Core books cover art

[Gloombunny]

I really hope they change the PHB cover. The one with the fighter chick and horned wizard dude is miserably awful. I don't mind the basic layout, and I'm not even going to talk about the stripper-plate issue in this thread. But the actual art itself is almost Liefeldian in its badness.

...ok, that was unfair. It's not nearly that bad. But it's got the same sort of issues if you look at it for a few moments.

Like, check out that dagger dangling at her waist. Look at where it is and which way it's pointed. Now think about whether she can walk forward without stabbing herself right in that unarmored thigh. Then think about how she'd go about drawing that dagger - it doesn't matter whether she wants to draw it with her left or her right hand; either way she'd have to do some awkward twisting to get it out.

How about that bow behind her? Is it attached to her belt or something? Then why is it so vertical when she's crouched at an angle? Speaking of her being crouched at an angle, how is she managing to stay at all upright with her feet where they are? Or maybe she's in the process of falling over. That might explain the odd pose.

And hey, look at her sword. Notice how it's entirely out of proportion to her? I don't mean that it's an unrealistically large sword, like you might see in a Final Fantasy game. It's actually built like a fairly short sword, only in a totally different scale to the rest of the picture. And the way she's awkwardly holding it to present a nice flat perspective to the viewer... I kinda wonder if the artist started with a picture of a sword and then filled in a girl and a wizard around it. Sure looks that way.

Speaking of the wizard, try figuring out where exactly the staff is in relation to the rest of him. Perspective much?

This is all just from memory, since I'm at work and don't have the picture handy to consult. I could probably come up with more if I spent a while looking at it.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

They're much better than the pseudo-tome covers from 3E.

I don't like WAR's D&D work, overall (with a few exceptions here and there). I like his Osprey work a lot better. For better or worse, though, WAR's work has become "the face of 3E" in many ways -- personally, I think 4E should've used a different artist.

All IMO, YMMV, etc. -- obviously.

 

[Odhanan]

I like his Osprey work a lot better.

Ohhh... this is awesome!

 

[JVisgaitis]

There were a lot of postings about this after the Gencon release. I hope they redo it. Why we can't get a party of adventurers in a "Dungeon" fighting a "Dragon" I'll never know. Here's the redux cover I did some time ago. While I'm not WAR's biggest fan, this is pretty close to perfect for me.

 

[psionotic]

There were a lot of postings about this after the Gencon release. I hope they redo it. Why we can't get a party of adventurers in a "Dungeon" fighting a "Dragon" I'll never know. Here's the redux cover I did some time ago. While I'm not WAR's biggest fan, this is pretty close to perfect for me.

Perfect. To misquote a recent moviefilm:

THIS... IS... D&D..!

 

[Guild Goodknife]

There were a lot of postings about this after the Gencon release. I hope they redo it. Why we can't get a party of adventurers in a "Dungeon" fighting a "Dragon" I'll never know. Here's the redux cover I did some time ago. While I'm not WAR's biggest fan, this is pretty close to perfect for me.

This is awesome! A much better fit!

 

[Wormwood]

There were a lot of postings about this after the Gencon release. I hope they redo it. Why we can't get a party of adventurers in a "Dungeon" fighting a "Dragon" I'll never know. Here's the redux cover I did some time ago. While I'm not WAR's biggest fan, this is pretty close to perfect for me.

I guess the reason I *don;t* like the green dragon cover is because it looks just like D&D.

There's nothing new or different about it. Just a bunch of guys in a room with a dragon. We've seen this image before.

*shrug*

I like the new cover because it effectively conveys a vision of D&D that is unexpected while still grounded in the swords & wizards genre.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I guess the reason I *don't* like the green dragon cover is because it looks just like D&D.

It should look like D&D. To old school gamers like us it may look old hat and yeah we've seen plenty of pictures like this, but never on the cover of the PHB. I usually don't like the typical, but for the PHB that's what it should be.

You want to experiment with the other covers, have at it, but the PHB cover should be something that beckons to a new audience and looks like what is between the covers. Two dudes standing there trying to look cool just doesn't do it for me regardless of what it's a cover for.

Also, the green dragon pic is pretty sweet. Not many dragon pics out there (that I can recall) that look this cool.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

Much, much better. The vibrant colors make it stand out more as a cover, and as mentioned, it includes both a dungeon and a dragon. I also enjoy seeing the level of variation among the group as opposed to the current cover's creepy-looking-wizard-guy and creepy-looking-swordo-lady.

 

[danbuter1]

They're an improvement over the 3e covers. But I really wish WotC would hire someone other than Reynolds to do art. I really think Angus McBride, John Howe, or Alan Lee would do a much better job. And if any rpg company can afford them, it's WotC.