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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2010693" data-attributes="member: 9860">This is not a playtest review.Conjuration is another in the Encyclopaedia Arcane series from Mongoose Publishing. This one deals with the arcane art of Conjuration.Conjuration is a 64-page mono softcover product costing $14.95. Layout is standard with previous products in the series, with a wide right-hand margin balanced by a small bottom margin, spaces between paragraphs giving the text a somewhat airy feel and a few small chunks of white space here and there. Art varies both in quality and appropriateness to the text, and features a number of scantily clad women in the feats section for no apparent reason (beyond the obvious). The front cover (an Elmore) seems more in keeping with the tone of the book, illustrating a Conjurer reading from a scroll, her feet wreathed in purple mist. The product is sprinkled with flavour text including some amusing in-character one-way 'conversations' with a condescending lecturer of conjuration in a mage school. Though the text outside the flavour text also occasionally reflects a slightly condescending attitude to the reader, the writing style is intelligent and eloquent. Editing is fairly good with occasional typos here and there.Chapter 1: Conjuration - An OverviewThis chapter looks at the different types of conjuration - summoning, calling, and creation. The chapter ends with a discussion of the personality and motivations of the conjurer, and of the aspects of conjuration that can endanger the conjurer's life - woe betide the conjurer whose unwillingly summoned creatures eventually track him down bent on revenge for disrupting their lives in such a dangerous manner.Chapter 2: Reaching Beyond The VeilThis chapter begins by looking at options for summoning and calling, including variants of calling diagrams that add spell-like effects to the creature called. It goes on to more closely define the requirements of the Craft skill with creation spells - what can and cannot be created, and an alternative system for using Spellcraft checks instead of Craft for creating objects. Further sections discuss summoning and calling creatures to help in construction and business, and advice for players who choose for their wizard to be a specialist conjurer. Four 10-level prestige classes follow:* Dragonchilde - slowly merges with draconic energies, this PrC takes on the concept of draconic heritage normally applied to sorcerers and applies it as a PrC, only more so - the Dragonchilde begins to take on draconic looks and powerful abilities. Appropriately, this PrC has a high prerequisite (10th level). Continues in spellcaster levels, with average BAB, and good Fort and Will save progressions.* The Force Mage - this PrC specialises in force energies to create armour and weapons of pure force and substitute force for spells with energy descriptors. Again, the PrC has high prerequisites (e.g. +7 BAB, 5th level arcane spellcaster), average BAB and good Fort and Will save progressions but only increases spellcaster level every 2nd level.* The Soulbinder - expert in calling diagrams and dealing with planar creatures, per level spellcaster spells per day increases, slow BAB, good Will save progression.* The Spiritcaller - ability to summon spirits from the plane of death tied to the ethereal plane, BAB and saves as per The Soulbinder, spells per day increase every 2nd level, with possible immortality as a goal at the PrC's final level.Chapter 3: Conjuration Feats16 new feats including celestial focus (celestial beings summoned are more powerful, give up being able to summon fiendish/evil creatures), imbued spell (cast two spells one after the other, both effects occur simultaneously, requires four metamagic feats first), and sylvan soul (gain access to summon nature's ally creatures and gain resist nature's lure druid ability).Chapter 4: Conjuration Spells35 new spells for the conjuration school, including apportation (this 2nd level spell summons an arcane marked object from a distance to the caster's hand), call darkness (this 3rd level spell summons a freezing darkness from the plane of shadow that damages any caught in it), planar breach (this 9th level spell causes an interdimensional rift to appear which sucks creatures into it, destroying them or flinging them into another plane), and summon familiar (a 1st level spell that can transports a familiar from distance). There are also a number of variants of summoning and power word spells. Two new descriptors are also introduced - Prime (spells with this descriptor can only be cast by corporeal beings on the Material Plane) and Hanging (spells with this descriptor are partially cast at the beginning of the day and can be activated as a free action at any time later in the day).Chapter 5: Magical Items15 new magical items including banner of allegiance (imbues summoned monsters with the mark of the spellcaster's sigil and gives them a +1 morale bonus), eternal balm (add this to an item created with minor or major creation to make it permanent), gatereaver (an axe of awesome power that can open planar rifts), and potion of intensity (which boosts the power of any summoned creature whilst the caster is under its influence).Chapter 6: Help For Games MastersKeeping track of spells cast per day can be hard enough for a GM, but take into account the knowledge required to keep track of the powers and durations of all the summoned creatures a high-level conjurer can call upon and add to that the favours and payments related to bound creatures and things can get really tricky. This chapter gives a number of suggestions for tracking and controlling conjurer PCs and NPCs as well as thinking carefully about the effects of creation spells on her setting's economics.The product finishes with the designer's notes and a couple of pages compiling the progression charts for the PrC's.High Points:I found the most useful and interesting chapters to be the first and last - these sections put the conjurer in perspective and help the GM to get a better handle on dealing with the complex and possibly unbalancing abilities of the conjurer. It also gives some ideas for using these methods to enhance campaign settings and adventures. The writing style also makes these sections a pleasure to read. A limited number of the PrCs, feats and spells bear more detailed examination such as the Called Companion feat (which allows for development of a planar ally as an intermittent cohort) and the Spiritcaller (whose ambience and roleplaying potential, unusually for the product, outweighs his super-powers).Low Points:My main concern about the product is the potential for upsetting game balance that some of the variant rules provide - a lot of space is given over to feats and spells that get round the negative issues surrounding summoning and creation such as controlling called creatures in order to avoid payments, boosting the powers of summoned creatures, allowing spells to be cast as a free action, and making created items permanent. Admittedly, the PrCs and magic items seem mainly designed for high-level use so may not be as overpowered as they first appear.Conclusion:This product greatly expands the powers of the conjurer, providing a variety of options, particularly for higher levels. The additional rules unfortunately often focus on negating the problems associated with conjuration, which could potentially unbalance a campaign. On the positive side, there is plenty of advice on controlling powerful conjurers, some inspirational writing to kick start PC and NPC conjurers, and useful discussion of the role of conjuration in the campaign.</blockquote>

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