''Elemental Companion'' is a supplement published by
Iron Crown Enterprises in 1989 for the fantasy role-playing game ''
Rolemaster
''Rolemaster'' (originally ''Role Master'') is a tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises since 1980.
Editions
''Rolemaster'' has a total of four editions.
First edition (RM1): 1980–1982
This edition includes the or ...
''.
Contents
''Elemental Companion'' is 144-page softcover book written by Mark Carlyle, with illustrations by
Roger Raupp
Roger Raupp (born October 1, 1963 in Elkhorn, Wisconsin) is an artist whose work has appeared in games such as the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR, and the collectible card game ''Magic: the Gathering'' from Wizards of ...
and Shawn Sharp, and cover art by Steve Hickman. The book describes, in game terms, twenty-two different elements, including plasma, aether, nexus, and time, and the realms where each of these elements holds sway. Descriptions of various denizens of these planes are described. The book details what
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
s can do with each element in terms of skills, professions, elemental beings and creatures, and elemental combat. The book also includes guidelines for use with ''
Shadow World''.
Reception
In the May 1991 edition of ''
Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' (Issue #169),
Ken Rolston
Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join th ...
thought "The niftiest feature of ''Elemental Companion'' is its medieval scholastic style of rationalizing the interactions of elemental forces to produce the magical effects encountered in a fantasy world. This scheme has lots of charm and also has interesting implications for adventuring in a fantasy setting." Rolston also liked the lists of new spells, which he called, "extensive and pretty neat, particularly when they extrapolate some aspect of elemental theory into a magic effect." Rolston thought the treatment of elemental creatures to be "extensive and encyclopedia", but asked why they were all "unsubtle, nasty, psychologically uninteresting monsters. (Why aren't there more Joe Average, silent-majority-type citizens in the other elemental planes?)" Although Rolston had reservations about adding more complexity to an already complex game system, he concluded, "as an example of intelligent, entertaining, and imaginative extension of spell-list magic systems, ''Elemental Companion'' is a good read and a promising source of fantasy ideas."
In his 1991 book ''Heroic Worlds'',
Lawrence Schick noted "Be careful with that Proto-Elemental Material! (Is there a rule that says other-dimensional supplements for fantasy games must always be extremely wacko?)"
References
{{reflist
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1989
Rolemaster supplements