Re: Venger, Warduke and Skylla on DMG 2024 cover, PHB.

On Mon, 12 Aug 2024 09:32:22 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/category/3710000?pid=DB3710000
>
I like the cover at least.  No idea what's in the book.  Nice depiction
of Venger and Warduke, this might be my favorite DMG cover now, though
I've still got a soft spot for the 1e Efreeti (which I didn't even
realize was an Efreeti until years and years later when I found out on
the internet, thought it was a demon of some sort, even though I played
& ran 1e since it came out.)
>
If they're coming from the cartoon, you'd think they'd put Dungeonmaster
on the cover for the Dungeon Master's Guide.  I get it though, he's not
particularly interesting.  I suppose they're considering Dungeonmaster
is the one holding the book.
>
Skylla I'd never heard of, apparently she just appeared as an action
figure (I remember the Warduke action figure was popular, I really
wanted him, but saved my money for things of actual use, I was a bit
beyond the target age at the time too.)
>
>
The PHB on the other hand seems rather boring in comparison:
>
https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/category/3709000?pid=DB3709000
>
I don't think it's the PCs from the cartoon, if it is they've been
changed so much as to be unrecognizable, and I've no idea if they're
pulled from somewhere.  It's an action pose, but I can't tell what's
supposed to be going on, just sort of a Charlie's Angels pose with a
vague (yellow?) dragon behind and a red one's back of the head in front,
and a lizard man off to one side roaring.
>
I never liked the 5e one either, at least it appears one of the
characters is fighting the giant that's dominating the picture.  The
other PC just seems to be staring off into space on the right, and
there's a vague flying creature behind the giant.
>
The demon idol 1e cover is by far my favorite. It shows the party
cleaning up after a fight getting treasure, which tells a much better
tale even though there's no action in the picture other than what the
PCs are doing, which is quite well readable.

It only sounds sort of desperate to me, like they're betting hard on
nostalgia to sell their books rather than, you know, content people
actually want. Then again, I don't really see the need for an entirely
new edition anyway (other than to bolster Hasbro/WOTC's bottom line)
so what do I know?

Maybe I'm grumpy because -having come into the game when I did-
neither the cartoon nor the toys have any draw for me. I watched the
former even though it was clearly not aimed at people like me, and was
unimpressed. It was 'baby D&D'; it had nothing to do with the game I
played. I don't remember it fondly. The toys I only remember because
years ago I did some research into how TSR marketed the game. I might
have been aware of them when they were being sold, but I never bought
any. I never even considered it.

The D&D cartoon and comic have appeal only to a tiny part of their
market; the people who played the game during the early to mid 80s. I
mean, I know the characters have shown up since then, but I can't
imagine they have any real draw to them, at least not any more than
any other generic fantasy character. That Hasbro/WOTC is putting so
much focus on that group sort of seems to say they've given up on
attracting new players. It feels like short-term thinking; how to make
profit now rather than trying to grow the hobby.

Although maybe that's too much to conclude from a couple of (rather
unimpressive) book covers. But Hasbro/WOTC haven't really been
inspiring me to think well of them over the past few years.



My favorite D&D cover is the 2nd printing 1st Ed Dungeon Master's
Guide (wizard with key opening a gate to a fantastical land). It was a
perfect visual metaphor for what a dungeon master does. My second
favorite cover was the 2nd Edition Players Handbook (knight on
horseback galloping through canyon); just a perfect snapshot of the
sort of adventure the players might have.

But honestly, that era of D&D had so many awesome covers -the
art-style was so gritty and pulp- that it's really hard for me to
point to one and say 'that's the best'. The more modern books
(post-TSR) tend to have a more comic book/anime aesthetic that just
never appealed to me in the same way. It suggested less relatable,
less realistic adventuring. It didn't help that the games themselves
scaled up player abilities to the point the game itself felt almost
superhero comic-book at times. Although there has been a return to
form (at least in part) with the art-style in 5E books. It's not quite
got the beloved artistry and style of Caldwell, Elmore and the rest,
but neither is it so comic-booky.

But YMMV. A lot of people love the new art, and prefer the gameplay of
the newer editions. It's all subjective anyway.