New Player's Handbook Cover Art!

[Henry]

Quoting this to show my support. This cover image would be much cooler. I was quite surprised by the point that D&D's never actually had both a dungeon and a dragon on the cover of the PHB before.

Other than the 1981 Basic set, but true, no PHB before. I do really like the above "Green Dragon" cover - it's very "D&D" to me, whereas the earlier dragonborn & wizard cover is not.

 

[Ahwe Yahzhe]

Memories...

Have a look at the history of D&D corerules covers. I know i left some out

Ahhh, my very first rule book... sweet memories of my 3rd-level Elf!

::involuntarily tears up::

 

[Wormwood]

I think a lot of people (like me) like the “Leeroy Jenkins and Two Background Blobs Fighting a Dragon” art because there’s a party fighting a frickin’ dragon on the primary core rulebook!

I guess.

I don;t like the green dragon cover because that's really all you see: a green dragon.

The Player's book is about the players---they should be the focus.

 

[Ahwe Yahzhe]

Well...

I guess.

I don;t like the green dragon cover because that's really all you see: a green dragon.

The Player's book is about the players---they should be the focus.

I think that your opinion matches that of WotC, since they've gone with a pair of adventurers for both versions of the cover art. I'm just not as big a fan of the cheesy-posy. Compared to that, I welcome Leeroy Jenkins and his girlfriend.

 

[Wormwood]

I think that your opinion matches that of WotC . . .

I get that a lot.

 

[Jedi_Solo]

The Player's book is about the players---they should be the focus.

I'm going to have to disagree with you (and apparently WotC) there.

They have the character sheets, which is for PCs only, so they can use the Posing PCs image (either of the two) for that cover.

However, the PHB is arguably the most important book for the game. I think it should focus on the adventures as opposed to just the PCs or the dragons.

I will agree that the dragon takes up a lot of the cover space, but the piece isn't about the dragon, it's about the fight with the dragon. But then again 'dragon' takes up a large portion of the game's title as well.

Comparing the two images the dragon fight gives me more of a sense of 'possibilities' than the other two covers do:

It's got humans, an elf and a dwarf.
It's got a fighter, probably a rogue and a magic user of some sort.
It's got swords, a magic staff and a couple of maces.
It's got scale armor, leather armor and robes.
Oh... yeah... and there are rumors of a dragon in there as well.

That says 'adventure and excitement' to me a lot more than 'a flesh showing girl and weird critter' do.

 

[adamx20]

I guess.

I don;t like the green dragon cover because that's really all you see: a green dragon.

The Player's book is about the players---they should be the focus.

You could fix that by adding some damaged armor and damaged dragon to the picture.

I too dislike the new covers (both) for the PHB. I think the Green Dragon cover has way more action in it. The other two covers look like a collection of avatars and the blue washed background is monotony!!

 

[EATherrian]

I really like the purple bars in that one mockup. That one looks the best. Still, the horn on the dragon needs to go, it's silly.

 

[Dausuul]

Sadly it isn't.
I was hoping for something a tad more inviting, but I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part that the next Wayne Reynolds picture would be.

I was hoping it wouldn't be Wayne Reynolds. Can't stand his style.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Green dragon is a great picture, the colors are amazingly vibrant and it really says 'Dungeons & Dragons'. But is it right for the PHB cover? I say no, because the dragon is too prominent. It would work for the introductory game or a module called "The Green Dragon's Lair". The PHB focuses on the PCs so the cover should reflect that.