D&D 5E Let's talk about WoTC Book Covers

[Parmandur]

I can't point to anything specifically bad about the 5E art but I don't find it particularly evocative. It's serviceable but I don't think I've seen anything I'd want hanging on my wall.

Mostly I quite like it: they have my number, apparently.

 

[MGibster]

It's alright.

For a minute there I was all, "What the hell does he mean by that?" And then I looked to the left and saw your avatar.

Mostly I quite like it: they have my number, apparently.

I can't fault anyone for that. I don't actually think it's bad it just doesn't float my boat. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people in their late teens and twenties look at Frank Frazetta or Larry Elmore and don't see what's so great about it.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I know that this is gonna sound hypocritical (due to my avatar), but my favorite cover art of 5e's core rule books is the Monster Manual's. It was the first D&D book that I ever got (I got it for Christmas), and I was in awe at how awesome and insane the Beholder looked. (I'd never seen a picture of a Beholder before then, nor had I heard of them.)

 

[J.Quondam]

I know that this is gonna sound hypocritical (due to my avatar), but my favorite cover art of 5e's core rule books is the Monster Manual's. It was the first D&D book that I ever got (I got it for Christmas), and I was in awe at how awesome and insane the Beholder looked. (I'd never seen a picture of a Beholder before then, nor had I heard of them.)

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah... Over the years, beholders have come quite a, umm, loooooong way in the insane terror category.

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

 

[J.Quondam]

I mean, to be fair, that is pretty darn unsettling.

Indeed. That look of dread nonchalance has caused many a mighty thew to quiver in abject terror!

 

[Zardnaar]

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

More variety in old art. A lot of it is crap but you can cherry pick the best of it to put it up against 5E art.

And you had Dragon and Dungeon magazine.

dragon magazine covers - Google Search

www.google.com

Dragon 100 was a paper cut out.

Art of the Genre: The Top 10 Dragon Magazine Covers of the 1970s & 80s – Black Gate

 

[Parmandur]

Is that what they originally looked like!?!? Gosh, original D&D art was awful. I far prefer 5e's art to any art that I've seen from previous editions. (Also, a slightly off-topic question, but have Beholders always had their eye-stalks at the top of their head, like a crown? I always imagined them to be in a circular pattern around the side of their body.)

Unsettling, but not awesome, like the current Beholder art.

Keep in mind that the artist was a teenager who Gygax knew from the convention scene who was willing to draw for peanuts:

Artistic Arcana: Greg Bell Before TSR

It is no exaggeration to say that Greg Bell was effectively the first staff artist of Tactical Studies Rules. Not only did he famously dr...

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Keep in mind that the artist was a teenager who Gygax knew from the convention scene who was willing to draw for peanuts:

Artistic Arcana: Greg Bell Before TSR

It is no exaggeration to say that Greg Bell was effectively the first staff artist of Tactical Studies Rules. Not only did he famously dr...

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

Huh. That makes me feel bad for him, and for criticizing his art. His box-set art is amazing and iconic.

 

[Parmandur]

Huh. That makes me feel bad for him, and for criticizing his art. His box-set art is amazing and iconic.

I mean, the DIY local town feel of OD&D doesn't stack up precisely to a global multimedia juggernaut that seeks the hottest art talent from around the world. And that's fine.

 

[J.Quondam]

Huh. That makes me feel bad for him, and for criticizing his art. His box-set art is amazing and iconic.

Don't feel bad for criticizing the art.
Look at it this way: that image is probably the very first time the weirdness that is the beholder was ever put to paper! Given the era and state of the industry at the time, not to mention whatever oddball description he had to work with, what else could he have done? It's amateurish, sure, but he was an amateur.
And D&D is all the better for it.

 

[pukunui]

I think the paintings are generally fine, but I hate the trade dress. The red "blood," if that's what it is, on the spine looked cheesy the moment it came out, and I suspect it's going to age terribly.

I've always thought of it as a tattered banner or flag rather than blood. I can't speak to how it will age aesthetically, but I can speak to how it weathers (or doesn't). The red strip fades to pink due to sun fade.

 

[Zardnaar]

I've always thought of it as a tattered banner or flag rather than blood. I can't speak to how it will age, but I can speak to how it weathers (or doesn't). The red strip fades to pink due to sun fade.

All D&D books sun fade. I keep mine out of direct sunlight.

 

[Parmandur]

I've always thought of it as a tattered banner or flag rather than blood. I can't speak to how it will age, but I can speak to how it weathers (or doesn't). The red strip fades to pink due to sun fade.

I think the style has aged, and aged pretty well as a bookcase shelf in my experience.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

All D&D books sun fade. I keep mine out of direct sunlight.

You'd think they'd have learned not to have them printed in the Underdark by this point.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

All D&D books with pigments in their covers fade in the sun. I keep mine out of direct sunlight.

Fixed that for you. UV light breaks apart the pigments in paint and other materials (which is why clothing and house-paint fades in sunlight).

 

[Zardnaar]

Fixed that for you. UV light breaks apart the pigments in paint and other materials (which is why clothing and house-paint fades in sunlight).

If you want to nitpuck sure.

I figured this out years ago when some books bought in early 90's are now sunfaded.

Then you get odd ones out for whatever reason.

 

[Parmandur]

You'd think they'd have learned not to have them printed in the Underdark by this point.

And people say that WotC doesn't care about Tradition.

 

[Zardnaar]

And people say that WotC doesn't care about Tradition.

That being cheap. 1Es gonna win long term. Only edition where the books are durable enough to last centuries.