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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vanuslux" data-source="post: 2011575" data-attributes="member: 937">Arcane Strife is an arcane magic supplement, much in the vein of Malhavoc's Book of Eldritch Might.  I bought Arcane Strife when it first came out, a long while back.  So why am I reviewing it now?  Well, partly because I'd like to go ahead and clear out all the relics that are lingering on my "to be reviewed" list, but mostly because I have some time to kill. Appearances - Arcane Strife came with three files. The first is the front and back covers, which are rather attractive if you can get past the fact that they're going to eat your printer's ink cartridge alive.  The second is the screen version, which is well bookmarked and puts its text against a background that looks like a weathered brownish parchment.  The third is the printer version which lacks the background and the bookmarks.  There is a moderate amount of artwork (which is present in both the screen and the printer versions) and it's all very good, which is a very rare quality from in a PDF product.  There are no layout problems and the editing seems fine.  Contents - One thing that should be noted about this book is that it uses a world called Shtar as the backdrop for its content.  Don't let that confuse you, because really it's just there to give the material some sense of context and is easily ignored.Chapter 1: Overview - (2 pages) The first chapter starts off by introducing a few brief concepts, giving Arcane Burn (magic backlash from having ones concentration broken during spellcasting...I like the idea of backlash causing damage, I'm less thrilled with the permanent loss of a spell slot), True Names (the idea that everything has a "true name" and if someone knows then they're better able to affect them with magic), and Sigils (Every wizard or sorcerer has a unique rune beneath their skin...branding that sigil on another creature has a few interesting effects) each get a few paragraphs.  While each of these things could have stood a little more fleshing out, they're still quite useful for their brevity.  They of course won't be to everyone's tastes, but I believe they add a lot of depth to arcane castersThe rest of the chapter is taken up by new feats.  As feats go, these are well done, though there are a couple that are a bit questionable in their utility.  I certainly can't imagine ever spending a feat on the ability to prepare an area of effect spell as a touch attack affecting only one target for the cost of increasing the spell level by one.  There are certainly times when that might be useful...but I don't see it being worth it.  Most, however, are perfectly useful and none feel unbalanced.  A fair number are particularly useful to bards.  There are 11 feats here and none that I wouldn't allow in my game. Chapter 2: Spells - (49 pages) This chapter is the meat of the book.  We get arcane spells galore.  The best part is that a lot of these spells significantly expand the sorely lacking repertoires of Bards and Assassins.  I really wish more magic supplements delivered this level of quality in terms of diversity, balance, and flavor.  There are almost 200 spells here and they're divided pretty evenly across the levels.  The worst thing about it is that it will make sorcerers cry over their limited number of spells known.  Chapter 3: Prestige Classes - (5 pages) In this chapter we get four new prestige classes.* Bloodsong Dancer (15 levels) - Yes, you're reading that right.  The Bloodsong Dancer is a fifteen level prestige class.  These arcane casters have suffered Arcane Burn and have discovered power within it.  To quote a sentence from their entry: "These few embrace the risks of losing their powers in a fiery blaze in order to gain massive power for what they feel is little danger."  Massive power indeed.  If bloodsong dancers had appeared in a WotC book, they'd be the Juicers of D&D.  They're really powerful but will almost inevitably burn out and become useless given that every single time they cast a spell they risk losing that spell slot permanently.  * Master of Minor Magic (15 levels) - Another fifteen level prestige class.  These are arcane casters that rely on low level spells.  Essentially they get to cast a lot of low level spells.  They don't gain spells past 2nd level.  They get a lot of abilities to offset this though.  Over all it seems to work.  * Master of the Hive (5 levels):  These bug loving arcane casters are pretty interesting.  They don't get any spell advancement from levels in this class, which I found a refreshing change from most prestige classes for spellcasters.  I'd actually really like to play one of these things, though they may be a little underpowered.  * Singer of the Dead (10 levels): These bards (well, mostly bards...it's conceivable for a non-bard to qualify but they'd have to be really high level) are able to sing to the dead, hence the name of the class.  They use music to sooth the undead.  It's a pretty cool class, though they're going to feel rather out of step in a campaign that doesn't have a steady amount of undead in it.  Chapter 4: Creature Templates - (5 pages) This chapter presents four new undead templates, all of which are the results of spells in this book.  They're interesting and formidable enough to be worth having handy, particularly if your campaign deals a lot with the undead.  In Conclusion - I said it before and I'll say it again.  I really wish more magic supplements delivered this level of quality in terms of diversity, balance, and flavor.  This is a really well done book that has stood the test of time just as well, if not more so, as The Book of Eldritch Might. The material, aside from a little kludginess in the Prestige classes, is top notch.  If they'd done a little better on the prestige classes and expanded some of the material in the overview section this would be a five star book.  As it is, it's a very strong four star book that I give a strong recommendation to for anyone who wants to expand the arcane magic available in their campaign.  I would dearly love to a Divine Strife book made.</blockquote>

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