[UPDATED] Has ADVENTURER'S HANDBOOK Been Cancelled?

Today's official announcement about the Elemental Evil storyline mentioned Princes of the Apocalypse, a new DM screen, miniatures, video games... but not the Adventurer's Handbook! This could mean nothing, of course. The book was first announced last year, back in August; but the below screenshot from Edelweiss shows it as cancelled. The mystery deepens!

UPDATE: WotC's Mike Mearls answers "We can't cancel a book we never announced!" So that sounds like the Adventurer's Handbook will definitely not be appearing. WotC certainly wrote ad copy and designed a cover for the book (see below). Mike added "we've played things close to the vest is that it's a huge, open question on what support for the RPG should look like... we do a lot of stuff that may or may not end up as a released product. For instance, we now know that the high volume release schedule for 3e and 4e turned out to be bad for D&D. It wasn't too many settings that hurt TSR, but too many D&D books of any kind. lots of experiments ahead..."

Here's the cancellation screenshot. Now, that could mean a number of things - maybe it's been pushed back, maybe it's been renamed, or maybe it's just an admin error. Princes of the Apolocaypse has been pushed back from March 17 to April 7.

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What do we know about the book? We have a description from August 2014 and a more recent cover image. Right now, anything could be true; I haven't heard anything about a cancellation or a pushed back release date. If I do, I'll be sure to report it.

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Adventurer's Handbook (March 17, 2015; hardcover; $39.95) -- A Dungeons & Dragons Accessory. Create Heroic Characters to Conquer the Elements in this Accessory for the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game​ Not inherently evil, elemental power can be mastered by those with both malevolent and benign intentions. The Elemental Evil Adventurer’s Handbook provides everything that players need to build a character that is tied directly into the Elemental Evil story arc, with skills, abilities, and spells meant to augment their play experience throughout the campaign. Additionally, valuable background and story information provides greater depth and immersion. An accessory that expands the number of options available for character creation for the Elemental Evil story arc, providing expanded backgrounds, class builds, and races meant specifically for this campaign. Provides background and setting information critical to having the greatest chance of success. Accessory design and development by Sasquatch Game Studio LLC.​ ​

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[HobbitFan]

This doesn't make WOTC look very good. Quite frankly, it makes them look like they don't know how to manage their own game....

 

[Kramodlog]

This is pure speculation.

Indeed. I was offering a alternative to one possible narrative to the "leaks". Maybe someone broke an NDA. Maybe it was part of a marketing stragegy. Morrus seems to think they originated from WotC, for what it is worth.

But WotC did not create those expectations.

Unless they are behind the leaks.

You did not know there was book.

It was something reasonable to expect. Heck, there was a "leak" of the cover with "Adventurer's Handbook" written on it. I think I and a lot of people knew a book was coming.

Your disappointment is absolutely your fault.

You do not understand what I said. What I said was that Mearls' comment wasn't respectul. He acted as if any expectation we might of had was our only fault. The thing is they were developping a splat book and there were leaks of it. We know WotC commissioned a cover for a book with the words "Adventurer's Handbook" written on it. Who does that just for fun?

Maybe they aren't behind the leaks, but they certainly didn't come out and say "People, do not get your hopes up, that book might just be an experiment that will never be published". Expectations do not seems to be unreasonable in this case as were are beyong rumors when it comes to this specific product. Cancelled products aren't a stable of D&D either (aside from 2011 when a lot of books were cancelled or rescheduled. I'm sure some can point to the 90s when TSR had problems too). This doesn't look good.

The same goes for the change in release date. WotC cannot be held responsible for not communicating the change of a date they never announced.

Except for the DMG, right? But you miss the point about my comment about release dates.

To me it seems WotC is acting like it still is a big RPG producer, but they lack resources to be one. Maybe a smaller Adventurer book would have helped. It would have been cheaper to buy too. Maybe they should have used two different 3PP to do the adventure and the splat book. Seems SG couldn't deliver on two big books. Maybe WotC doesn't have enough money to subcontract to two different compagnies. Maybe they do not have the resources to edit and playtest that amount of content.

That being said, even if WotC didn't announced the splat book, you do recognize they wanted to publish one, right?

 

[Morrus]

IMorrus seems to think they originated from WotC, for what it is worth.

Only in the sense that product ad copy and artwork can't originate from anywhere else, and nobody imagined it into existence. That doesn't mean it was deliberate.

 

[Kramodlog]

Only in the sense that product ad copy and artwork can't originate from anywhere else, and nobody imagined it into existence. That doesn't mean it was deliberate.

I'm not really a fan of "Someone pressed the wrong button. Twice." theories. Where did the art cover leak started?

 

[Morrus]

We got excited about something that wasn't confirmed, no fault of WotC. Maybe next time people will wait for an official statement before getting too excited about new products that might not even be released.

Meh. Getting excited a or something isn't a crime. It isn't even a bad thing. That's why we're here, right? We're not here because D&D bores us!

 

[Remathilis]

I get it.

They're dolling them out like Magic Expansions.

1 Module.
1 Online/MMO expansion.
1 Mini Set
1 Related Product (Board Game)

Each one has a "theme" (Dragons, Elemental) and eventually, they move to different "realms" (settings). No tread-mill of books, just a few things at a time.

I'm wagering the "Core Update" will be a new "rulebook" every year; everything else will be modules and supplements (with online support).

...

Fine by me. Aids my wallet and I might get PotA now because of it.

 

[Mercurius]

To be honest, I always found the idea of an "Elemental Adventurer's Handbook" to be a bit odd, especially when it is for only one other book. I mean I can see an AH for an entire world, or perhaps a multi-volume epic campaign, but it seemed out of place. Also, it isn't clear to me whether or not this was actually planned. It seems that if it was never planned then Mearls would have refuted it earlier. But the reason it is only being refuted now seems to be because they decided not to publish it. Now the interesting question is why? Maybe they are re-allocating resources to another project?

This doesn't make WOTC look very good. Quite frankly, it makes them look like they don't know how to manage their own game....

If so, so what? I think they've admitted as much that they aren't entirely sure how to make 5E a roaring success. I mean, how could they? They've stated that they don't want to take the approach of editions past, and seemingly they don't want to model themselves after Pathfinder. So they're left with....well, as Mearls said, experimentation. Hey, I'm game for some experimentation.

 

[Mark CMG]

I mean I can see an AH for an entire world, or perhaps a multi-volume epic campaign, but it seemed out of place.

Yeah, or AH as an alt-title for a PHII-type book. A new way to spin expanding player's options perhaps.

 

[Morrus]

True, and getting excited about a possible product is fine. But that doesn't mean that the company has done something bad just because the possible product doesn't eventuate.

Exactly. There is no fault. Nobody has done anything wrong. WotC hasn't, and we haven't. Folks should stop wondering about who they can blame.

 

[guachi]

You forgot spellbook cards (also by gf9), which completely ignored concentration and omitted at least one spell that I'm aware of.

The second printing of the cards added a concentration marking. You can look on the back of the box to see if it's second printing. In addition, every spell but two (and there are a LOT of them) that has a duration of "up to ...." is concentration. So the first printings aren't quite the pain I initially thought they.

I initially rated them low but I quite like them now. Very good to hand to new players.