestiary's cover quite compelling.
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