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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crothian" data-source="post: 2241256" data-attributes="member: 232">Dark Legacies Players GuideThe assumption of d20 fantasy is a world with plenty of magic.  After five years it might be seen as too much magic given that of all the new settings that have come out only one that I can think of, Oathbound, actually uses a high amount of magic.  The rest are either close to the base game or much lower in magic.  It is interesting to see what publishers do with the system to make it low magic but keep it within the bounds of d20.  The more that needs redefined and invented the harder it is to use all the hundreds of other potential source books out there.  The sheer amount of material is one of the strength of the d20 system and new settings really do themselves a favor when they have ways for people to use the other material.      Dark Legacies Player Guide is the first book by Redspire Press for their Dark Legacies campaign setting.  One of the weaknesses of the book is it does read like half a book having in lots of good player information but not enough setting information to actually make me feel comfortable enough to run the game.  So, I wait with eagerness to see the Dark Legacies Campaign Guide that their website says is coming out this August.  The book is one hundred and forty four pages long, black and white, and softbound.  The art is the book is really good all of it by Adrian Smith.  There is one map in the book, but it is a nice color map that folds out and is easily separable from the book.  The map is by Ed Bourelle and he is one of the more well known and respected cartographers in the business today.      While this does feel like half a book, it is a good half.  The best part of the book is the magic system.  This is the best magic system for d20 that I have seen that makes magic difficult and dangerous.  I can see people getting the book for the magic system alone.  It works with the existing magic system of spell levels and preparing spells.  There is no divine magic.  The magic here comes from the powers of the Abyss.  It does require spell check rolls to cast spells and has taint rules and some nasty side effects if one fails to cast the spell.  The spellcraft checks get tough fast requiring a DC of 10 + spell level squared.  This makes some mid to high level spells impossible for all but the highest level and most powerful caster.  However, anyone can learn spells and cast them.  They have to make a spellcraft check as well and they do not get the bonuses and abilities of the one spell casting class in the book.  Many of the classes have either been tossed or redefined to fit with the setting and theme of the game.  Spells are hard to decipher and hard to learn.  It takes hours to decipher a spell and then days to learn it.  Each day a successful spellcraft check needs to be made or that day is wasted for trying to learn the spell.  The characters will need lots of chances for down time if they want to use spells.  Down time will also be needed to heal as healing is going to be harder in this setting as well.  Spells are divided by spell level and by rarity as well.  There are uncommon, rare, and legendary spells.  It does not list the ones in the PHB in the book with their rarity and that would be very useful.  Not all the spells from the player’s handbook fit in the setting and a list of which ones would fit would also be a good edition.  The spells in here though are very creative and can be super powerful.  There is a lot here about the spell system and I am not going to cover it all here but it is really impressively done.      The setting is not exactly clear.  It is a future earth but at some point earth fell to the Abyss for a few thousand years and then rose halfway out.  The map covers a lot of Europe and Eastern Asia and everything off the map lay dark storms and the abyss.  The tech level seems to be pretty much the dark ages with some exceptions.  There are what are like advanced crossbows, steam powered vehicles, and even some perhaps gas powered large metal ones.  Not a lot of information is given on these but in some sections of the book there are hints to a varying level of tech.  I trust though that the setting and information will be cleared up in the next book though.        The setting is for players so it does have new player races and classes.  There are no prestige classes here, just some new base ones.  The races are different yet familiar.  They are nicely defined to fit in this setting filled with mysteries and unknown elements.  The races do not really get along but know they have greater enemies out there like the demons from the Abyss.  The classes are also nicely done.  The Fighter and Rogue are reprinted and unchanged.  The Barbarian is altered a little getting damage reduction sooner and bonuses to intimidate.  There is only one spell  casting class though anyone can potentially learn spells.  The Arcanist gets some cool bonuses and   abilities that help them with spells.  There are lots of good character ideas between the races and the classes.  There is also the Priest, who has the power of Voice and speaks from God though a different one it seems then most are used to.  There are four different churches really all splintered from the main one.  Not a lot of information is given on the Almighty but the churches themselves are nicely defined.      There are other changes to the base game for the setting as well.  Alignment is thrown out completely and that is a good and common change.  Armor is mostly piece meal and it gets warn down and needs replaced at times.  There are some alterations to healing and taking so much damage at once can stagger a person and have other effects making the combat system a little more deadly.      Overall, this is a nice first look.  It does feel incomplete but what I read here is good.  The magic system is really creative and does some very cool things with it.  The changes to the core rules I read here are all good changes that really enhance the setting and the feel of the game.  For people wanting to see some good grim and gritty rules this book will serve them well.  Others interested in the setting might want to hold off till more is released since this book does not cover that much at all.</blockquote>

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