New Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide Art and Details Revealed

The marketing cycle for the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is underway. Wizards of the Coast has released the first video and accompanying article previewing the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Wizards has already told fans what's actually in the new 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, so there's not much in terms of actual new details. The video/article revealed that the Bastion system got another look from designers after its initial Unearthed Arcana playtest, that there will be a DM's Toolkit for everything from "alignment to traps," now arranged in alphabetical order, and that there will be 400 "new and improved" magic items.

The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide will also be the home of rules for crafting magic items and a new Greyhawk campaign setting guide, with a focus on showcasing how Greyhawk can be customized or be used as a model for homemade campaign settings. Finally, the Dungeon Master's Guide will contain a lore glossary and a full chapter about D&D cosmology, the latter of which helps to drive home the idea of the D&D multiverse.


While much of this information was already known, the video and article did show off a LOT of new art, some of which can be found below:

 

[Azzy]

Those imgur pics that were posted ... is that 2nd to last one the Battle of Emerty (sp?) fields from Greyhawk? With the Temple of Elemental Evil in the background?

The Battle of Emridy Meadows (I had to look it up). Good call.

 

[Ravenheart87]

This art is terrible. The barbarian with a baby face.

The real problem isn't his baby face. It's the dull surprise on their faces.

 

[ART!]

Another piece of art

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Something weird is going on with the the figure on the left: their arm and leg are doing something weird. I think it would work fine if the figure were not cut off right above the knee, and if the arm were rendered or lit just a bit differently.

Not a fan of this artwork. The artwork in the PHB, while quality-wise fine, just conveys this "happy-go luck, everyone is having fun" vibe. Too many goofy scenes of smiling/laughing PCs, like adventuring is just a big party.

Art-wise, my preference is for black and white ink (like Sutherland's classic), not this. Hey, get off my lawn!

View attachment 381440

Have you taken a gander at Shadowdark? It's definitely in this vein.

 

[abirdcall]

I don't care for the cartoon and dislike the look of the modern interpretations but I love that it was someone's passion to get it represented so much in the book.

It is good to see those personal touches even if they aren't my thing.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't care for the cartoon and dislike the look of the modern interpretations but I love that it was someone's passion to get it represented so much in the book.

It is good to see those personal touches even if they aren't my thing.

How dare you be broad-minded and considerate, in bald defiance of all of our sacred traditions???

 

[Oofta]

If the fire giant could demonstrate a bit less stoicism, I might have him react to what the mind flayer is communicating. On that note, perhaps we could also talk about the goofy dragonborn having a casual conversation with two people, neither of whom appears to be listening to a word he's saying. One of them is evidently distracted by something terrible out of the frame. None of them seem to notice the beholder lurking behind them...unless the beholder is actually the only one paying attention to the conversation?

Maybe this is illustrating how to resolve failed Perception checks.

See I look at this and see a bored barbarian. The bard is flirting with the mage again, the druid shifted into a squirrel again for no reason whatsoever, who knows where the halfling is. That or they're distracting the dragonborn who doesn't like petty larceny while everyone else is distracting the wagon driver (and mule) so the halfling can go unnoticed.

I could see it in a section of the DMG talking about any number of things like how to move the story forward, or roleplaying, teamwork. Any number of things, about the last thing would be the dragonborn talking since their mouth is not open.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The real problem isn't his baby face. It's the dull surprise on their faces.

They've been adventuring since they were pre-teens. There's a limit to how excited they can get about all of this.

On the other hand, wait until you see their expressions when they see smartphones or get free access to the internet.

 

[Greg Benage]

See I look at this and see a bored barbarian.

Cool, but you responded to my post and that isn't the illustration I was referring to.

ETA: Looking at it again, the white-haired woman (?) appears to be paying attention to the dragonborn, probably. The purple-haired person appears to be pointing at the dragonborn but looking at something out of frame. The beholder is, of course, looking at everything, but I don't know if it's participating in the conversation, lurking, or terrified by the same thing that's bothering the purple-haired person. They have very similar expressions.

 

[Oofta]

Cool, but you responded to my post and this isn't the illustration I was referring to.

You didn't say "the goofy dragonborn having a casual conversation with two people, neither of whom appears to be listening to a word he's saying. "

 

[Oofta]

Cool, but you responded to my post and this isn't the illustration I was referring to.

As far as the mindflayer it assumes the giant knows the mindflayer has telepathy or can detect thoughts.