Bardic Lore: Ogham

[Crothian]

That's good to hear I look forward to seeing more

 

[reveal]

I have to admit, when I was first asked to review this short PDF (12 pages), I didn’t think I would like it. As a DM, the first thing I do when reading a book is think “How can I fit this into my campaign?” and I didn’t think I would be able to do that with this book. However, by the time I was done reading Bardic Lore: Ogham, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself thinking of many ways to make it fit as it seems very natural extension of the languages involved in RPGs, regardless of the system you use.

There were many things I liked about this book and a few things I didn’t.

Likes

The journal entry of Amergin O’ Mil is used to open the book. It’s an great way of sampling how a PC can fit the language into their characters repertoire.

The history of the language itself is nicely explained without getting too in depth. I particularly enjoyed how the last page gives locations online where I can go to learn more, if I so choose.

Ogham is meant to be a mysterious language known to very few and is presented as such. Druids, of course, know the language automatically while bards can know it or, at the very least, can recognize it with a few Bardic Lore checks. Everyone else is out of the picture, as it should be. Very, very few non-druids or bards know the language.

Ogham markers are used for many things, including creating pacts and offering protections. A very practical use of natural magic.

The power of nature is very strong in Druids. I really like the ability to use the trees to enhance spells and their effects.

Dislikes

One of the abilities granted by the power of the trees applies to wizards and sorcerers only. This doesn’t make sense as all of the preceding pages tell us this language should only be know by very, very few non-druids. Why, then, is there a power solely for wizards and sorcerers?

The new feat, Cursed Spell, seems terribly out of place. While it is possible to create an Ogham marker that will curse someone if they don’t live up to their end of a bargain, a feat that allows you to apply a curse to every spell you cast just seems tacked on.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m glad I read this. I can definitely see many uses of this as both a DM and a player. If you’re looking to add a little flavor to your Druid or Bard, or if you’re looking to add a little character to the natural surroundings in your campaign, I highly recommend giving Bardic Lore: Ogham a look.

-- Tony Law

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Hey, Reveal. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it after all.

To reply to some of your comments:
One of the ogham stone powers indeed benefits wizards and sorcerers. This was done on purpose, and only after a lengthy discussion with my proofreader and opinion-giver, Mark Gedak. The idea of that particular stone was to provide support. The druid in a traditional D&D/d20 campaign is a support character, and while in a Celtic campaign the druid is very much a front-stage player, we wanted to cover our bases, so to speak. This stone allows the druid to use his/her unique ability to enhance other members of the group, the arcane spellcasters, in this case. Using the power of the ogham stone is not dependent on knowing the language, and even if that is the case in a particular campaign (as is in the implied setting of the series), it can be reasonably assumed that the druid would teach the letter to his/her arcane spellcaster companion in order to use the stone's power. This would have no bearing on the spellcaster knowing the language as a whole, much like someone knowing the hebrew letter Aleph makes no difference in them knowing Hebrew as a whole.

The feat Cursed Spell was OGC that was used in one of the stones, so we included it. A suitable replacement for the feat would be the bestow curse spell, if you don't wish to use it.

Thanks and enjoy!

 

[Infernal Teddy]

Bardic Lore: Ogham is a 12-page .pdf by Highmoon Media Productions - whom I've never heard of before, and was sent to me by Crothian due to my volunteering to join his review project.

The typeset used in this product is well chosen, and easy to read on a screen. I'm not sure that green was a good choice for the borders, especially if the reader is going to print it, but it is very atmospheric, and the celtic pattern on the bottom end of the pages is very well chosen

The first 1 1/4 pages are used up by a narrative of the kind used in many modern sorcebooks and role-playing games to gie the reader a bit of feeling for the subject matter, some "Flavourtext". Normally, I like this kind of thing, but in a .pdf this small I'd consider it a sin. If the topic is interesting enough to do a .pdf this small, you probably have enough to say without "wasting" space like this.

The next section is an overview of the history of Ogham, starting at 2200 B.C. Now I'm no expert on this subject, but it reads as if the author had taken his time, and done his research well, unlike what is often seen on books about the celts and germanic people in general. Part of this section is a table that shows all 25 characters in the Ogham script, together with the ogham name for the character, the pronounciation, the english equivalent and the tree that character is assossiated with. Very nicely done.

After that the Author describes some uses for Ogham in a campagin, for example using Ogham as the written form of the druidic secret language. This is followed by a description of using Ogham to enscribe various magical effects into stones or trees, complete with a feat, "Scribe Ogham", to achieve this effect. Considering the author describes this feat as a combination of "Scribe scroll" and "Craft wonderous Item", and the fact that the d20 system has seen more than one version of a "Scribe Runes" feat, I must wonder why the author felt the need to write this new feat, instead of creating new abilities for an already existing feat. I'n not sure what to make of the metamagic feat, "Cursed Spell", I suspect I'd have to try it out in play. Basically, it lets you modify your spells to have the reciever of a spell also fall under the effect of "bestow curse".

The text is rounded off by a suggested revision to the Druid spell list, with the intention of making the druid more alike to his counterpart from legend, and a description of what a bard might find out about Ogham on a check against his bardic knowlage ability. I found the spell revision rather fitting, and might even use this revision in my own campaign. The bardic knowlage checks are well thought-out, and I find it very thoughtful that the author actually took the time to include the DC's for these checks. After that the author cites his resorces, and includes the OGL.


It's very obvious to me that the author is trying to create a line of suppliments that gives the game a more celtic feeling, and this Ogham suppliment definately succeeds on that count. I'm not sure I'd buy this .pdf, but I can recomend it to someone who is either looking to build a celtic setting, or wanting to give his druids a more "legendary celt" feeling. The author and / or the publisher should think about making one big document, instead of many small ones. In a .pdf this small, I consider the size of the intorduction text a sin, and a waste.


-Infernal Teddy / Murray A. Murchison

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Hello, "Infernal Teddy."

First of all, thanks for taking the time to do the review. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and even more so that now you know about us.

You are correct in your assumption, Bardic Lore is indeed a line focusing on that "legendary celt" feeling, and we have more planned. I decided to go with the new feat (as opposed to using the existing ones, though I do give rules and suggestions for using the more generic Craft Wondrous Item) because Bardic Lore has an implied setting running through it, though it is also made to be usable by most anyone. Hopefully in the future we'll be able to put out the setting as a stand-alone product.

I'm afraid I disagree with the flavor text at the beginning being wasted space. To me, it is essential in order to place the material in its right context, not to mention giving the buyer an immediate idea of how to incorporate the material into his/her campaign right away. Too many products out there are simply laundry lists of new rules mechanics; I want my products, and especially Bardic Lore, to be different.

I do hope you enjoyed it, and that you'll come by our website, www.highmoonmedia.com, and check out everything else we offer.

Once again, thank you for your time and your review.

 

[Infernal Teddy]

Hi there!

Maybe I was a bit too harsh about the flavour text?

No, what I meant to say is: I like flavour text, and I normally find it fun and helpful - but in a 12-page .pdf, more than a page of flavour text is too much. But, as I hope I made clear in my review, that's just me, and it doesn't really detract from my opinion of the product. Actually, I'd like to see more of what you're doing!

Yours,
-IT (Murray)

 

[Vurt]

Bardic Lore – Ogham

By Daniel M. Perez
Published by Highmoon Media Productions
Pages: 11 + OGL
Fully bookmarked

Disclaimer: This is not a playtest review. I did not buy Bardic Lore – Ogham, it was sent to me for review as part of Crothian’s Review Project.

Some of the most intriguing additions to the game often take an idea or item from real world culture or history and throw it into the fantasy realm. Ogham is one such addition. Historically, Ogham is a Celtic alphabet of twenty-five characters used primarily for stone and wood inscriptions. The letters are each named after sacred trees, and consist of one to five perpendicular or angled strokes, meeting or crossing a center line. The form of the letters allows them to be carved easily into objects of stone or wood.

Now if you just read that and immediately thought that might make a cool visual representation of the D&D druidic language, then you are clearly on the same page as the product’s author.

What you get is a page of relatively well-written introductory fiction to set the mood, followed by a real-world description and history of the Ogham language, including a helpful diagram. There is also a table listing each character, its Ogham name, pronunciation, corresponding English letter or sound, and the tree the character represents. Since the language was originally meant to represent Irish, some liberties have been taken here. Five more characters have been included in order to fill in for missing English letters, allowing you to tantalize and tease any amateur cryptographers in your group with secret messages.

The bulk of the product talks about how to incorporate ogham magic into your campaign, including as a written form of the Druidic language. The author also ties the idea to using ogham markers on standing stones and trees, creating something like a cross between a landmark and a stationary wand, which can produce a variety of magical effects for those who know how to activate them, until their charges run out.

For example, the Ogham Stone of Binding Promise is used to guarantee and seal a deal, cursing any of the party who seek to subsequently break it. The Ogham Stone of Land Title can create a magical barrier to hedge out unwanted intruders by race or bloodline. (Never did like those McCloud’s…) The Ogham Stone of Protection can be used to generate a surrounding bubble tied to a protection spell such as antilife shell for a short duration. And finally, Tree Ogham markers can be used to provide instant metamagic feats to spells cast from specific schools of magic, or with certain descriptors. Some of these markers use charges, and others are continuous.

Finally, two new feats are included, Scribe Ogham unsurprisingly, as well as the metamagic feat Cursed Spell. The former allows one to craft Ogham magic markers, while the latter allows the caster to effectively tie bestow curse to the casting of another spell, prepared in a spell slot three levels higher. A short Lore table follows, giving DCs for various Ogham Knowledge checks, and the product ends with a half-page, hyperlinked bibliography.

There’s not much in the way of artwork in Ogham, aside from a diagram or two and a quarter-page photograph of an actual ogham stone in Co. Kerry, Ireland. One or two more might help break up the text a little better. The pages are all laid out in standard two-column portrait format, with a green banner along the top and bottom of each page in lieu of the customary borders along the side. The bottom banner sports a curly, vine motif. The darkness of the green hues used may be a pain to print on older printers like my own where toner is difficult and/or expensive to replace.

In the false dichotomy that divides fluff from crunch, Ogham-the-pdf lies balanced somewhere in the middle. The product doesn’t have high aspirations, it simply wants to tie a very flavourful historic concept and mystique to druids in the d20 fantasy genre, and in that it is largely successful. It is also tightly focused. If you want to do something a little more to flesh out druids in your game, giving them more depth, then it’s certainly worth giving Ogham a look. Ogham doesn’t try to make them super-powerful or anything, just give them a much-needed infusion of flavour. Plus, it’s always fun to have the players huddle around a note or a map with a partial key trying to decipher its text. There is that much more of a sense of discovery than simply giving one of them a DC 25 Decipher Script check and then telling them what it says.

Reviewed by Scott Benoit

 

[Pinotage]

Bardic Lore: Ogham is a pdf product from Highmoon Media Productions, one of several in the Bardic Lore series. This pdf details something not all that common in d20 products - the ancient written alphabet and language called Ogham. It's a 12 page pdf written by Daniel Perez, of which 11 pages are devoted to the content. This pdf normally retails for $1.50. This review was done as part of Crothian's Review Project.

Disclaimer: The reviewer is a d20 freelance writer and editor but is in no way affiliated with the publisher of this product. Every effort has been made by the reviewer to ensure that this is an impartial review.

Initial Impressions:

Highmoon Media Productions do a good job of presenting a solid looking pdf with good-writing, suitable art and solid layout. The pdf is also fully bookmarked, and comes as a single pdf which should be relatively straightforward to print due to its size. A lot of the material in the pdf is drawn from real-world references to the Irish written language of Ogham, and these references are included in the pdf. Those DMs that do which to use the pdf will presumably find more valuable information in those texts.

The Details:

Bardic Lore: Ogham details the nature and uses of the ancient language Ogham. In our world a language of druids, Celts and Irish, Ogham consists of a number of lines running in different orientations around a central foundation line. It's use in historic and ancient times was limited to short inscriptions, mainly on gravestones or as memorials and other things such as country borders that require short names. Each character of the Ogham alphabet is associated with a particular tree, and a full table is provided to summarize all the important characteristics of this language.

The pdf provides detailed information on the language, its origins and history, its uses, and its structure as can be found in ancient and modern times. Photographs are used to illustrate some of the Ogham stones found in the past and even used to present day. While the details of the language are usable in itself for those DMs wishing to add some flavor to a campaign or a more Celtic feel to druids (Ogham is aimed at being a secret language like Druidic), the pdf goes further in describing the potential magical nature of the language in a fantasy game.

Mechanically, these Ogham words and characters can be carved into mainly stone through the use of a feat not dissimilar to a combination of Scribe Scroll and Craft Wondrous Items. Ogham can be used in a variety of different ways, one of them being to inscribe Ogham markers akin to standing stones. Examples of these are given, such as the Ogham Stone of Protection that can offer a variety of different protective spells depending on the Ogham inscription. Ogham tree markers are also presented, essentially small charged Ogham stones that grant a variety of abilities related to the tree named after the Ogham letter in question. Examples include the Beith tree that allows a user to Empower Enchantment spells, and Ruis tree that allows the user to Extend Necromancy spells.

The pdf concludes with a description of the Scribe Ogham feat and its uses, including characteristic and uses of Ogham stones. Unlike feats like Scribe Scroll and Craft Wondrous Item, Ogham actually requires some of a character's life force in the form of hp to use. These cannot be regained until a particular Ogham stone (whether charged or single use) has been expended. While this may be some sort of 'balancing' factor, it's probably more of a deterrent to use than anything else. Most characters would probably not want to expend a few hp which they can only regain if they actually use what could be a infrequently used spell on an Ogham stone. Lastly, it includes a nice little metamagic feat, Curse Spell, that allows a character to add the effects of a bestow curse spell to any spell they cast.

Conclusions:

Bardic Lore: Ogham presents the details of the ancient Irish language of Ogham. It provides a solid layout and presentation to accompany a good and detailed background of the language. This is expanded upon further in game terms to make magical inscriptions based on the Ogham written alphabet and the mystical power associated with each letter of the alphabet and its associated tree. It's a solid pdf, although in the end perhaps not something that is going to be very useful to many. While any DM can take it and create something flavorful in a written language, the magical nature is mainly something that's going to be used by druids or perhaps bards. Given the mechanical requirements of the feat to scribe Ogham markers, many druids would be hard pressed to choose between it and Scribe Scroll, for example. Use from a flavor point of view is good, but mechanically it's not something I can see being used frequently. Based on solid layout, presentation, good flavor and detail, but less useful mechanics, I'd grade this pdf with three stars.