Covers Preview for Elemental Evil Adventurer's Handbook and Princes of the Apocalypse!

So, it's official now. The Elder Elemental Eye has been somehow released from The World of Greyhawk to unleash havoc in the Realms. No fantasy world was described in more detail than the Forgotten Realms, and they still manage to produce not one, but two storylines in a row with themes and antagonists that have nothing to do with the Realms. Good job, Wizards.

 

[HobbitFan]

I think it would be great if WOTc released soemthing not tied to their adventure paths. Having such a small number of releases and having all of them keyed to WOTC's adventure hardbacks doesn't give DMs anything if they don't want to run those stories.

That's pretty lame and it's not supporting the game properly.

 

[guachi]

Bleh. I have a feeling that the DMG will be the last 5e product I purchase directly from WOTC. FR (specfically, Faerun) is my least favorite D&D setting by far. The upside of knowing months in advance they won't be publishing anything I want is I've been busy buying stuff on ebay or dndclassics.

It just seems strange to come out with adventures but no updated setting material to back it up. Maybe WOTC has done some kind of marketing that says that an expensive hardback adventure is what people want.

 

[tomservo999]

Another apocalypse???

 

[pukunui]

I think it would be great if WOTc released soemthing not tied to their adventure paths. Having such a small number of releases and having all of them keyed to WOTC's adventure hardbacks doesn't give DMs anything if they don't want to run those stories.

That's pretty lame and it's not supporting the game properly.

I think you will find that the bulk of the content in the players' book will be generic enough to be of use to people not playing the accompanying adventure. Think of them as the latest in the evolution of the Complete handbooks. 2e's were highly specific - only applying to a single class or race, for the most part (eg. Complete Fighter's Handbook, Complete Book of Elves). 3e's were slightly broader, by applying to all classes or races of a certain type (eg. Complete Warrior, Races of Stone, etc). 4e's were pretty much the same, except with different titles (eg. Arcane Power, Primal Power). Now you'll be getting books on broad themes that can apply to many races and classes. Think of this first one as being like Complete Elemental or something.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) 4e's were pretty much the same, except with different titles (eg. Arcane Power, Primal Power). Now you'll be getting books on broad themes that can apply to many races and classes. Think of this first one as being like Complete Elemental or something.

Until the end when we got Heroes of Shadow, Heroes of the Feywild, and Heroes of the Elemental Chaos. The latter two seemed to be almost universally praised so maybe WotC decided this was the way to do splat books in future? Of course, Paizo did the same thing first with their splat book support for their adventure paths....

 

[SirAntoine]

"The Adventurer's Handbook" is not the right title for that book. It sounds like something that would apply to all characters, from all settings and campaigns. If they want to make an elemental evil-themed character creation book they should call it one!

As for their taking elemental evil to the Forgotten Realms, that is about as good as taking the most famous stuff from there to Greyhawk. I wish they would stick to the original settings, and systems. There are consumers interested in elemental evil and Greyhawk, and many of them still play 1st Edition. Why not release this for 1st Edition, and let everyone else who is interested convert it to their favorite edition instead of asking the original fans to convert it?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) There are consumers interested in elemental evil and Greyhawk, and many of them still play 1st Edition. Why not release this for 1st Edition, and let everyone else who is interested convert it to their favorite edition instead of asking the original fans to convert it?

Many?


I sincerely doubt that the 1E-playing market is anything but a fraction of the market for the new edition.

Further, there are at least two ways to ensure that the initial goodwill that accompanies the launch of a new edition is squandered:

1. Ask Mike Mearls to write Keep on the Shadowfell and Pyramid of Shadow.
2. Release adventures for another edition other than the one you just published.

By contracting out the work to noted adventure designers, WotC has managed to avoid the former; surely you're not suggesting they embrace the latter particularly at a time there seems to be a bit of a clamour for more 5E products?

 

[SirAntoine]

Well, Scrivener of Doom, I can't claim to know how many 1st Edition and Greyhawk enthusiasts there still are, but maybe fewer would have gone away over the years if the company didn't accept the second of your points, which I think is just a fallacy. I have called for complete support of every edition from the beginning, and I am not about to stop.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

WotC has tested the market for 1E products with the deluxe reprints and clearly the market is not there or we would have seen more. I am sure your "I have called for... and I am not about to stop"-stance is well-meaning but I am sure it's not based on any sense of sound business principles.

Meanwhile, dndclassics.com is still alive and kicking, at least until another corporate lawyer for Hasbro steps up and makes another silly decision....

 

[aramis erak]

WotC has tested the market for 1E products with the deluxe reprints and clearly the market is not there or we would have seen more. I am sure your "I have called for... and I am not about to stop"-stance is well-meaning but I am sure it's not based on any sense of sound business principles.

At the prices, most of the people who would be interested weren't going to spend the money. After all, used copies are going for about original cover on ebay....