D&D General Forgotten Realms cover to "Guide to the Dalelands" revealed, book delayed

The cover to Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood's first sourcebook in the Realmsbound series has been revealed.

Guide to the Dalelands is the first of four books, and is a regional sourcebook for both DMs and players. It will be released on the Dungeon Master's Guild. The book has been delayed from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026. They are hoping to release it in June.

The other books in the series are:

• Guide to the Dalelands: A regional sourcebook for both DMs and players.
• Inn Sites of the Dalelands: Geared towards social encounters, it covers not just inns but also NPCs, mini-games, and social occasions such as festivals and tournaments.
• Delves of the Dalelands: a collection of dangerous locations to serve as fodder for adventurers.
• Adventures in the Dalelands: An anthology of adventures for levels 1 to 12.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

She (and the artist) also needs to learn how to hold a bow. She's not going to be able to make any shots holding the bow like that.

It's not a case of knowing how to hold a bow, it's just a case of knowing which way wrists rotate when you move. The more you look at that image the more obviously wrong you realise it is. Maybe the book is delayed three months so they can take some anatomy lessons?

Why has the horse on the right stuck it's leg out to trip over the other horse? That seems a bit mean.

 

[jdrakeh]

I don't hate it. Looks very much like FR in my head does. With more spears. I like spears.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I love this cover. It's not perfect but does a great job of encapsulating the feel of the Dalelands. Plus I really like how clean the illustration is.

Ignoring the questionable archery, yeah, I do like how clean it is. Makes me realize how tired I have gotten of the painterly, blurry-around-the-edges art that Wizards has often employed for its covers.

 

[Sketchpad]

Normally I'm perfectly happy to ignore stuff like that, but that is just wild.

View attachment 433539

And it could just be an easy fix in Photoshop before final production.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

I’m not concerned about the bow.

I am curious if there will be a current clack section. Hooks for sandbox play are my jam.