Fantasy Hero Grimoire

[Messageboard Golem]

THE POWERS OF MAGIC AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

Sometimes a Fantasy Hero player or GM needs to create a spell, or an entire magic system, as quickly and easily as possible.

The Fantasy Hero Grimoire has just what you need: over four thousand spells suitable for any Fantasy character or campaign. Unleash the full power and potential of Fantasy Hero magic in your game! The Fantasy Hero Grimoire includes:

—hundreds of spells organized into twelve major categories: Alchemy; Conjuration; Divination; Druidry; Elemental Magic; Enchantment; Necromancy; Sorcery; Thaumaturgy; Witchcraft; Wizardry; and Divine Magic

—a dozen or more options and variations for most spells, making it easy to change or customize any spell so it's just right for any Fantasy Hero character, campaign, or setting

—a "spell template" for each spell, allowing you to determine the basic effect, casting time, duration, Skill Roll penalty, Endurance cost, and other information about a spell at a glance

—descriptions and rules explanations both for common spells and for more unusual magical effects

Wizard, priest, sorcerer, necromancer, witch — any spellcaster can find just what he needs in The Fantasy Hero Grimoire!

 

[Sketchpad]

First off ... this isn't a d20 book. Rather it's a sourcebook for magic in Hero Games' Fantasy Hero line. Why post it here? Well ... besides talking about a great game system and the rules it entails ... I believe that any good GM can use source material from a plethora of various sources in their game.
When I first bought this book, I was expecting something a bit more mechanical ... like essays on various magical systems and a few pages about how to make a Fireball (and through effect change, any other type of magical energy attack). What I got instead was a sourcebook filled with various magical styles, each with a multitude of spells detailed out in builds and descriptions. Like the UNTIL Superpowers Database and Gadgets & Gear, the Fantasy Hero Grimoire breaks each section down into sub-sections of powers (in this case schools or colleges of magic) and gives a wealthy sample listing of spells within them (which, at 270 pages, it's a good thing).
While the first few pages talk about generic conventions of spells (SFX changing, Effects, etc), the real meat of the books is within the spell lists. The first seen details Alchemy, giving twenty-eight basic builds (with at least two variations under each) and include such things as potion creation and constructs. After this, the reader is treated with the Conjuration spells, weighing in at fourteen spells, but with many more variations under each one. A familiar concept to fantasy gamers, the Conjuration school gives us things like Banishment and Wardings. The next section brings fantasy gamers an old friend, the Divination school. With only seven spells (though, like Conjuration, a bevy of variations), this is one of the weaker schools in my opinion and could use a bit of beefing up (which we may see in Fantasy Hero Grimoire II). For those that like to play nature mages or Druids, the next school, appropriately named Druidry, gives us thirty-six spells based within the walls of nature (with several variations). Covering everything from defensive to movement and even offensive spells, this is chapter has a ton of ideas chucked into it.
Akin to Druidism is the next section, Elemental Magic. With over eighty spells covering the basic four elements and some of the lesser ones (like metal, ice and light), this section gives us one of the most familiar faces in the history of fantasy gaming: Fireball. Personally, this is one of my favorite sections, as I typically use such spells with my PCs. Next up is Enchantments, covering the world of enchanting objects of all kinds with its thiry-five spells (and numerous variations). Within this section, the reader will find spells specific for staves, weapons, clothing and more. Great for those liking item creation.
What would any spell sourcebook be without Necromancy being included? With thirty-six undead-rustling spells, a player could easily make an affordable necromancer able to summon up a few friends when needed or have that handy wraith-like touch when someone gets too close. Next up is the meat and potatoes of magic: Sorcery. With thirty sample spells listed, any mage could easily use "Wizard's Hand" or use some illusion spells to their benefit. Hand and hand with Sorcery is Thamaturgy, which, with its nineteen spells, could easily allow any mage to alter or transform themselves or something else into something that's needed at the time.
Though mistaken for Necromancy on occasion, the next section, Witchcraft, covers over twenty spells that both white and black magic practitioners may use. Personally, I recommend the "Doll Magic" spell, the build was quite well done. Like Sorcery, Wizardry gives the reader a bit of the essentials of magic, offering about thirty-five spells to any magican needing them. This is also where we start seeing some familar spells like "Astral Form", "Detect Magic", "Mystic Dart" ... the latter of which seems to remind me of some missile made from magic. Finally, we get thirty-two spells for the clerics and templars in the Divine Magic section. This has all of the staples like "Repel Undead" and "Curing Spell", and also offers a section of spells associated with specific gods, like "Sea God's Blessing."
All this information, combined with a great cover, good art and an expanded index offering a quick find list of spells and their qualities makes for a great book. Why a four and not a five then? Well ... personally, there's some spells I would've liked to have seen that didn't make the list and I wouldn't mind having more info on some magic systems (as I said, I was expecting a bit on that). Overall though, it was a good product that I'd easily suggest to any gamers out there.