Two covers for 4ed PHB ?

[pbalandier]

Hello,

I see this cover for 4th edition of PHB on some web site:


Is there different cover for this book ?

[Breakdaddy]

The cover you pictured there was never published on a book. The other pic is the only pic for the 4th print cover.

[zarathustra]

why not, me likey!

[Relaxo]

as I recall, that was like, a mock up or something.

[Traveller]

why not, me likey!

Likely because some self-professed grognards who hate Castles & Crusades with a passion thought that the demoness was far too sexy and thought the artist was homosexual because he created artwork with beautiful women in it. Yet they don't complain about Vallejo....

[serleran]

While the piece could make a good cover or interior, I do not like it for the cover of the Player's Handbook. I'm not sure why, but I can articulate that I do not find it very "action-filled" which is what I would want. The knight on his horse or the battle against the kitty... those are action. This is more of a "run away! run away!" which seems completely opposite.

Just an opinion.

[finarvyn]

I like both covers, but I might have been more tempted to buy the mock-up cover had I seen both at a game store.

[Tadhg]

Wow, fantastic artwork for sure.

BUT, BUT . . not suitable, IMO for a RPG book cover (or shall I say an RPG book that appeals to the younger generation).

Ya see, you've got kids, women, religiously conservative and other folks who like to see a clear and sensible good vs. evil game and a cover that reflects same.

Hey I'm not preaching but thinking of sales and advertising ~ and so you gotta go with an image/drawing that will appeal to a mass audience, rather than raise eyebrows or cause an immediate negative reaction (and thus - a potential customer who won't even open the book).

[gideon_thorne]

Wow, fantastic artwork for sure.

BUT, BUT . . not suitable, IMO for a RPG book cover (or shall I say an RPG book that appeals to the younger generation).

Ya see, you've got kids, women, religiously conservative and other folks who like to see a clear and sensible good vs. evil game and a cover that reflects same.

Hey I'm not preaching but thinking of sales and advertising ~ and so you gotta go with an image/drawing that will appeal to a mass audience, rather than raise eyebrows or cause an immediate negative reaction (and thus - a potential customer who won't even open the book).

I guess Tim Kask didn't have that reaction when he was art directing the cover art for Eldritch Wizardry. Ask him about it some time. Course, the artist who painted that picture (a friend of mine) finds the whole story, of how the picture was chosen, amusing.

[Joe]

Ya see, you've got kids, women, religiously conservative and other folks who like to see a clear and sensible good vs. evil game and a cover that reflects same.

Hey I'm not preaching but thinking of sales and advertising ~ and so you gotta go with an image/drawing that will appeal to a mass audience, rather than raise eyebrows or cause an immediate negative reaction (and thus - a potential customer who won't even open the book).

Is that why D&D was such a phenom...due to its wholesome portrayal of good vs evil. Or was it because parents made such a frenzied to do about it that every kid wanted one?

With prime time tv being what it is today I'm not sure people read books any more.

Maybe the industry needs some good old mob protests and book burnings to drum up some business. Nothing like free advertising.

I see evil so well permeated into society and spinning things any more that I doubt if good would even be recognized if it was in front of us.

[gideon_thorne]

There's nothing quite like that first nervous cracking of the covers and having ones innocent eyes exposed to works of great artistic beauty. The amazing colours, the textures, the depths of mastery expressed in such works.......




as put forth by Michaelangello, DaVinci, Titian, Bernini and many others...

And this was before I started gaming. I was 6 or 7 when my folks started showing me the works of the great masters. There was nothing naughty about it, it was just art. Its just terrible growing up in a family full of artists.

[finarvyn]

Wow, fantastic artwork for sure.

BUT, BUT . . not suitable, IMO for a RPG book cover (or shall I say an RPG book that appeals to the younger generation).

Ya see, you've got kids, women, religiously conservative and other folks who like to see a clear and sensible good vs. evil game and a cover that reflects same.

In general I agree, and am all for covers without racy pictures and such. On the other hand, pick up any swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated and compare the cover to the "mock up" artwork. The lady in the alternate PH cover shows some stomach, but I don't think this picture is that big of a deal.

Not like she's topless or anything. Ever look at Mongoose's 1E Conan RPG? Not that is a RPG book that I feel uncomfortable leaving out where the kids can find it.

Just my opinion.