D&D (2024) New D&D Edition's Player’s Handbook Cover Reveal

Game Informer has revealed the cover to the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

The cover features a gold dragon behind the old-school D&D characters Strongheart the paladin, Mercion the cleric, Elkhorn the dwarf fighter, and Molliver the thief. Ringlerun the wizard is absent (then again he got his showcase on one of the 1E AD&D Player's Handbooks), but a drow mage appears to have joined the party!

 

[Thommy H-H]

FYI, reading the text of the linked article is worthwhile. They confirm a game store alternative cover for the PHB, although they don't show it, and name the characters on the standard PHB cover.

They're the old action figures, who also appeared as NPCs in Wild Beyond the Witchlight!

 

[payn]

Its a good picture, but a little too matte for my taste. Wish it was a little more dynamic. Though, its a good adventure party with an old school feel.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Front cover:

Back cover:

Both by Tyler Jacobson.

The Art Of The New Dungeons & Dragons

We've got an exclusive look at the cover of the new Player's Handbook, interviews with the art team, and a wealth of additional illustrations to peruse.

www.gameinformer.com

The new Player’s Handbook front cover embraces the game’s revitalized approach to pushing forward legendary characters from across the history of the game. We see the likes of Yolande the Elven queen, Strongheart the knight, Elkhorn the Dwarven warrior, the divine Mercion, and the rogueish Molliver, all charging together into an adventure. These are figures hearkening back to the earliest era of the game. Wrapped around them is a benevolent gold dragon – a nod to the “golden” 50th anniversary of the game and an enticing reminder that the dragons in the game’s title can be allies as frequently as enemies.

Pre-orders for the PHB start on June 18, with each 384-page book priced at $49.99.

Early book printings will bear a D&D 50th seal on the back – a recognition of the big five-decade anniversary.

Well, that's something at least. Still hoping it's gold foil.

Aaaand here we go!

As fans have come to expect, you can also look forward to alternate book covers available in your local game store – the new alternate Player’s Handbook depicts a gorgeous scene of elves and a sinuous gold dragon, all printed in a gold foil treatment.

This seems like the one to get, to me. (No offense to Tyler Jacobson.)

“A lot of our chapter openers are famous heroes,” says studio art director Josh Herman. “Almost every chapter opening features a different hero, or group of heroes in a different setting. So, you've got Dragonlance, and other ones, like Ravenloft; you’ve got a whole suite of them. Whereas the Dungeon Master’s Guide is all about villains. The cover is all about the villains and the sort of threats that the DM gets to play up. And in that art, you get to see a lot of our famous locations and some of our famous villains in its chapter openers. So, it's sort of like the opposite side of the coin; we want to present all of the facets of the game in a way that hopefully people can understand.”

This quote took me on a ride, from "nope, don't like this" to "OK, that actually sounds like a good idea:"

“All the dragon stuff was really great,” Herman says “We went through all 10 of them. We have new designs for all of those and there will be a lot of that in the Monster Manual for sure. We are trying to update those designs to be something in which players could see that dragon's personality or what biome they live in, or where they fit in the cast of all of the dragons.”

 

[Reynard]

That definitely looks like a D&D PHB cover. It is dynamic and says "this is what you do when you play D&D."

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Greyhawk?

Confirmed!

Also so are Bastions and Apex Tier monsters and that all 3 books are 384 pages (how much of an increase in page count is that for each core book).

 

[Reynard]

Confirm!

I did not believe it but the fact that the big GenCon preview Event is deeply centered in Greyhawk made me think twice.

 

[Parmandur]

So, pwr the article, the DMG, PHB and MM are all 384 pages long. Nice.

Also, the chapter openers in the PHB will show iconic heroes from different D&D Settings, they mention Ravenloft and Dragonlance. Whereas the DMG will highlight villains in different Settings.

Love this art.

Love, love, love.

 

[Parmandur]

Confirmed!

Also so are Bastions and Apex Tier monsters and that all 3 books are 384 pages (how much of an increase in page count is that for each core book).

64 more for the PHB and DMG, 32 more for the MM.

 

[Parmandur]

Greyhawk?

100% confirmed.

I think it is really likely that will be the example Setting in the DMG wirh a fold out map.

Interesting that the Greyhawk character Yolande is on the PHB cover, amd is also the quest giving NPC in the WotC GenCon Tournament this year.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

64 more for the PHB and DMG, 32 more for the MM.

That the size of a Spelljammer slipcase book!

Also gold foil special alt covers. Look forward to seeing those.