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Rating: 
Summary: Pick and Choose -- There is a lot of helpful material here!
Review: Fantasy Flight Games scores big with this one. Subtitled "A Compendium of Mystic Lore," it is a treasure trove of magical options for D20 System gaming, which are mercifully NOT interlinked, allowing GMs to pick and choose what they like and what helps their campaigns.The new spells range from the terribly useful (for example, a gradually enhanced spell series for restoring writings ranging from single documents to whole tomes) to the simply terrible (for example, "Burrowing Bony Digits," a Necromantic spell which sends forth up to five skeletal fingers to burrow their way into the bodies of targets who fail their Reflex saves, doing 1D6 impaling damage plus 1D6 additional burrowing damage for each three levels of the caster -- yecch!). "The Craft of Magic" (one of my favorite parts) has sections on library construction, bookhunting (always necessary for that on-going Arcane research!), ideas for conducting magical research, constructing laboratories, new ideas for spell foci and components, and an extensive section on Bardic and Sorcerous magic, with new feats, PLUS a section on Ceremonial and Ritual Magic, both arcane and divine. "New Types of Magic" introduced are "Ward Magic" (location-based enchantments used with "ward tokens" -- an idea once dealt with in "Volo's Guide to the North"), "Chaos Magic," "Cooperative Magic," and a long section on "Religion," dealing with new types of divine spell casters and "Small Gods," the "minor" deities which are so significant in the "real world" but which get such short shrift in gaming worlds. Also introduced is "Place Magic," the magic of arcane locations and nexuses of magical power, including religious shrines. "The Mundane Made Magical" deals with Alchemy, Constructs, Magical Materials, and Familiars (with wonderful ideas on empowering them, making them finally WORTH the risk of having around). My favorite familiar must now be "the Grimoire," a tiny construct; suitably tinkered with, it is easily imagined as an autonomous, intelligent presence in the spellcaster's library, reading and interrogating other books to aid its master in research; I can readily imagine a canny sage having an entire library of mutually-referant books serving as so many processors in a library-sized magical "computer," with a Grimoire familiar as the interface! "Magic Items" include Glyph Eggs (the weakest contribution of the book, in my opinion -- just another vehicle for storing magic spells) and Personal Growth Items (Open Gaming Content!), which are items which advance along with their owners, gaining powers and experience (and presumably becoming the original source of many magic items which may now be created with feats: before they were made as "created items," many had to "grow up" to be magical). There is also an Open Gaming Content section on Relics and the obligatory New magical Items section which every single D20 System book seems to have (although this one adds nine new Ioun Stone types). "Spells & Spellcraft" is not an essential book, by any means, so I have only given it four stars, but, for those who like to play around with magic in their games, it is very, very, very fun and inspirational. I used someone else's copy for a while, but I simply had to buy one for myself so that I could access it whenever I wanted some quick inspiration on matters arcane. I give it a strong personal recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Pick and Choose -- There is a lot of helpful material here!
Review: Fantasy Flight Games scores big with this one. Subtitled "A Compendium of Mystic Lore," it is a treasure trove of magical options for D20 System gaming, which are mercifully NOT interlinked, allowing GMs to pick and choose what they like and what helps their campaigns. The new spells range from the terribly useful (for example, a gradually enhanced spell series for restoring writings ranging from single documents to whole tomes) to the simply terrible (for example, "Burrowing Bony Digits," a Necromantic spell which sends forth up to five skeletal fingers to burrow their way into the bodies of targets who fail their Reflex saves, doing 1D6 impaling damage plus 1D6 additional burrowing damage for each three levels of the caster -- yecch!). "The Craft of Magic" (one of my favorite parts) has sections on library construction, bookhunting (always necessary for that on-going Arcane research!), ideas for conducting magical research, constructing laboratories, new ideas for spell foci and components, and an extensive section on Bardic and Sorcerous magic, with new feats, PLUS a section on Ceremonial and Ritual Magic, both arcane and divine. "New Types of Magic" introduced are "Ward Magic" (location-based enchantments used with "ward tokens" -- an idea once dealt with in "Volo's Guide to the North"), "Chaos Magic," "Cooperative Magic," and a long section on "Religion," dealing with new types of divine spell casters and "Small Gods," the "minor" deities which are so significant in the "real world" but which get such short shrift in gaming worlds. Also introduced is "Place Magic," the magic of arcane locations and nexuses of magical power, including religious shrines. "The Mundane Made Magical" deals with Alchemy, Constructs, Magical Materials, and Familiars (with wonderful ideas on empowering them, making them finally WORTH the risk of having around). My favorite familiar must now be "the Grimoire," a tiny construct; suitably tinkered with, it is easily imagined as an autonomous, intelligent presence in the spellcaster's library, reading and interrogating other books to aid its master in research; I can readily imagine a canny sage having an entire library of mutually-referant books serving as so many processors in a library-sized magical "computer," with a Grimoire familiar as the interface! "Magic Items" include Glyph Eggs (the weakest contribution of the book, in my opinion -- just another vehicle for storing magic spells) and Personal Growth Items (Open Gaming Content!), which are items which advance along with their owners, gaining powers and experience (and presumably becoming the original source of many magic items which may now be created with feats: before they were made as "created items," many had to "grow up" to be magical). There is also an Open Gaming Content section on Relics and the obligatory New magical Items section which every single D20 System book seems to have (although this one adds nine new Ioun Stone types). "Spells & Spellcraft" is not an essential book, by any means, so I have only given it four stars, but, for those who like to play around with magic in their games, it is very, very, very fun and inspirational. I used someone else's copy for a while, but I simply had to buy one for myself so that I could access it whenever I wanted some quick inspiration on matters arcane. I give it a strong personal recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Pick and Choose -- There is a lot of helpful material here!
Review: Fantasy Flight Games scores big with this one. Subtitled "A Compendium of Mystic Lore," it is a treasure trove of magical options for D20 System gaming, which are mercifully NOT interlinked, allowing GMs to pick and choose what they like and what helps their campaigns. The new spells range from the terribly useful (for example, a gradually enhanced spell series for restoring writings ranging from single documents to whole tomes) to the simply terrible (for example, "Burrowing Bony Digits," a Necromantic spell which sends forth up to five skeletal fingers to burrow their way into the bodies of targets who fail their Reflex saves, doing 1D6 impaling damage plus 1D6 additional burrowing damage for each three levels of the caster -- yecch!). "The Craft of Magic" (one of my favorite parts) has sections on library construction, bookhunting (always necessary for that on-going Arcane research!), ideas for conducting magical research, constructing laboratories, new ideas for spell foci and components, and an extensive section on Bardic and Sorcerous magic, with new feats, PLUS a section on Ceremonial and Ritual Magic, both arcane and divine. "New Types of Magic" introduced are "Ward Magic" (location-based enchantments used with "ward tokens" -- an idea once dealt with in "Volo's Guide to the North"), "Chaos Magic," "Cooperative Magic," and a long section on "Religion," dealing with new types of divine spell casters and "Small Gods," the "minor" deities which are so significant in the "real world" but which get such short shrift in gaming worlds. Also introduced is "Place Magic," the magic of arcane locations and nexuses of magical power, including religious shrines. "The Mundane Made Magical" deals with Alchemy, Constructs, Magical Materials, and Familiars (with wonderful ideas on empowering them, making them finally WORTH the risk of having around). My favorite familiar must now be "the Grimoire," a tiny construct; suitably tinkered with, it is easily imagined as an autonomous, intelligent presence in the spellcaster's library, reading and interrogating other books to aid its master in research; I can readily imagine a canny sage having an entire library of mutually-referant books serving as so many processors in a library-sized magical "computer," with a Grimoire familiar as the interface! "Magic Items" include Glyph Eggs (the weakest contribution of the book, in my opinion -- just another vehicle for storing magic spells) and Personal Growth Items (Open Gaming Content!), which are items which advance along with their owners, gaining powers and experience (and presumably becoming the original source of many magic items which may now be created with feats: before they were made as "created items," many had to "grow up" to be magical). There is also an Open Gaming Content section on Relics and the obligatory New magical Items section which every single D20 System book seems to have (although this one adds nine new Ioun Stone types). "Spells & Spellcraft" is not an essential book, by any means, so I have only given it four stars, but, for those who like to play around with magic in their games, it is very, very, very fun and inspirational. I used someone else's copy for a while, but I simply had to buy one for myself so that I could access it whenever I wanted some quick inspiration on matters arcane. I give it a strong personal recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great d20 product by FF
Review: The Legends & Lairs series by Fantasy Flight focuses on D&D 3E. I've checked out just about every major D&D 3E publisher's material. Fantasy Flight is one of the best out there. Why? Since d20 came out, many, many would-be game designers have started making products. Like any saturated market, only a few rise to the top as real stars. Publishers like Fantasy Flight, Malhavok Press, Swords & Sorcery, etc. are among the d20 stars. Fantasy Flight is very creative from cover to cover, and they have a really sound grasp of mechanics. That is a rare combination, especially the good mechanics. Features of this book:
* Spells! Lots of cool spells for every spell-casting class. Almost all are well-balanced and stylish.
* (Magical) libraries, special spellbooks, laboratories.
* Rituals & ceremonies
* Wards
* Chaos magic
* Expanded familiars
* Places of magic (shrines, standing stones, etc.)
* Alchemy items & cool non-magical materials DM's: This book will help (no matter how experienced you are) add flavor to all manner of magical goings on in your campaign, and that's usually a big part of most campaigns. Players: Woe be unto the monster on the receiving end of some of these spells. 5 stars. One of the few products I've added (almost) in its entirety to my game. Almost forgot, check their website for errata -- it's already out.
Rating:
Summary: Another great d20 product by FF
Review: The Legends & Lairs series by Fantasy Flight focuses on D&D 3E. I've checked out just about every major D&D 3E publisher's material. Fantasy Flight is one of the best out there. Why? Since d20 came out, many, many would-be game designers have started making products. Like any saturated market, only a few rise to the top as real stars. Publishers like Fantasy Flight, Malhavok Press, Swords & Sorcery, etc. are among the d20 stars. Fantasy Flight is very creative from cover to cover, and they have a really sound grasp of mechanics. That is a rare combination, especially the good mechanics. Features of this book:
* Spells! Lots of cool spells for every spell-casting class. Almost all are well-balanced and stylish.
* (Magical) libraries, special spellbooks, laboratories.
* Rituals & ceremonies
* Wards
* Chaos magic
* Expanded familiars
* Places of magic (shrines, standing stones, etc.)
* Alchemy items & cool non-magical materials DM's: This book will help (no matter how experienced you are) add flavor to all manner of magical goings on in your campaign, and that's usually a big part of most campaigns. Players: Woe be unto the monster on the receiving end of some of these spells. 5 stars. One of the few products I've added (almost) in its entirety to my game. Almost forgot, check their website for errata -- it's already out.
Rating:
Summary: A great addition
Review: This Book has many great additions to D&D 3rd. Ed. magic. The thing I enjoyed most was the new rules for creating your own magical constructs. The new feats are good, but there's not many of them. The spells are great! There are some that every magic useing charecter I make from now on will have them! There is also details on new types of magic. Take chaos magic for example. When you cast a chaos spell it replicates the effets of one of sereveral spells, choosen randomly. The new kind of magic items are great as well. Over all, this is a great additon to any third edition Dungeons and Dragons library.
Rating:
Summary: A great addition
Review: This Book has many great additions to D&D 3rd. Ed. magic. The thing I enjoyed most was the new rules for creating your own magical constructs. The new feats are good, but there's not many of them. The spells are great! There are some that every magic useing charecter I make from now on will have them! There is also details on new types of magic. Take chaos magic for example. When you cast a chaos spell it replicates the effets of one of sereveral spells, choosen randomly. The new kind of magic items are great as well. Over all, this is a great additon to any third edition Dungeons and Dragons library.
Rating:
Summary: A great addition
Review: This Book has many great additions to D&D 3rd. Ed. magic. The thing I enjoyed most was the new rules for creating your own magical constructs. The new feats are good, but there's not many of them. The spells are great! There are some that every magic useing charecter I make from now on will have them! There is also details on new types of magic. Take chaos magic for example. When you cast a chaos spell it replicates the effets of one of sereveral spells, choosen randomly. The new kind of magic items are great as well. Over all, this is a great additon to any third edition Dungeons and Dragons library.
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