D&D 5E Tyranny of Dragons New Cover Reveal

On Amazon, the cover of the upcoming rerelease of Tyranny of Dragons has been revealed, and it's a gorgeous depiction of Tiamat!

Defy the Queen of Evil Dragons in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Tyranny of Dragons combines and refines two action-packed Dungeons & Dragons adventures—Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat—into a single sweeping campaign. It also includes a gallery of concept art providing a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of an epic adventure spotlighting Tiamat, one of the most legendary foes in D&D.

• A wonderful re-introduction to 5th edition’s first published adventures for new fans
• Begins as a low-level adventure suitable for new players and evolves into an epic, sprawling campaign bringing players all the way from level 1 to level 15
• Adventure has been rebalanced to be easier for a new Dungeon Master to run and a better play experience.
• Book includes gallery of concept art spotlighting Tiamat, one of the most legendary foes in D&D

 

[Kalashtar]

Is she holding a Dragon orb in her claws?

 

[Weiley31]

Also, keep in mind, Tyranny of Dragons 2019 started off life as ONLY an Alt Cover. This is the first time we've had an actual "reversal" of the concept idea in 5E. That after all this time, we FINALLY get the standard cover of Tyranny of Dragons 2019.

And at least they gave it a really good standard cover.

 

[Reynard]

It's weird that the sky is falling because WotC reprinted a book with a new cover.

 

[darjr]

It's weird that the sky is falling because WotC reprinted a book with a new cover.

Well it is Tiamat.

 

[vecna00]

Well it is Tiamat.

Vecna did it! shifty eyes

 

[Marandahir]

Yes, I see nothing "sinister" here. They released a combined version with a limited cover and, presumably, that one sold well. Now, they release another printing. Probably the idea is also to take advantage commercially of the heightened focus on Tiamat/Takhisis thanks to Dragonlance.

Also, keep in mind, Tyranny of Dragons 2019 started off life as ONLY an Alt Cover. This is the first time we've had an actual "reversal" of the concept idea in 5E. That after all this time, we FINALLY get the standard cover of Tyranny of Dragons 2019.

And at least they gave it a really good standard cover.

100% both of these points.

As a collector of the Hydro64 (and Hydro64-style) alt-covers, I have an issue when they print additional special editions that make me have to choose WHICH cover I want, or if I want both. I was royally ****ed that they locked the Mordenkainen Presents alt cover behind a three book set with two NEW alt covers of books I already had alt covers of. I ended up buying the set anyway because errata and they're really gorgeous, and I still use my old Tasha's and Xanathar's when I'm too lazy to sidle them out of the box set.

But I have no qualms with them printing a standard edition cover - this is like reprinting a popular Magic: The Gathering card from a set that's no longer available into a Core Set or on The List. But even more so, D&D Alt Covers are NOT intended for Secondary Market sales, and WotC actually just said in a fireside chat they can't let secondary market concerns override whether they reprint something or not because the secondary market doesn't earn them any money. It's not part of their fiscal strategy. It might be a public relations thing.

But honestly, for everyone calling out for exclusivities, there are many many more who didn't get a chance to play these adventures previously and now will get a chance to. There's nothing wrong with reprinting it as a single tome so that people who loved Dragonlance have another Tiamat & Dragon-focused adventure. It gives the devs more breathing room to work on other things, like One D&D. And it saves on cardboard and paper too because collating the books together makes them fewer pages in total and 1 fewer frames. And the paper quality was better on the reprint from a few years ago, and I assume it'll be that same better paper now.

Basically, if you've got the books already, great, you don't need this, just download the errata from 2016. If you've got the 2019 FLGS cover revised and combined printing, that's great too! You don't need this either, you got the superior cover. Just download the image file of the newest cover and print it for your own satisfaction, since that's the only thing that's changed.

If you have neither - then you're in luck, the book is back in print!