ELEMENTAL EVIL Player's Companion - FREE!

The Elemental Evil Player's Companion is available for free download over at DTRPG (and RPGNow). It includes new races (aarakocra, deep gnome, genasi, and goliath) and ove 40 new spells. The PDF is a full-colour 25-page PDF; according to the first page, the genasi in chapter 1 and all of the spells in chapter 2 also appear in the appendices of Princes of the Apocalypse, the adventure due to hit store shelves very soon.

"Not inherently evil, elemental power can be mastered by those with both malevolent and benign intentions. The Elemental Evil Player’s Companion provides everything players need to build a character that is tied directly into the Elemental Evil storyline.

New race options include the aarakocra, deep gnome, genasi, and goliath. Additionally, a plethora of new spells put the elements directly at your command.

The Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, was original designed by Richard Baker, Robert J. Schwalb and Stephen Schubert, with additional design and development by Wizards D&D R&D.

This accessory is specifically meant to support the Elemental Evil–Princes of the Apocalypse adventure product."

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[I'm A Banana]

Like there is no paticular reason to believe Kettie leaked it or that is was all an accident.

Of course there is - WotC never announced anything.

WotC could have done it as a marketing strategy. That you disagree with this sort of strategy doesn't mean that WotC didn't do it. What would make it untrue is WotC saying Kettie leaked it or Kettie saying "we leaked it without WotC's consent." None of these statements have been made so far. I do not think they will be made either. So we are left with speculations.

They don't need to deny the veracity an announcement they never actually made in order to prove it wasn't true.

The problem with your opinion is that you start with the premise that leaks cannot be factual.

After all that wasted word count, you still have no idea what I'm actually saying. And since I've got little interest in talking to myself, I guess we're done here.

 

[Mistwell]

For those curious, from the other thread (I asked him "Back when a potential cover for the Elemental Player's Guide appeared on EnWorld, was that an authorized or unauthorized leak?")

"Leaks are never authorized. Distributors, etc. get to see our plans when they are still forming, rather than final. For instance, I think we shared 5e release dates with retailers/distributors and later changed them. We've also shown off entire game lines that were never released."

So looks like this was not an authorized leak, it was not some intentional customer-oriented teaser being put out there. It was, apparently, intended for distributors to see as part of a not-final plan that was not intended for consumers, which the distributors know is sometimes changed or even entirely pulled before the plan is finalized. At least, that's how I read that.

 

[AmmiPierce]

I feel bad for any member of these new races that gets Reincarnate cast on them. They need to update the table already.

 

[Connorsrpg]

One thing I think missing from the Aaracokra is their wingspan. This could be a very limiting option for flight. It is in our game. We required a square/5ft to be free on either side of the fligher for our race of aaracokra-like race (harkrinn). So, they cannot actually fly in small spaces. This is important for things like tunnels and pit traps. It prevents a lot of headaches too.

"I will constantly fly along the tunnels".

Seems odd they did not mention this as a limiting factor.

 

[Kramodlog]

Of course there is - WotC never announced anything.

I never said WotC announced anything. I understand you missed a few posts in this thread. What I called Kettite was an online retail store. That store was the one who made the ad copys and the cover art for the books public. It was something WotC gave to distributors. We knew WotC was working on a splatbook, and eventually cancelled it, because the ad copys and cover were made public by that distributor.

They don't need to deny the veracity an announcement they never actually made in order to prove it wasn't true.

So your going with the "it doesn't exist if WotC doesn't announce it" line? Things can exist without being made public, you know. We knew it was being made because an online distributor released the info. It ended up on ENworld in the news section. Twice. Then WotC cancelled it.

After all that wasted word count, you still have no idea what I'm actually saying. And since I've got little interest in talking to myself, I guess we're done here.

What words? You made claims, but didn't put out arguments to defend them. Just because you are an mod doesn't mean you can make various claims without baking them up. An opinion is just that without a defense. If you wanna save face, no problem. You can leave the discussiong. Hopefully you learn a few things.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

So your going with the "it doesn't exist if WotC doesn't announce it" line? Things can exist without being made public, you know. We knew it was being made because an online distributor released the info. It ended up on ENworld in the news section. Twice. Then WotC cancelled it..

They can exist without being made public. But who cares if they exist or not? That's like saying that Apple has to issue a statement saying that their television set that has been rumored all over the internet for the last 3 years has been cancelled. They've never once stated they were working on a television. But blogs, tech news sites and so on have been reporting how big it was going to be and what features it would have for years. These sites have even sited sources from within the company that have leaked that information to them.

Apple doesn't care. They never announced a product and, to them, it doesn't exist until it is officially announced.

During the last couple of years there has been all sorts of rumors about 20 or 30 different products that Apple is supposedly working on. I'd bet at least 10% of the rumors are actually true and Apple is working on them in some capacity. But does it really matter? If those products never come out then they don't exist.

 

[Sailor Moon]

They can exist without being made public. But who cares if they exist or not? That's like saying that Apple has to issue a statement saying that their television set that has been rumored all over the internet for the last 3 years has been cancelled. They've never once stated they were working on a television. But blogs, tech news sites and so on have been reporting how big it was going to be and what features it would have for years. These sites have even sited sources from within the company that have leaked that information to them.

Apple doesn't care. They never announced a product and, to them, it doesn't exist until it is officially announced.

During the last couple of years there has been all sorts of rumors about 20 or 30 different products that Apple is supposedly working on. I'd bet at least 10% of the rumors are actually true and Apple is working on them in some capacity. But does it really matter? If those products never come out then they don't exist.

The problem is the way Mearls handled it.

He came up with some lame excuse that only an honest to god idiot would believe. It was actually insulting.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

The problem is the way Mearls handled it.

He came up with some lame excuse that only an honest to god idiot would believe. It was actually insulting.

Except his excuse was "We never announced it so we can't cancel it." Which was true. Unless you mean his excuse was "We decided to reevaluate what support for an RPG looks like". Which also seems to be true. So, unless "he came up with some lame excuse" means "he told us the complete truth", I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Except his excuse was "We never announced it so we can't cancel it." Which was true. Unless you mean his excuse was "We decided to reevaluate what support for an RPG looks like". Which also seems to be true. So, unless "he came up with some lame excuse" means "he told us the complete truth", I don't know what to tell you.

You don't have to announce something to make it eligible for cancellation. If you are working on a product with the intention of selling it and you cancel it before you announce it officially then it's still a cancellation.

They intended for a book to be released. They leaked info to others who then leaked it without permission. Apparently they didn't have enough content to fill the book so it was cancelled.

Mearls' statement is like me saying "because I wasn't there to hear it, the tree never made a noise when it fell".

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

That's not true at all. As I said above, Apple doesn't "cancel" the Apple Television that it's likely been working on when it decides not to put it out. Despite the existence of a large amount of proof it exists, you'll never find Apple acknowledging that fact. They don't discuss rumors, even when they are blatant. Even if someone has pictures of an iPhone 7. They just issue a statement that says "We have not announced a product like that".

That's the normal way for companies to deal with these situations. If a product isn't announced, it doesn't exist. The company simply doesn't acknowledge it. Otherwise the company would be constantly dealing with customer questions and complaints when they decide to create 20 test products in a year and only 2 of them actually end up being sold. Someone, somewhere, is going to think one of the other 18 was the best thing since sliced bread and complain loudly about how your company refuses to release the best thing they've ever created because they hate their customers. The best way to deal with it is to pretend it never existed and to refuse to acknowledge it until everyone forgets about it. Talking about it just makes it more public and causes more and more people to get angry over it.

You can cancel a book internally. But then the only people you tell that it's been cancelled are your employees and any partners who need to know. You don't issue a press release.

Companies try to keep 90% of what they are doing hidden.

As for the book itself, no one has ever stated that there wasn't enough content to fill a book. I'm actually completely confident that they had enough content to fill a book scheduled. But a bunch of it didn't ever get written because they changed their mind about making a book before it did. I also think that a LOT more content was already created for the book and they will be released in Unearthed Arcana columns of their website over the next 6 months.