D&D 5E Here's the Ravenloft Alternate Cover!

As usual, there is an alternate hobby-store exclusive cover for the upcoming Ravenloft book. Here's a look at it!

And here's the full wraparound art.

D&D 5E - [Updated with cover!] The D&D Book Is.... Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft!

Yesterday's hints that a new D&D book would be announced today have born fruit -- we now have a product description and a title! It's a Ravenloft setting book, with tools and new rules for horror-themed games, and new horror-themed character options. I'll update this post with a product image as...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book

Here is a list of everything we know so far about the upcoming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Art by Paul Scott Canavan May 18th, 256 pages 30 domains (with 30 villainous darklords) Barovia (Strahd), Dementlieu (twisted fairly tales), Lamordia (flesh golem), Falkovnia (zombies), Kalakeri...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Full Wraparound Cover Art For Ravenloft

We've seen the cover already, but here's a look at the full wraparound art by Anna Podedworna. https://www.enworld.org/threads/updated-with-cover-the-d-d-book-is-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft.678411/ https://www.enworld.org/threads/heres-the-ravenloft-alternate-cover.678414/...

www.enworld.org

 

[Morrus]

I believe that was retconned as ableist in the reprint, but I don't actually own that version. Perhaps someone who does can confirm?

I heard the same. But I don't have the new version.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

A much more successful effort than the main cover I think. I find the multiple layered subjects "Drew Struzan 80's movie poster" composition like this a better fit for campaign and setting books than the single scene approach they tend to favor for most of the standard covers.

 

[Ibrandul]

In the first (5E) printing it was made explicit in the text that Esmerelda conceals the fact that she has a prosthetic leg, not wanting to reveal a perceived weakness to enemies.

I believe that was retconned as ableist in the reprint, but I don't actually own that version. Perhaps someone who does can confirm?

Regardless, that picture would accurately reflect the earlier version.

Can confirm. As Chris Perkins pointed out in an interview around the time they announced the "revamped" version, she doesn't appear to be concealing the prosthetic in the illustration of her in the book (p. 230), so the text is sort of mismatched with the image to begin with. The revision (on this, anyway) is really minor: the heading "Esmerelda's Secret" on p. 231 becomes "Esmerelda's Prosthetic," and the words "and takes care to hide it from view" are deleted from that paragraph. That's it.

And the illustration of her on the cover of this new book perfectly matches the illustration of her in Curse of Strahd (both versions; that illo wasn't changed in the revision).

What I'm wondering is what the heck she's doing on the cover of Van Richten's book?!? It makes me wonder whether this was originally intended to be Esmerelda's Guide to Ravenloft, with the title and narrator changing late in development after the alt-art had already been commissioned.

Reportedly Xanathar's Guide to Everything was originally meant to be Xanathar's Guide to Adventurers to parallel Volo's Guide to Monsters—adventurer's guide to monsters, monster's guide to adventurers. But in that case really only the title would have changed, whereas if my speculation is right here, they would have to have rewritten the post-it-note commentaries they put in these things. Or maybe not most of them; I can imagine Van Richten and Esmerelda saying pretty similar things about many topics.

 

[Mistwell]

This image would have made for a more interesting cover:

 

[Weiley31]

In the first (5E) printing it was made explicit in the text that Esmerelda conceals the fact that she has a prosthetic leg, not wanting to reveal a perceived weakness to enemies.

I believe that was retconned as ableist in the reprint, but I don't actually own that version. Perhaps someone who does can confirm?

Regardless, that picture would accurately reflect the earlier version.

Yeah IIRC it was implied that she wasn't proud of the fact that he had a prosthetic leg and actually took attempts to hide it from the PCs/people. A lot of people said/thought that was ableist/not kosher so in CoS:Revamped, it was changed to Esmerelda not being so ashamed of it and not hiding the fact about it.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Maybe a warlord shouted at it until it grew back.

 

[Weiley31]

Upon a closer look, it seems like the one leg is different then the other: one has the boot flaps and the other one doesn't.

 

[humble minion]

I've never bought an alternate cover, but I'm seriously tempted by that one. It's flipping gorgeous.

Do the alternate covers have the standard D&D white-text-on-black-background with red smearing near the D&D logo along the spine? Cos I love the art, but mismatching spines make me twitch uncontrollably.