D&D 5E (2024) Here's The Covers of BOTH of November's Forgotten Realms Books

We've known for some time that in November, WotC will be releasing not one but two Forgotten Realms books--one aimed at players, the other at Dungeon Masters. Thanks to Game Informer, we now have a look at the covers of Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun and Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun. The article showcases more art, and is well worth checking out--and for those who want more, the print magazine has a full feature previewing the books.

 

[Mournblade94]

Actually I've been looking at the ToC of both 3e & 4e FR setting books and all evidence suggests in many ways FR: AiF will resemble 4e more then 3e, in that if you look through the 3e ToC most of the type of content in alot of chapters actually will be shifted to the FR: HoF book, just like 4e FRCG shifted those kinds of chapters to it's players Guide.

A bigger chunk of 4e FRCG is devoted to geography then 3e FRSG, even though 3e FRSG is a fair sized bigger book.

FR: AiF is a mix of the best of both perhaps, splitting the book like FRCS and FRPG, but the higher page count of the FRSG, so the breadth and depth should be higher then either. Imagine if FRCS was 320 Pages, plus DLCs.

The 4e FRCS was laid out well and had good information. I prefer the more encyclopedic 3rd edition CG but I have lots of resources to draw from to fill out the areas. I just really hated the 4e change to lore for the 4eFRCG

 

[mamba]

For the technology of the time this art is just as good as what we are getting now.

sorry, what? The technology has not really changed all that much when it comes to painting and printing pictures. What has changed is TSR's / WotC's art budget

 

[Mournblade94]

sorry, what? The technology has not really changed all that much when it comes to painting and printing pictures. What has changed is TSR's / WotC's art budget

Sorry what? I honestly don't see how you can say that. Parkinson and Hilldebrandts, and Elmore were prolific even among Bookcovers outside of TSR. The pool of talent is no greater now than it was then.

 

[mamba]

Sorry what? I honestly don't see how you can say that. Parkinson and Hilldebrandts, and Elmore were prolific even among Bookcovers outside of TSR. The pool of talent is no greater now than it was then.

you said ‘technology’, not ‘talent pool’. I don’t disagree that there are talented artists around today as well. You get a hard disagree that early AD&D (i.e. the pictures in your post) used any of them however, TSR could not afford them at the time

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The pool of talent is no greater now than it was then.

I would argue it is significantly larger now.

Not only is the population a lot higher, but the basic barrier to entry to getting art out there and seen by people is significantly lower, and women and minorities have fewer barriers to entry now.

There's a reason the same few artists were used over and over by TSR, and it wasn't that they were the only good artists or something, it was that they were artists who TSR's art directors were actually aware of and in contact with, and in the 1980s and 1990s that meant the real-terms talent pool was, far, far smaller than it is now.

Plus it's far easier to commission art from people in different countries and continents (and WotC has done so before), so I don't think it's possible to even argue that the talent pool isn't larger.

The one countervailing factor is that videogames tend to absorb a huge number of artists who might otherwise have worked on TTRPG art, particularly as concept artists. But I suspect that's not extreme enough of a factor to make the pool the same size or smaller.

That said, what I don't know is whether art is relatively cheaper or relatively more expensive to commission these days. But whether WotC are willing to pay is different to the size of the talent pool.

EDIT - Frankly one need look no further than MtG to see how massive the talent pool is now.

That's the trend with the 20245e

It's been accusation levelled at certainly 2E, 3E, 4E, and 5E as well so not a particularly damning one.

 

[Remathilis]

There is alot being conveyed in this image though. They just had a successful battle so theyre happy about that. They're making camp. There is something going on. The new covers are glam shots. Plus this wasn't the first selling point for a book like the FR covers are.

It was the inner cover (after to ToC). Literally the first picture IN THE PHB after the cover. They are posed like a photograph. There is no action. No sense of danger. They just killed a dragon no bigger than a black bear and posed like a hunting photo. It couldn't be more posed if they were giving each other bunny ears. It might have a story, buts it's a boring story.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The 4e FRCS was laid out well and had good information. I prefer the more encyclopedic 3rd edition CG but I have lots of resources to draw from to fill out the areas. I just really hated the 4e change to lore for the 4eFRCG

That was the Achilles heel of the 4e FRCS, the Spellplague was just too destructive, with time jump & blowing huge parts of the world up, the cool naughty word just got buried under that.

In many ways the 4e FRCG was better better designed, with deeper looks, more focused book, but in the face of so much unneeded destruction it just didn't matter to fans.

I say this with the benifit of distance in time.

But I really think they plan to take the best elements of 3e FRSG, 4e FRCS, and even the SCAG (in character narratation).

 

[Mournblade94]

It's been accusation levelled at certainly 2E, 3E, 4E, and 5E as well so not a particularly damning one.

Nobody was complaining about art done by Committee then at least before 4th edition and I don't think it was art done by committee then. They had other complaints certainly. Now they have gotten to a point where there is a lot of boxes they have to check. It is what it is.

 

[Mournblade94]

It was the inner cover (after to ToC). Literally the first picture IN THE PHB after the cover. They are posed like a photograph. There is no action. No sense of danger. They just killed a dragon no bigger than a black bear and posed like a hunting photo. It couldn't be more posed if they were giving each other bunny ears. It might have a story, buts it's a boring story.

I think its one of the best and a conclusion to a low level story. Appropriate for that page. Everyone I knew loved it. You're allowed not to.

 

[Remathilis]

Nobody was complaining about art done by Committee then at least before 4th edition and I don't think it was art done by committee then. They had other complaints certainly. Now they have gotten to a point where there is a lot of boxes they have to check. It is what it is.

One word: Redgar.