I believe that the title of this Player’s Option paints a decidedly different picture than what is ultimately present. Heroes of Elemental Chaos just seems like a nebulous concept, but Baker and Schwalb are able to make a capsule universe that works perfectly using 4e rules. I believe that the different classes (Sha’ir, Elementalist) can work in a wide variety of campaign settings, while exhibiting a certain difference that makes them wholly different characters than what can normally be found in the Players’ Handbook.
For those that want to make a campaign using Heroes of Elemental Chaos, I believe that there are a considerable amount of monsters that are given life or are otherwise collected here. The descriptions of the elemental princes will provide much fodder for a DM attempting to give a particularly grand scale to their weekly meetings. For those that want to adopt bits and pieces of the Heroes of Elemental Chaos book to their higher-level characters, the title creates a number of different options. The prince of genies holds extreme power, but a character going down that path will not break the game or be overly powerful. I believe that it is the aforementioned completeness and rigorous playtesting of each of the powers, paragon paths, and rewards accruable to players that makes Heroes of Elemental Chaos such a must-have edition for DMs. Keep an eye out for Wizards of the Coast’s additions to the D&D line; I believe that players will be seriously excited whenever their DM can pick up a supplement such as this one.
Rating: 9.0/10
Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Elemental Chaos (Book) / 2012 Wizards of the Coast / 160 Minutes / http://www.wizards.com
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
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