The next Dungeons & Dragons book could mark the beginning of a brand-new era for the tabletop RPG in one very important way. Later this year, Wizards of the Coast will release Dragon Delves, a new adventure anthology focused on dragons. The adventure anthology is the first book to use D&D‘s new revised 5th edition ruleset, with the individual dragons in the adventure all receiving new statblocks. The book will also include an art section celebrating the evolution of how dragons have looked in various D&D books and other material over the past 50 years.
However, the Dragon Delves anthology is also taking a big step in redefining the look of D&D books. Each adventure in the book is illustrated by a single artist, with the individual artist using their own art style instead of conforming to D&D‘s in-house style. This not only helps to visually define the book in new and unique ways but also represents a new direction for D&D, one that we haven’t seen in decades.
Dragon Delves Is Pushing Away From Standard Art Styles
New D&D Anthology Leans Into Individual Art Instead Of Towards Standardized Treatment
Confirmed artists for Dragon Delves include Luke Eidensink, Dominik Mayer, and Ed Kwong, all of whom have unique styles that vary greatly from recent D&D 5E art. While Wizards usually hires artists to work with a “fantastic realism” art-style, all three artists (and presumably the others involved in Dragon Delves) were allowed to bring their own art styles to the game. Eidensink’s red dragon evokes older and grittier D&D adventures. Mayer’s artwork looks almost toxic and radioactive in design. Meanwhile, Kwong uses a minimalist approach with a handful of color elements.
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Allowing artists to embrace their unique art styles is significant for Dungeons & Dragons, especially when it comes to recent 5E books. While entire product lines like Planescape used to have a consistent stylized approach, recent books have leaned into more generic art styles. That’s one of the reasons I think the alt-art cover treatments for D&D books were so embraced by the community. The standard covers are fantastic, but all conform to the same general art style. The alt-covers allow for more creative and evocative expression, bringing a unique and unforgettable style.
New Art Styles Evoke More Imagination In DMs
Different Takes Conjure Up Different Ideas
Utilizing different styles of artwork also opens up Dungeons & Dragons to more players in a way. While fantastic realism appropriately depicts Wizards of the Coast’s preferred version of how D&D should look and feel, other art styles encourage players to look at the worlds, characters, and monsters of D&D a bit differently.
Every piece of D&D art is supposed to inspire the DM.
For instance, a beholder might look more threatening when depicted in an ultra-detailed style, while a retro look could encourage a simpler take on the dungeon crawl. Every piece of D&D art is supposed to inspire the DM, but that doesn’t mean that the style is supposed to be similar.
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One of most notable flaws in having all D&D products conform to a set style is that various campaign settings and creatures feel the same. Spelljammer and Planescape are two totally different campaign settings with wildly different story concepts, but both felt similar when boxed sets featuring those products were released. It’s unfair to say those settings were homogenized due to 5E’s broader ruleset, but the art simply made both settings stylistically feel too similar to properly capture the weird vibes of both settings.
More Stylistic D&D Books Could Be Good For The Game
Stylistic Art Can Inspire More Mechanics & Fight Back Against Accusations Of Being Generic
For a long time, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has been accused of being too broad to properly accommodate specific styles of games or specific tones of games. It’s not crunchy enough to handle a gritty OSR-style dungeon crawl where every resource is tracked, but it’s too complicated to handle narrative-first storytelling. While some of that criticism feels unfair, it doesn’t help that deliberate choices in design have led to the game feeling like it doesn’t have an identity, and the art choices for various books reflect that lack of identity.
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More evocative artwork should help the game significantly. Everyone remembers iconic artwork, and that art style can be used to inspire certain stories or even certain game mechanics. A grittier piece of art could be used in conjunction with mechanics meant to help make 5E more dangerous, while something focused on evoking rich characterizations would be perfect for a module centered on roleplaying.
Additionally, better (or at least more unique) artwork could help keep word-of-mouth of a product going, resulting in more sales and a longer shelf-life. At the end of the day, Wizards of the Coast has a Rolodex full of amazing artists, and it doesn’t need to hog that talent just for Magic: The Gathering. It’s time for Dungeons & Dragons to shine with the same variety of great art.
Dungeons and Dragons
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$4
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Publisher
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
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2-7 Players
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