Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
Occult Lore is a sourcebook offering ten new magical traditions with accompanying rules to introduce this type of magic into your campaign.
At $29.95 for 240 pages, this volume is pretty good value for money compared to other products of its size and type. As usual with Atlas products, space usage is not perfect with regular areas of white space and widely spaced sub-headings and tables, but the font is good (particularly in the OGC boxes) and margins standard. The internal mono art is average to good, whilst the front cover depicts a glowing sigil over a pool of water indicating its subject matter. Writing style and editing are good, with occasional minor errors.
Chapter One: Alchemy, covers two aspects of alchemy illuminated through two distinct organizations. The Society of Arcane Healers use a form of mediaeval healing (the elemental forces of Choler (fire), Melancholy (earth), Sanguine (air), and Phlegm (water)) except in this case the healing actually works. The healers revere the patron saint of healing, Asclepius. Various new diseases, including Plague and Typhus as well as more legendary diseases, are discussed and statted out. New alchemical equipment such as Aqua Vitae is discussed, along with alchemical notation and treatises. A new full NPC class, the Arcane Healer, is then given. Members of the Golden Cabal, in contrast, seek immortality through alchemy. A new prestige class, Grand Alchemist Of The Golden Cabal, has details on using metallic distillations and elixirs to extend lifespan. The chapter finishes with some adventure hooks for introducing the concepts introduced previously.
Chapter Two: Astrology, begins by introducing a new skill, Astrology, the ability to use mathematics and astronomy to craft and interpret horoscopes. New equipment - the astrolabe, star charts and texts on astrology are discussed. A new NPC class, the Computer (or Cosmographer) is given, followed by various different types of horoscopes to divine coming events and auspicious times for action, as well as a new feat, Compute Spell Inception, which helps a spellcaster choose an auspicious day for casting a spell. The theme continues with a discussion of nativity horoscopes and a new creature, the Pangunculus, a semi-living wax doll which attracts harmful spells to itself if they are aimed at its maker. After a brief discourse on fantasy astrology, a new PC class, the Astrologer, is introduced - a spellcaster who uses astrological formulae to cast spells and benefits from an astrological connection to a target. They can also store spells for later use in fetishes, gain a familiar, and can specialise in a school of magic. A new feat, Create Spell Talisman, allows Astrologers to create reusable fetishes. The chapter continues with a discussion of astrologer-priests, those who worship the stars. Four new domains (using standard spells from Core Rulebook I) are offered - Sacred Geometry, Luna, Sidereal, and Sovereignty - to bolster this concept, and two new prestige classes - the Solar Hierophant and the Lunar Mystagogue - each of which has class features which symbolise aspects of the sun and moon respectively (for instance, the Solar Hierophant can channel positive energy and create vessels that shine like a daylight spell, whilst the Lunar Mystagogue channels negative energy, and gains the blindsight ability and power over the creatures of the underworld). The chapter ends with an adventure hook.
Chapter Three: Elementalism, introduces another new PC class, the Elementalist, with its four specialist branches - Auramancy, Terramancy, Ignamancy, and Aquamancy. The elementalist gains affinities with and power over the elements. They are much like wizards in terms of spellcasting, specialising in an elemental 'school' which renders its opposite unavailable, and using spellbooks. They can also transform into elemental creatures themselves, and a template serves to illustrate this process. Four elementalist NPCs and their elemental familiars further clarify the class and the chapter ends with some adventure seeds and the Elementalist spell list (drawing heavily upon the new spells found later in the book).
Chapter Four: Geomancy, uses concepts familiar to those who know a little about ley lines and feng shui - magical energy travels across the land in lines and meet at a powerful nexus. These magical energy paths can create strong magical areas and weak magical areas, which can enhance and weaken spellcasting. These positive and negative magic zones are discussed in detail along with the possible consequences of casting in these areas - such as magical overload and forgotten spells. Information is given on detecting and altering these magic zones; two new feats are offered - Dowsing and Geomancy - which aid in these tasks. The chapter ends with some advice on integrating geomancy into a campaign, and an adventure seed.
Chapter Five: Herbalism, begins by discussing the various uses of herbs in a campaign and expands on the Craft - Cooking skill. There is a lengthy sidebar offering a new skill of Herbalism, which allows the user to identify plant traits and use them to brew herbal concoctions, both mundane and magical. Much of the information relates to the list of plants in the Appendix, which have stats that relate to the Herbalism skill check process. A new feat, Plantbind, allows a user to attune a spell to a herb, allowing the spell to be stored for later use. Two new prestige classes are given - the Master Herbalist (an expert in brewing concoctions) and the Wylderwitch, a more witchy 5-level version of the Master Herbalist. After a short discussion on NPC herbalists, various herbalist equipment, both magical and mundane, is described and pictured. Two adventure seeds finish off the chapter.
Chapter Six: Magical Imagination, uses an organisation called The Society Of Heralds as a vehicle for describing the use of mnemonics as a magical method (the practice of using images in the mind to remember complex or lengthy information). Those who study the art become heralds, messengers and suchlike whilst secretly collecting vast amounts of other information, both mundane and arcane, to increase the power of the society. A new prestige class, the Heraldic Wanderer, is woven into information on the society, and discusses the magical methods the PrC uses, such as memory palaces and the loci within that represent information on a place, something or someone. Heraldic Wanderer's also use magical marble statues, called Herms, to store this information in. The chapter ends with a couple of adventure seeds and a new wondrous item.
Chapter Seven: Oneiromancy, discusses the realm of dreams. The chapter begins with a discussion on the uses of dreams in adventures for prophecy, divination, and meta-game considerations such as allowing a PC to dream of an important piece of information the party overlooked the previous day. There is then a comprehensive set of rules for adventuring in the dream realm, using a mechanic called dream points that allow a character to attempt to mold the dream realm to his will, using a new skill: Lucid Dreaming. Further advice is given on running adventures in a dream realm, discussing the possibilities for more dramatic combat, random magic, and death in dreams. A new PrC, the Oneiromancer, is offered up, an expert in manipulating and surviving in the dream realm. Two new dream-related deities (one good, one evil) and a new Dream domain are also given. The chapter continues with further advice on running adventures in the dream realm - entering and leaving the realm, the types of adventures that are best suited to the dreamworld, the use of symbolism, the rewards of dreaming, and dealing with elves lack of sleep. Various magical items, creatures and templates related to the dream world including manifestations of the id, ego and superego, the dream host's self-image and a Dream Lich. Some adventure seeds end the chapter.
Chapter Eight: Rational Magic, introduces the idea of a kind of anti-magic created from a firm disbelief in magic. A new skill, Logic, is used for this disbelief process, along with a new PrC, the Skeptic. Some adventure seeds and their related NPCs round off this short (and rather weak) chapter.
Chapter Nine: Spirit Cultivation, introduces the Gleaner PC class, a necromancer who sustains the remnants of spirit left in a dead body, building them up to more powerful spirits that will serve him (called revenants). A new skill is offered, Spiritcraft, which is like a specialised version of Knowledge (Undead) to be used with the detect undead spell. The Gleaner uses various magical items to store and sustain revenants, including spiritstones (which store revenants), reqliquaries (which 'grow' revenants into more powerful beings), and focal charms (an advanced reliquary that allows the spirit to roam free). A new creature template for these unbound spirits (called Sovirael) is given, and the chapter ends with a number of well-developed adventure seeds. There is also a photocopiable sheet given for a gleaner PC to keep track of his amassed revenants.
Chapter Ten: Sympathetic Magic, introduces the first freeform magic system (to my knowledge) for d20. In line with the magical practices of western occultism, the sympathetic mage must use symbolism and arcane connections to create magical effects. There is no limit to the range of spells nor any limit to the duration. Sympathetic mages choose a number of magical paths to follow (such as Animals, Earth, or Spirits) which increase with class level. Within these paths, the sympathetic mage gets a number of ritual points to spend each day on creating magical effects. Various guidelines are given for the GM to assign a point cost to each magical effect, using a 2 ritual points per spell level as a means of converting most standard spells, and giving further guidelines for spells involving ability modification, area effects, healing, and protection. This ritual point cost is further modified by range, the strength of symbolism and arcane connection used, saving throw requirement, and duration. The sympathetic mage then decides how many of her points she wishes to expend on the spell and the GM makes a decision on the effectiveness of the spell. The major downside of sympathetic magic is that it is ritual magic and thus takes a long time to perform. Effects are usually subtler than standard D&D magic - no instant fireballs or ice storms. A new full PC class, the sympathetic mage, is given, along with some sample rituals. A section on a gypsy-like nomadic people who use sympathetic magic explores the idea of this magic further, and the chapter again ends with some adventure seeds.
Appendix One: Byron B. Baird's Bountiful Botanical, is a glossary of twenty herbs, real and fantastical. Each plant has information on the climate and terrain it can be found in, its availability and cost at different times of the year, and its traits - which can be used in conjunction with the Herbalism skill - such as agitant, counterpoison, pigment, or repellent for example. In addition, various options for making mundane and magical concoctions (along with their game effects) are described for each entry. The Appendix ends with tables for the different magical concoctions for use as treasure, plants by trait, plants by binding (related to the Plantbind feat in the Herbalism chapter), and plants by concoction.
Appendix Two: The Grimoire Of Occult Lore, is a list of over 100 new spells, mostly related to the new types of magic offered in the book such as spells for the Elementalist (acid rain, anger of the hurricane, fire walk, new land), gleaner (release revenant, enforced return), and oneiromancer (oneiric bolt, sleep of the just) amongst others.
The book ends with an index of d20 material by type.
Conclusion:
If you want to introduce a new type of magic into your campaign, or create your campaign world with a very different magical 'feel' than standard D&D magic, then this volume is highly recommended. I really liked the 'authentic' feel of magic described within these pages - much of the information in here has its roots in western occult practices. A positive aspect for me was that some of the feel of certain magics has echoes of Ars Magica (particularly the freeform magic system in Chapter 10) and Pendragon (the geomancy of Chapter 4). Much of the content of the book is OGC, and I hope to see some of these alternate magic systems in use in future campaign settings - they would be particularly appropriate to a historical setting such as mediaeval Europe.
My only two concerns with the book would be that 1) its quite heavy reading at times and some of the mechanics can be quite complex, needing time to come to terms with and 2) a GM would be well advised to test one of the systems he is interested in outside his standard campaign setting first, as most of the concepts in Occult Lore will have a major impact on the rest of the setting - be sure it takes you in the direction you want to go before implementing it fully. It would certainly require lengthy playtesting to ascertain the balance of some of the new PC classes against the standard D&D classes.
