The Official Elemental Evil Announcement

We've known about it since last August, but WotC has just made their official announcement about the Elemental Evil storyline slated for March. Set in the Forgotten Realms, Princes of the Apolocalypse is a campaign for levels 1-15 and includes the genasi as a new character race. Additionally, a free download in March will include more new races, and tie-ins with the Neverwinter video game will be released. The Adventurer's Handbook is not mentioned.

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One question that springs to mind is what happened to the Adventurer's Handbook? I assume it's still coming out, unless it's been changed into that free download they mention below? This is all they sent me, so I'll keep my ears open for news on the Adventurer's Handbook. It shows as cancelled here.

Also of note is a new DM screen and miniatures. Here's the press release in full.

January 20, 2015 – Renton, WA – Today, Wizards of the Coast announced the newest Dungeons & Dragons storyline and accompanying product offerings for both digital and tabletop RPG players. Coming off of the biggest and most exciting year yet for Dungeons & Dragons, the Elemental Evil storyline starts in March and runs through mid-summer. During that time, heroes are needed in the Forgotten Realms to discover and defeat secret cults that threaten to annihilate the Sword Coast by harnessing the powers of the elements of fire, water, air, and earth.

The product line-up includes the release of a new downloadable module—Neverwinter: Elemental Evil—for the highly acclaimed free-to-play Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG from Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment. Serving as an additional way for fans to experience the storyline, Neverwinter: Elemental Evil brings a new playable class—the Paladin—and increases the game’s level cap to 70. Neverwinter is set in the Forgotten Realms, and the new expansion launches in early 2015. Cryptic also recently announced Neverwinter on Xbox One will be available in early 2015 as well.

Characters in the D&D tabletop roleplaying game can help prevent devastation to the lands and people of the Forgotten Realms in the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure by Wizards of the Coast and Sasquatch Game Studio. Princes of the Apocalypse is available on April 7, 2015 and includes an epic adventure for characters levels 1–15 as well as new elemental spells and the element-touched genasi as a new playable race. In addition, a free download will be available in mid-March that includes more new races plus the player content available in Princes of the Apocalypse, just in time for the start of the Elemental Evil season of the D&D Adventurers League.

Other products tied into the Elemental Evil storyline include the Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure System Board Game and pre-painted collectible miniatures, both from WizKids Games. WizKids has also partnered with Perfect World Entertainment to bundle in-game items for Neverwinter with the Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure System Board Game and miniatures boosters. Rounding out the tabletop RPG game products is Gale Force Nine’s new Dungeon Master’s screen featuring Elemental Evil art, as well as unpainted, resin miniatures that tie into the adventure, all slated to release beginning in March.

 

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God

Adventurer
The Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame sounds cool (assuming they don't try to shoe-horn it into the Realms with everything else). But what happened to the Adventurer's Handbook? It was supposed to release approximately the same time as the adventure, but there's no mention here. Instead, it mentions a free download with new races and other player content that will be coming mid-March, ahead of the adventure but about the same time as the original adventure + handbook release date. Did I miss something or have they canned the first major hardback rules expansion and turned it into a (stripped down?) free download?

(Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I like free, and I'm not in a hurry to see the rules bloat. But doesn't seem like a particularly good sign, business-wise. Either the projections didn't look like they would support a hardcover release or the third-party writers dropped the ball - which would be a bad sign considering the extent to which WotC is subcontracting support for this edition).
 





DocSun

First Post
Excited here, hopefully the story will be more open ended and less railroady so I can throw it into my home brew. Otherwise I guess I can just siphon the parts I like or want to offer to my players. Also intrigued by the boardgame...
 



Laeknir

First Post
I'm beyond tired of seeing everything firmly set in the Forgotten Realms. It's a solid ball of cheese with all the nukes, cataclysms, superheroes, and stupid god dramas. Does the Realms really need yet another possible apocalypse?

Put things in Greyhawk, Mystara, or go with generic. And does everything have to be an apocalyptic threat?

Something else, please.
 
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Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel
Two big books released at the same moment form a very small and new 3PP was too much. I guess it was that or pushing back the release date. I wonder if Sasquach Games was just under paid and they couldn't get enough free lancers to do two huge books.
 


Sigbjorn_86

First Post
It looks like there wasn't enough content for the handbook, so they decided to bundle some if it into the adventure and give the rest away for free. My wallet thanks them.
 

While the Realms is my preferred campaign setting---the ToEE has always been an iconic Greyhawk adventure. I am a bit saddened to see it ported over---though I will hold any criticism until the actual release of the product.

What I really DON'T want to see happen is for the ToEE to start campaign shifting per D&D version. If it reverts to Greyhawk in 6e (unlikely, but...), it would just show a continued lack of long-term planning on the part of WotC.
 

Loki-lie-Smith

Explorer
It looks like there wasn't enough content for the handbook, so they decided to bundle some if it into the adventure and give the rest away for free. My wallet thanks them.

I don't know how FRPGames knew about the books but I guess that's the problem with getting info outside of the main source. Nothing is official until we have an official announcement.

Then again we did got the covers (and it's interesting that a cover was done) but I don't think we got that from WotC either.
 

CrusaderX

First Post
Set in the Forgotten Realms, Princes of the Apolocalypse is a campaign for levels 1-15

I'm just glad we're getting more new adventures to play. Hopefully this product will be much better than Hoard of the Dragon Queen.
 

Paraxis

Explorer
I think they are doing the adventure books set in the Realms so they can tie in a video game component as an expansion to the Neverwinter MMO.

They stated from the outset they wanted these big story bible things to be broad and encompass things like comics, tabletop board games, and video games not just pen and paper rpg. The easiest way to have the video game part is to make it an expansion for the most current and supported property Neverwinter and that is firmly set in the Realms obviously.

So until a new video game comes out I think we will keep seeing these adventures firmly set in Faerun.

Edit: Just noticed that not only is this adventure set in Faerun but again it is set along the Sword Coast, so yeah they are putting them near Neverwinter so the MMO can do stuff with them.
 
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