Encyclopaedia Arcane, going out of print?

[blackshirt5]

OK, I was wondering, Mongoose Matt told me that Chaos Magic and Demonology were going out of print. What other Encyclopaedia Arcane books are going out of print(I'm trying to fill out an order)? Also, which ones do people think are the best, from their experience?

 

[Storminator]

OK, I was wondering, Mongoose Matt told me that Chaos Magic and Demonology were going out of print. What other Encyclopaedia Arcane books are going out of print(I'm trying to fill out an order)? Also, which ones do people think are the best, from their experience?

I really can't compare them, as most of my buying habits lean away from arcane casters, but I really like Constructs. I used it almost as soon as I got it, and it's seen steady use in my games.

PS

 

[blackshirt5]

If you'd bother to read the rest of the post Raistlin(as opposed to just reading the name of the thread and hitting reply) I'm trying to figure out what to buy before they become unavailable . Thus, I'm trying to find out what's gonna go OOP soon and what people think are the best of the series.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

If you are a DM, I would definately reccommend Demonology and Necromancy. Necromancy has some great spells in it to make the arcane dabbler of the dead even with the cleric, as welll as some particularly gruesome undead (like the skull child). Some of the spells (like one that animates a whole city of undead- at a great cost- 10 xp/skeleton) could inspire full-blown adventures. Necromantic feats can also make a dramatic addition to a necromancer's repetioure. The treatise on lichdom and necromancy dealling with the forces of negative energy rather than just death is also useful.

Demonology is a pretty good take on summoning evil outsiders and bargaining with them. The use of skill rolls and level checks in summoning, binding, and bargaining with fiends helps add to the feellng of uncertainty necessary in dealing with such matters. The rules could also probably be generalized into the calling of celestials and other non-evil outsiders as well. The demonologist PrC is more powerful than the wizard (you need spell mastery to get into the class) only losing feats as you can improve your familiar with demonic powers, but this is tempered by the fact that its powers deal with forces that could easily involve the death of the character should they be abused.

As a player, the books would probably be less useful because a lot of the matierial is for DMs and involve dark practices that usually do not go well in a standard, heroic adventuring party and campaign.

 

[blackshirt5]

I'm a DM(and I usually own most of the books), so they will be useful to me.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Okay. I looked up the spell that allows you to raise an entire city of undead (up to 10,000 skeletons or zombies) called Raise City and would definately be a good adventure hook trying to prevent a necromancer from learning and casting that spell.

Chaos Magic is also a good buy too.

 

[blackshirt5]

Hmm, that is a good spell Jim. Methinks that that needs to be picked up posthaste to torment my players.

 

[Psion]

Re: Re: Encyclopaedia Arcane, going out of print?

I really can't compare them, as most of my buying habits lean away from arcane casters, but I really like Constructs. I used it almost as soon as I got it, and it's seen steady use in my games.

Constructs is a great little GM toy.

I also like Necromancy, Enchantment, and ED:Shamans.

Chaos Magic is okay, but you really have to be ready to let a whole new method of magic into your game, and the system needs a few tweaks and clarifications (some of which you can get on the Mongoose site.)

I would suspect that the books going out of print will show up in PDF format if OOP slayers guides are any indication.

 

[blackshirt5]

What is ED: Shamans like, in terms of flavor Psion?

As far as Chaos Magic goes, that's why I love having a fresh world to run a game in, because the playrs know next to nothing about the world around them.

 

[Psion]

What is ED: Shamans like, in terms of flavor Psion?

Hmmm... in terms of flavor? Hard to pin down. Shamans have spirit allies, which entirely define the character's spell list and other special abilities. Thus, the spirits are very important in the supplement, which seems like it would give the shaman a very otherworldy feel in play.