New Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide Art and Details Revealed

The marketing cycle for the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide is underway. Wizards of the Coast has released the first video and accompanying article previewing the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Wizards has already told fans what's actually in the new 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, so there's not much in terms of actual new details. The video/article revealed that the Bastion system got another look from designers after its initial Unearthed Arcana playtest, that there will be a DM's Toolkit for everything from "alignment to traps," now arranged in alphabetical order, and that there will be 400 "new and improved" magic items.

The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide will also be the home of rules for crafting magic items and a new Greyhawk campaign setting guide, with a focus on showcasing how Greyhawk can be customized or be used as a model for homemade campaign settings. Finally, the Dungeon Master's Guide will contain a lore glossary and a full chapter about D&D cosmology, the latter of which helps to drive home the idea of the D&D multiverse.


While much of this information was already known, the video and article did show off a LOT of new art, some of which can be found below:

 

[ezo]

AHM Art.

Nice turn of phrase!

 

[Parmandur]

Anyone who thinks any of this looks like AI art does not understand how AI art works or looks.

 

[KYRON45]

AI art is bad. AI art is the devil. AI art is the end of civilization as we know it.
Also....We hate all of this human generated art too.
I'm getting some mixed messages here.

 

[Queer Venger]

goddamn the art is phenomenal, cannot wait to pick this up. Excited for bastion rules and finally adding cost of magic items.

The third pic down reminds me of my new Wyrmwood table with the magnetic mini-desks; probably served as inspiration

 

[The Soloist]

Nice turn of phrase!

I was a computer graphic designer before I retired. Now I draw everything by hand again. Feels good and real, less damaging for the eyes and sleep cycle.

One of my solo hex crawl drawings. Far from a master piece but I had fun finding the style I wanted for these:

 

[ezo]

I was a computer graphic designer before I retired. Now I draw everything by hand again. Feels good and real, less damaging for the eyes and sleep cycle.

I've done graphic design work, but more stress on the design. I stopped hand drawing probably a decade ago or so, but sometimes feel the urge to return to making my D&D maps (dungeon and overland) by hand again... especially if I can ever convince my group to just use theatre of mind!

 

[Thommy H-H]

Someone took a bunch of screen grabs and posted them on Imgur.

The 14th one down is interesting. They both seem to be iconics from the new PHB: that's the halfling wild magic sorcerer, and the one shouting is the orc gloom stalker ranger, but the latter looks a lot more human than the PHB art here - only the ears and the tusks indicate they aren't. So, either the artist didn't follow the brief that well, the art illustrates some kind of transformation magic or the like, or the character is actually a half-orc and perhaps that part of the DMG is about customising species.

 

[Parmandur]

The 14th one down is interesting. They both seem to be iconics from the new PHB: that's the halfling wild magic sorcerer, and the one shouting is the orc gloom stalker ranger, but the latter looks a lot more human than the PHB art here - only the ears and the tusks indicate they aren't. So, either the artist didn't follow the brief that well, the art illustrates some kind of transformation magic or the like, or the character is actually a half-orc and perhaps that part of the DMG is about customising species.

Theybseem to have used the PHB Subclass iconics throne DMG.

 

[Quickleaf]

Not a fan of this artwork. The artwork in the PHB, while quality-wise fine, just conveys this "happy-go luck, everyone is having fun" vibe. Too many goofy scenes of smiling/laughing PCs, like adventuring is just a big party.

Art-wise, my preference is for black and white ink (like Sutherland's classic), not this. Hey, get off my lawn!

View attachment 381440

Wow, I never would have guessed from your avatar...

...Emirikol the Chaotic!!

 

[Demetrios1453]

Not a fan of this artwork. The artwork in the PHB, while quality-wise fine, just conveys this "happy-go luck, everyone is having fun" vibe. Too many goofy scenes of smiling/laughing PCs, like adventuring is just a big party.

Art-wise, my preference is for black and white ink (like Sutherland's classic), not this. Hey, get off my lawn!

View attachment 381440

Thay art is terrible simply because that is most definitely  not how you strap an arm into a shield! The point side is supposed to be down, and holding your arm where it would be twisted with the hand towards the bottom would be awkward bordering on impossible. If he's wearing the shield point side up on purpose, then he's a fool and going against several millenia of basic shield use knowledge. I've always liked the mood the picture is trying to convey, but that terrible shield positioning just takes me right out of it every time.