The Witch's Handbook (d20 System)

Rating:
Summary: Much better than I anticipated
Review: I ordered this book, sight unseen, expecting a mostly shoddy book with a lot of WC (Wicca Correct, similar to PC, but with more nightshade and black lace) crud and a few gems I might be able to slide in here or there.

Imagine my pleasure and suprise at discovering that this is actually a very useful, well-planned book that delivers a lot of good information in a balanced fashion. Witches can be evil, witches can be good, witches can be, well, pretty much whatever you want them to be. And they aren't just suped-up hedge mages or adepts, they're a full-blown class, with a pleasant combination of special abilities from other classes (most especially druids) and a few new abilities.

The prestige classes are great, allowing the witch to really customize her character, as well as providing a great prestige class, the witch's champion, that can give her some extra protection, in the form of a bodyguard, without getting ridiculous or borrowing too much from the Devoted Defender (Sword and Fist.)

The items section is interesting, providing a range of natural ingredients for spells and potions that can add flavour to a campaign. Even if you don't actually have to buy the stuff, it's much "neater" to have stuff like wolfsbane and celery root in your inventory rather than the generic "spell components."

The ritual magic section is superb, outlining rules that just about any class can use to "cast a hex" or just reach out and crush someone. This section is, however, the reason the book doesn't get five stars. After several chapters of giving flavour and colour to the rules, ritual magic is presented as a bare bones set of guidelines and standardizations, with precious little colour or detail provided.

Still, well worth purchasing, along with Green Ronin's Shaman's Handbook, if you want to generate a rural, magic-casting environment.

Rating:
Summary: The Wise and the Wicked
Review: The Witch has been an archetype in fairy tales and stories of long long ago. So it comes of no surprise that someone would want to make this basic type of spellcaster a part of the D20 landscape. The Dungeon Master Guide makes passing reference to the Witch class as a way for DMs to make their own classes but beyond a suggested spell list, not much development is given. Steve Kenson does a wonderful job filling out the class as a worthwhile addition to the base classes. The suggested spell list is expanded with new spells and the hows and why of the type of spellcaster a Witch should be is explained. Keep in mind that the Witch is not not supposed to be someone who gets into the thick of things with spells that fry opponents with Lightning or otherwise reduce an enemy to ash, her magic is much more subtle. No new skills worth noting but a few feats that are good for filling out a Witch's personality and while the selection of Prestige Classes is rather lean what is there is rather interesting with classes to represent the traditional wicked witch, Circe, the Wizard-Priestess and the Crone as well as a warrior oriented class of persons who defend Witches and their covens. Influences of powerful places and times of the year are given some well thought discussions with a calendar of Pagan holidays given as an example from our own world. All in all I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to add this classic type of spellcaster to their campaigns.