D&D (2024) New Dungeon Master's Guide Cover Features Venger (From the D&D Cartoons)

The cover of the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide has been unveiled.... in the Mirror, a mainstream newspaper in the UK.

The cover art features villains (as opposed to the heroes on the Player's Handbook cover revealed last week), with skeletons in the foreground, the classic villains Skylla and Warduke in the mid ground, and then Venger from the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon looming in the background, and right at the back lurks a dracolich.

The DMG will be released November 12th, 2024.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

The red spine with black (blood?) stripe is better-ish than the original with the reversed colors and kind of evokes the 1E orange spine covers. Still not crazy about the fire/blood/whatever stripe. It feels very much like a middle aged dude trying hard to be metal.

I was just about to take off my slayer shirt and get a haircut.

You don’t have to be rude about it.

Edit: no I won’t. If my wife’s pleading doesn’t work people on the internet won’t beat me down either!

 

[Reynard]

Metal is middle aged dudes.

::turns up volume on XM Turbo::

Yuuup.

 

[CellarHeroes]

What constitutes "substance" in an RPG cover?

The "substance" is what the rest of the book may or, in the case of the current DMG, may not contain.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

::turns up volume on XM Turbo::

Yuuup.

If you really want to be old, hop over to Ozzy’s boneyard!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Aren't there a bunch of GH villains they could have used?

Not to the extent of FR. And one of the few there is was on the last DMG.

 

[Reynard]

If you really want to be old, hop over to Ozzy’s boneyard!

Whoa. I'm old but I'm not Ozzy old.

...yes I am.

 

[Azzy]

I'm actually looking forward to this DMG.

 

[Lidgar]

Have you seen the Castles & Crusades tribute covers?

View attachment 365217View attachment 365218View attachment 365219

Yep, they're great.

It's not so much re-doing the covers themselves (and I'm familiar with the various takes from other editions), more of evoking the flavor of these covers. The 1e DMG and PHB covers in particular tell a story. The newest covers look more like a montage of NPCs posing for the camera.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I will say this: as a long time gamer, a little goes a long way.

You hear over and over “you dudes in your 40s and 50s don’t matter” after a lifetime of support and ongoing! big buying…buying for the kids no less as well!

I may not like the new stuff. I am very suspect of the phb frankly.

But I f—-ing appreciate that they went to the trouble to throw me a bone. I feel “counted” with Greyhawk and these covers.

The game choices I may be iffy about. We will see. But this is not just for the kids. You picked themes for your flagship
Product that probably resonate more with us long time players.

It’s meaningful to me. Sure, maybe it’s about maximizing profit. But I am glad they know I am forking it out and want to keep
It that way.

I am bitter and crabby and like a lot of traditional stuff gone by…but walk the line and throw a bone and I will still be kicking around with the product.

 

[KYRON45]

Yeah, this is starting to remind me of the new Top Gun movie. A whole lot of "hey remember that thing" and very little substance.

This has been the MO for D&D for quite some time. I'm a Gen X but I do not suffer from nostalgia. How many different versions of the same thing do we need? Doesn't anyone else think its time for a new direction for the game?
What do I know?