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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009523" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Steve Creech, Exec. Chairman, d20 Magazine RackMy review is for Arcana: Societies of Magic by Kevin Brennan and James Maliszewski. Published by Green Ronin Publishing (www.greenronin.com), this 64-page book details six different organizations suitable for any campaign. It retails for $14.95. Arcana: Societies of Magic focuses on semi-secret societies that employ magic in very non-traditional ways. The first one listed, The Abbey of Green Steel, is an organization of evil monks who strive to become devils. If this weren’t bad enough, they also forge devil (outsider) weapons and acquire dark, forbidden lore. The second group addressed is The Dragon Gang, a criminal gang run by a dragon. The Dragon Gang represents your stereotypical organized crime behaviors drugs, protection rackets, murder, etc. The Servants of Decay come next. These are individuals who wish to bring the world back to its original preternatural order by encouraging the collapse of civilizations. What if a fallen deity was trying to exist inside a living mortal while building a power base that will allow him to return to the Heavens? This is the premise for Temple of the Living God. How about a tribunal that regulates the use of magic? The Tribunal of Arcane Law doesn’t involve itself with all crimes committed by magic users, only those that “transcend national interests or threaten to turn people against magic.” Its purpose is safeguarding the practice of magic. The last organization, The School Beyond the Veil, trains fighters and warriors in the rudiments of battle magic. They learn how to use magic to enhance their fighting skills and how to use it in battle. Each of these societies has a specific purpose and goal. With each organization, a new prestige class and at least one other additional new quality is included such as a feat, spell, domain, or template. Each is balanced and can fit into any campaign with little work. Out of the many choices available, my choice goes to the Wizard Slayer prestige class as my favorite. Overall, Arcana: Societies of Magic is a good supplement if you are looking for material to add to your existing campaign world. I like the book and think it would be a worthy addition to any DM’s collection. The catch is, this is a book that needs to be used in order to get your money’s worth out of it. If you are only playing the baseline campaign rules (i.e. using only the three core rulebooks) then you are probably not going to get a lot of use out of this book. But if you’re looking for a way to add a new villain or NPC that is totally cool, then by all means, buy this book! To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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