Player's Guide to Wizards, Bards and Sorcerers

Arcane might is a source of both peace and war. Whether garnered from generations of epics, sorcerous power in the blood or the meticulous use of arcane formulae, arcane magic holds the power to build worlds or destroy them.

This sourcebook in the Players Guide series from Sword and Sorcery Studios details the secrets and potential of the masters of arcane magic: wizards, bards and sorcerers

Truth be told, I hadn't expected much out of this book before reading it. The previews hadn't shown me anything exciting in the way of prestige classes, and I'd been half-expecting something that looked like the Wizards of the Coat splatbooks - which aren't particularly exciting, either, in my opinion, though a few have some prestige classes and feats of note. Still, they're not worth the amount they're sold for, and that kind of thinking colored my opinion on the Player's Guide to Wizards, Bards, and Sorcerers before reading it.

Now that I have read it, what are my thoughts?

Well...eh. Over-all, I wasn't impressed. Nothing particularly "wowed" me. While I generally find the Sword and Sorcerys writing to be interesting, whether it's for the Scarred Lands or Ravenloft, nothing caught my eye in the book. At least, not in a positive way.

Right from the cover, I was expecting something less than stellar. It wasn't the artwork mind you, and obviously not the title, but the sentence at the bottom of the page stating: "A Core Sourcebook for Revised 3rd Edition Fantasy Roleplaying." While perhaps my initial reaction of distaste for it should have waited until I read through it, now that I have, I can quite readily say that the statement is an utter load of bunk. It's disingenuous in its claim, as from the perspective of a non-Scarred Lands player, the vast majority of the book just isn't useful, and from the perspective of both a Scarred Lands player and DM, such as myself, the book, at no point, gave me the impression that I needed it for the setting. If you don't plan on using the Scarred Lands, don't let "Core Sourcebook" fool you, as a good chunk of the book is setting material. If you do play in the Scarred Lands, the book still isn't a necessity to have - Divine and the Defeated, the Scarred Lands Campaign Setting: Ghelspad, Creature Collection Revised, and Relics and Rituals are the four essential core books for the setting, whereas the Player's Guide to Wizards, Bards and Sorcerers is just a nice addition to add to your collection. That they'd stamp something like that on the cover is possibly the one most irritating thing about the entire book. It's as much a "Core" sourcebook as Tome and Blood - which doesn't go so far as to claim it's a core anything. Ultimately, it struck me as a marketing ploy, as the truth in the claim seemed lacking. While obviously the companies out for a profit, doing it by diluting the concept of just what a core book is means that, eventually, the statement will be rendered meaningless, whether in the concept of d20 role-playing in general, or for settings such as the Scarred Lands specifically. If a book is, essentially, a necessity for playing D&D, or in the Scarred Lands, then fine, use the word "Core" on the cover all you like - but this book fills neither criteria.

Boy, so much fuss over one little sentence. Honestly, though, it irked me to no end, and will each time I see it on their various other Player's Guide to X classes.

With that said, let's go to the insides of the book, in no particular order, mind you.

Each section has a few staples shared between them. Each mentions a number of organizations tied to one of the classes presented, some old, but a number of new ones, as well. Every last one of the new organizations is highly forgetable; I likely couldn't name a single one of them if I didn't flip through the book to find their names again. The wizards section goes into the various academies and institutes which teach wizardry, the part on bards mentions a variety of their traditions, and the sorcerers chunk of the book details a sorcerous bloodline for each titan, as well as for non-titan related sorcerous bloodlines. A few do pop up into my head, but that's mainly due to the fact that they either have a prestige class related to them in the book, or they had something to them which gives me the slightest sigh and shake of my head when I read through them.

They also share a few notable NPC's. Just like with the magical organizations, previously described characters are brought up, as are a few new ones. Again, the new notables aren't so notable. Out of the whole bunch, I only recall one, a wizard who focuses on transmutation magic, and has an affinity for falcons or avians or some such. I mainly remember her due to her picture, right above her entry. Oh, and the Dark Bard, who apparently's privy to the thoughts of Goran and Chern; it doesn't state that in his entry, but the main thrust of his character is that he knows about how Chern corrupted the mind of the deity Goran to forsake the dark elven people. The way I read Burok Torn, I never once had the impression that either the dwarves or dark elves really knew why Goran had betrayed Nalthalos, and by all logic, none of them really would - Goran certainly didn't know he was being influenced by the titan, Chern obviously told no one, and Nalthalos himself obviously wasn't privy to the thoughts of either. If you're not a Scarred Lands fan, that was just a bunch of gobblety-gook, but if you are, you know what I'm talking about, and suffice to say, I found the Dark Bard's blurb to be a piece of poorly thought out writing.

Shared also would be the chapter introductions, all of which are a quote from a member of the class appropriate to the section of the book. These only served to affirm my opinion even more that authors shouldn't fabricate quotes for their settings. Most of the time, they don't make for the best of quotes. The first one was essentially a wizard getting into a hissy fit at being called a wizard. Great. A pretentious wizard. I would think a better representative for a wizard could be quoted than what some snobbish mage having a temper tantrum said. The introductions served their purpose, but only as well as just stamping "Chapter I: Wizardly Organizations," would have. The writing for them wasn't terribly impressive, and at times detracted from, instead of added to, the chapters, at times.

As I said, no particular order, so, next up:

The Scion feats are neat, but the concept had already been brought up in Relics and Rituals II. Essentially, they're feats that define the sorcerous bloodline a sorcerer hails from. They're a bit under-powered in and of themselves, as they define a sizable amount of the sorcerer's spell list once they're taken, but they do make for a decent way to balance a good prestige class, and actually add an extra bit of flavor to a character. They're stylish, and I enjoy them, but, having already seen them in Relics and Rituals II, they didn't have quite the oomph they would have had otherwise if this were the first book they had shown up in. A Scion feat exists for each of the titans, as well as a few other forms of magical bloodlines, so a DM is saved the working of making or approving one, but none of them are anything that couldn't be whipped out in under a few minutes, or, in a few cases, taken straight out of Relics and Rituals II. As stated, they're a bit under-powered, but don't change them if you intend on using the Prestige Classes they're attached to; most of those Prestige Classes are only barely, if that, by their requisite Scion feat.

To continue on with the sorcerer's, part of my problem with it was that a good chunk of it was a rehashing of ideas that had first occured to me back while first reading the sorcerer entry in the original 3rd edition Player's Handbook. The thought of "Been there, done that," came up frequently in my mind while reading through the sorcerer's chapters. The sorcerer's section goes into gaining sorcerous power via the blood of angels, fey, and other eldritch beings, as well as the Faustian concept of making a deal with an otherworldly creature for the purpose of gaining magical might. All good ideas, to be sure, but for me at least, old territory, and nothing I would buy a book for. If you've never thought about sorcerer's as anything more than the distant relatives of dragons, or just these people who spontaneously cast spells, hey, maybe you'll find the section helpful, or inspiring, but such was not the case for myself.

Sorcerer's are also mentioned as having bloodmarks, which are essentially witches nipples that mark them not only as sorcerer's, but also what sort of magical lineage they have running through their blood. Bloodmarks manifest as things as mundane as oddly shaped birthmarks, to more distinctive signs of sorcerous power such as the occasional spark of lightning about the sorcerer They can add a certain exotic flair to the character, but, again, while perhaps a bit interesting, they're nothing I became excited over.

In regards to the section on Wizards, it was a particularly unnoteworthy chapter, in my opinion. It offered up a sidebar on just how magic worked in the Scarred Lands, and how the spells from different wizardly traditions, while mechanically the same, often have some signature motif to them, but otherwise...nothing special. A chart on books and discussion on different types of magical tomes. The same standard array of arcane organizations and NPC's.

Bards, though...well. Bards. To sum up the Bard section: War Harps. Yes, War Harps. Apparently, one of the nations of the Scarred Lands decided that it would be a tactically sound strategy to field 6 and a half feet tall harps out onto the field of battle. That this would not be a difficult and costly endeavor, and that these instruments would not be prone to breaking and being ruined while being transported about. Transportation likely requiring quite a bit of horsepower to lug them around the countryside, and if not, well, that's one more exceptionally cumbersome, heavy, FRAGILE piece of gear being lugged around by a Bard.

Oh, and those harps are meant to inspire fear.

Apparently, the fife and drum weren't enough for the author of this section, who also thought that just because historically no one was dumb enough to try fielding harps on the battlefield, that shouldn't prevent the folks in fantasy land from trying to do just that. Because in fantasy land, people don't have sense enough to realize lugging around huge, fragile, cumbersome instruments is a dumb idea. As a sidenote, if anyone can actually provide me with a link or source for a historical use of man-sized harps on the field of battle, I would appreciate it. I went looking, and could find no such silliness myself.

Suffice to say, it colored my entire opinion of the Bard section. It was just...so...dumb.

Sorry for that. Anyway, as for the rest of the Bard section, again, nothing else quite so bad, but nothing else that was particularly good. A number of theories on just how Bardic magic works (it doesn't draw upon the same source as Sorcerer's and Wizard's magic in the Scarred Lands, for one). It has a number of variant rules on how Bards create magic items; these look open to rampant abuse, in my opinion, where a high Perform check can add additional effects to the magic item without raising its cost. Sword and Sorcery's strong point has never been balanced mechanics. A number of bardic epics are also brought up, and how they can be integrated into certain types of spells. All told, more of the so-so writing that failed to catch my eye.

Then towards the end of the book we see the feats, prestige classes and other bits of rules related material. I already mentioned the Scion feats, so I'll go into the rest.

Most of the feats are fairly decent, useful feats - such as the Arcane Trinity feat, which allows a Wizard to prepare three spells of the same level into a single spell slot which is one level higher than any of the spells being prepared. Once one of the three spells are cast, the other two prepared with it are expended and gone. Useful and nice in my opinion.

Then there's Sorcerous Pact.

This is the Faustian deal feat, essentially. It can only be gained by a Sorcerer who gained its sorcerous power through some compact or deal, such as with a Demon or Devil or the like. So long as the Sorcerer upholds its part of the bargain with the entity, one spell per spell level is given a +4 to the DC. +4? +4! With one feat. Sure, it's only one spell per spell level, but who needs more than that? I thought revised third edition got rid of all the insanely high DC powers, such as from Spell Focus and the Archmage Prestige class. Apparently, Sword and Sorcery doesn't pay that stuff much mind. For the restriction, I found the benefit far too powerful. +20% chance of failing a saving throw against a Disintegrate (on top of any other Saving Throw enhancers, such as Spell Focus, or Eagle's Splendor) is a bit much.

The introduction to the Prestige Classes of the book starts off with how Prestige Classes from other sources fit into the Scarred Lands. A nice touch for the most part, though by giving the Mystic Theurge too much flavor, I feel they missed the point of the Prestige Class in the first place.

As for the Prestige Classes in the book...

First, flavor-wise:

I liked the Master Cabalist. It involves the holy names of the gods, and the power they can invoke with them. An idea that isn't unique to the Scarred Lands, but one that hasn't been used quite as often as I feel it should be in Dungeons and Dragons. Kudos to Sword and Sorcery for rectifying that. Taking inspiration from the real world that hasn't really been gone into overly much in a fantasy setting is often a step in the right direction in my opinion.

Other than that...a fairly vanilla selection of prestige classes, flavor-wise. Demonologists, Angel-Blooded, and the requisite arcane prestige class to the setting superpower of magic, the Blessed of Mesos. The Voice of the Dead also has it's own nice touch - a Sorcerer that draws its power from the latent necromantic energy of the city of Hollowfaust, and also can hear dead people - which didn't overly appeal to me, but I can certainly see striking other peoples fancy.

Mechanics-wise...

Bleah. Every last one of the Prestige Classes offered up full spellcasting ability for one. For some of the advantages they offered, in light of the requirements, this pushed just about all of them overboard. Those with the Scion feat requirements had that reigned in to a degree, and Bard prestige classes are always a bit iffy in my opinion on just how powerful they are even when given full spellcasting, but all told...I found most of them to be a bit much. Not to mention, shoddily written at times. Instead of going into each and every Prestige Class and how they're overpowered, I'll just go into the biggest offender in my opinion: The Blessed of Mesos. For the price of a Scion Feat (which has whatever restriction to power these feats normally offer up torn away by the class features), two metamagic feats (Even Sorcerer's tend to have at least one, anyway, such as Extend Spell), 10 ranks in Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft (What else is the Sorcerer going to spend its skill points on?), and being able to cast 4th level spells, the Blessed of Mesos gains or keeps: Full familiar advancement, full spellcasting ability, three bonus metamagic feats (entirely making up for the three feats required to enter the class in the first place), a number of bonus spells every 3rd level (making up for the required spells due to the Scion feat, neutering any impact it would have on the Prestige Class), the ability to spontaneously cast spells with metamagic feats without adding to the spell level or time of casting, an enhanced ability at counterspelling, a free cohort, and a limited ability at regaining spell slots when countering anothers spells. So in other words, the Prestige Class has very minimalist requirements to enter which are completely recouped and a whole lot more. Without even the decency to take away familiar progression. This is the worst of the bunch, but the others follow a similar trend.

Onto the scraps...

New and extra equipment, such as instruments. Nothing special here in my opinion.

New familiars. Poorly thought out. One of the familiars, not even requiring a feat to gain, has a limited capacity as a Vorpal weapon.

New spells. I snoozed through most of these. The only one that struck me as notable was Durlock's Withering Pox, a 5th level spell which emulates Hold Monster, except that it's Necromantic, requires a Fortitude save instead of a Will save, removes that usually only restrictive (Mind-Affecting) descriptor, and, oh, deals out 1d6 Constitution damage each round. Yes, it has a 500 gp gem in its material components, but I found it was too good in comparison to the similar, same level, yet weaker spell, Hold Monster. Mechanically, it could have either used some tweaking, or gone up a level in my opinion. Instead of my being able to immediately compare it to another spell of the same level with a similar, yet weaker effect.

Other notes:

The change-over to third edition to revised third edition wasn't quite complete. There's a reference to Negative Energy Protection and the old damage reduction system for starters.

Scarred Lands/Non-Scarred Lands compatibility: Sword and Sorcery really tried making this book sound as if it was a useful book even if you weren't into the Scarred Lands. As a Scarred Lands fan, I do not believe this to be the case. A lot of the book is Scarred Lands setting material through and through, from the gods, titans, nations and all around. While many of the feats may be generically useful, the spells as well, I found most of the Prestige Classes, despite their "Use in Other Campaigns" blurb, to be strongly tied to the setting. While the organizations and NPC's could be used in other campaigns, so could the Harpers, or Solamnic Knights, or Strahd Von Zarovich. While I can't say this with certainty, I believe I would have enjoyed the book less, and found it less useful, were I not a fan of the Scarred Lands. Even as a Scarred Lands fan, I wasn't particularly thrilled with it.

Artwork: Mark Smylie can draw plate like it weren't no thang. Even if it is being inexplicably plunked onto Bards and Wizards. As for everyone else...cover or otherwise, it ranged from decent to poor. Mark Smylie impressed, everyone else failed to strike my fancy.

Size/Price: At least the book looks like it's worth about 24 dollars, with it's 160 or so pages of text. I wouldn't go so far as to say it actually is, but in comparison to the Wizards of the Coast splat books, it's not quite so paltry and thin for its price.

All told, I wasn't impressed with the book. The writing was, for the most part, bland and uninspired. Not poor, just not good. Mechanically, it was essentially what I expect out of Sword and Sorcery - decent, with glaring, large, loud, angry spats of poor, poor, poorly done rules or feats or prestige classes or whatever.

If you do enjoy the Scarred Lands, while I'd recommend a number of other books (in fact, having been less than pleasant in this review, I'll name them: Divine and the Defeated, the Scarred Land Campaign Setting: Ghelspad and Termana, Relics and Rituals I and II, and Burok Torn, just to name a few - though I will say, mechanically, do not expect much out of any of these books) before I would recommend this one, it's still not a completely unworthy buy.

If you don't enjoy the Scarred Lands...save your money. Get the Tome of Horrors, or the Monsternomicon, or Traps and Treachery, or Midnight, or Van Richten's Arsenal, or, well...something else. Unless of course you've got money to blow. There's a good deal of honestly great products out there, and if you're not tied to a setting, well, there's a whole bunch of other products out there which you'd be better off buying before this one.

And it definitely is not a Core sourcebook, even if you play in the Scarred Lands.

Well - another Players Guide to three of the core classes ? From "rules-light, role-heavy" Swords and Sorcery Studios, aka, White Wolf ? Sounds............ should be interesting !

As for the hard facts, this softcovered 160 b/w pages publication runs at US$ 23,95 - not the cheapest of bargains, do the math. Interior art is by John Bridges, Nate Pride, Tim Truman and Mark Smylie - while I care not a iota for the art of the first three (Tim Truman being IMHO an especially bland, uninspiring artist, but tastes may differ - I just have not yet met a gamer who actually liked or appreciated his work ), Mark Smylie at least is something like the "style creating artist" for the Scarred Lands setting by now. The cover features a pretty static if detailed full colour rendering (by Mark Phillipi) of some more or less standard specimen of the three classes covered - and the unlucky blurb "A Core Sourcebook for revised 3rd Edtion Fantasy Roleplaying" .... Well, personally I _never_ trust blurbs printed on any cover by the publisher (ever read a depreciating one ? thought so.. ), but SSS has been treating the term "core" rather lightly for my taste. Their mistake, some people will take nit-picky objection. SSS could definitely, and easily at that, improve their work here.. Artwork is not a bonus, but IMHO a key element. So no bonus points from sheer production/presentation value.

The book divides into six chapters (two each for the classes ) and three hefty appendices ( I consider 64 of 160 pages a signficant proportion ) - each classes being treated by a different author, describing the many different ways in which the core classes work in the societies, structures and nations of the Scarred Lands. For wizards this includes famous (and secret) magical societies and groups - from the Calastian Battle Mages, the Runecasters of Burok Torn and the Necromancers of Glivid-Autel to the peaceful sages of the Pylacteric vault. Some of these have been described in more detail in other publications (like the Calastia, Hollowfaust and Burok-Torn sourcebooks), but some are new, or at least well fleshed-out, decriptions ( I especially liked the information on the summoners of the Obsidian Pyre ), which includes skill and feats favoured/required, descriptive motifs, reasons and conditions for membership and favoured spells and tactics. Nice for a player to get an idea about some society to join or infiltrate to acquire secret, less widely known, lore. The second chapter of each class deals with specific rule augmentations and variations - alternative spellbooks (with specific traps, nice), costs and terms of magical services (and who is even willing to offer them ) and famous tomes (both as sources of lore and as loot). Much of this is tailored to the Scarred Lands setting, but should be transferable to any home-brew campaign - less easily perhaps to a canon setting (FR, Greyhawk etc.), but definitely not impossible. The chapter delivers the goods it promised.

For bards we find some ideas for character concepts/bardic traditions beyond the tired "ministrel" concept (e.g. the Silver String Tradition of Werecreature-hunters or the "Sowers of Fear", Hollowfaust's masters of psychological warfare ), but nothing _really_ new, fascinating or innovative. The blrubs of famous bards are nothing sepcial either - no big surprises (besides certain infroamtion in the "the Dark Bard" entry). The "Rules" chapter features some more (if not especially needed) rules for bardic performances (philosophy, acoustics, composition etc.), epic recital (including soem example epics) and some rather lukewarm rules for item creation and bardic-music enhancement, which seem like an invitation to abuse by "chrunchy" players. IMHO these weak spots highlight one of the major problems with having each chapter/class written by a different author - quality in one does not prevent weak/hilarious spots in others, which still detract from the overall performance of the book. Especially the bardic epics are far too closely (lamely ) tailored on real world books ("1001 Shelzari Nights" ? "99 Shattered Blades" ? "The courtship of the nine jewels".... YAWN !!!!!) to rouse interest. Some even raise doubts about some "metaplot" accuracy from other supplements - while SSS never claimed any of its books had canon omniscience and infallibility, a certain consistency in plot and details is appreciated by most GMs. In fact, the bard chapter is mediocre, un-original and a let down.

The sorcerers' chapter features the material most specific/unique to the Scarred Lands setting - from the orgins of sorcerous power related to the defeated titans, the elemental forces and dragons, to their nowadays manifestations the established skeleton of sorcerous powers is fleshed out and given shape - how do sorcerers of a thulkan heritage differ from those of Gullaben's essence ? For each of these bloodlines at least a sample cult/clan/bloodline is described, too. Nothing really mindblowing there, but some nifty ideas for campaigns and plots - essentially, many of these clans/bloodlines make useful mid-sized antagonists and secret societies, even interlocking with larger enemy structures, setting up some ready-made internal powerbrokering and jockeying for creative players to exploit. There are also examples for those sorcerers of non-titan heritage - like beings that gained power through descent from outsiders, mythical beasts or through outsider-pacts. Nothing truly new here, but its a nice orientation how such things come to be in the Scarred Lands, which are remarakbly "outsider-free". There are even some samples of how evil outsiders serve/fit in with the darker deities and how some faustian pacts come to be - but no rules ( perhaps for the better - this may be a chapter a GM wants to judge by the needs of his campaign only) . Overall, the Sorcerer chapter delivers - for the Scarred Lands setting at least. Very little of it could be applied elsewhere without some reworking, though.


The three appendices deliver - BIG SURPRISE - Feats and prestige classes. oh well - nothing really new these days I guess !

Actually some of the Feats are nicely reworked or remodelled old standbys ( I especially liked the reasoning behind Improved Spell Critical and Spell Critical ), Scion Feats (sorcerer bloodline feats - giving a little extra power and a pre-selection of 2 spells/level you _have_ to take, but the exclusive ticket for a bunch of Prestige classes and secret societies ) which had already appeared in "Relics and Rituals-2", getting expanded, and a bunch of bardic [Tradition] Feats allowing new and improved uses for bards (enhancing summoned allies, 'Charm Monster' through Performance, lycanthrope bashing or even casting of otherwise inaccessible elemental spells through bardic music... ). There are even specific feats for those crafting outsider pacts, some giving a considerable "ooomfh", but most seem constructed for personal GM balance ( like Sorcerous pact - you gain a +4 DC for one spell /spell level, BUT the GM will have your "master" ask of you one service every character level.... dark power at even greater price..... One of the temptations that depend _very_ much on your GM's style ). I am not surely personally if I would let bards have a familliar, even through expenditure of a feat ("Pied Piper"), though, and "Shunt Focus" (self only spells become "touch", though with a save) is another candidate I would note down as "problematic" (especially in the hands of a divine caster). "Elemental Focus" (DC-bonus to all spells of a specific elemental subtype), Mentor (more spells each level from your wizardly teacher's records ) and "Arcane Trinity" (load a wizardly spell slot one higher with a selection of three spells chosing one of them to cast at a moments notice) stand out. There is also the nice concept of cabbalism, the magic through the "true names" of the gods and a one page summary how the more arcane prestige classes from the DMG fit into the Scarred Lands, as well as for those prestige classes from Monte Cook's, "Book of Eldritch Might".

The prestige classes themselves cause little excitement for me - while several combine full spell progression with extra powers, they usually require a scion bloodline feat, limiting the initial casters versatility, or have some other drawback to compensate. Also, through their focus on titanous extraction and believes/worship, they seem destined for NPC use. Many of them can be taken only at 8th, 9th or even higher levels due to the entry requirements ( access to 5th level spells, 10 skill ranks etc. ) and some definite role-playing requirements (a far too often ignored criteria ) like prior membership in some society etc. We find the "Adept of Flame" (Thulkan fire worshipper/pyrophiles ) "Angel Blooded" (sorcerers of benevolent outsider-heritage with extra spells from the "good" side ), the "Blessed of Mesos" (Seeker and heir of the pen-ultimate source of magic, masters of metamagic) "Demonologist" ( high entry requriements though), "Japhinian Dynast" ( pirate sorcerer with berserking tendencies...strange but intriguing), "Keeper of Epics" (performance bard with boosts to bardic music), "Master cabbalists" (Enhanced magic through the use of "true names" - will need some balancing checks), "Moonwitch" ( a worshipper of Belsameth, the goddess of dark magic. Moody.), "Rage Bringer" (a berserk battle bard - not muc left to imagination), "Slaver of the Dead" (necromantic mages serving Chardun and raising armies in his name) and the "Voice of Sumara" (A necromancer who is in constant communications with the dead - Kudos to Brian Lumley are in order, I guess ). I have some doubts about the practical use of some of the bardic prestige classes (the "High Corrister" - master of ancient epics and lore) and the "Shelzar Eroticist" may need a more mature audience for useful play (exotic dancers anyone ?), though it is nice to see that angle actually covered. If a GM puts some work into the titan-related aspects of the prestige classes, most should be easily transplanted to any campaign. All give precisely focused power to a certain aspect of working magic, and retain far more flavour than the abusive e.g. Hierophant, Mystic Theurge etc. ..

The third appendice gives an expanded list of musical instruments (from the useful to the silly - the 6' tall war harp and the spinetta (very small piano.... who si actually gonna use that in a normal campaign ?) come to mind, but the information just which culture uses which instrument is useful. Some alchemical preparations (anti-alcoholic additives, "diet-powders", but also some medications, anti-elemental essences and endurance-strengthening tonics) are found here, along with Craft [alchemy] DCs.. A Scarred Lands specific expanded list for possible animal familliars and their respective bonuses (for the crunchers) and some short rules for "procuring everyday spell-components fast" round out the section. There is a 6 page section of additional arcane spells - some of them very powerful for their level (Durlock Withering Pox - a necromantic Paralysis plus 1d6 Con damage a round comes to mind, the Bardic level 4 "Darkness Nocturne" goes directly to the "limited" list, too) - most of this should be GM approval material. I sadly miss a rating of "presumed accessibility" for spells in D+D 3.5 - just who if anyone could teach you this spell, how common is it etc. - so that power just might come at a price. Good section, but not earth-shaking.

Resumee :
Overall the Scarred Lands Players Guide to Wizards, Bards and Sorcerers is a mixed bag. If you want roleplaying and background material on playing in the setting, the Wizard and Sorcerer chapters are good or better value. If not, usefulness except as inspiration or raw material is limited. The Bard section (as usual - bards always get the short end of the stick) is weak, no excuses, regardless of setting. The feats and prestige classes appendices are nice, but a bunch of the material in it will never be permitted for player use by most GMs (Scion Feats). The value of this material for use outside of the Scarred Lands is equally high - most of it is easily adapted to other settings, and in several cases makes very different uses for a class feasible (especially bards in this case). While _some_ of it can be found in other books by SSS,, this should be the complete set. Little of it is outstanding, but nothing is sub-par. The appendice on Instruments, alchemy, spells and familliars is an added bonus, but nothing to buy the book for.

As for an overall score, I am of a divided mind - as a Scarred Lands GM and fan, overall I would rate it ( barely ) at a "4", but for everyone playing D+D in another setting, it would be a flat "3". I would definitely recommend checking the contents out in person before buying it. There is very little overpowered or unbalanced stuff in here - not like many player-focused "splatbooks" and "quintessentials". The focus here in on the Scarred Lands and roleplaying information, not more efficient crunching of numbers or maximizing the gain from options. Its not a "must buy" purchase for GMs either, only for those playing Scarred Lands campaigns. And that's what makes it a "4" for me.

Great Review! Though of byuing me this one but now I know better. Thanks!

I appreciate the depth of this review, as this book was on my list of possible future purchases. Now it's going to move to the bottom of that list (I'll eventually want to have it because I'm a Scarred Lands fan and am a bit of a completist about settings I like).

Just curious about one thing. Does the War Harp have any special benefit over a regular harp? I had a roommate who bicycled around with his three foot tall harp all over the place and it was neither particularly cumbersome to him...and he was a small, wiry guy...nor did it ever suffer any damage in all that time. Harps aren't as fragile as they look, and anything short of a weapon blow or a powerful impact isn't likely to cause it much harm. So, it isn't entirely unreasonable to imagine an army fielding six foot harps if they give a decent benefit to their bards over the regular kind. However, if there's not a special benefit, then yeah...that's pretty damned stupid. However, even in the real world armies have done some pretty dumb things because someone in charge thought it looked good on paper.

angry - but at the core quite true. Still, too much anger, too little reflection on what the books does right. Just my two cents

two quick annotations -

first - As for the "chosen of Mesos", as a quasi-rligious follower of teh ultimate power of sorcery i qould expect these guys to excel at magic, meta-magic etc, and I would even concede that most prestige class should give a distinct advantage - but one limited to a certain field/specialty. IMGHO this class, simply through its level and feats prerequisites ( not to mention, that an active worshipper of Mesos has the same social problems that a practicising diabolist would have) limits this mostly to NPC usage.

second - concerning the "War Harp" - no actual benefits, and both the weight (only 30lbs for a 6 foot Frame of lamintaed wood, strings, screws etc ? more would be expected by me ) and a glaring typo in its cost...40hp instead of 40gp... it has no marks of distiction. Just a poorly thought out idea (much like the alphorn as a bardic instrument in Song & Silence ). The instruments in general are hilarious

third and last - some of the detailed criticisms of the the review above are untrue or short-shrift : the book plays very heavily on the them just how the three classes fit, can be played and affect the Scarred Lands - aiming at the players, who want more flesh for the _stories_ behind their characters, not _more_ rules. In that it succeeds admirable. With regard to the "Dark Bard" and the Saga of the Dwarven /Dark-Elven Betrayal, it is stated noweher, that neither side is aware of something having gone wrong through cheerns influence at that battle - the Dark Elves at least seem to know so glimpse of the truth (compare the legends chapter in the bardic section of this book) and the theme of the truth being out there, but thepowers in being not wanting to hear them....well, that surely rings an echo from our world, right ?

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Ack. Anyway.

Yeah, I realize the anger is there. I was well and truly irritated by the "Core sourcebook" stamped onto its cover. That one line set a dark mood for my entire review.

For that matter, as a Scarred Lands fan, owning a good chunk of the setting's material already, I had already seen a lot of the good ideas in there, such as the concept behind the Scion feats. Or some of the more interesting arcane organizations and NPC's. There is some good stuff in there - but most of it is reprinted in some way from previous Scarred Lands books. I suppose it could be lauded for putting all of that information into one book, instead of many, but I'd at least like something new and interesting to be included amongst that. I personally found that lacking.

In regards to the Blessed of Mesos: A titan campaign is just as viable as a divine one; judging from a few other Scarred Lands fans, that seems to be what some prefer. For what the Blessed of Mesos gains, it essentially gives up nothing for entering the prestige class. I don't mind a prestige class excelling at something, or having an advantage over other classes in certain fields, but I expect them to give up something for it. Not even familiar progression was given up; was that really necessary? All told, the Blessed of Mesos can do absolutely everything a Sorcerer can, only better, more often, and with more options.

Lastly! The War Harp. All right, it doesn't sound quite so cumbersome as it came off as. However, don't the strings tend to react poorly to exposure to the elements? Or am I mistaken on that? In either case, the instruments provide no better, inherent bonus over any other instrument for what they do. They're just 30 lbs of instrument that would be better replaced with something lighter. Carrying around a 30 lb harp might be not such a big deal when that's all you're carrying, but when you're also toting around a chain shirt, a rapier, potentially some form of ranged weapon, rations, spell components, a sleeping roll, and likely quite a bit more....it's a bit much.

Anyway, I figure I'll have to write a happier review next time. My opinion on the book was an honest one, but I do realize it was a bit caustic.

Yeah, if the six foot harp provides no benefit over the normal sized harps, then it would be ridiculous to use them instead of lighter, cheaper, just as effective normal harps. The strings aren't terribly bothered by most weather elements, though over the long term they'll become more apt to breakage but that's to be expected of any instrument exposed to travel conditions. I don't see many bards carrying around cases to protect their lute.