Melf's Guide to Greyhawk Cover by Jeff Easley Revealed at Gary Con

Luke Gygax revealed the cover to his upcoming collaboration with Wizards of the Coast at Gary Con over the weekend. During an annual auction at the convention, Gygax revealed a painting by Jeff Easley featuring his famed character Melf. According to GamingTrend, which posted the news on Saturday, the painting will be used as a cover for the upcoming Greyhawk compendium being developed by Gygax and Wizards of the Coast, which was unofficially called Melf's Guide to Greyhawk. The painting was won by actor Vince Vaughn, who paid $5,000. You can check out an image of the cover below, courtesy of GamingTrend. More photos of the artwork can be found on that site.

Gygax and D&D Head of Franchise Dan Ayoub announced their collaboration earlier at Gary Con, with Ayoub emphasizing a desire to "mend the rift" between the Gygax family and Dungeons & Dragons. No specifics have been revealed for what the book will entail, other than that it will be set within Greyhawk. Greyhawk is also featured in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, although at the time Wizards had no plans to further flesh out the setting beyond that book.

Wizards of the Coast also announced at Gary Gon that Gen Con would serve as an announcement hub for upcoming books starting this year, and that modules would be returning in some format tied to the new Seasons approach to promoting material.

 

[nyvinter]

they probably didn't say "just do whatever you want."

One would hope! Although TSR was pretty bad at art direction so I guess he has some practice in that too.

I would say a lot of art done by Easley/Elmore/Caldwell/Parkinson back in the day would today be a bit too passive for a cover if you want it to attract people's attention. (And I say this as someone who has the same issue artwise.)

 

[Bill Zebub]

Is Melf like Milf, but with more universal appeal?

 

[WhatTheEyeSees]

If this is a WoTC published book we will get two covers. This picture looks perfect for the FLGS collectors cover, and I suspect the other cover would have a more modern look.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If this is a WoTC published book we will get two covers. This picture looks perfect for the FLGS collectors cover, and I suspect the other cover would have a more modern look.

Or vice-versa. But good call on the two covers.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Im glad WotC is extending a hand to old schoolers, though I think they really need to come out with a rules light Old School style D&D Basic edition to really grab me

 

[PyroArrow]

A lot of his stuff looks like they are posing for the painter, in this case, after an incident or a campsite while resting. There are some action shots as well, like a dragon breathing on combatants. Maybe his next phase will be the "Bloody" phase, who knows?!