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.

 

[Retreater]

Honestly, I'm surprised to see the D&D Cartoon characters being used in all this marketing. It ran for like 2 years, was cancelled before it got an ending, and has been basically absent from pop culture for 40 years.
Does it have any relevance at all outside of Gen X nostalgia?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I embrace the third party creativity. I just feel that Wotc; while putting out some great products; should be cutting edge.

They won't be. Once a brand and a corporation get to a certain size, protecting the brand and the business is more important than striking out in new and creative directions. (I'm sure there are college courses about when that point occurs.)

D&D would have to crater before WotC feels free to go cuckoo again.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly, I'm surprised to see the D&D Cartoon characters being used in all this marketing. It ran for like 2 years, was cancelled before it got an ending, and has been basically absent from pop culture for 40 years.
Does it have any relevance at all outside of Gen X nostalgia?

It's big in Brazil.

(Wait, what's that about their Portuguese translations?)

 

[Charlaquin]

I like the back cover much more than the front…

Between this, and liking the interior art on the PHB that has the D&D cartoon characters more than the art on either cover, I’m learning that I prefer D&D art that focuses on the environment over the characters. Give me cool dungeons with people exploring them, not people posing for a nonexistent camera!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The dude needs to make friends with an eeeevil cleric, then, or hunt down a ring of regeneration instead of spending all his time worrying about some meddling kids.

Vecna managed to get his eye and hand back, after a fashion. Venger's up next in the alphabetical listing of D&D villains.

The one-horn look is all the rage this season.

 

[Reef]

Honestly, I'm surprised to see the D&D Cartoon characters being used in all this marketing. It ran for like 2 years, was cancelled before it got an ending, and has been basically absent from pop culture for 40 years.
Does it have any relevance at all outside of Gen X nostalgia?

Don’t discount the value of Gen X nostalgia. There’s still an awful lot of us still around. And the fact that some newer players may not be able to name those characters doesn’t detract from the fact it’s a cool painting. So, it doesn’t hurt the younger audience, and might give us old folk a smile.

 

[J.Quondam]

Honestly, I'm surprised to see the D&D Cartoon characters being used in all this marketing. It ran for like 2 years, was cancelled before it got an ending, and has been basically absent from pop culture for 40 years.
Does it have any relevance at all outside of Gen X nostalgia?

They're immediately recognizable to GenX, sure, but as characters they're still usable by anyone young or old. It's not like a DM needs a special GenX Identicard to put Venger into an adventure or something.

 

[TheSword]

Love the cover. Hits all the spots I’m looking for.

Amazes me what people find to moan about.

 

[overgeeked]

I embrace the third party creativity. I just feel that Wotc; while putting out some great products; should be cutting edge. How many versions of “Homlett” do we need? Are there no other towns? I’m being hyperbolic but I’m sure you get my point.

Sure. There's also Orlane, Threshold, and Fallcrest. That's four starter towns. What more do you need?

 

[Parmandur]

Don’t discount the value of Gen X nostalgia. There’s still an awful lot of us still around. And the fact that some newer players may not be able to name those characters doesn’t detract from the fact it’s a cool painting. So, it doesn’t hurt the younger audience, and might give us old folk a smile.

For newer players,they are essentially generic, which is juat as good as new made-up characters...but if they are planning a big new push of a cartoon reboot leaning into these characters for kids, could be smart over the next few years.