D&D 5E Planescape, Bigby, Phandelver and the Deck of Many Things: Covers & Details Revealed!

The covers of the upcoming D&D books — including Planescape, Glory of the Giants, and the Deck of Many Things have been revealed.

• August 15th -- Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants ($59.95)
• August 15th -- The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons ($39.95)
• September 19th -- Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk ($59.95)
• October 16th -- Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse ($TBA)
• November 14th -- Book of Many Things ($TBA)

Coming August 15th with two variants. Lore about giants, 76 stat blocks, feats, and a giant subclass.

3 hardcovers in a boxed set-- 96 page guide to Sigil, 64-page bestiary, and 96-page adventure, along with a poster map and DM screen. Coming October 16th.

224-page adventure for levels 1-12, poster map, 16 new monsters. Coming September 19th.

66 illustrated cards, 192-page book with lore, character options, magic items, and monsters, 80-page card reference guide, all in a slipcase. Coming November 14th.​

These Are Dungeons & Dragons' New Products For 2023

New books for the fantasy role-playing game include Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, and a look at the legendary Deck of Many Things.

themessenger.com

 

[Quickleaf]

That was my first impression too, but there are modrons at the bottom. Perhaps it's Primus? Or perhaps we are indeed getting a re-do of Dead Gods/The Great Modron March?

Very likely. We've seen modrons depicted in art in the DMG. Also rogue modron cameos in Out of the Abyss, Tomb of Annihilation, Descent into Avernus, Dungeon of the Mad Mage as a footnoe, and Candlekeep Mysteries (I don't have that book to confirm though).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Bit of a silly modern interpretation (yeti with ice cream cones, fiend with soft pretzel, glowing signage), but nice diversity of creatures.

Fantasy now has been heavily influenced by anime and other more magi-tech friendly influences. I think this is just what fantasy looks like now, to a lot of people. (See the gnashing of dentures on the thread about WotC's demographics survey.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That was my first impression too, but there are modrons at the bottom. Perhaps it's Primus? Or perhaps we are indeed getting a re-do of Dead Gods/The Great Modron March?

There are all sorts of reasons why a modron might end up in the Astral Sea, including if said modron is a glitchling PC and the rest of the cover shows the group out there adventuring together.

And I sure hope they have more ambition than just regurgitating an adventure from the early 1990s that DMs can convert themselves.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Art (of the Hive in Sigil?) from the IGN article ...which oddly showed up on Google search but not the article itself.

Bit of a silly modern interpretation (yeti with ice cream cones, fiend with soft pretzel, glowing signage), but nice diversity of creatures.

I think the artist is Vicki Pangestu.

Honestly, looks good to me - a healthy dose of Radiant Citadel marketplace aesthetic while still being recognizably Sigil (bladed architecture galore).

That looks like a gehreleth (kelubar or shator) in the background, holding a trident behind the tiefling and giant octopus tentacles... Nice to see them making a comeback.

Also, yum...fried cranium rat... Wonder if that's a covert operation to get rid of The Us, or a rogue illithid eliminating regular cranium rats to weaken Ilsensine...

 

[Quickleaf]

Fantasy now has been heavily influenced by anime and other more magi-tech friendly influences. I think this is just what fantasy looks like now, to a lot of people. (See the gnashing of dentures on the thread about WotC's demographics survey.)

Yeah, it's interesting. In that art piece I linked, if the buildings lacked blades & the creature selection were a little different, I'd totally assume we were looking at Sharn or Ravnica. Actually, if I didn't know this was art for the upcoming 5e Planescape book, I'd have assumed it was one of those two cities at first glance. Don't know if this was just an artist having creative license or part of larger art direction.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I've generally interpreted Sigil as being more "Dickensian", which I guess means being more grey and grimy, especially based on how grey and brown a bunch of Dana Knutson's (the other architect of Planescape's look) art was, though that might have been 2e Planescape having limited colours in the ink used for printing.

But then again I've also said how I felt that a modern interpretation of Planescape should take some Visual/Stylistic Cues from Netflix's Arcane (aka their League of Legends adaptation). Also remember that 2e Planescape came out at a time when Trent Reznor was more focused on Nine Inch Nails instead of movie scores.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I've generally interpreted Sigil as being more "Dickensian", which I guess means being more grey and grimy, especially based on how grey and brown a bunch of Dana Knutson's (the other architect of Planescape's look) art was, though that might have been 2e Planescape having limited colours in the ink used for printing.

But then again I've also said how I felt that a modern interpretation of Planescape should take some Visual/Stylistic Cues from Netflix's Arcane (aka their League of Legends adaptation). Also remember that 2e Planescape came out at a time when Trent Reznor was more focused on Nine Inch Nails instead of movie scores.

I think pulling from some Blade Runner/Cyberpunk style imagery makes for a decent "middle ground" - there's no reason you can't have plenty of color going around while still making things look grim and grimy.

Also, a fair amount of Sigil's aesthetic is in its weather - frequent drizzling rain, fog/smog, etc. does a lot to mute colors at a distance.

 

[Stormonu]

That pic is a bit too punny for my tastes (and all the action is crammed into the foreground), but it nails the diversity of the City. I'm still partial to this old depiction (though it too has all the wierdness front and center):

 

[Demetrios1453]

There are all sorts of reasons why a modron might end up in the Astral Sea, including if said modron is a glitchling PC and the rest of the cover shows the group out there adventuring together.

And I sure hope they have more ambition than just regurgitating an adventure from the early 1990s that DMs can convert themselves.

There are several modrons along the bottom edge - definitely a tridrone and a monodrone, and it looks like more still before the edge of what we can see. I'd say it's a march of modrons of some sort...

 

[Demetrios1453]

That looks like a gehreleth (kelubar or shator) in the background, holding a trident behind the tiefling and giant octopus tentacles... Nice to see them making a comeback.

I'm glad to see them as well, although I was about 99% sure they would be appearing.