Moulin Rogue
First Post
Mongoose's venerable line of Encyclopedia Arcane magic supplements began in 2001 and ended, for now, in mid-2004, one year after D&D's revision from the 3.0 to 3.5 rules. With the earlier books in the line becoming hard to find and not up to date with 3.5, Mongoose has released a compilation collecting some of the earlier titles into one thick hardback and updating the material to 3.5. Encyclopedia Arcane: Compendium, which came out in May 2004, is that compilation. It takes three titles from 2001-2002 and adds one full new book to complete a 256-page book that retails for $34.95. The titles are:
Demonology: the one that kicked off the line back in 2001, concerned with the summoning and controlling of fiends, and the great risk this process carries with it.
Necromancy: the second book in the line and the first to cover a specific arcane school.
Battle Magic: from 2002, focusing on the Battle Mage and slinging arcane powers of destruction.
Transmutation: the brand-new EA title only found in this book, looking at the school of Transmutation.
The full title on the cover is Encyclopedia Arcane: Compendium Volume I, implying that there may be more Compendiums to follow, but as of one year later nothing further has been released or announced. The cover illustration by Anne Stokes depicts a robed man looking over, and possibly casting from, a huge tome that's been chained to a precipice at the top of a very steep staircase. A gathered throng of various creatures gazes up from below with serious-looking faces. The significance of the tome, and the relationship between the robed man and the other creatures, is up to the viewer's imagination.
Each of the original EA books ran 64 pages, and with a total of 256 pages in this hardback this pretty much a straight-up presentation. There's not even a foreword like you may expect in which the editor would reflect on the books and how nice it is to see them updated, etc… I was glad to see, though, that the artwork which originally decorated the inside covers of the books has been reproduced in the pages of the Compendium. There's even a complete index and feat summary list at the end of the book. A new page border design is here too, comprised of old cover art from other EA books. All the credits for the books have been squeezed into one big front page.
I'm only going to devote one large paragraph to each of the first three books here, as that material has already been released and thoroughly reviewed in years past...
Demonology: The Dark Road by Matthew Sprange provides the mechanics for characters to attempt to summon and control fiends, risking their eternal souls for great power. This book is a bit heavy on the fluff and seems to run out of steam before its 64 pages are up, but the rules that are here are pretty solid and useful. I do kind of wish, though, that demons and devils were handled a bit differently for a bit more flavour. All fiends are handled pretty much the same way mechanically, but what if only demons used the rules for attempting to possess characters, while devils instead tried to trap mortals in pacts for their souls? Verdict: 3 out of 5.
Necromancy: Beyond The Grave by Matthew Sprange is an in-depth look at the school of Necromancy. This is the one book I have the 3.0 version to compare this revision to directly. I see some changes in the formatting, but the book still reads the same way beginning to end. The tables now have alternating grey bands to make them a bit easier to read. I counted two minor pieces of art getting cut, one piece of art added in, and a few pieces juggled around in the book's placement. The updates are fairly straightforward; the skills mentioned in the Prestige Class write-ups are updated, the spells look pretty much the same as before (and you're still going to need Seas Of Blood in order to use the Raise Death Hulk spell). I did notice that the spells-per-day progression for the Deathseeker prestige class has been halved. The parts that required the most re-writing were the stat block entries for the monsters that appear towards the end of the book, and this has been done. This book remains among my very favourites in the EA line. At the time it came out it filled a lot of gaps in the school's spell list, and today it's still a pretty nice addition to the repertoire of those who play with dead things. Verdict: 4 out of 5.
Battle Magic: The Eldritch Storm by Sam Witt is about mages dealing as much destruction as possible, more or less. I really had no interest in this book as I think the default D&D mage does enough of this already, and personally I'd take a book of more 'everyday' spells over this. Nevertheless I had a look through to see if there was anything I could extract for my own use, and was kind of left wanting there too. The book makes a big deal about the special prestige class of the Battle Mage and how you have to join their guild to use their secrets of battle magic, which cost tons of gold. And there's this harness you gotta wear too. Hmm. Something I did find kinda neat were the new areas of effect, such as a stream attack that sweeps a spell with a straight line of effect across a battlefield just like the beam on a radar screen. I intend to extract that bit from the book. Verdict: In my personal world this is a 2 out of 5, but I realize that objectively it's probably a 3.
Transmutation: The Shape of Magic by August Hahn is a look at a school of magic that I don't really think needs any "help", as I see more spells for transmutation than any other school of arcane magic. But if Mongoose is to devote one EA book to each of the arcane schools, they gotta do this one to complete the set, and here's a good place to do it. I'll go a little more in depth on this one since it's exclusive to EA: Compendium...
The book begins with a chapter-and-a-half of an overview and some general observations about the open-ended nature of transmutation, and how a spellcaster can get the most out of the school. There is advice for transmuters on how some situations call for subtlety, how to defend against an opponent's transmutation effects, how it can assist other party members, that sort of thing. The second chapter, The Shape Of Magic, also includes the four prestige classes and they are as follows: The Channeller (focusing on one of the energy types), The Maker (one who can create permanent life), The Skinshifter (an arcane path to the druid's wild shape ability), and The Windchaser (a caster who harnesses, and eventually becomes one with, the wind).
The next chapter is Transmutation Spells, there are 29 in total. Nine of them are "__ Caress" spells, such as Calcifying Caress and Pyrotic Caress, which impart some kind of change on a victim with a successful touch attack. There are also three power levels of a spell called Alchemistry that allows the caster to drain a magic property from one item and transfer it to another. Calcifying Caress is a little confusing though, when it says it "imparts a form of stone to flesh". The wording of the rest of the spell clearly intends it to mean that a creature made of flesh is to be turned into stone.
Transmutation Feats are the next short chapter, there are 10 here. Some of them let you do a little more with polymorphing effects than those spells normally allow. Bodycrafter, for example, lets you incorporate extra exceptional abilities to your new form when casting alter self.
A chapter on Magical Items follow, with 16 transmutation-flavoured items, including a couple of artifacts. Most are combat related, but not all; Familiar Figurine for one is basically a safe version of a bag of holding to transport one's familiar or animal companion in. Two pages of Help For Games Masters and one page of Designer Notes round out the book.
In all this is a pretty satisfying look at the very flexible school of transmutation. It did get me thinking about creative applications for this school which is exactly what the author says he set out to do in his Designer Notes. Verdict: I'd give it either a solid 3 or a soft 4 out of 5.
To summarize, Encyclopedia Arcane: Compendium is a solid compilation. A lot of it didn't need a ton of updating as the toughest thing to update to 3.5 are monster stat blocks, and there are only a handful in here. I should say that while researching this review I did come across a statement on Mongoose's forums that beyond simple updates, there have also been fundamental rules changes incorporating customer feedback, particularly in EA: Battle Magic.
The nature of a compilation book makes it hard to give a grade, as a lot of its utility will depend on how much of this previously released material you already have. So I just averaged the grade of the four separate books and it came out as a 3 out of 5, nearly a 4, which seems about right for something that's done well but still has a hazy feeling of "unratable-ness" about it, kinda like a lot of Greatest Hits compilations in music. This is basically a good way to pick up some books in the EA line and have them in a nice hardback, with the enticement of revisions and an exclusive extra book for those who own any of these titles already.
Demonology: the one that kicked off the line back in 2001, concerned with the summoning and controlling of fiends, and the great risk this process carries with it.
Necromancy: the second book in the line and the first to cover a specific arcane school.
Battle Magic: from 2002, focusing on the Battle Mage and slinging arcane powers of destruction.
Transmutation: the brand-new EA title only found in this book, looking at the school of Transmutation.
The full title on the cover is Encyclopedia Arcane: Compendium Volume I, implying that there may be more Compendiums to follow, but as of one year later nothing further has been released or announced. The cover illustration by Anne Stokes depicts a robed man looking over, and possibly casting from, a huge tome that's been chained to a precipice at the top of a very steep staircase. A gathered throng of various creatures gazes up from below with serious-looking faces. The significance of the tome, and the relationship between the robed man and the other creatures, is up to the viewer's imagination.
Each of the original EA books ran 64 pages, and with a total of 256 pages in this hardback this pretty much a straight-up presentation. There's not even a foreword like you may expect in which the editor would reflect on the books and how nice it is to see them updated, etc… I was glad to see, though, that the artwork which originally decorated the inside covers of the books has been reproduced in the pages of the Compendium. There's even a complete index and feat summary list at the end of the book. A new page border design is here too, comprised of old cover art from other EA books. All the credits for the books have been squeezed into one big front page.
I'm only going to devote one large paragraph to each of the first three books here, as that material has already been released and thoroughly reviewed in years past...
Demonology: The Dark Road by Matthew Sprange provides the mechanics for characters to attempt to summon and control fiends, risking their eternal souls for great power. This book is a bit heavy on the fluff and seems to run out of steam before its 64 pages are up, but the rules that are here are pretty solid and useful. I do kind of wish, though, that demons and devils were handled a bit differently for a bit more flavour. All fiends are handled pretty much the same way mechanically, but what if only demons used the rules for attempting to possess characters, while devils instead tried to trap mortals in pacts for their souls? Verdict: 3 out of 5.
Necromancy: Beyond The Grave by Matthew Sprange is an in-depth look at the school of Necromancy. This is the one book I have the 3.0 version to compare this revision to directly. I see some changes in the formatting, but the book still reads the same way beginning to end. The tables now have alternating grey bands to make them a bit easier to read. I counted two minor pieces of art getting cut, one piece of art added in, and a few pieces juggled around in the book's placement. The updates are fairly straightforward; the skills mentioned in the Prestige Class write-ups are updated, the spells look pretty much the same as before (and you're still going to need Seas Of Blood in order to use the Raise Death Hulk spell). I did notice that the spells-per-day progression for the Deathseeker prestige class has been halved. The parts that required the most re-writing were the stat block entries for the monsters that appear towards the end of the book, and this has been done. This book remains among my very favourites in the EA line. At the time it came out it filled a lot of gaps in the school's spell list, and today it's still a pretty nice addition to the repertoire of those who play with dead things. Verdict: 4 out of 5.
Battle Magic: The Eldritch Storm by Sam Witt is about mages dealing as much destruction as possible, more or less. I really had no interest in this book as I think the default D&D mage does enough of this already, and personally I'd take a book of more 'everyday' spells over this. Nevertheless I had a look through to see if there was anything I could extract for my own use, and was kind of left wanting there too. The book makes a big deal about the special prestige class of the Battle Mage and how you have to join their guild to use their secrets of battle magic, which cost tons of gold. And there's this harness you gotta wear too. Hmm. Something I did find kinda neat were the new areas of effect, such as a stream attack that sweeps a spell with a straight line of effect across a battlefield just like the beam on a radar screen. I intend to extract that bit from the book. Verdict: In my personal world this is a 2 out of 5, but I realize that objectively it's probably a 3.
Transmutation: The Shape of Magic by August Hahn is a look at a school of magic that I don't really think needs any "help", as I see more spells for transmutation than any other school of arcane magic. But if Mongoose is to devote one EA book to each of the arcane schools, they gotta do this one to complete the set, and here's a good place to do it. I'll go a little more in depth on this one since it's exclusive to EA: Compendium...
The book begins with a chapter-and-a-half of an overview and some general observations about the open-ended nature of transmutation, and how a spellcaster can get the most out of the school. There is advice for transmuters on how some situations call for subtlety, how to defend against an opponent's transmutation effects, how it can assist other party members, that sort of thing. The second chapter, The Shape Of Magic, also includes the four prestige classes and they are as follows: The Channeller (focusing on one of the energy types), The Maker (one who can create permanent life), The Skinshifter (an arcane path to the druid's wild shape ability), and The Windchaser (a caster who harnesses, and eventually becomes one with, the wind).
The next chapter is Transmutation Spells, there are 29 in total. Nine of them are "__ Caress" spells, such as Calcifying Caress and Pyrotic Caress, which impart some kind of change on a victim with a successful touch attack. There are also three power levels of a spell called Alchemistry that allows the caster to drain a magic property from one item and transfer it to another. Calcifying Caress is a little confusing though, when it says it "imparts a form of stone to flesh". The wording of the rest of the spell clearly intends it to mean that a creature made of flesh is to be turned into stone.
Transmutation Feats are the next short chapter, there are 10 here. Some of them let you do a little more with polymorphing effects than those spells normally allow. Bodycrafter, for example, lets you incorporate extra exceptional abilities to your new form when casting alter self.
A chapter on Magical Items follow, with 16 transmutation-flavoured items, including a couple of artifacts. Most are combat related, but not all; Familiar Figurine for one is basically a safe version of a bag of holding to transport one's familiar or animal companion in. Two pages of Help For Games Masters and one page of Designer Notes round out the book.
In all this is a pretty satisfying look at the very flexible school of transmutation. It did get me thinking about creative applications for this school which is exactly what the author says he set out to do in his Designer Notes. Verdict: I'd give it either a solid 3 or a soft 4 out of 5.
To summarize, Encyclopedia Arcane: Compendium is a solid compilation. A lot of it didn't need a ton of updating as the toughest thing to update to 3.5 are monster stat blocks, and there are only a handful in here. I should say that while researching this review I did come across a statement on Mongoose's forums that beyond simple updates, there have also been fundamental rules changes incorporating customer feedback, particularly in EA: Battle Magic.
The nature of a compilation book makes it hard to give a grade, as a lot of its utility will depend on how much of this previously released material you already have. So I just averaged the grade of the four separate books and it came out as a 3 out of 5, nearly a 4, which seems about right for something that's done well but still has a hazy feeling of "unratable-ness" about it, kinda like a lot of Greatest Hits compilations in music. This is basically a good way to pick up some books in the EA line and have them in a nice hardback, with the enticement of revisions and an exclusive extra book for those who own any of these titles already.
