For my module review this week I am looking back at Princes of the Apocalypse, which I experienced as both a player and a DM. I played through the early levels of this adventure, but that campaign fizzled out. Thus I decided to incorporate the rest of the module into the game I run and I found the transition was easy to make. I highly recommend using this module book for several reasons. I do have to warn though that DMs and players who get bored by long dungeons crawls will want to either avoid it or be willing to modify and/or skip certain elements (pun intended).
My history with Elemental Evil goes way back since I remember playing through the original Temple of Elemental modules and the PC TOEE computer game (with all of its glorious add-ons brought by the online "Circle of 8" programmers). I also remember the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, and the many reincarnations of EEE/Y/Tharizdun over the years. Needless to say, I get excited (as a DM / scared as a player) when people talk about Elemental Evil.
For once, I agree with the recommended levels on the back of a 5E adventure module (1-15).
The Table of Contents shows off the strange order in which the info in the book is presented. I know people tend to criticize these modules for being so "disorganized" but I have gotten used to reading through the books at least 3 times to make sure I have taken it all in properly so it's not a big deal to me at this point. The more recent publications are better organized; for example, the low level material is out of order in this book.
The artwork throughout the book really is great. I like the depictions of the various cult leaders and the weapons. I appreciate the coordination of putting the actual NPCs and villains from the module into multiple works of high quality art. Fans of the winged elf in charge of the air cult should be especially happy since there are so many depictions of her (including the cover).
The symbols for the cult harken back to old times. The upside-down pyramid and purple rock are a clear call back to the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (and maybe even WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, with the purple rock there as well). I especially like the detail with the colorful elemental cult symbols that remind me of the old TOEE.
The low level material centers on the village of Red Larch and includes a fun nearby necromancer quest. I always like Hommlett-esque small villages. Low level play has a certain place in my heart and this village provides a nice opportunity for a DM to get those interactions from the group. Of course, it's also very easy to swap this section out with your own low level play or to bring a group in after the low level material.
The best parts of the book are not the tedious dungeon crawling or the endurance of fighting elemental cultists session after session, but rather the additions at the back of the book. In fact, Wizards of the Coast was very clever to put in the extra material because it makes the book more useful; even people who don't want to run the full module might buy the book just for the stats, player options, and spells at the back. For characters who summon or transform into elementals, this book gives some nice new monster stats. I was also happy to use the Princes of Elemental Evil multiple times since all 4 of them are given stats in this book.
The book gave players the option of creating genasi characters for each of the 4 elements. Genasi get a base +2 to CON and each variant received a different +1 stat (for example fire genasi got the bonus to INT) and some cool abilities (like fire genasi getting fire resistance). Note: I really like the fire genasi as a playable race.
Many of the spells are useful, especially for druids and wizards. When this campaign came out, spell cards were released just like the default packs for the player's handbook options. But seriously, if you're going to play a druid you should at least consider using these spells.
Overall
With many of today's players having less of an attention-span for long dungeon crawls (or MEGADUNGEONS as many of us bloggers like to call them), I was impressed that Wizards of the Coast released this product. The different creatures in the dungeons provide for some variety to break up the potential monotony. I give the campaign book a rating of 8 out of 10 because I enjoyed the concept, had fun as both a player and a DM, and I continue to use the player options/monsters/spells provided in the appendix.
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