Heroes of the Elemental Chaos

Heroes of the Elemental Chaos is a supplement to the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. This book is one of three source books, along with Manual of the Planes (2008) and The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos (2009), from this era that details the Elemental Chaos from the 4th edition World Axis cosmology.[1]

Heroes of the Elemental Chaos
Cover of the first edition
AuthorsRichard Baker, Robert J. Schwalb
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectRole-playing games
GenreDungeons & Dragons
PublisherWizards of the Coast
Publication date
February 2012
Media typePrint (Trade hardcover)
Pages160
ISBN978-0786959815

Contents

This books "is the definitive sourcebook for creating and playing characters with ties to the Elemental Chaos and the primordial beings that dwell there. It shows how the elements can influence heroes of the natural world and presents elemental-themed character options for players".[2]

The table of contents lists the follow sections[3]:

  • Chapter 1: Into the Maelstrom
    • Elemental Magic
    • Elemental Influence
    • The Elemental Chaos
    • Elemental-Touched Races
    • Gaining Elemental Power
    • The Primordials
    • Elemental Power in Your Game
  • Chapter 2: Character Themes
  • Chapter 3: Classes
    • Druid
    • Monk
    • Sorcerer
    • Warlock
    • Wizard
  • Chapter 4: Elemental Options
    • Paragon Paths
    • Epic Destinies
    • Feats
    • Elemental Companions
    • Elemental Rewards
  • Appendix: Character Advancement Table

Publication history

In February 2012, Heroes of the Elemental Chaos was published by Wizards of the Coast. This was the third Player's Option book for the 4th edition and it was written by Richard Baker and Robert J. Schwalb. It was re-released as a PDF on May 12, 2015.[4]

Shannon Appelcline commented that with the eighth season of Encounters, The Elder Elemental Eye (2012, 11 weeks), "This Season continued its focus on the Player's Options books with tie-ins to Heroes of the Elemental Chaos (2012). Beyond that it's a cross-world saga that touches upon the Elder Elemental God, one of Gary Gygax's Greyhawk deities that he never quite got around to defining — despite mentions in the famous 'GDQ' series (1978–1980)."[5]:195

Reception

DieHard GameFan said that the book "does add a lot of new options for players of Fourth Edition. It’s a nice but flawed collection of new Themes, Subclasses and Paths. [...] If you feel like your 4e game is in need of something new to spice it up, Elemental Chaos is definitely a book that will do just that. It’s not for everyone and your specific mileage from the book may vary, but at the end of the day Heroes of the Elemental Chaos is almost all pure content rather that fluff or flavor, and that’s always a nice thing to see".[6]

gollark: And as I said, the people involved in legal stuff are generally better at... legal things... than the actual technical stuff involved in programming.
gollark: For example, using some sort of standard-body-certified thing so you can blame someone else if it fails, instead of a safer thing which isn't.
gollark: The legal system being involved also often encourages overcaution in ways which are more "cover your a[REDACTED]" than "actually make stuff safer".
gollark: I don't think there is in *most* cases, even.
gollark: Or if there's a general culture of rushing things out with insufficient testing.

References
  1. Appelcline, Shannon (April 23, 2015). "An Elementary Look at the Planes". Dungeons & Dragons. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  2. "Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Product (Heroes of the Elemental Chaos)". 2013-06-05. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  3. "Heroes of the Elemental Chaos - Table of Contents Image". rpggeek.com. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  4. "Player's Option: Heroes of the Elemental Chaos (4e) - Wizards of the Coast | Dungeons & Dragons 4e | Dungeons & Dragons 4e | Dungeon Masters Guild". www.dmsguild.com.
  5. Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '90s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-084-7.
  6. Lucard, Alex (February 21, 2012). "Tabletop Review: Player's Option: Heroes of the Elemental Chaos (Dungeons & Dragons)". Diehard GameFAN. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

Wizards of the Coast Product Page and book excerpts (via the Internet Archive):

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