Elemental Evil Player's Companion Now Available in Print!

Drivethru is offering a POD version of the Elemental Evil Player's Companion (premium and standard).

While that's awesome all by itself, I'm hoping it means that older titles will become POD as well.

Nice find. $8.00 is way cheaper than OfficeMax was willing to charge ($15) to print the same thing.

I hope too that some of the modules and softcovers become PoD, but I'm not sure about the hardcovers/box sets.

 

[Jester David]

I'm loving this. Totally getting it (if shipping isn't too egregious).
I hope they end up doing a Basic book as well. And maybe segue into the older PDFs...

 

[CasvalRemDeikun]

I'm loving this. Totally getting it (if shipping isn't too egregious).
I hope they end up doing a Basic book as well. And maybe segue into the older PDFs...

If they released older products this way, I would be all over them. I would Also love to see them do shorter adventures for 5E this way. Release one a month on POD. Maybe they could release capstone 16-20th level capstone adventure for the adventure paths that have already been released.

 

[JeffB]

I saw the 5e basic player rules in print form on Lulu the other day. Not from WOTC, but they were there.

 

[JeffB]

Mod Edit: No links to copyright infringers, please. Thanks! ~Umbran

 

[Remathilis]

Can anyone tell me the difference between (of better yet, vouch for) the premium over the standard?

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

The colors are sharper and more clear in the premium version.

 

[Morrus]

The colors are sharper and more clear in the premium version.

Really noticeably so. They call it "standard" and "premium" but they should call it "poor" and "acceptable". The standard print really is quite faded and muted on any PoD from DTRPG I've ever seen.

 

[redrick]

I saw the 5e basic player rules in print form on Lulu the other day. Not from WOTC, but they were there.

The problem is that links like that violate WoTC copyright and are only a short C&D away from disappearing.

What's cool about this particular product is that it appears to be with the explicit permission of Wizards, meaning that it is entirely legal and we can send our players there without fear that it will get pulled down as soon as somebody at Wizards gets wise to it.

I think the chances of seeing Basic in this format are a little smaller — basic represents a good chunk of the PHB, so selling a low-cost print version of it might be seen as competing with the full-cost version. The PoA players' companion includes some material only available in that PDF, and what is reprinted from the hardback amounts to an appendix. I don't think Wizards is particularly concerned about the small number of fans willing to buy a $50 hardback so they can get 10-20 pages of printed spell descriptions. And a lot of players specifically won't want to buy the adventure hardback, because they want to play it before they read it!

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

The problem is that links like that violate WoTC copyright and are only a short C&D away from disappearing.

What's cool about this particular product is that it appears to be with the explicit permission of Wizards, meaning that it is entirely legal and we can send our players there without fear that it will get pulled down as soon as somebody at Wizards gets wise to it.

I think the chances of seeing Basic in this format are a little smaller — basic represents a good chunk of the PHB, so selling a low-cost print version of it might be seen as competing with the full-cost version. The PoA players' companion includes some material only available in that PDF, and what is reprinted from the hardback amounts to an appendix. I don't think Wizards is particularly concerned about the small number of fans willing to buy a $50 hardback so they can get 10-20 pages of printed spell descriptions. And a lot of players specifically won't want to buy the adventure hardback, because they want to play it before they read it!

I actually think a low price-point Basic Game would serve a similar function to the usually free "Quickstart" products that many companies use (including WotC with 4E). The Basic version is already free in PDF form - making a print-on-demand version will appeal to folks who like to have a print-product and may even encourage folks to buy into the full version (AKA PHB, DMG, MM).

 

[Remathilis]

Really noticeably so. They call it "standard" and "premium" but they should call it "poor" and "acceptable". The standard print really is quite faded and muted on any PoD from DTRPG I've ever seen.

Glad I sprung the $2 and got premium!

Shipping for me was 3.99 USPS, but 12(!) for UPS. Still, uploading the PDF onto Officmax.com and getting it saddle-staple, 80lb paper with a carstock cover would have been $29, so I thought it was a steal.

I have a black-and-white printer-copy in my binder, but this will nice to have at the table.