Dark Mistress
First Post
This product is 106 pages long. It starts with a cover, credits, and Forward. (5 pages)
Chapter 1 – Spells and more spells (14 ½ pages)
This is the section of all the spell lists added to each class. The numbers may or may not be exact it was easy to miscount.
Alchemist - 24
Alchemist Discoveries – 4
Bard – 82
Cleric – 101
Druid – 75
Inquisitor – 45
Paladin – 27
Ranger – 52
Sorc/Wiz – 209
Summoner – 30
Witch – 43
Next is the spells themselves (69 ½ pages)
Here was some of my favorite spells. There is way way to many to list all so I will only list a few examples.
Abrupt Summoning – like normal summoning spells but with a shorter casting time, except you don't always know what you will summon, summoned creature is random.
Actaeon's Breath – creates a short term large area of fog. All that come into contact with the fog save or suffer from Baleful Polymorph effect for 1 week.
Alluring Voice – A sirens call to cause the target to come to the voice.
Bolt of Animation – causes negative energy dmg, those slain by it rise as a zombie under the control of the caster.
Eerie Forest – Makes a forest seem eerie cause those traveling in the area effected to make a save or become shaken. I do have one problem with this spell, area effected. I think this would have been a lot cooler of a spell with a much larger area covered, even if that meant raising the level.
Hornet Breath – vomit forth several swarms of hornets/wasp, while not under control they ignored the caster and their allies.
Lightning Web – works like web but made of electricity. Those caught it in take damage each round, those trying to break free take more. Save for half damage.
Manipulate appearance – Can change hair, skin and eye color at will for duration of spell.
Obscuring Flock – summons a flock of crows in a cone. Obscuring vision and causing damage to those inside. I think it should have been a area instead of a cone.
Plague of Fear – Cause sever fear in those that fail the save, in addition they can spread the fear like a plague to others for a long period of time. The only part that is not clear is once the plague starts can the targets be reinfected, my guess is no. But it doesn't say one way or the other.
Relocate and Relocate Other – Requires use of arcane mark on a target. The first spell allows the caster to teleport to the target at the casting of this spell. The other summons the target to the caster.
Transfer Soul – Move your soul into the body of a nearby animal and control it for the duration of the spell. Your body stays where it was in suspended Animation.
There was a couple of spells I had problems with.
Death Bird – When you are killed or dropped to negative points a Death bird shows up, claims your soul and carries your body off to a predetermined spot, moving at it's best speed. My problem with this spell what does it mean when it claims your soul? It doesn't explain what the means. My guess is that it is just fluff. The other problem is, what happens if before it reaches the location the spell duration runs out. Does it drop the body there? Or is the duration only for how long till the death bird can be activated and has no effect on the travel time for the bird. This spell while neat needed to be more clear.
Chapter 2 – More Eldrith Options (4 pages)
This section has 6 new feats and 7 new magic items.
Appendix 1 – Spells by school (1 1/2page)
Spells listed by school.
Appendix 2 – Spells by use (1 page)
Spells listed in either offensive, defensive or utility.
Appendix 3 – Spells by Descriptor (3 pages)
Acid, Air, Chaotic, Cold, Darkness, Death, Earth, etc.
Appendix 4 – Spells by Author (1 ½ pages)
You can see who designed each spell.
It finishes with a OGL, 2 ads and back cover. (6 pages)
Closing thoughts, this is a big book just choked full of spells. Some are variations of existing spells, others are improved or lesser versions of existing spells but many likely most are wholly new spells. The art work is fair to good, with a side bar listing each piece of art and what spell it is of. There is several side bars talking about making spell permanent, 2 new gods, to stats for a new monsters the Death Bird, Manifest Children of Ether and puppet Imp.
There is a lot to love about this book. Including a nice print friendly copy. There was very few bad spells if any. There was some spells I didn't like but that was more of not that they was bad, so much as they just didn't appeal to me. There is a few problems with the book. One of the problems which is hard to critic since few do it anyways. Is the appendix's, I love them but with them broken up in paragraph form instead of list form and in level makes them a lot less useful. I wish they have been broken up in spell list form or maybe a web enhancement can be added. This is especially true for spell schools.
The other problem and by far the biggest is some spells where not as clear as they could have or should have been. Most was very clear or clear enough but some was not, which is a pity. For the most part you can make a educated guess but in some cases the GM will just have to make a decision such as with the Death Bird Spell is listed.
The final thing is there was some spells I really felt should have been added to some classes spell lists. This is especially true for the new APG classes, who I felt got a bit short changed.
So whats my rating? I am torn I keep flip flopping between a 3.5 and a 4 star. What is good is very good but it needs work some places that really hurt. For the sheer number of spells and price it is a good by. I am coming down at a 4 star but just barely, truthfully it is likely more of a 3.75 star.
Chapter 1 – Spells and more spells (14 ½ pages)
This is the section of all the spell lists added to each class. The numbers may or may not be exact it was easy to miscount.
Alchemist - 24
Alchemist Discoveries – 4
Bard – 82
Cleric – 101
Druid – 75
Inquisitor – 45
Paladin – 27
Ranger – 52
Sorc/Wiz – 209
Summoner – 30
Witch – 43
Next is the spells themselves (69 ½ pages)
Here was some of my favorite spells. There is way way to many to list all so I will only list a few examples.
Abrupt Summoning – like normal summoning spells but with a shorter casting time, except you don't always know what you will summon, summoned creature is random.
Actaeon's Breath – creates a short term large area of fog. All that come into contact with the fog save or suffer from Baleful Polymorph effect for 1 week.
Alluring Voice – A sirens call to cause the target to come to the voice.
Bolt of Animation – causes negative energy dmg, those slain by it rise as a zombie under the control of the caster.
Eerie Forest – Makes a forest seem eerie cause those traveling in the area effected to make a save or become shaken. I do have one problem with this spell, area effected. I think this would have been a lot cooler of a spell with a much larger area covered, even if that meant raising the level.
Hornet Breath – vomit forth several swarms of hornets/wasp, while not under control they ignored the caster and their allies.
Lightning Web – works like web but made of electricity. Those caught it in take damage each round, those trying to break free take more. Save for half damage.
Manipulate appearance – Can change hair, skin and eye color at will for duration of spell.
Obscuring Flock – summons a flock of crows in a cone. Obscuring vision and causing damage to those inside. I think it should have been a area instead of a cone.
Plague of Fear – Cause sever fear in those that fail the save, in addition they can spread the fear like a plague to others for a long period of time. The only part that is not clear is once the plague starts can the targets be reinfected, my guess is no. But it doesn't say one way or the other.
Relocate and Relocate Other – Requires use of arcane mark on a target. The first spell allows the caster to teleport to the target at the casting of this spell. The other summons the target to the caster.
Transfer Soul – Move your soul into the body of a nearby animal and control it for the duration of the spell. Your body stays where it was in suspended Animation.
There was a couple of spells I had problems with.
Death Bird – When you are killed or dropped to negative points a Death bird shows up, claims your soul and carries your body off to a predetermined spot, moving at it's best speed. My problem with this spell what does it mean when it claims your soul? It doesn't explain what the means. My guess is that it is just fluff. The other problem is, what happens if before it reaches the location the spell duration runs out. Does it drop the body there? Or is the duration only for how long till the death bird can be activated and has no effect on the travel time for the bird. This spell while neat needed to be more clear.
Chapter 2 – More Eldrith Options (4 pages)
This section has 6 new feats and 7 new magic items.
Appendix 1 – Spells by school (1 1/2page)
Spells listed by school.
Appendix 2 – Spells by use (1 page)
Spells listed in either offensive, defensive or utility.
Appendix 3 – Spells by Descriptor (3 pages)
Acid, Air, Chaotic, Cold, Darkness, Death, Earth, etc.
Appendix 4 – Spells by Author (1 ½ pages)
You can see who designed each spell.
It finishes with a OGL, 2 ads and back cover. (6 pages)
Closing thoughts, this is a big book just choked full of spells. Some are variations of existing spells, others are improved or lesser versions of existing spells but many likely most are wholly new spells. The art work is fair to good, with a side bar listing each piece of art and what spell it is of. There is several side bars talking about making spell permanent, 2 new gods, to stats for a new monsters the Death Bird, Manifest Children of Ether and puppet Imp.
There is a lot to love about this book. Including a nice print friendly copy. There was very few bad spells if any. There was some spells I didn't like but that was more of not that they was bad, so much as they just didn't appeal to me. There is a few problems with the book. One of the problems which is hard to critic since few do it anyways. Is the appendix's, I love them but with them broken up in paragraph form instead of list form and in level makes them a lot less useful. I wish they have been broken up in spell list form or maybe a web enhancement can be added. This is especially true for spell schools.
The other problem and by far the biggest is some spells where not as clear as they could have or should have been. Most was very clear or clear enough but some was not, which is a pity. For the most part you can make a educated guess but in some cases the GM will just have to make a decision such as with the Death Bird Spell is listed.
The final thing is there was some spells I really felt should have been added to some classes spell lists. This is especially true for the new APG classes, who I felt got a bit short changed.
So whats my rating? I am torn I keep flip flopping between a 3.5 and a 4 star. What is good is very good but it needs work some places that really hurt. For the sheer number of spells and price it is a good by. I am coming down at a 4 star but just barely, truthfully it is likely more of a 3.75 star.
