Judging a book by it's cover....(the best book covers)

Apart from Hobbit/LotR the first fantasy novel I read had this on the cover

and I still love it.

However I had been previously introduced to fantasy books via Fighting Fantasy and my best mate's older brothers copy of this

and I loved all the BECMI box covers.Outside the outrageous cheesecake (which I didn't like even when I was a pre-teen and still don't really now) Elmore has produced some awesome art.

I love the cover of the Neverwinter Campaign Guide: it really says high fantasy D&D to me.



And tomorrow I am having coffee mugs made for my players and me with this on one side. After all, nothing says "D&D geek" like having coffee mugs emblazoned with the cover art of the campaign you're about to start....

Hobo said:

I think 3e Forgotten Realms products had really nice covers.

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Oh yes, they have the right amount of plain and dusty look, but also allow for a unique piece of large cover art. Those are great.

Same goes for Eberron. Eberron covers are crammed to the brim with stuff going on and being done by Wayne Reynolds going over the top for his standard makes them very exiting. Completely inappropriate for most settings, but for Eberron it's great.
Secrets of Xendrik may actually be my favorite RPG book cover of all.

mach1.9pants said:

.Outside the outrageous cheesecake (which I didn't like even when I was a pre-teen and still don't really now) Elmore has produced some awesome art.

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That's the best thing about Elmore covers. Otherwise, they feel quite frozen in time in the 80s.

Yora said:

Same goes for Eberron. Eberron covers are crammed to the brim with stuff going on and being done by Wayne Reynolds going over the top for his standard makes them very exiting. Completely inappropriate for most settings, but for Eberron it's great.
Secrets of Xendrik may actually be my favorite RPG book cover of all.

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I love the cover art for the Eberron covers, but I really dislike the design. Heck, the art isn't really very well showcased! You get it larger in the interior cover, but of course the crease of the book is right smack in the middle of the image.

(1) The entire BECMI line. Fantastic dragons. Awesome heroes. Best-looking D&D core rulebook covers of all time.



(2) The original edition of Shadowrun. Not quite as perfect, but the logo is amazing and the image captures everything that awesome about Shadowrun before you even knew what Shadowrun was.



(3) The original cover for Life on Terra Nova. It makes you want to jump in and start exploring the mysteries of this awesome setting.



(4) The Temple of Elemental Evil. The place just looks absurdly badass.



(5) Vampire: The Masquerade. The red rose laying on green marble is one of the most striking and iconic covers of all time.




Honorable Mention: I've always been surprising partial to the cover for The Forge of Fury. I don't think the 3E iconics ever looked better.

My all-time favorite cover is from 'The Unspeakable Oath' magazine, issue 10:

It also features one of my all-time favorite adventures: 'In Media Res'.

Runequest, 3rd edition had some really good covers.







The original Griffin Mountain cover.



He's here for trade or trouble, no preferences expressed.



I actually know nothing about the game, but the cover is good.