D&D 5E (2024) Alternate 2024 DMG Cover features Lolth!

[pukunui]

OK I can put up with teatime with a dragon on the PHB in order to also have this. Let’s hope the alt MM cover is just as good.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Beholder is a popular option considering it's a D&D original.. But I'd hope they wouldn't use the same monster twice, considering the Beholder is front and center of the 2014 MM. Perhaps an Owlbear or a Purple Worm?

Maybe a gelatinous cube?

 

[Azzy]

Mimic is the other monster they're pushing for brand awareness. A big slobbery one seems like a real contender for one of the Monster Manual covers.

I vote for a mimic successfully enticing an elven adventurer.

 

[beta-ray]

Maybe a gelatinous cube?

That was one I was thinking about too (eg. LEGO set)

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

A sadly arachnophobic no. I can recognize that art as great, but I don't want to be staring at a spider every time I need to crack open the DMG.

 

[Clint_L]

It's fine, but boring. It's a static image. She's doing very little, there is little in the background, there is not much adventure implied. Why are you guys so gah gah over this?

This reply seems so on brand, given your self-description. Fair enough!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I hope at least one of the Monster Manual covers shows us a dungeon scene with multiple things happening at once, like the original PHB cover did.

Maybe one adventurer is realizing the chest they're opening is alive even as the fighter watching the door is yelling an alarm as a gelatinous cube oozes into the room, while a choker slowly unwraps in a shadowy corner of the ceiling, about to grab someone turning in alarm as the rogue and fighter yell out.

 

[Charlaquin]

<shrug> Close enough. This looks like a much cuddlier iteration of Lolth than I think the cover of the DMG warrants.

“Cuddly” is not how I would describe this Lolth at all. Like, she has a pretty face, I guess? What else is new though.

 

[Gammadoodler]

I vote for a mimic successfully enticing an elven adventurer.
View attachment 365555

Frieren was very good (and would fit the mood of these special edition covers quite well).

 

[pukunui]

It looks like it might be a sticker. I hope it is.

If it's the same as the one on the back of the alt Vecna: Eve of Ruin cover, it will not be a sticker. Looking at my other alt covers, the only one that doesn't have a massive white bar code is The Book of Many Things, and I think that's only because the bar code would have been on the outer wrapping.

So no, I don't think it's going to be a sticker, but these massive white bar codes aren't new. They've been using them this whole time.