New Player's Handbook Cover Art!

[Cyronax]

See, this picture would be a disaster, because it sends all the wrong messages to new players. Regdar is obviously going all Leeroy Jenkins on the Dragon. This tells young people that this is a game about foolhardy action that shafts your buddies who are dumb enough to go after you.

The Rogue chick behind him is obviously his girlfriend. She was right behind him when he ran in, but when she saw what he had stirred up, she had second thoughts and is running away. This tells young people that this is a world where love cannot survive adversity.

Not to mention the mercenary qualities of the other two members of the party. The Elf is moving away, but at least has the grace to glance back at his teammate - or is he glancing back at the Rogue who he's been courting on the side? The Dwarf, however, is halfway out the freakin' door, and is waving goodbye with the mace in his right hand. He obviously knew that Regdar was prone to this sort of behavior, and has no intention of getting killed because of it. He clearly didn't talk Regdar out of it, though. This tells young people that you can't count on your friends to stop you from making bad mistakes - they'll only abandon you.

I applaud WotC for choosing a cover for the PHB that shows more moral rectitude and doesn't send the wrong message to young people, or their parents with their hands on the purse-strings, I might add.

In all seriousness, I like all of the covers I've seen, but I'm not blown away by any of them. On balance, I like the changes.

In this election season, I should slam into your comments with outrage, but I cackle instead (mods i'm just being descriptive ..... no bias, no smack down). Maybe the dwarf felt that his stability bonus wasn't what it should have been given the new edition. Maybe the elf likewise felt that the humans should take this one. Perhaps 4e is about humans finally coming into their own? I don't know. All I know (I mean opin) is that the green dragon cover was fine. I liked it better than what's on the website. Dragonborn don't deviate from my homebrew at all (given my use of dragonkin from the FR monster book), but it didn't look like it was a cover that'd last through YEARS of play.

I think a cover that conveys that 'oh no (or a worse word), what have we gotten ourselves into' moment is the essential D&D adventure (as much as it is any Indiana Jones movie or similar story that involves delving into the unknown). As a DM, I love making the players second guess themselves and love even more when they persevere.

C.I.D.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

See, this picture would be a disaster, because it sends all the wrong messages to new players. Regdar is obviously going all Leeroy Jenkins on the Dragon. This tells young people that this is a game about foolhardy action that shafts your buddies who are dumb enough to go after you.

The Rogue chick behind him is obviously his girlfriend. She was right behind him when he ran in, but when she saw what he had stirred up, she had second thoughts and is running away. This tells young people that this is a world where love cannot survive adversity.

Not to mention the mercenary qualities of the other two members of the party. The Elf is moving away, but at least has the grace to glance back at his teammate - or is he glancing back at the Rogue who he's been courting on the side? The Dwarf, however, is halfway out the freakin' door, and is waving goodbye with the mace in his right hand. He obviously knew that Regdar was prone to this sort of behavior, and has no intention of getting killed because of it. He clearly didn't talk Regdar out of it, though. This tells young people that you can't count on your friends to stop you from making bad mistakes - they'll only abandon you.

I applaud WotC for choosing a cover for the PHB that shows more moral rectitude and doesn't send the wrong message to young people, or their parents with their hands on the purse-strings, I might add.

In all seriousness, I like all of the covers I've seen, but I'm not blown away by any of them. On balance, I like the changes.

ROTFLMAO!

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

See, this picture would be a disaster, because it sends all the wrong messages to new players. Regdar is obviously going all Leeroy Jenkins on the Dragon. This tells young people that this is a game about foolhardy action that shafts your buddies who are dumb enough to go after you.

The Rogue chick behind him is obviously his girlfriend. She was right behind him when he ran in, but when she saw what he had stirred up, she had second thoughts and is running away. This tells young people that this is a world where love cannot survive adversity.

Not to mention the mercenary qualities of the other two members of the party. The Elf is moving away, but at least has the grace to glance back at his teammate - or is he glancing back at the Rogue who he's been courting on the side? The Dwarf, however, is halfway out the freakin' door, and is waving goodbye with the mace in his right hand. He obviously knew that Regdar was prone to this sort of behavior, and has no intention of getting killed because of it. He clearly didn't talk Regdar out of it, though. This tells young people that you can't count on your friends to stop you from making bad mistakes - they'll only abandon you.

I applaud WotC for choosing a cover for the PHB that shows more moral rectitude and doesn't send the wrong message to young people, or their parents with their hands on the purse-strings, I might add.

In all seriousness, I like all of the covers I've seen, but I'm not blown away by any of them. On balance, I like the changes.

ROTFLMAO!

 

[Mephistopheles]

One thing that D&D covers have generally done for me is a quick imagination kickstart. They usually show an adventuring scene of some kind and the natural inclination is for the imagination to start filling in the blanks. The first time I saw a D&D book the cover image made my imagination ask enough questions that I had to check it out.

Although I didn't mind the 3E faux covers themselves, I wasn't that enthused about them because they didn't provide that same urge to open the book and get to the bottom of what was going on in the scene on the cover.

While the 4E covers are a step back in the right direction there's just not enough to work with in this cover to capture my interest in the same way.

 

[aboyd]

I like the dragon artwork. If someone could turn that into a slip cover, I'd buy it.

The new cover is OK. I feel that the previous cover was a bit kid-ish, and the new one is more neutral. Since I'm far from being a kid, I feel more comfortable buying it with the new cover.

But I'd still prefer the dragon artwork.

 

[Minicol]

Well, a Dragonborn and a Cave, anyway!

That shows for the decrease in quality as editions advance !

 

[haakon1]

I hate to say it, but I REALLY don't like that cover. For one thing, I was a fan of the old "faux" book covers, or at the least the more recent art covers. This one is completely static, no action, and seems horribly off-center (There's too much open space on the left-hand side). I actually preferred the Tiefling cover to this one.

Nod, this is worse than the original. The creature, whatever it is, is doofy looking, with a doofy cartoon sword, so far as I can tell from the small picture.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

I think the new PHB cover is an improvement over the first one (which wasn't that awful itself), and completely fine. As for the fan-made green dragon cover... I'm starting to think it looks too busy.

Also, for everyone complaining about how the covers don't show people adventuring... 3.* covers were faux-tomes (don't take me wrong, though; I liked them, and they were a nice break from the 2e) and the 2e core books featured a bunch of cavalry in a blurry canyon and a wizard standing in a light show.

 

[Raduin711]

I think the new PHB cover is an improvement over the first one (which wasn't that awful itself), and completely fine. As for the fan-made green dragon cover... I'm starting to think it looks too busy.

Also, for everyone complaining about how the covers don't show people adventuring... 3.* covers were faux-tomes (don't take me wrong, though; I liked them, and they were a nice break from the 2e) and the 2e core books featured a bunch of cavalry in a blurry canyon and a wizard standing in a light show.

That DMG cover with the light show... any idea who made it? I am trying to google it and, while the PHB cover with the canyon is easy to find, the DMG is remarkably hard to.

I remember long ago happening upon a website selling a poster which had that DMG artwork. It claimed the poster was 3d with a special pair of glasses. (For kicks I tried looking at my dmg with a pair I got from a laser light show. didn't work. Doesn't even look 3d.) Site may be long gone.

Unfortunately I fear I may be a grognard when it comes to artwork. When it comes to weapons and armor, I like the authentic feel of 2nd edition's art. The newer stuff looks pretty but fake, which doesn't suck me in as well. But I am probably in the minority there.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

That DMG cover with the light show... any idea who made it? I am trying to google it and, while the PHB cover with the canyon is easy to find, the DMG is remarkably hard to.

Jeff Easley

Edit: http://mythesgrec.ibelgique.com/magicien3.jpg will look for better version, but Easley's website is down.