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

[The Cardinal]

Dealbreaker
Wow, and I really wanted to buy this - well, more cash for other books...

 

[Nebulous]

Yes, actually. My custom avvie at WotC is the dragon from the origional cover of Tome And Blood (at least it was, when I could log in over there).

In fact, I believe the origional cover for the 3.0 FRCS had the Elmunchkin himself on it, so there is a precedent for change...

Good. Let the naysayers keep complaining then. Maybe it will work.

 

[I'm A Banana]

In a romantic pose.

All makin' out with each other, all slashfic like...."oooh, eleminstar, ur wandz are so segsy" "mmm, dizzitt, i luv ur lucious long locks" Et Cetera.

I would have preferred a Drizzt "in the world" though, not with the background all fuzzed out.

This was a problem in early 3e, too, where the art focused WAAAAAAY too much on the characters and just left them kind of floating in whitespace. Still, not necessarily a bad idea for a cover.

I am also disappointed that the book looks like "Just another D&D Rulebook." I always thought the setting books should have their own visual style, so as to help establish their own identity.

I think that's exactly why they DON'T have their own style in 4e. Dramatically different jackets and tradedress encourage people to think "this is something else, another line, another game, another product...it's not D&D." FR packaged like the rest of D&D means that people know it's a part of the same thing, not distinct. I imagine, too, that the rest of the game will help support FR. There might be a bunch of FR stuff in the articles, a bunch of FR stuff on the website, to let everyone know that FR is supported D&D.

I am a little interested in picking up the setting book because of all that. Mostly, because they got rid of a lot of the high-level uberpets, and it might let me run a 4e version of Cthulu Comes To Town (wheeee!), and it might also set the stage for it's aftermath. But also because FR won't be another flavor of D&D, but rather a supplement for it. Not distinct, but supportive.

 

[Pinotage]

$39.95!!! NOOOOOOO!

Why is it that everytime somebody says 'NOOOOOOO!' I immediatly think of Darth Vader? Wasn't he originally designed with dual-wielding lightsabers? Meh. Nothing to see here...

Pinotage

 

[Angel Tarragon]

$39.95!!! NOOOOOOO!

You know, you don't have to pay retail. I'm only paying $26.37 for my copy.

 

[MojoGM]

Dealbreaker
Wow, and I really wanted to buy this - well, more cash for other books...

You mean you would NOT buy a book you were otherwise considering purchasing based on not liking the cover?

Sounds like you were LOOKING for a reason not to buy it.

 

[Toryx]

I am absolutely uninterested in Drizzt, drow, or duel-wielding members of the same.

Having said that, I don't even have to look at the title of the book to know what the book is going to be about. And since Drizzt and duel-wielding angsty drow are so insanely popular, probably more so than the pipe-smoking all-knowing wizard chap, it makes a lot of sense that he's chosen. I'm not the target audience in that case, but there are far more of the Drizzt lovers than there are of the Drizzt indifferent in my experience.

 

[Wormwood]

The character record sheet looks too much 1E / quasi-2E. The PHB art is appropriate IMO.

Yep.

The charsheet picture is nice maybe for an intro boxed set, but ultimately it just looks like a pastiche of thirty years of similar dungeon setpieces.

 

[PeterWeller]

$39.95!!! NOOOOOOO!


That's actually a neat picture of Drizzt. Though I think WotC is trying to milk that Drow Cow, it goes against what they've said about high-level NPCs taking a back seat.

I have to say, I think 40 bucks is a good deal for a 300 page, full color hard bound. As for Drizzt, and as other's have pointed out, he's not really a high level character. I think he's actually pretty representative of a well grounded FR hero. He's notable only in his home region, and he has to rely on friends and allies to complete his adventures.

As for the cover, I like it. It's simple and clean, and I really like the format of the 4E covers in general.

 

[KingCrab]

A slightly zoomed out version of this cover (with some of the world around him) would have helped avoid the "FR is Drizzt" feel this book invokes.