D&D 5E Let's talk about WoTC Book Covers

[Parmandur]

I can't point to anything specifically bad about the 5E art but I don't find it particularly evocative. It's serviceable but I don't think I've seen anything I'd want hanging on my wall.

Mostly I quite like it: they have my number, apparently.

 

[MGibster]

It's alright.

For a minute there I was all, "What the hell does he mean by that?" And then I looked to the left and saw your avatar.

Mostly I quite like it: they have my number, apparently.

I can't fault anyone for that. I don't actually think it's bad it just doesn't float my boat. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people in their late teens and twenties look at Frank Frazetta or Larry Elmore and don't see what's so great about it.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I know that this is gonna sound hypocritical (due to my avatar), but my favorite cover art of 5e's core rule books is the Monster Manual's. It was the first D&D book that I ever got (I got it for Christmas), and I was in awe at how awesome and insane the Beholder looked. (I'd never seen a picture of a Beholder before then, nor had I heard of them.)

 

[J.Quondam]

I know that this is gonna sound hypocritical (due to my avatar), but my favorite cover art of 5e's core rule books is the Monster Manual's. It was the first D&D book that I ever got (I got it for Christmas), and I was in awe at how awesome and insane the Beholder looked. (I'd never seen a picture of a Beholder before then, nor had I heard of them.)

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

 

[J.Quondam]

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

Indeed. That look of dread nonchalance has caused many a mighty thew to quiver in abject terror!

 

[Zardnaar]

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

More variety in old art. A lot of it is crap but you can cherry pick the best of it to put it up against 5E art.

And you had Dragon and Dungeon magazine.

dragon magazine covers - Google Search

Dragon 100 was a paper cut out.

Art of the Genre: The Top 10 Dragon Magazine Covers of the 1970s & 80s – Black Gate

 

[Parmandur]

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

Keep in mind that the artist was a teenager who Gygax knew from the convention scene who was willing to draw for peanuts:

Artistic Arcana: Greg Bell Before TSR

It is no exaggeration to say that Greg Bell was effectively the first staff artist of Tactical Studies Rules. Not only did he famously dr...

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Keep in mind that the artist was a teenager who Gygax knew from the convention scene who was willing to draw for peanuts:

Artistic Arcana: Greg Bell Before TSR

It is no exaggeration to say that Greg Bell was effectively the first staff artist of Tactical Studies Rules. Not only did he famously dr...

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

Huh. That makes me feel bad for him, and for criticizing his art. His box-set art is amazing and iconic.