D&D 5E That Eberron Cover Is Just A Placeholder

According to WotC's Jeremy Crawford, Ben Oliver's cover for Eberron: Rising from the Last War on Amazon and WotC's website is an interior illustration serving as a placeholder.

Crawford added that "That warforged has customized itself in unusual ways. Each warforged can alter how it looks. That said, the book has plenty of traditional-looking warforged." There's more to the art, as you can see in the banner across the top of WotC's webpage. I rather like it.

Ben Oliver is credited as the cover artist in WotC's product page; his cover art will presumably be revealed soon, as the book is only three months away.

Ben Oliver was the artist who illustrated the covers of Tomb of Annihilation and Curse of Strahd.

 

[Abstruse]

can't pre-order the deluxe cover?!?!?!

The deluxe covers for all D&D books are meant to be hobby-store exclusives so you can't get them from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. The only place to pre-order them is your local game store...in theory.

Of course, what ends up happening is hobby stores that are also third-party partners with Amazon end up listing them on the site so Amazon ends up selling them anyway, but technically it's the hobby stores and not Amazon directly. So it's a big loophole in the exclusivity deal that honestly works out for the hobby stores since they're still the ones actually selling the books.

 

[Parmandur]

Is that a Pikachu on her shoulder?

Looks like the animal from Nausica...

 

[doctorhook]

Because all the setting/adventure books so far have had covers like that? They're all heavily inspired by pulp novel covers and Drew Struzon movie posters - Curse of Strahd for Ravenloft, Tomb of Annihilation of Chult, both the Waterdeep covers and the Baldur's Gate cover.

Yeah, I agree they’ve all had covers like that. Why shouldn’t Eberron have one too? Instead of an action scene, we got a head.

 

[Aldarc]

Because all the setting/adventure books so far have had covers like that? They're all heavily inspired by pulp novel covers and Drew Struzon movie posters - Curse of Strahd for Ravenloft, Tomb of Annihilation of Chult, both the Waterdeep covers and the Baldur's Gate cover.

The Curse of Strahd features iconic villain Strahd on the cover. Tomb of Annihilation features iconic villain Acererak on the cover. Descent Into Averus features the iconic archdevil Zariel on the cover. Dragon Heist has the iconic FR villains Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon on the cover.

In contrast, I have no idea who the elf woman or her warforged barber are supposed to be in Eberron. She neither appears to be neither an Aereni elf, a Valenar elf, nor a Bloodsail elf. If she is a Khorvaire elf, then my best bet would be from one of the Dragonmarked Hosues. House Phiarlan is led by the female elf Baron Elvinor Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan but that does not look like prior depictions. In the 3e book Dragonmarked, she is depicted with long black hair and surrounded by shadows. So I have no idea about the identity of anyone on this cover.

 

[DWChancellor]

The Curse of Strahd features iconic villain Strahd on the cover. Tomb of Annihilation features iconic villain Acererak on the cover. Descent Into Averus features the iconic archdevil Zariel on the cover. Dragon Heist has the iconic FR villains Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon on the cover.

Of course, those were all adventure paths. This is a setting book. Obviously it should have Keith Baker and his hat on the cover, riding the lightning rail, fighting Darguul mercenaries on float-disks in Sharn.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I don't get the cover image hate (it looks fine to me), but the fact that there is such hate and WotC is responding to it is good. Odds are I'll like whatever the new cover is, too.

 

[Parmandur]

The Curse of Strahd features iconic villain Strahd on the cover. Tomb of Annihilation features iconic villain Acererak on the cover. Descent Into Averus features the iconic archdevil Zariel on the cover. Dragon Heist has the iconic FR villains Xanathar, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon on the cover.

In contrast, I have no idea who the elf woman or her warforged barber are supposed to be in Eberron. She neither appears to be neither an Aereni elf, a Valenar elf, nor a Bloodsail elf. If she is a Khorvaire elf, then my best bet would be from one of the Dragonmarked Hosues. House Phiarlan is led by the female elf Baron Elvinor Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan but that does not look like prior depictions. In the 3e book Dragonmarked, she is depicted with long black hair and surrounded by shadows. So I have no idea about the identity of anyone on this cover.

Since this is internal art, and not the final cover, I assume we will learn about her in the text. Also, she looks to be a Half-Elf?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Agreed on both counts.

I remember back in the early 90s when they still did those little print catalogs; they had some really bad placeholder cover art for the coming products. It'd be something like a frumpy guy with a mustache and mullet fighting a quickly-sketched dragon, then some random stuff like a wizard looking at an orb and a pensive-looking women in the background.

Man, whoever that artist is... I feel terrible for them. They've not been treated well (by some industry publishers too). Anybody know who it is?

I think it's fine. Especially in the wider piece.

 

[Aldarc]

Since this is internal art, and not the final cover, I assume we will learn about her in the text.

It will be internal art now at least. Still, no one is able to guess who she is based upon seeing her art, which is a contrast from the other covers connected to settings.

Also, she looks to be a Half-Elf?

Maybe Baron Esravash d'Lyrandar then? But she is depicted as having a Dragonmark on the right-side of her face. Again, I'm not sure who this character could be from Eberron.

 

[Parmandur]

It will be internal art now at least. Still, no one is able to guess who she is based upon seeing her art, which is a contrast from the other covers connected to settings.

Maybe Baron Esravash d'Lyrandar then? But she is depicted as having a Dragonmark on the right-side of her face. Again, I'm not sure who this character could be from Eberron.

My wager is that she is a character from the included adventure, which might also be why they are using the internal art for marketing.