Wizards released the cover designs for a number of D&D4e books. Mostly I thought they looked pretty good, with some nice touches here and there. Then I saw this:
Yep, old Drizzt do’Urden, hated by many as a symbol of pure-munchkinism and D&D, will now be the official face of the Forgotten Realms. This is probably a brilliant decision on Wizards’ part, since Drizzt is an undeniably popular part of the Realms (at least the novel part of things.) But I can just hear the screams of many Forgotten Realms fans upon seeing this…
I remember being very surprised and impressed by the 3rd Edition book covers, as I’d grown sick of seeing all kinds of the proto-typical icons on the covers of sci-fi/fantasy novels as well as table top RPG books, whereas they took the approach of making them look more like books that might exist within the world they had created (most likely not an original idea, but hey it was awesome).
That being said, a large part of me is quite happy to see a smooth and stylish looking return to the classic RPG style of book for 4th Edition. The abundance of WAR’s artwork helps a heck of a lot, too.
Aha, Wizards has gone back and said that the Drizzt cover is only a placeholder. The screaming grognards have been silenced… for now.
Yes…for now…
*fingers crossed*
I admit it, I like Drizzt.
But not for the cover of a sourcebook. Unless it’s a sourcebook of all things Drizzt (frightening thought there).
I’d rather see something more representative of the world/setting as a whole. Something generic involving fighting & monsters that lets me imagine that my characters may be doing something like that someday.
I don’t want to imagine them posing like they’re cage dancers at a club….complete with codpiece.