Anyone have Swashbuckling Arcana?

[kenjib]

This book isn't listed in the review section yet (although perhaps it's the same as Magic of Theah - which is listed as not released yet?). I browsed through it at my local store and it looked like a very interesting way to do magic -- full of great flavor and had some really great ideas for making a magic system tied much more closely with the history and culture of a campaign setting -- whether you use Theah or adapt to a homebrew.

They also make some interesting changes to the spells per day and spells known progression to make a very different dynamic. You get fewer spell choices but cast many more per day.

Does anyone have this book? Any opinions on it?

 

[Olive]

who put it out?

 

[kenjib]

It's from AEG in the same product line as their Swashbuckling Adventures book.

 

[Tewligan]

Although I like new magic systems in theory (as shown by the ridiculous amount of books I have with new magic systems), I'm starting to think they might be a pain in the ass to actually implement. Standard D&D magic is the same vanilla, bog-standard system that everyone's used for years and years, but everyone knows the system. I'd really like to try out the Sovereign Stone magic system when I take up the DM reigns again, but I doubt that the players would be keen on dropping $30 or so on another book so they can have the magic system and spells - and I don't want to have to pass my copy around whenever someone wants to cast a spell.

Okay, having whined about that - how similar to "standard" is the Swashbuckling system? Can spells be ported over without too much trouble? Yeah, I'll complain about it, but I'm a sucker for a neat system whether I can use it or not.

 

[kenjib]

I only browsed and don't own it, but this is what I recall -- I could be getting some of it wrong. It's not a big divergence from D&D in terms of how spells work. It's pretty close to the sorcerer, actually. It uses many spells from the PHB and also gives new ones in standard PHB format.

The first difference is that there are numerous spell casting classes, one for each "tradition" of sorcery. Each of these traditions has a tightly defined, themed spell list and other abilities. For example, there is a fire sorcerer with a really cool vibe (can't remember the name -- something with fuego in it). As he progresses in level, he gains special abilities like fire resistance etc. All of the spells he can learn are related to fire. There are probably only 4 or so spells per spell level on the spell list for each class.

You get a number of spells known depending on your level, and it's a smaller number than the sorcerer, but you can cast more spells per day. I think it goes as high as 10 per day for lower spell levels.

The thing that struck me as really cool was that each type of spell caster had a tradition to fall back upon -- whether they were a tradition found only among blooded nobility of a certain nation who were descended from an age old pact with demonic forces, or a mystic tradition feared and persecuted because it is accessible to the lower classes and thus can't be controlled by the powers that be, etc. I thought this was an excellent roleplaying tool for bringing different spell casters to life and having a world rich with many different occult traditions -- each with it's own body of hermetic lore.

To me, this seems more conducive to roleplaying than D&D's pocketknife-toolkit-style any wizard can do anything and everything without any kind of theme approach.

EDIT: In summation I'd say it looked to me like it isn't really a totally new system, like Sovereign Stone, so much as it is a bunch of new classes that work in interesting ways building off of standard D&D rules.

 

[kenjib]

Nobody has this?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Nobody has this?

I bought it this past weekend and like it.

I think they did a pretty good job of capturing the feel of the 7th Sea magic system into d20.

These classes would work in a world without standard spellcasters. While each has its own level of power, I suspect any standard class would outshine them due to versatility (even the sorcerer).

What bugged me:
1) The feats to get into the class. That is a bit harsh. I can understand why they did it this way, but I think some other bonus from the feats would have been nice.

2) The arcana checks: Perhaps I missed it, one does not get much of a bonus to these and the DC's are pretty tough. I would, at least, allow players to add their prime ability bonus to the check. Or consider making it a skill.

3) Again, I may have missed it, but there seems to be things missing. The flavor text is lifted from the 7th seas book, but it seems that some of the descibed effects are not in the game.

IIRC- the fire mage descriptions mentions being able to shape fire (I believe a ladder is used as an example), but I could not find a power/spell that could do that.

The fate witch descriptions mentions a possible backlashes that leave permanent scars, but I could not find the check for that.

4) Finally, there is a (the name escapes me) scrying class that specializes around potions for women. The male equivilant gets some nice bonuses, but I can not see a player ever taking it. It is just too weak.

Over all, believe it or not, I am happy with the book and will use it in a future campeign.

SD

 

[Florin]

FYI: Swashbuckling Arcana = Magic of Theah.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I really really want that book.

My party isn't playing in Theah, but we use Swashbuckling Adventures all over the place.

I particularly like the non-magical weapon modifications.

As a DM I make lots of characters using those rules for other systems. THe low magic emphasis is really useful cause the villains are still a challenge without my spending all that time buying magic items the players are going to get anyways.

The upshot being I really want to see what they do with magic.

The alchemist and witch classes from the first book were actually pretty intriguing. Though they both required some min/maxing to be effective.

 

[DDK]

I'd like to recommend GURPS Voodoo for an alternate magic system to incorporate into pirate campaigns. If you know your history then you'll know that the Caribbean was a major center for piracy and the birthplace of modern Vodun.

Though the system is definitely GURPS oriented, the majority of the book is still great for source material and ideas and the flavour of the shadow war setting can add a grim horror aspect to any piracy based campaign, if you so choose.

I'm currently working on an adaption to d20 of the Voodoo ritual magic system in GURPS Voodoo. I'll be posting it (eventually, sometime soon, in the near future, if I ever get it finished) to canonfire.com so look for it there.