D&D 5E The Adventurer's Handbook Speculation Thread

[Parmandur]

First point to consider: Rick Baker also wrote "Heroes of the Elemental Chaos," so that book is good place to look for an idea of the overall direction: the Themes from that book may come back as Backgrounds, such as the Janissary.

Races:

Aarocka (sp?) - all tied up with Elemental stuff, and fighting evil, per the MM. Seems a good fit.

Azer - the same.

Genasi - no-brainer.

Subclasses:

- Warlock: some sort of elemental pact or Binder type.

- Cleric: Four elemental domains are a no-brainer.

- Wizard: Sha'ir, one or more Traditions.

- Sorcerer: Storm or Elementalist, somesuch.

- Paladin: Some sort of Oath dedicated to fighting Elemental Evil.

Spells out the wazoo.
.

 

[the Jester]

I agree that we'll likely see elemental cleric domains (Air, Earth, Fire and Water.)

Also, an elementalist sorcerer is an almost sure bet, since it's got legacy on its side, and HotEC was one of the best 4e books.

I think an 'Elemental Patron' for warlocks is quite likely.

Maybe aeromancer, geomancer, hydromancer and pyromancer wizard schools- at least pyromancy has some legacy appeal there, too.

Aasimar and genasi seem likely (though the aasimar is in the DMG, so maybe not).

Perhaps a 'horizon walker' ranger? Some kind of planar-themed barbarian?

I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of element-themed druid subclass, or maybe even seasonal ones, each tied to an element (summer = fire, spring = earth, autumn = water, winter = air; something like that).

I'm not sure what the fighter or rogue might get.

 

[vecna00]

I could almost see a fighter or rogue archetype being a dervish of sorts, but with fire-type abilities akin to those who practiced the discipline of Desert Wind from the Book of Nine Swords. I think that would be pretty swell, personally.

 

[the Jester]

You know, Sha'ir might well be the warlock elemental pact. I thought it made a lot more sense that way than as a wizard variant, though I get the reasoning behind making it a wizard subclass in 4e.

 

[PnPgamer]

Off the top of my head (and basing on the cover images), Genasi & Aasimar for playable races.

Aasimar exists already in the DMG p. 286. Section about creating custom races.
Also includes eladrin as an example elven subrace.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I could almost see a fighter or rogue archetype being a dervish of sorts, but with fire-type abilities akin to those who practiced the discipline of Desert Wind from the Book of Nine Swords. I think that would be pretty swell, personally.

Desert wind fighter build would make me jump for joy... it would be a real start to building a cool fighter.

give it some super natural maneuvers.

 

[IchneumonWasp]

I think most people here have the right ideas about what will be in the book.

It's important to keep in mind that it will most likely not only contain information useful for playing Elemental Evil & Forgotten Realms campaigns, but will also provide information that could be seen as support for other settings, so a Sha'ir (sub-)class seems plausible, as well as maybe Wu-jen, Shugenja, ways to play the elemental priests from Dark Sun or pyromancer and other elemental themed classes in general.

For the races, I think we'll certainly get a Genasi race. I'm not sure what else though. The goliath / half-giants maybe? Since they are earth-flavored.. somewhat.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Probably, also, some "Servant of Fungi" Zuggtmoy evil cleric NPC.

Zuggtmoy is so endemic to Greyhawk that I just can't see them putting it in... um... oh....

 

[gyor]

Sea Elf subrace.

Aasimar are not related to the Elements, but they do fit the setting, I believe there is a Paladin Order in the Area, that has a large amount of Aasimars in it so it a long shot, but not impossible. Anthother possiblity are Raptorians and Kenkus under air. Genasi are a safe bet.

Gith with the 4e connection to the elemental chaos are a possiblity, with zerai and yanki subraces.

I look forward to the table of Contents.

If Gith are in there could be a Monk subclass supporting them.

Druids are a safe bet for a subclass.

A ranger built for surviving the elemental chaos could be cool.

For fighters instead of Fighter subclass, /archtype, possibly an elemental fighting style.

I'm not sure what they might have for Barbarians and Rogues.

 

[Jester David]

I'd like to see very limited crunch. Half the book could be crunch (or less) and the rest could be a player's guide to the elemental planes, the big primordials/elemental lords, and the like. So the book serves as guidebook for PCs playing the storyline (and DMs wanting to add more elemental themes to their game).

Backgrounds specific to the storyline would be good.
Races. The genasi seem like a must, with different subraces for each element.
Classes. No new classes, just a few elemental subclasses. I can see an elemental sorcerer, a primordial pact Warlock, and an elemental druid. They could easily have clerical domains for fire, water, and earth (but clerics don't need the love). I'd like to see more options for the barbarian and bard, but getting elemental themes into those would be tricky. But not impossible.