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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zoatebix" data-source="post: 2011254" data-attributes="member: 11401">Preface: I vacillate between judging this product on its own terms, in the light of its predecessor, and in how well it would work with both the core rules and other d20 material.  I own the original pdf, and I plan on using the revised product in several ways, some of which depend on more third-party material and variant rules.  I apologize if my lack of focus confuses.The Basics: Elements of Magic: Revised Edition is a 94 page pdf from EN Publishing that details a spell-point based magic system designed to replace d20 fantasy’s core spellcasting and psionics system with a generic set of mechanics.  This revised edition further streamlines the spell-point system from the original by reducing the number of spell-lists and magical skills while simultaneously expanding the range of effects the system can handle.The Package: Elements of Magic: Revised comes in a zip file containing a two-and-a-half-megabyte black a white document, a five-megabyte full color document, and a one-and-a-half-megabyte high-resolution cover.The production values for this document are very high.  The layout, for the most part, is very good, and the art is above average.  Both the interior and cover art are an improvement over the first edition.  One gets the impression that Elements of Magic: Revised is product designed for print sold in pdf form.Unfortunately, the impression of print quality comes at the expense of electronic features.  The original Elements of Magic had pdf bookmarks for all of the chapter and sub-headings and a hyper-linked table of contents.However, even without extra electronic functionality, Elements of Magic is still priced at around half the cost of a printed product of similar size.The Content:  Elements of Magic: Revised Edition is presented as the first of two volumes.  The four chapters in this volume present the basics of the magic-point system: the rules and guidelines for making spell effects from the various spell lists and enhancements, classes, skills, feats, and magic item creation rules that use this new spellcasting system.  The second volume, Lyceian Arcana, contains rules and examples for bending and altering the generic magic-point system to fit specific settings or traditions of magic."Chapter 1: Magical Classes" contains the character creation rules necessary to use the magic-point system.  EoM presents three new classes: the Mage - the generic spellcaster, the Mageknight - a practitioner of both martial and mystical might, and the Taskmage - a mage focused on a broad range of skills in addition to magic.  The spellcasters that use the new system presented in this book have a new level-dependant statistic: base caster bonus.  Essentially, characters may multi-class amongst the three classes above and add their caster-levels together just as any other multi-class character would add together their base save or base attack bonuses.  As an interesting aside for those who use the "magic rating" variant from Unearthed Arcana - both the Taskmage and the Mageknight fill a missing niche in the magic rating progression table.The new core classes seem well balanced, though the two bonus feats the Mageknight receives at first level does stand out.  I understand the reasoning behind the two feats at first level - any Mageknight that doesn’t take the feat Armored Casting would be at a disadvantage.  The Mageknight and Taskmage also use a "middle" save (a save between the "good" and "bad" saves in the PHB - one that progresses to +9 over twenty levels) for two and all three of their saves respectively.  If it weren’t for the fact that the spell casters in EoM have less raw power than their core d20 counterparts, and that the magic-point system seems to have multiple ability dependence built into it, I’d be wary of potential multi-class abuse.  Instead, I feel that one genuinely gives up something in exchange for the relatively quick base save advancement one could get by multi-classing Mageknight and Taskmage.An additional note on the "middle" base save bonus: EoM appears to use the d20 Modern progression, which I think ensures compatibility with the greatest number of products, for those of you interested in used EoM with other printed material.The magic-point system itself is an effects-based delight to behold.  The concept of spell level is excised from the rules entirely - casters have a limit to the number of magic points they can spend on a single effect and the DC for concentration and spellcraft checks is based on half the total MP cost instead.  To offset the incredible flexibility magic-point mages have over core spellcasters, on-the-fly spell effects take two-full rounds to cast.  In keeping with the theme of flexibility, there are, of course, several avenues a mage may pursue to get a more reasonable casting time.  A mage may prepare a spell (and lock up his formerly fluid MP) ahead of time, they may use the quicken spell metamagic feat for a healthy MP cost, or they may use one of their "signature spells" - well practiced combinations that mages can cast with a standard action and any number of times as long as they have enough magic points remaining.The Good: Rather than focus more on the spell rules, I’d like to mention some other things EoM:  Revised did well.  First off, the elemental side effects are printed along with the other spell effects, instead of in a separate section as they were in the first book.  I was also glad to see the ability scores each element governed reprinted in appropriate sections.The HD threshold for Charm and Compulsion effects goes on my all-time list of good ideas, since it gives decent fighters and barbarians more of a chance against the village hedge-wizard’s hold person.I was very upset at the lack of magic item creation rules in the first EoM, but they are here with a vengeance in this edition.  Items use the same seamless system as spellcasting, and they manage to get some of the exact same prices in the DMG.  Ability enhancing items and magic armor are spot on, and everything else is darn close.  I looked hard to find something out of whack, and thought I found a discrepancy between the DMG’s slippers of spider climb for 4800gp, and the EoM boots of spider climb for 16000gp, until I realized that the boots were objectively much better, and didn’t have a limit on their daily use.If "HD threshold for charm and compulsion" makes the all-time good idea list then Donated XP for item creation gets the number one spot.  Okay, I know people have thought of this before, and that it’s probably in Unearthed Arcana somewhere already (who can remember everything in that book?), but I think it’s implemented rather well near the beginning of the Item Creation chapter.The Bad: Alas alack!  I have to wait until Lyceian Arcana to get more information for how to use the core spellcasting classes with the new system?  What about the core-spellcasting prestige classes?  How do you recommend I make an arch-Mage?There were a few errors here and there: page 6 has a minor boon listed as "Medium," then called "Spiritual Medium" in its descriptive text.  Page 21 has some text covered up by the artwork.  Just a few little things scattered throughout.Then there’s the issue of the missing electronic functionality.The Bottom Line:  I really wanted to give this product a 4/5 for not taking advantage of the pdf format, but I can’t in good conscious bring myself to do it.  When the first EoM came out, I thought "This is neat, but I need to do some work."   Not only do I want to work with the revised edition, but a lot of the guidelines for the work I want to do are already spelled out for me, and as far as I can tell, more support is likely coming.  I give in!  5/5.</blockquote>

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