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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2008788" data-attributes="member: 172">Arcana: Societies of MagicArcana: Societies of Magic is a d20 system sourcebook by Green Ronin Publishing, the publishers of the much lauded Legions of Hell. Arcana: Societies of Magic describes 6 organizations with unique goals, and unique styles of magic to achieve those goals.A First LookArcana: Societies of Magic is 64 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $14.95. This is a fairly typical price for a book of this size.The cover is blue, with a darker hue near the bottom of the book, fading to white at the top. The front cover picture is by Jason Engle (whose work you may recognize from the pages of Dungeon magazine), depicting some manner of spellcaster in front of a brazier, with one hand surrounded by purple glowing motes and the other grasping a staff. (This just happens to be the same picture I use for my avatar on the Realms of Evil boards.)The interior is black and white. The interior illustrations are of average quality; none struck me as being especially good or bad, with one exception. There is one picture of a gnome wizard that looked like a characture, entirely out of place for a serious product. There are a few maps, and the cartography is excellent; the maps are clear, attractive, and functional. The layout is also attractive and functional.The typeface is of moderate size, the margins about average in size. Combined with the price per page, I would say that this product delivers an average value based on quantity of content alone.A Deeper Look(Warning: There are many secrets to these societies that could be considered spoilers in a game using them.)Arcana: Societies of Magic is organized into six sections, one for each of the included socities. The sections have a similar layout. Rules material like prestige classes, spells, feats, and magic items (but not stat blocks) are offset in grey sidebars. Each society is broken down into at least three section, one entitled inside the [society], one describing personalities of the society, plus a campaigning section describing how the use the society in your particular campaign. Three of the societies also include a sample locale used by the society, complete with a map.The Inside the [Society] sections vary in structure, but each basically outlines the nature of the society, including goals, modes of operation, and what life is like inside the society. The Personalities section has statistic blocks and descriptions for a few of the figures within each society, though not always the highest level figures. The Campaigning section includes some suggestions on what role the society might play in your campaign, and a few alternative "truths" that you can use to alter the basic concept of the society (which I thought was a rather useful feature.)The Abbey of Green SteelThe first society presented is the Abbey of Green Steel. The abbey is a martial monastic order with the ultimate goal of transforming its members into devils. Though they have no overt plans for world domination or somesuch, my impression is that this cannot be good. The new rules devised for the Abbey of the Green Steel are probably the most clever in the book. First is a monkish prestige class (with arcane spellcasting ability) that allows the character to combine arcane spells with unarmed attacks. The more interesting mechanical bit introduced by the Abbey of Green Steel is the mechanics for outsider weapons. This concept is similar to that of binding demons to items as described in Dragonlords of Melnibone and Demonology: The Dark Road. However, unlike those two books, the outsider weapon rules work well in conjunction with the existing rules. The cost of creating such weapons is similar to standard magic weapons with the same capabilities, but reduced by a time depending on the specified time of the binding. The item requires spells to summon and bind the creature into the weapon (such as the planar binding spells) but can have abilities depending on the creature's abilities.The campaigning section paints the green steel monks as a secret evil that strikes from their hidden base. The scenario's section includes scenarios that cast them as hidden partners in a rebellion, or as a force that the players may have to parley with to defeat another fiendish foe.The Dragon GangThe second group is the Dragon Gang. The dragon gang is essentially a somewhat racist criminal gang; the race that they favor is Drakeling. Drakeling is a new race introduced in the book. They are descendants of dragon cross-breeds, but not so close to dragons that they qualify as half-dragons.The other major mechanical item that the chapter adds is a set of rules for drugs. Drugs are very much like poisons in that they have both a primary and secondary effects. Further, the duration between the primary and secondary effects varies. However, the primary effect is not necessarily detrimental... but the secondary effect is. There is also another save for addiction, and some simple rules for handling addiction.The central personality in the dragon gang is somewhat impressive. There is a reason that there are so many members of the gang with dragon blood – the gang is headed by a dragon. The campaigning suggestions present some ways to exploit this fact in interesting ways, theorizing on why a dragon would engage in such an endeavor and deriving some interesting scenarios from it, such as the possibility that the dragon is only in it to attract a mate, or to reshape human society.Servants of DecayThe third society if the Servants of Decay. The Servants of Decay believe that the universe once existed in a much simpler, chaotic state, and the current reality is only transitory. In these times dwelled creatures called preternaturals, that did not care for the trappings of society but strived for greater things. As such, they believe that the proper course of action is to act to break down societies and help return the world to the simpler primal chaotic state. There is a preternatural state that still exists in a parallel plane that is something of a warped reflection of the physical world.The mechanics introduced in the section include a new prestige class (the servant of decay), the preternatural template, and rules for handling the effects of society against the magic of the servants of decay. The servant of decay is a divine spellcaster who gains the ability to travel in the preternatural world safely, and eventually allow others to do so. Eventually the servant of decay becomes a preternatural creature, becoming an outsider and gaining damage reduction and cold resistance.The preternatural creature template is the represent creatures of the preternatural world. They are incorporeal outsiders with many defensive qualities.There was one aspect of the Servants of Decay section that I didn't care for. It makes intimations that a DM should treat them as having no alignment. I found that rather silly. If the DM uses alignment, they are not likely to discard the moral realist system for the convenience of on group; if they don't use alignment, it isn't an issue in the first place.Temple of the Living GodThe central concept behind the temple of the living god is that there was once a deity named Viraxis whose portfolio was mysteries and secrets. He was once very powerful, appealed to by nations to hide their secrets, and by arcane spellcasters to reveal arcane secrets. However, the followers of Viraxis began to rely on their own devices and turned away from the deity. Eventually Viraxis fell from his divine position. Before fading entirely away, Viraxis invested his last bit of divine power in his last high priest. He now strives to regain his power as a deity, and the temple is the last vestige of his worshippers.The Temple of the Living God section include a new template, a new feat, and a new domain. The new template is divine avatar, which in this section is applied to the priest who holds the last splinter of Viraxis' power, but could be used for anyone in a similar situation. The new feat is secret of spellcraft, which grants a bonus when researching spells. The new domain is secrets, which was the chief area of interest of Viraxis.Tribunal of Arcane JusticeThe Tribunal of Arcane Justice is a body that exists to enforce its own set of laws regarding the use of magic. The Tribunal does not worry much about petty crimes using magic such as charming a peasant or murdering a rival using magic. Their concern is the use of magic in wantonly hazardous or destructive fashions, such as opening permanent gates to the infernal realms and using magic to enslave others.The Tribunal is housed in a citadel whose location is not specified in the book (it is left up to the GM), but is not accessible by normal means. For example, it may exist on a demiplane or an isolated cavern.The Tribunal sends out agents to enforce its agenda. This brings about the presented prestige class, the wizard slayer. They are fighting type characters with class abilities that focus on detecting magic as well as attacking and defending against arcane spellcasters.The School Beyond the VeilThe last society is called the School Beyond the Veil. It is a martial school that appeals to warrior types across the land. They teach fighting styles that make use of divination magic to enhance their capabilities.The School Beyond the Veil features a few fighting styles very close in concept to Oriental Adventures, i.e., they grant a special ability once you have obtained the requisite feats.The epitome of the school's fighting training is the moon wraith adept prestige class. This is a class with good fighting abilities as well as its own spell list and advancement. The spells available to it include effects that aid in detection, evasion of detection, and combat.There is a dark secret to the school, though. Though they recruit fighting men far and wide, they are actually agents of a conspiracy. They have a secret agenda revolving around dominating the world and reshaping society into a rigid hierarchy. Initiates of the highest circle are doomed to become a new type of undead called moon wraiths.ConclusionWhen I first heard about this book, I assumed that it was a book with detailed backgrounds of arcane orders and prestige classes to go with them, something like a subset of Tome & Blood. The book is actually a bit more like Atlas Games' Touched by the Gods, which features a variety of secret societies to add to your game.That said, I think in a lot of ways Arcana: Societies of Magic outclasses Touched by the Gods. The societies in Arcana: Societies of Magic fewer and better developed, and more consistent in scope. Additionally, it has much better supporting rules material and the alternative takes make it much easier to fit these societies into a game. Some of the mechanics, like outsider weapons, beg to be used even outside of the context that they are presented in.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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