D&D 5E Lore & Legends Is An Official Visual Guide to D&D 5th Edition

Coming in October from the authors of Dungeons and Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History is a new illustrated guide--this time to D&D 5th Edition, including artwork, interviews, and more. Lore & Legends is by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer, and is an officially licensed D&D book.

The 400+ page book is scheduled for release on October 3rd.

An illustrated guide to Dungeons & Dragons’ beloved fifth edition told through interviews, artwork, and visual ephemera from the designers, storytellers, and artists who bring it to life.

When the reimagined fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons debuted in the summer of 2014, tabletop roleplaying games were on the brink of obsolescence. But within a few short years, D&D found greater success than it had ever enjoyed before, even surpassing its 1980s golden age. How did an analog game nearly a half century old become a star in a digital world? For the first time, Lore & Legends reveals the incredible ongoing story of Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition from the perspective of the designers, artists, and players who bring it to life. This comprehensive visual guide illuminates contemporary D&D—its development, evolution, cultural relevance, and popularity—through exclusive interviews and more than 900 pieces of artwork, photography, and advertising curated and analyzed by the authors of the bestselling and Hugo Award–nominated Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana.

 

[Parmandur]

We'll see. A&A definitely did the equivalent. It's unsparing on the business reasons behind 3.5 and 4E, for instance.

That it was, and it was not always flattering to WotC.

I wonder if he was the source of a lot of A&A's frankness.

He is a straight shooter, and a long termer, so he probably makes a good source.

Basically, I want the version of this written by retired, unfiltered Chris Perkins 20 years from now.

"Wait, wait, this this the best part! So then I walk into Fields' office and Jeremy is sitting there like a deer in headlights and I go, I go 'what? what is it now?' and O'Hara is like 'We're gonna hire the Pinkertons to destroy the OGL.' I'm like, 'We are?' You know? You - you guys think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Ah, it was a magical time!"

Oh, man, I feel that. This will not be that, bit I think we'll get some serious history work from these writers.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The good news is that D&D is now big enough and there are enough people writing about the history of it that we're pretty much guaranteed that someone will have "unauthorized" (which is a stupid adjective to stick on journalism, which as George Orwell will tell you, is unauthorized by definition, if it's really journalism) books on the current era and its various self-inflicted crises.

 

[DarkCrisis]

A visual celebration of 5th ed?

Alrighty.

 

[beta-ray]

I liked Art & Arcana alot. But this is a retrospective look at an edition we're...still in?

I don't think the description said "retrospective". It did say "celebration". I still read books about the making of Star Wars and Star Trek projects though their "universes" are still being built. The description also says "… the incredible ongoing story of Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition from the perspective of the designers, artists, and players who bring it to life"

Yeah, it gives me pause as well, but Penguin Random House -- a company that understands monetization -- wants to have a shiny new book on book store displays when the 50th anniversary hype train gets going.

They could either update Art & Arcana, which would be a big ask, as this would balloon the price of that book even higher, or do it as a separate volume. My guess is these two books get merged into a "special edition" with a few extra pages of art in a few years.

It would be an 800+ page book. Oof, that might kill some customers. The Wolverine Adamantium Collection is 720 pages and is 16 pounds. I'm sure you superfans have larger books, but I think I prefer smaller tomes because I have only 6 strength. Maybe in digital format…

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It would be an 800+ page book. Oof, that might kill some customers. The Wolverine Adamantium Collection is 720 pages and is 16 pounds. I'm sure you superfans have larger books, but I think I prefer smaller tomes because I have only 6 strength. Maybe in digital format…

Good point. A slipcased "special edition" with both books is probably more likely.

And I got A&A in both physical and Kindle forms in the end, because some of that text, even in a massive book, is teeny tiny. I love the physical version for ogling the art, though.

 

[TerraDave]

Right, they did the book they would normally do now--and it was awesome--so the focus had to switch. OK.

The 30th anniversary book is not quite A&A, but is also pretty frank--yes, there was power creep for 2e, and in fact its almost inevitable as a way to sell supplements.

20th (or 25th?) had a great boxed set with reprints of several modules and some other goodies. For 40th, we got 5e. Anything else?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

20th (or 25th?) had a great boxed set with reprints of several modules and some other goodies.

I really, really hope we get some nice reprints, but after WotC decided DADHAT didn't even merit a starter set, or having its cast appear in the illustrations of Golden Vault, I'm not counting on it happening this time.

 

[TerraDave]

I really, really hope we get some nice reprints, but after WotC decided DADHAT didn't even merit a starter set, or having its cast appear in the illustrations of Golden Vault, I'm not counting on it happening this time.

Looks like we are getting this book.

 

[vecna00]

I'm down for this!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Looks like we are getting this book.

This is WotC agreeing to participate in return for a check, as opposed to affirmatively deciding to reprint deluxe editions of the AD&D books or something, which would require them taking the initiative.

Everyone but WotC was happy to make DADHAT stuff.

 

[Parmandur]

This is WotC agreeing to participate in return for a check, as opposed to affirmatively deciding to reprint deluxe editions of the AD&D books or something, which would require them taking the initiative.

Everyone but WotC was happy to make DADHAT stuff.

To be fair, AD&D is available in print through POD.

 

[Ghal Maraz]

I'm disappointed that an historian like Peterson is working on something which can be hardly seen as nothing else than a celebration (and it's clear from the description). On the other side, he's the only redeeming factor I can see now in that.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Art & Arcana is a great book.

But why not, you know, a 50-year retrospective for the 50th anniversary?

 

[happylarry]

I'll probably get this, but it's not going to compete with A&A. Because I'm getting old and nothing beats opening that red box on Christmas Day 1985.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I think it will be neat. I'm not sure how much "stuff" there is to fill this page count when we're talking about 10 years instead of 40. I'm sure it'll be alot more detail about stuff that didn't make it in, the process etc.

I also doubt we'll see the kind of brutal honest commentary and interviews we saw with the previous book given that WotC is making this book for a product they are still making now. It's certainly different to poopoo talk TSR stuff or 4th edition when both of those are far in the past.

 

[Superchunk77]

If even a penny of this book goes back to WotC or Hasbro it's a no buy for me.

 

[mamba]

If even a penny of this book goes back to WotC or Hasbro it's a no buy for me.

pretty sure something does, they are not getting the art for free

 

[GuyBoy]

I'll probably get this, but it's not going to compete with A&A. Because I'm getting old and nothing beats opening that red box on Christmas Day 1985.

One thing might beat it: opening up that white box on Christmas Day 1976!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair, AD&D is available in print through POD.

Do we have to get that guy back from corporate to scream about monetization again, @Parmandur? Is that what you want?

WotC, not Beedle & Grimm's, not WizKids, not Champion Sportswear, not Funko Pop, needs to have some limited time deluxe offerings for the 50th anniversary besides what they're already publishing in 2024 (including the new core books).

That they aren't even planning on a limited edition of the 2024 core books at this time suggests that they may not have any real plans to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Maybe they'll get around to it in time for the 51st, when everyone will surely be just as excited.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Art & Arcana is a great book.

But why not, you know, a 50-year retrospective for the 50th anniversary?

Because just revising Art & Arcana would mean that most people who already own it -- the core audience for such a thing -- would skip buying another expensive book the size of a CPU.