D&D 4E 4E FRCS Cover: NOOOOOOOOOO!

[Rechan]

I would also like to add that IMO Drizz't has never been the problem. It's all the folks who want to play a carbon copy in every game. I too have become fatigued with all the good drow trying to overcome their culture. But I haven't really grown fatigued with the original.

Speak for yourself, bucko. Drizzt grates on my nerves. He's just so "goodie goodie", and those little monologues in the front of every section, I couldn't stomach them.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If WotC put out a 4E Dragonlance Campaign Setting, I'd expect to see Raistlin or Tasslehoff on the cover. For 4E, your choices are Elminster and Drizzt. It's just good marketing, especially if one of the goals is to get people just buying the novels to try the game.

 

[kennew142]

Speak for yourself, bucko. Drizzt grates on my nerves. He's just so "goodie goodie", and those little monologues in the front of every section, I couldn't stomach them.

Hello! I believe the prevalence of the pronoun 'I' in my post would indicate that I was speaking for myself.

I am fully aware that there are a lot of folks who have intense Drizz't hatred, in some cases bordering on DDS (Drizz't Derangement Syndrome). I don't claim to understand it, but I do understand your point on the moralizing monologues. Blech!

 

[Vicar In A Tutu]

That cover truly does suck. As does the PHB and MM covers. I have the same problem with the FRCS cover as I do with the PHB and MM covers. They say little or nothing about the campaign setting (or in the case of the core books, about the game). We get a large picture of Drizzt, nothing else. Is this a sourcebook about Drizzt Do'Urden and/or Drow? Of course not, but that is the impression I get. The same problem with the PHB cover depicting a couple of weird humanoids (tiefling and/or dragonborn?) with the fighter striking a silly ninja-pose and the spellcaster casting what seems like a lightning bolt (but where is the thief and the cleric, the dward anf halfling, the classic D&D party is not represented).

However, one cover rocks (IMHO). The cover of the Character Record Sheets. We get a classic D&D party (fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard) battling a green dragon in a classic dungeon environment. The cover is filled with action, at the same time it slightly de-emphasises the "NINJA ROCKZR!" tendensies of D&D art (at least compared to, for example, most of Warhammer's art). A final grievance: why are such a large portion of the covers white (I'm thinking of the area around the D&D logo)?

 

[WayneLigon]

For 4E, your choices are Elminster and Drizzt. It's just good marketing, especially if one of the goals is to get people just buying the novels to try the game.

Indeed. I would think that based on book sales, the number of Drizzt fans outnumbers the entire population of people who play RPGs of any stripe by a considerably margin. And it's a darn nice picture, too.

 

[kennew142]

I think that the piece itself is decent, and I do not dislike Drizz't, but I do not think they are being very consistent with their direction. As we have seen, the big complaint with the Forgotten Realms is the prominence of high level NPCs. So, they sought to address this problem in the 4e conception of the setting. Yet, they play Drizz't on the cover. I am not going to say that they dropped the ball, but I think they could of done better not to be sending a mixed message.

If you read between the lines of the designers posts, it seems that the majority (not all, but the majority) of complaints about the high level NPCs centers on the Chosen of Mystra. I understand this complaint. In years of playing and running in the FR, I have never encountered or used the Chosen in my game.

 

[TerraDave]

Realms Fans: HA HA

 

[Nebulous]

What *really* bothers me about that cover isn't Drizzt (heck, it even could be Elminster), but the fact that FR doesn't have a) it's own design any more, but only its 4E cover design and b) Where's my FR logo? Seemingly, FR doesn't have its own logo any more.

And this will probably apply to Eberron as well. A bit sad, I liked the different cover designs very much, as you could instantly see to which setting a book belongs and conveyed a bit of the feeling of the setting.

Cheers, LT.

Hmm. Now that you mention it, maybe that's what sticks in my craw. I still would have liked it better if it had Drizzt DOING something, like slamming a scimitar through an orc. My recollection of past FR covers had a female paladin on a warhorse, and didn't the gray box have the Blood Riders? 3e just had the generic book cover, which i incidentally did enjoy. I can't say i hate seeing Drizzt there, but it could have been better.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

No one was confused by the cover of the 1E PHB or DMG.

"What's this giant red guy? Is he a dungeon master? And what if I want to do things other than climb up and down orange statues? These covers suck!"

 

[GuJiaXian]

I think that the piece itself is decent, and I do not dislike Drizz't, but I do not think they are being very consistent with their direction. As we have seen, the big complaint with the Forgotten Realms is the prominence of high level NPCs. So, they sought to address this problem in the 4e conception of the setting. Yet, they play Drizz't on the cover. I am not going to say that they dropped the ball, but I think they could of done better not to be sending a mixed message.

As I remember, Drizzt is either 15th or 17th level. But in 4e, that's pretty mid-range! See, he's not all the high a level after all.