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Elementara: Guide to the Seven Elements for 5e

Created by Plus Three Press

Elementara is an exciting new sourcebook that brings elemental manipulation to 5e, transforming the way you build characters and adventures with tons of new elemental options and resources. With this book, you’ll choose one of seven elements to awaken within your character, customizing them using 150+ new spells and martial techniques. Then, you’ll unleash those newfound powers in your own worlds or in the fantastic world of Ezara, a thrilling new campaign setting featuring seven great nations that have each built around a gargantuan elemental anomaly.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The Beta PDF is Here! (+ Updated Final Timeline)
5 months ago – Wed, Nov 01, 2023 at 05:06:18 AM

 Hey everyone!

I'm very excited to announce that the Elementara Beta PDF has been officially released! It's been a long journey getting here and I'm very eager for you all to see how the book has turned out. I hope that you'll find the content inside interesting and that you'll have a fun time with this Beta. Inside, you'll find everything that will be in the final all 178 pages of the book!

How do I get the Beta PDF?

If you're a backer of any reward tier or have pre-ordered the PDF of the book, you can download the Beta PDF by logging into your BackerKit account and clicking on the Elementara project in your list of projects. There, you can click on “Get Your Digital Downloads'' to download the Beta PDF. You will also receive an email that’ll contain a link to access the Beta. If you haven’t made a BackerKit account yet, you can create one using the same email you used on Kickstarter.

You can find a changelog from the previous playtests here.

Submit your Feedback! 

The purpose of this beta is to catch any mistakes before the book is sent off to print next month. I'm primarily looking at catching and fixing any mistakes related to spelling, grammar, consistency, and formatting.

You can submit feedback at bit.ly/elementarabeta. All comments are welcome and appreciated. I'm very eager to hear everyone's thoughts! This form will close on the 20th of November, so be sure to get your feedback in before then.

What's Next? - An Updated Final Timeline

Now that we are in the final stages of the project, I'd like to provide everyone with an updated timeline. The next major points on the track are the locking of addresses and the release of the Final PDF, both of which will occur near the end of this month. Check the timeline below for more details.

November 2022

  • Nov 8th: Physical products will no longer be able to be pre-ordered.
  • Nov 20th: Locking Addresses for physical orders. If you need to update your shipping address, please do so before this date by requesting your survey at elementara.backerkit.com.
  • Nov 25th: Release of the Final PDF of the Book. 

December 2023

  • Printing, Binding, QC, and Packaging will be completed for physical products during December, and at the end of the month they will be ready for shipping.

January 2024

  • Shipping for physical products begins.
  • Release of the Shard Tabletop VTT Conversion of Elementara. 

March 2024 & Onwards -->

  • Estimated delivery time for the Physical Book, Poster Map, and Card Deck. The exact time will vary based on your location.

That's all for today. Thanks so much, everyone! I'm very grateful for your support and patience with this project, and I truly hope it was worth the wait. Have fun!

Have questions? Leave a comment, shoot me an email at [email protected] or join the Discord!

Cheers,

Zac

Beta PDF Progress Update #2 + More Previews & Art!
6 months ago – Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 04:03:24 AM

Hey everyone! Quick update today on my progress on the Beta PDF, plus some more book spread previews and art. 

A Quick Progress Update

I've made quite a bit of progress on the book since the last update. Aside from proofreading and the addition of some of Vivi's stories, The Introduction, Chapter 1 (Character Creation),and Chapter 3 (Running Elementara) are all fully complete. Chapter 2 is about 50% complete—it is mostly formatted, but parts of it still need to be turned from dot points into proper writing.  

So, the Beta PDF is close! At this stage, I'm estimating that it'll be about 5 to 7 weeks until it is released. Thanks so much for your patience. See my previous update for more details and specifics on the delay.

A lot of the work that I've done in the past month is formatting, and I've put a lot of effort into trying make the book look visually appealing. Once it is released, I really hope you like how it looks and enjoy the visuals as you read. Here's a small preview of some of the finished spreads from Chapter 1 and 3: 

More Subclass Art

I've got some more subclass art to show off today as well! The following two characters are illustrated by the wonderful Ozan Pulat, and depict the Ancient Beast Patron and the Way of the Dancing Blades. I think these do a great job at depicting the fantasy I had in mind for both of the subclasses. Hope you enjoy!

That's all for today—thanks again everyone!

Have questions? Leave a comment, shoot me an email at [email protected] or join the Discord!

Cheers,

Zac

Beta PDF Progress Update + Book Spread Previews!
8 months ago – Sun, Aug 13, 2023 at 05:53:12 AM

Hey everyone!

Today I bring you another progress update and a preview of some of the finished spreads from the book.

Progress Update

1. Progress on the Beta PDF. In the past months, I've been hard at work finalizing the Beta PDF. What I have left is largely formatting and clean up, and while some sections do need additional writing, all of the options and mechanics have been finalized through internal playtesting and your feedback in mind. Unfortunately, it will still be at least a couple months until I will have it finished. This delay is largely due to pressure from other commitments and some unexpected personal issues that has meant I have had less time to work on the book than anticipated. Regardless, this is still a passion project for me and I am 100% committed to delivering a quality product. This extra time will ensure the book is the best quality possible. After the Beta PDF is released, the Final PDF will be released 2 to 3 weeks afterwards, then after that, printing and shipping will start.

2. Update to the Estimated Shipping Time. Since I've yet to finish the book, shipping will also be pushed back at least 2 months from the estimated start time of September. I am ancipating and pushing for shipping to start in the last couple months of 2023. I hope to have more concrete dates soon. As for when addresses will lock, I will also have more information on that soon. For now, you can still update your address by visiting elementara.backerkit.com and requesting your survey link.

Thank you all so much for your patience and sticking with me throughout this long development time. I truly want you all to impressed with what you receive and I am determined to make Elementara a high quality product that is worth the wait. 

Book Spread Previews

Formatting each of the spreads of the book has been very fun, even if it is taking quite a bit of time. I'm really enjoying designing them and I've been trying to make each and every one of them stand out their own way, while still ensuring the book has a good, cohesive aesthetic. Here is a selection of some of the spreads I'm pretty proud of, plus a look at the final cover for the standard edition book. 

I've really enjoyed making use of bright colours and unique fonts/typography to represent the different elements throughout the book. Showing of the personality of each of the elements through these methods while still differentiating the design of each of the larger sections of the book has been a fun challenge. I look forward to finishing more and more of these spreads until the book is complete. 

Ozan Pulat, the main illustrator behind this project, has done a excellent job with all of the artwork he has done for the project. His style fits so well with the aesthetic. The art of the shadowcaller ranger subclass in the spread featured above is one of my favourites in the entire book, I can't help but show it off! Here is the full version: 

And that's all for today. Thanks everyone!

Have questions? Leave a comment, shoot me an email at [email protected] or join the Discord!

Cheers,

Zac

Playtest 3: Elemental Enemies - it's Here!
9 months ago – Sun, Jul 09, 2023 at 06:11:36 AM

Hey everyone! 

Here it is, Elementara's 3rd and final playtest document—Elemental Enemies! This PDF contains a system for element-ifying existing creatures and a bunch of new elemental-themed stat blocks to use in your games. With this document, you'll be able to create interesting and dynamic encounters involving the powers of the elements, utilizing pre-existing stat blocks customized with powerful elemental abilities, or built with your selection from 35 new stat blocks introduced in the PDF. I hope you enjoy trying some of these options out in your games! 

How do I get the PDF?

If you're a backer of any reward tier or have pre-ordered the PDF of the book, you can download the playtest PDF by logging into your BackerKit account and clicking on the Elementara project in your list of projects. There, you can click on “Get Your Digital Downloads'' to download the playtest PDF. You will also receive an email that’ll contain a link to access the playtest.

If you haven’t made a BackerKit account yet, you can create one using the same email you used on Kickstarter. Once it's all set up and activated, you should see Elementara in the project list and be able to download the PDF by following the steps above.

Got Feedback?

If you test some of the options found in the document and have some feedback, be sure to head over to bit.ly/elementarafeedback3. I'd love to know what you think!

What do they look like?

While the illustrations for the stat blocks featured in the playtest are not yet finished, I have some early sketches to show you, illustrated by the wonderful Ozan Pulat. I think they all look really awesome, and I can't wait to see them finalized. 

What's Next?

Next up is the Beta PDF. I still have a lot of work to do before it's in a completed state, but with this playtest released, all of the mechanical parts of the book are now complete. I've got a lot of other sections completed in the meantime as well, and am hoping to get it released as soon as I can. I'll have an updated timeline for the final stages of the project once when more things are complete.

And that's it—I hope everyone enjoys this playtest!

Have questions? Leave a comment, shoot me an email at [email protected] or join the Discord!

Cheers,

Zac

Progress Update + New Environmental Art!
9 months ago – Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 04:55:41 AM

Hey everyone!

Another quick progress update today, and I have some more new art to show off once again.

Playtest 3 Progress

After finishing up some of the writing for the book, I've begun chipping away at Playtest 3, which will include stat blocks for elemental monsters and NPCs and the system to element-ify existing creatures. Along the way, I've explored many different ideas, including rethinking how the element-ification system should work a couple of times. I still need a bit of time to refine the systems a bit more, and to finish creating some of the stat blocks themselves. I should have it ready in two to three weeks.

What's After That?

Elementara is steadily moving into its final stages of development. While I've got a lot finished, I've still yet to put it all together and really get to the finalization stage. This puts me a bit behind my estimated schedule, but I want to prioritize the quality of the final product. This means the Beta PDF, which I initially estimated would be ready by the end of July, will likely be delayed a bit. For now, I'll just say it'll be ready when it is ready—and I'll have an updated timeline for the final stages of the project once when more things are complete.

New Environmental Art

Here's some new environmental art illustrated by the fantastic Ferdinand Ladera! These two pieces aim to show the physical relations between each of the nations, with a focus on the Tree of Revival and the city of Ethera. They'll be used in the 2nd chapter of the book, which provides all of the details needed to run a game in Ezara, the land of seven elements.

And that's it for today, thanks everyone!

Have questions? Leave a comment, shoot me an email at [email protected] or join the Discord!

Cheers,

Zac