D&D (2024) New D&D Edition's Player’s Handbook Cover Reveal

Game Informer has revealed the cover to the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

The cover features a gold dragon behind the old-school D&D characters Strongheart the paladin, Mercion the cleric, Elkhorn the dwarf fighter, and Molliver the thief. Ringlerun the wizard is absent (then again he got his showcase on one of the 1E AD&D Player's Handbooks), but a drow mage appears to have joined the party!

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I guess they probably have magical prosthetic limbs as a common magic item from Tasha's Cauldron in the core books, based on that picture of the Gnome Illusionist.

 

[Meech17]

That being said, I'm fine with this, especially since there will be other perhaps more popular characters from all the major settings. I think its a huge mistake not to use the MtG full borderless are for Elminster for example.

I don't know.. I think it would be a mistake if they did use it. It's great art, don't get me wrong.. But I don't want to have to listen to all the people whining about them being lazy/cheap for reusing art

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I feel like that captures D&D..

I'm not sure it does for the audience that largely started with the pandemic/rise of Critical Role/Stranger Things era, who were weaned on anime and Avatar and for whom the fantasy game they've played most is Minecraft.

Nightmarish survival horror dungeon crawl vibes are a Gen X thing. I think Gen Z is more about positive upbeat adventures where combat isn't a necessity. (Note that they're facing a good-aligned dragon on the front cover and appear to be riding on its back on the back cover.)

I started with 1E myself, but the majority of the audience is young, with a very different expectation of what fantasy adventures entail.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I was thinking about getting back into D&D, but after seeing that cover, I have my doubts. Very stereotypical, which leads me to conclude that the whole book is infected with that crap. Probably not just the pictures, but the text too.

So... you just literally judged a book by it's cover?

 

[Meech17]

Nightmarish survival horror dungeon crawl vibes are a Gen X thing. I think Gen Z is more about positive upbeat adventures where combat isn't a necessity. (Note that they're facing a good-aligned dragon on the front cover and appear to be riding on its back on the back cover.)

Normally I don't like generational generalities, but that tracks, with me being a millennial, coming up playing 3.5e and falling square in the middle of these two mindsets, and liking both styles.

 

[bedir than]

So... you just literally judged a book by it's cover?

tbf - that's what covers are for

 

[Kobold Avenger]

That being said, I'm fine with this, especially since there will be other perhaps more popular characters from all the major settings. I think its a huge mistake not to use the MtG full borderless are for Elminster for example.

I don't think they'll have frequent Planescape narrator Tarsheva Longreach anywhere, while not a really obscure character, she's only been depicted once in art even back in 2e.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Normally I don't like generational generalities, but that tracks, with me being a millennial, coming up playing 3.5e and falling square in the middle of these two mindsets, and liking both styles.

I hate the generational cohorts discourse, but I think the gaps between Gen X and Gen Z expectations of D&D is a real thing in this case.

 

[jayoungr]

I wonder if this will follow 5e's trend of the boring black and red spine. I hope not.

Boring ... consistently branded ... potahto.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

At least they're showing non-Humans of non-European appearances more significantly this time, as a Human of East Asian origin I approve of an East Asian Elf.