Elements of Magic

KnowTheToe

First Post
I am looking for input about The Elements of Magic PDF by EN World Publishing. Has anyone read it? What do you think?

I am going to buy it anyway, but am looking for some data.
 

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There are a number of threads on The Elements of Magic in the ENPublishing forum. I'm not using the system in question in my own games yet, but plan on doing so when I start my next campaign.

(Even better, I'm considering trying to mesh this with an even MORE magic:the gathering feel using resources from the Dusk site)
 

Well, I think it's pretty good. It allows for some interesting effects, and is quite flexible. Dosn't mean it's perfect, but it's just as good as the basic rule set in my opinion.
 

I like it. That said I do not use it for PCs because it can be easily abused , in my opinion. I use it to add spellcasting to some monsters and make them unique.
 

Well, a lot of people seem to really like it. I do not. I honestly think it is quite bad.

EoM is basically a spell points system. It, by definition, makes the sorcerer vs. wizard comparison obsolete. That is ok, but then they bent over backward to shoehorn the cleric into the system as well. YECK.

The whole "elements" theme fails to live up to my expectations. I expected a system where if you know X and Y you can produce effect Z. That isn't the case. Each element is discreet. And instead of using spells, you have "spell lists" Each spell list has 1 spell of each level 0 to 9. As soon as you can cast a new level of spell, you know every spell of that level from every spell list you have. So when you hit level 13, you get level 7 spells and instantly know 52 7th level spells!! And you can cast 9 per day, not counting high INT bonus points. (Granted you would be spent, but jeez, you better be).

And the "thousands of spells" claim is also way overblown. Fireball, is now "Evoke Area Fire 3", with the encouragement that each caster should name their version personally. Or, you can instead pick "Evoke Area Mud 3" which is identical, except the damage type is mud. I kid you not, damage type mud. Because it is a spell point system, the spell is locked at 5d6+1/level damage and higher level versions in the same list do more damage for more spell points (very much like the psionics system). But by this logic, Fireball in the core rules should be considered 6 different spells. The 5d6 version, 6d6, 7d6, 8d6, 9d6 and 10d6. Not.

Iterate that logic for basically every fundamental spell in the PH and you have the system. Of course at over 90 pages, it is more complicate than the core system as well...

There are some really nice nuggets. The Magical Boon class abilities make wizards much more distinctive than simple bonus feats.

Anyway, like I said, most people who talk about it say very good things.
 

I enjoy it a great deal and it is very flexible, but in a different way than a standard wizard is flexible. An EOM wizard is able to cast any spell he knows at any time, so if he needs to do lightning, he can fire off a lightning bolt. Foe resistant to that? Fire off a fireball, or whatever. What you lose is very interesting individual spells like the Mordenkainen spells or some of the other ones with very strange effects like Phatasmal killer or Otto's Irresistible Dance. I find this trade off very acceptable, and find EOM to be any excellent system if you don't like the feel of the standard dnd magic system.
 


I'm currently playing an EoM mage in a campaign my friend is running. It's set in Oz and I'm a stuffed animal. Heh.

Anyway - I like the idea that if you know magic of a particular element, you can do just about anything with it. I can cast an area effect lightning spell, or a missile lightning spell if I don't want to hit my friends.

It does require a bit of DM judgement and player maturity when picking your spell lists (strictly according to the rules, I could take a spell list that allows me to heal - but I don't because it would throw everything totally out of whack).

It has a very Slayers (and other anime feel). A magic user is pretty flexible within his area of expertise.

I would certainly recomend getting a hold of this book - it is a great system.

-SpuneDagr (AKA Totoro the stuffed dog: Sorcerer of the Ages)
 
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Krug said:
Anybody used it in a game? How did it go?
I'm still divided on this one...

Check out the EoM game I'm running in the "playing the game" forum. The link is in my sig.

Basically, were're just trying out the system. I'm running them through a bunch of short scenarios, each a mix of combat and puzzle/creative situations, which they have to use the EoM rules to solve.

We've discovered some things - like flight is incredibly easy for almost every caster to achieve at low levels. Divination is very easy and can be done all the time by pretty much any Mage, to the possible consternation of the DM.

Check it out if you want to see the rules in action.
 
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