Arcane Creations Volume I

[Storminator]

With Arcane Creations Volume I, Heathen Oracle provided one of the few services most DMs can't duplicate on their own. Art.

Arcane Creations is 15 pages of pictures of magic items, arranged as cards to be printed and cut out. This is one of the few products that actually works better as a pdf than as a print product. If you need another card you can simply print out another.

What do you get? The first page is an introduction and some advice on how to get the most from the product. Then it gets right to the pictures. The pictures are generally group by type of item. Included are:
Printed four pictures to a page
3 suits of armor
2 pairs of boots
1 pair of gloves
1 eye patch
1 belt
1 helmet
2 shields
2 swords
1 mace
1 flail
1 dagger
1 pair of kukri
1 axe
1 double weapon
1 bow
Printed three pictures to a page
3 cloaks
5 wands/staffs
1 arrow
1 axe
2 swords (one sheathed)
1 shield
2 double weapons
Printed ten pictures to a page
rings
potions
wands
necklaces
scrolls
books
a horn
a set of playing pipes
a wineskin

The pictures are black and white, 200 dpi, with a touch of color in the borders of the item cards. Some of weapons and some of the staffs are surrounded by energy, and others are plain. While it's possible to color in some of the pictures, others, like the chainmail, are a bit too dense to take color easily.

While I am not the most competent art critic, and others may find faults I don't, I think the work on the pieces is extremely good. Each piece has a wealth of details, such that any item in the collection is worthy of an important magic item. As a collection of treasures there are many gems on pieces, as well as some exotic touches. One of the wands is a monster claw, and another has a skull in the tip.

In addition to the illustrations, the last page has cards for marking off ammunition and supplies. There are 3 ammunition cards, one each for arrows, bolts, and darts, and one that combines food and water. While potentially useful, I find these less compelling that the illustrations.

The only complaint I had about this product is that there just isn't enough. There are easily more pictures than anyone has a right to expect for $4, but now I want every item I ever hand out to come with one of V_Shane's illustrations. Fortunately, there is a sequel due out on January 16th.

I haven't stopped recommending this product to people since I got it.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This is not clip-art, it is a gaming accessory. Beautifully illustrated cards, usable for any fantasy game system. Contents: There are 60 images; 15 pages of illustrated b/w line art @ 200dpi.

*Rings,broaches,wands, necklaces,statues.
*foreboading weapons; daggers, swords, axes, flails, gauntlets,& bows.
*Mysterious articles of clothing; robes, cloaks, belts, boots, gloves, greaves,& helmets.
*There is even a mundane items cards to keep track of arrows/rations/water.

 

[knight_isa]

Arcane Creations Vol. 1: Misc. Magical Items
V Shane
10 Mb PDF (available at www.RPGNow.com)
17 pages (1 page cover, 1 page suggested use, 1 page ad)
$5 (I got it on special for $4)

This is not a playtest review. Not that it matters for this product.

This is an idea that immediately struck me as being really cool. Arcane Creations Vol. 1: Misc. Magical Items is 14 pages of pictures of miscellaneous magical items. The items includes all sorts of beatifully illustrated items. Each page is divided into cards--just print out the page and cut out the cards.

I only have two complaints about this product, one has to do with the size of the cards, and the other is just me being whiny.

The cards come in three sizes. I haven't printed any of these out yet, but here are my approximations (in inches) from eyeballing the PDF:

1) 4 x 5.25 (4/page) This size is used for most weapons and armor.
2) 2.125 x 4 (10/page) For rings, musical instruments, potions, miscellaneous small stuff.
3) 3.5 x 8 (3/page) For cloaks and long weapons (staves, polearms, etc)

Now, while I'd prefer 3x5 cards (which you can fit 5/page), mainly because I'm already using 3x5 cards for summon monster stats, I don't mind sizes 1 and 2 above. Sure, I'd have to get a 4x6 index card box, but I could live with that. I don't like size 3 at all. I have no complaints about the illustrations contained on those cards, but I just don't know how I'd store them.

As for my whiny complaint: I want to be able to print out only the ones I want. For example, the first page has a pair of gloves, a pair of boots, a chain shirt, and a loin cloth. While I can see needing multiple cards for gloves, boots, or chain shirts, I'm pretty sure that the loin cloth isn't going to see much use. It'd be nice if I could pick and choose.

What I'll probably end up doing is taking screen captures and pasting what I want into a Word Doc, then printing out only what I want (on 3x5 sized cards for most things, although I might keep the 2.125x4 for potions). These pictures are just too cool to not use just because I don't like the size.

Conclusion. This product definitely deserves a [5]. Despite my complaints about the card size, you just can't beat the quality of the artwork, and Arcane Creations Vol. 1: Misc. Magical Items is well worth the money if you like visual aids. I think it's time to go pick up volume II...