28 thoughts on “Through the Ages: Dungeons & Dragons Cover Art”

1. Frankie Blankenship April 22, 2015 at 2:12 pm

   A wonderful trip through time… it’s really surprising to me how many of these I have gamed with.

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   1. Tim April 22, 2015 at 9:53 pm

      This is fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to do this with such care. I enjoyed looking through these, and am a fan of the way you laid them out. I’ll be back for more posts for sure!

      // Tim
      Tabletop Terrors

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      1. Shane Post authorApril 23, 2015 at 12:14 am

         Thanks Tim 🙂

         I really enjoyed putting this post together.

         As for the layout, I’m glad you like it… I felt just making a scrolling page was the best way to go.

         Best,
         Shane

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         1. garth April 23, 2015 at 2:04 am

            Thanks for the artwork and the scroll…I have these all out in my garage, I’m bringin’ ’em in the house now!

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2. Nick Cochran April 23, 2015 at 1:13 am

   Awesome. I have the 2e players handbook sitting around here somewhere. We like to use her still!

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3. Shawn Sanford April 25, 2015 at 8:04 am

   Great stuff! However, I did notice that you are missing the original Men and Magic cover: https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/setscans/book1v1.html

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   1. Shane Post authorApril 25, 2015 at 10:27 pm

      Thanks for the heads up! I added the original Men & Magic cover, link was very helpful.

      Best,
      Shane

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4. Armistace Games April 25, 2015 at 7:39 pm

   We actually have the 3rd edition redbox set as well as (once had) the 3rd Edition Core Rulebooks. We are looking at trying to regather 3.5 Edition set as we make our own tabletop rpg.
   Thank you for the walk through memory lane! Kudos!

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   1. Shane Post authorApril 25, 2015 at 10:26 pm

      You’re welcome 🙂 The walk through memory lane was one of the reasons I did it, I wanted to take that walk as well.

      Are you saying you are making an entirely new RPG?

      Best,
      Shane

      Reply ↓
5. Nai Calus April 28, 2015 at 1:34 am

   I’d include the two D&D 4e Essentials player’s books and possibly the rules compendium for same since Essentials was more or less a revision of 4e.

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   1. Shane Post authorApril 28, 2015 at 11:02 am

      Hi Nai,

      You’re not the first person to mention that 🙂 I’ve added them.

      Best,
      Shane

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6. Marty W April 28, 2015 at 10:50 am

   I don’t know know if you consider Monster Manual II to be “core” enough, but you include Fiend Folio so… I’ve always like the AD&D MM2 cover:
   https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/setscans/mmii.html

   Also, the 4e Monster Vault covers…
   https://www.google.com/search?q=monster+vault&source=lnms&tbm=isch

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   1. Marty W April 28, 2015 at 10:52 am

      Oh, I almost forgot the 3rd Edition Basic Box sets:
      https://www.google.com/search?q=d%26d+basic+game&tbm=isch

      Reply ↓

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8. Shane March 10, 2017 at 1:54 pm

   Amazing list of covers! 🙂 Would be really handy if you included the illustrators as well. I’ve been finding it hard to figure out who the artists are behind those awesome covers.

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9. Steve Nomm July 9, 2018 at 3:18 pm

   I was surprised to see that monster manual II was not listed as it is even mentioned in Wikipedia’s timeline and is a classic 1st edition release.

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   1. Shane Post authorJuly 18, 2018 at 11:42 pm

      Good point. Added 🙂

      Reply ↓
10. S. Hopkins January 27, 2019 at 12:21 pm

    Brilliant, I have a mouldy old box in my basement I had forgotten about with almost all the books from the red box to the 2nd edition books. I’m going to dig it out and give it to my teenage son and tell him this is what we played before video games, maybe he will take an interest. This brought back a ton of old memories, thanks!

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    1. Shane Post authorJanuary 27, 2019 at 11:17 pm

       Glad you liked it! Hearing comments like that is one of the reasons I do these kinds of posts 🙂

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11. Mook July 2, 2019 at 11:15 am

    Just found this page of cover images today — a little late to the party, but it was *exactly* what I was looking for! Thanks for putting this together, Shane, super useful.

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14. Mary Johnson January 16, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    Awesome! Thank you!

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    1. Shane Post authorJanuary 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

       You’re welcome, thanks for the comment 🙂

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15. Marry Johnson January 16, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    I have been looking for something similar on subject matter… Like every time orcs have been described etc. Big job.

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    1. Shane Post authorJanuary 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

       That’s definitely a big job! Good luck with it 🙂

       Reply ↓
16. Stephen Klauk May 29, 2024 at 8:52 am

    Since you posted the 1E Field Folio and MM2, should you also include the 3E versions and the 4E version of the MM2?

    Also, there was a “Challenger D&D” released for the Basic line. One was in a 9 X 12 boxed set, the other in a board game box (one black, one yellow)

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17. Travis Casey June 14, 2024 at 4:58 pm

    There were two more versions of the “Basic” line – “The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game”, which went through two editions. You can find cover images on the RPGGeek entry for it: https://rpggeek.com/image/762089/the-classic-dungeons-and-dragons-game

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