Today a surprising title ranked number 2 on the bestsellers list for the Canadian branch of Amazon.com: D&D 4th Edition. Yes, that's right, according to The Canadian Press, The Core Rulebook for the latest release of Dungeons and Dragons is sitting pretty in the number two slot of the Amazon.ca fiction bestseller list.

This news intrigues me, and not only because we've been listening to the PVP/Penny Arcade promotional 4th Edition podcasts here in the Mandifesto household. I'm more intrigued by the idea that our little role-playing subculture may not be so very sub after all. Now you may be saying "Mandifesto, that's just Canada, and that's just the fiction bestseller list." True, but I checked the overall bestseller list for Amazon.com, and what did I find? The 4th Edition Core Rulebook listed as the 13th most popular book. So while many people may scoff at the role players, we are still out there, in sufficient numbers to hold this sort of sway over modern culture. Now if you'll excuse me, my little druid has some kobolds to outwit, with little more than a wooden stave and an amulet of +1 con.

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Lynxara

No matter how many times I see the cover of the new PHB, I can't get over how "paint this on the side of a van" it is.

Arturis

I love the artwork for the new books - It strongly hints back to the 2nd Edition book covers and art work from the likes of Jeff Eisley and Larry Elmore. I much prefer these over 3rd Edition's "fake epic tome" look.

Lynxara

I can kinda see where you're coming from, but I don't know-- the 2E artwork on the whole had a certain delicacy to it that 4E lacks. It evoked novel covers to me, and sort of set the mood for 2E's big, arguably misguided emphasis on story-telling.

While I do like the packaging design better this go-round, the actual 4E art is trying so hard to be badass and dynamic it ends up looking like a Manowar album cover. Those usually give me a severe case of the giggles.

Then again, so does playing 4E-- combat's great now, and otherwise it's like playing something a teenager designed. Which very well may be the point, but things of interest to teenagers often end up seeming terribly silly to ancient specimens like myself.

(I do like the interior art quite a bit better in 4E than the 3E corebooks, though. Man, 3E launched with laughable art and then just got worse over time.)

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