Forget classes, my favorite thing about the new D&D Player's Handbook is its art

Aug. 20, 2024

Opinion | This feels like a major step up from the old version

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Within the first few pages of the new D&D Player’s Handbook, you’re greeted by pictures of dodgy deals with hags, a battle to the death with wyverns, and the fickle nature of a d20. (Roll a 1? Whoops, that’s straight into the spike pit with you.) It’s enough to make the previous version feel drab in comparison, and the book is so much livelier as a result. You can thank the game’s recent success and (far) larger budget for that, but it’s not the only reason. According to Dungeons & Dragons art director Josh Herman, it’s also because this was an opportunity to start fresh.

What we ended up with feels like quintessential Dungeons & Dragons, but with no holds barred. After spending a couple of days with the revised Player’s Handbook, I can comfortably say that this is D&D putting its best foot forward.

Supporting act

Alongside a much grander piece of hero art for each class (which proudly takes up a whole page this time), each subclass also gets an evocative illustration that teases readers with what they might be. Whether it’s a fantasy rockstar from the Bard’s College of Glamor or the Paladin’s colorful Oath of Ancients build, it’s hard not to be inspired by the wildly different takes on offer. Equally, you’ll get artwork displaying how a spell works every page or two – and it’s actually quite compelling, showing off how magic works where before you’d have to guess what something like ‘Chromatic Orb’ looked like.

Wondering why the core rulebooks are changing in the first place? According to the game’s creative director, it’s about smoothing out wrinkles that have come up in the last 10 years. More specifically,D&D “didn’t burn the game down” for the new rulebooks: it’s still the RPG you love.

That’s because the art isn’t just there to look pretty – part of the draw is that it all tells a story. As Herman notes, artwork in D&D books is about “supporting the text, whether it’s a monster or a place, or a villain, or a character class. Because in essence, D&Disthe text – the rules of the game. And so the art is really there to support that, and to show what is on the page as much as possible. Because the text is incredibly juicy and filled with really interesting things, right? And there’s a lot of ways to take that.”

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This is why the new artwork often takes place before or after climactic events – such as goblins preparing to launch an ambush, or a horse-drawn carriage charging away from a menacing castle. According to Herman, that allows readers to fill in the gaps. Otherwise, you’ll “rob the player of the agency” to create their own narrative, subconsciously or otherwise.

With the sheer amount of art and content filling up this 384-page tome, however, overwhelming readers proved a real risk. That was a major concern for Herman and co as a result, and the attention shows. The book is much easier to skim than before, and your eye is immediately drawn to crucial info via boxouts, tables, and icons to represent classes or stats. Yes, there’s still a lot of text to parse through. But in direct contrast to previous editions where sections bled together and thus were tricky to find quickly during a session, it’s a more logical read this time around.

It’s not just the art of new D&D I’m excited about; the upcoming virtual tabletop is also on my radar. Indeed,Project Sigil is “the Minecraft of D&D” according to developers.

In a nutshell, the new Player’s Handbook is trying to set up D&D for the next several years; there’s an emphasis on being more accessible than ever whilst adding new perspectives that should revitalize existing players. As Herman concludes, it aims to be “nostalgic but exciting and fresh.” And from what I’ve seen so far – who am I to argue with the have-a-go-if-you-think-you’re-hard-enough party on the cover? – it hits that target with gusto.

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