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The entire Arcana Unearthed magic system and all spell descriptions.
Grimoire
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GameWyrd
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The Arcana Unearthed: Grimoire is very good. The PDF is the last of three sizable chunks from Arcana Unearthed. It isn’t a supplement; it’s the magic rules and spells from the hardback. You don’t need any other of the Arcana Unearthed products to use this one but there are references to classes and ideas from it. You don’t have to have the other Arcana Unearthed products; you’ll just want them.
You can use this PDF on it’s own. If you want to replace your d20 spell system with something familiar but yet different then this is the way to go. In the introduction we’re told that these rules are for those people who’re tired of the ‘prepare-and-cast’ mantra of typical D&D spellcasting. Oh! That’s me! I’m not simply sick of it – I never liked it in the first place. I don’t need an Ars Magica system but I do crave some flexibility, I do crave imaginative spellcasting and results the whole gaming group can be proud of.
This is what the Grimoire offers.
And yet, the Grimoire remains quintessentially d20.
We keep spell slots and we keep spell lists. With these two stalwarts in place it might seem that the traditionalists will be pleased but it will be impossible to escape the ‘prepare-and-cast’ trap.
Spell casters can juggle spell slots around. Three lower level spell slots can be combined into one higher level slot. Three second level slots can be merged into one third level slot. This can keep on going. This new third level slot can be woven into two other third level slots to produce one fourth level slots. Spell slots can be unwoven; a third level slot can be divided to produce two second level slots. This division can’t keep going and so these new second level slots can’t be transformed into first level ones. Already, just with this extra mechanic, the spell caster has a lot more choice and faces a lot more strategy.
There are different calibre of spells and this is in addition to the basic spell level mechanic. Simple spells can be cast by any spell caster. Complex spells can only be cast by Magister, a character class from Arcana Unearthed, or by magic users with suitable feats. There’s a calibre higher; the exotic spell. These are rare and largely unknown spells. It’s clear from the Grimoire that in the lands of the Diamond Throne new spells are discovered fairly frequently.
In the Diamond Throne setting, the one that Arcana Unearthed uses, there is a strange well from which magic glyphs float up and out into the air. Very surreal. It’s an idea first suggested in Malhavoc’s first even book Requiem for a God where the death of a god could create a pool of magic known as a spell well. Hanging around the spell well for too long will cause all sorts of horrible side effects. Hanging around the spell well just long enough to watch and record some of the glyphs and sigils which float up will be the start of a new spell.
There’s a decision to make with almost every spell. You can diminish or heighten your magic. A diminished spell is one that’s been cast at a lower level, with a lower spell slot, and so it’s not as powerful as the vanilla version. A heightened spell is one that’s been cast at a level higher, with a higher spell slot, and so it’s more powerful than the basic option. Impressive. I hate static magic. Why would spells be set in concrete? Surely it makes sense that magical effects could ebb and flow as the power into the spell changed? That’s what we have here.
The diminished and heightened spells reflect the amount of power in a spell and with these rules it’s also possible to change the flavour of the spell. Templates offer even more magical flexibility. Apply the fire template, if you can, to a spell and it’ll deal and extra 2d6 damage. Apply the air template to a spell, it’ll double the range and if the spell fails and was subtle enough then there’s a chance the would-be target remains none the wiser. Nice. Only those spell casters from the correct class or with an appropriate feat can apply templates and there’s always an additional cost (typically a component).
The Grimoire explains the nuts and bolts of basic spell casting very well. It’s clear when and why a caster will need to make a concentration role and the PDF offers up suitable DC values to. The differences between bursts and spreads are clear; as other the other magical effects; cylinders and emissions, etc. It’s noted that if someone is raised from the dead their truename changes. Truenames are an Arcana Unearthed game meal and mechanic but their role in spell casting is made clear in the Grimoire. If you know someone’s truename then it’s easier to magically affect them: great for healing friends or dominating enemies. If someone’s Raised six times then they no longer have an unique truename and must settle for the truename of their race. This makes it easy to discover.
Material components are sorted out here. I really dislike the idea of D&D wizards carrying around handfuls of bat poo, miniature trumpets or umbrellas. I’m fed up of spell slingers needing to spend hours on personal tangent missions just to collect weird trinkets and of making up excuses why it’s impossible to find or manufacture a small rod anywhere in Freeport. Only the Witch needs material components in this system – but that class isn’t detailed here and doesn’t follow the typical rules for material components anyway. Instead, if the spell caster has access to some specially magical material components and is willing to add them to a spell then he can choice to do so and enhance the spell. This keeps the option to restrict a spell by rare component open but doesn’t choke up the system with time wasting nonsense.
I like of some the more subtle observations in the Grimoire. If you cast negative energy spells then the ill effects of this taint you for a while. Characters tainted in this way will suffer penalties to handle animal and diplomacy roles but will be more intimidating. Demons and undead are always considered to be tainted like this. If there are two long lasting abjuration spells too close together then this will create barely visible energy fluctuations as the two interfere with one another.
Oh – and there are spells in the Grimoire. There are lots of spells, spells indexed nicely and which you can jump to almost directly via the PDF’s bookmarks. These magic lists are summarised by level and then detailed alphabetically. This approach adds somewhat to the Grimoire’s page count of 95 but does make using the accessory very much easier.
These alternative spell rules are really rather good. They’re a little more complex than traditional d20 but not by much. For this little extra in complexity there is a lot more flexibility. I feel the system puts the magic back into the magic system.
* This Grimoire review was first published at GameWyrd.
You can use this PDF on it’s own. If you want to replace your d20 spell system with something familiar but yet different then this is the way to go. In the introduction we’re told that these rules are for those people who’re tired of the ‘prepare-and-cast’ mantra of typical D&D spellcasting. Oh! That’s me! I’m not simply sick of it – I never liked it in the first place. I don’t need an Ars Magica system but I do crave some flexibility, I do crave imaginative spellcasting and results the whole gaming group can be proud of.
This is what the Grimoire offers.
And yet, the Grimoire remains quintessentially d20.
We keep spell slots and we keep spell lists. With these two stalwarts in place it might seem that the traditionalists will be pleased but it will be impossible to escape the ‘prepare-and-cast’ trap.
Spell casters can juggle spell slots around. Three lower level spell slots can be combined into one higher level slot. Three second level slots can be merged into one third level slot. This can keep on going. This new third level slot can be woven into two other third level slots to produce one fourth level slots. Spell slots can be unwoven; a third level slot can be divided to produce two second level slots. This division can’t keep going and so these new second level slots can’t be transformed into first level ones. Already, just with this extra mechanic, the spell caster has a lot more choice and faces a lot more strategy.
There are different calibre of spells and this is in addition to the basic spell level mechanic. Simple spells can be cast by any spell caster. Complex spells can only be cast by Magister, a character class from Arcana Unearthed, or by magic users with suitable feats. There’s a calibre higher; the exotic spell. These are rare and largely unknown spells. It’s clear from the Grimoire that in the lands of the Diamond Throne new spells are discovered fairly frequently.
In the Diamond Throne setting, the one that Arcana Unearthed uses, there is a strange well from which magic glyphs float up and out into the air. Very surreal. It’s an idea first suggested in Malhavoc’s first even book Requiem for a God where the death of a god could create a pool of magic known as a spell well. Hanging around the spell well for too long will cause all sorts of horrible side effects. Hanging around the spell well just long enough to watch and record some of the glyphs and sigils which float up will be the start of a new spell.
There’s a decision to make with almost every spell. You can diminish or heighten your magic. A diminished spell is one that’s been cast at a lower level, with a lower spell slot, and so it’s not as powerful as the vanilla version. A heightened spell is one that’s been cast at a level higher, with a higher spell slot, and so it’s more powerful than the basic option. Impressive. I hate static magic. Why would spells be set in concrete? Surely it makes sense that magical effects could ebb and flow as the power into the spell changed? That’s what we have here.
The diminished and heightened spells reflect the amount of power in a spell and with these rules it’s also possible to change the flavour of the spell. Templates offer even more magical flexibility. Apply the fire template, if you can, to a spell and it’ll deal and extra 2d6 damage. Apply the air template to a spell, it’ll double the range and if the spell fails and was subtle enough then there’s a chance the would-be target remains none the wiser. Nice. Only those spell casters from the correct class or with an appropriate feat can apply templates and there’s always an additional cost (typically a component).
The Grimoire explains the nuts and bolts of basic spell casting very well. It’s clear when and why a caster will need to make a concentration role and the PDF offers up suitable DC values to. The differences between bursts and spreads are clear; as other the other magical effects; cylinders and emissions, etc. It’s noted that if someone is raised from the dead their truename changes. Truenames are an Arcana Unearthed game meal and mechanic but their role in spell casting is made clear in the Grimoire. If you know someone’s truename then it’s easier to magically affect them: great for healing friends or dominating enemies. If someone’s Raised six times then they no longer have an unique truename and must settle for the truename of their race. This makes it easy to discover.
Material components are sorted out here. I really dislike the idea of D&D wizards carrying around handfuls of bat poo, miniature trumpets or umbrellas. I’m fed up of spell slingers needing to spend hours on personal tangent missions just to collect weird trinkets and of making up excuses why it’s impossible to find or manufacture a small rod anywhere in Freeport. Only the Witch needs material components in this system – but that class isn’t detailed here and doesn’t follow the typical rules for material components anyway. Instead, if the spell caster has access to some specially magical material components and is willing to add them to a spell then he can choice to do so and enhance the spell. This keeps the option to restrict a spell by rare component open but doesn’t choke up the system with time wasting nonsense.
I like of some the more subtle observations in the Grimoire. If you cast negative energy spells then the ill effects of this taint you for a while. Characters tainted in this way will suffer penalties to handle animal and diplomacy roles but will be more intimidating. Demons and undead are always considered to be tainted like this. If there are two long lasting abjuration spells too close together then this will create barely visible energy fluctuations as the two interfere with one another.
Oh – and there are spells in the Grimoire. There are lots of spells, spells indexed nicely and which you can jump to almost directly via the PDF’s bookmarks. These magic lists are summarised by level and then detailed alphabetically. This approach adds somewhat to the Grimoire’s page count of 95 but does make using the accessory very much easier.
These alternative spell rules are really rather good. They’re a little more complex than traditional d20 but not by much. For this little extra in complexity there is a lot more flexibility. I feel the system puts the magic back into the magic system.
* This Grimoire review was first published at GameWyrd.
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
This review is sponsored by Gaming Frontiers
In essence, the Grimoire is a simple book. It provides a new spellcasting system in addition to the spells to go along with it. As a standalone product, it suffers the same issues that Way of the Staff does in that there are many references to things not covered and doesn't stand on it's own as a 3.0 or 3.5 product but can still add some interesting ideas to any campaign.
The book is broken up into two chapters, Magic and Spells. The first chapter provides definitions for the many terms used in Arcana Unearthed. Spells fall into levels, just as they do in standard 3.0, but they also fall into simple, complex and exotic spells. Those spells also follow the schools that we're used to from 3.0, using abjuration, necromancy and others of the eight standard schools. The descriptions are modified with things that are familiar, like fire, to things different like psion.
Spells do not need to be kept in a spellbook but must be readied. This is similar in some ways to a cleric in that the caster can know these spells and change what they have prepared to cast. The main strength of this spell system though, is the flexibility. For instance, spell slots can be moved around with quite a bit of leeway. For example, you can take three spells slots of the same level and turn it into a spell slot of a higher level, or take a spell slot of a higher level, and turn it into two spell slots for a lower level.
You can cast spells that are heightened, using a higher level spell slot for a different effect, changing certain aspects of the spell, or diminished, using a slot one level lower, and effecting the spell in a negative way like reduced damage or range. This system is perfectly useable in and of itself and the spells latter on serve as good examples.
Some other gems in this section include spell catalysts. These devices are often gem stones or other valuable treasures that are consumed in the casting and add various effects to the spell even as they are destroyed. I know most players won't hesitate to throw an emerald worth at least five hundred gold pieces into a spell for an extra 2d6 damage. The only bad thing is that there is less than half a page of examples and it's not clear on if you can combine catalysts or if there is a limit. I'd probably impose a limit of no more than your bonus modifier.
The problem comes with things like spell Templates. There is a key section that mentions the term laden. Now laden means that you cast the spell with two slots of the same level, so for example, in a standard game, you'd use two first level slots of make a magic missile spell laden. I say this is a problem because while it talks about what the various spell templates do, it doesn't actually provide the feats for them. So the question is, does a blessed spell require the user to make it laden? You'd never know as the book only states that this effect is gained from the Blessed Mage feat, which isn't detailed in this book.
Another problem is the spells. Unlike standard D&D these spells aren't broken up into different types (arcane and divine). Perhaps it's just that part of me that screams, “Why separate the classes from the system?” You can't use these spells straight in a normal D&D game. Sure, Bast is a nice 0 level spell that could probably be used for arcane or divine list, giving only a +2 bonus to your next attack roll, but other spells blur the division in D&D that mages do damage and clerics heal and have more versatility.
Take Regeneration, an exotic 8th level spell. It restores lost limbs and body parts but such a spell would normally be beyond the reach of almost any mage. Not so here. As a matter of fact, there is no real healer set of spells, although some spells can heal, just not in the fashion that standard D&D spells do.
The spells, for the AU game are great as they show how many of the standard spells work in this different setting with it's different rules providing the GM with a solid guideline but without the conversion notes that are in another product, making this a total of three products you'd need to use this product with 3.0 without overbalancing your game, is it worth it?
If you want to see more variety and options in your game, yes.
If combined with Way of the Staff, this is a 4 star product but it's reliance on that book for feat descriptions and the classes to go along with these spells hinders it's stand alone use, especially if you just want a book of spells for your D&D game. Be aware that conversions will require work but should add a lot of variety to your campaign.
In essence, the Grimoire is a simple book. It provides a new spellcasting system in addition to the spells to go along with it. As a standalone product, it suffers the same issues that Way of the Staff does in that there are many references to things not covered and doesn't stand on it's own as a 3.0 or 3.5 product but can still add some interesting ideas to any campaign.
The book is broken up into two chapters, Magic and Spells. The first chapter provides definitions for the many terms used in Arcana Unearthed. Spells fall into levels, just as they do in standard 3.0, but they also fall into simple, complex and exotic spells. Those spells also follow the schools that we're used to from 3.0, using abjuration, necromancy and others of the eight standard schools. The descriptions are modified with things that are familiar, like fire, to things different like psion.
Spells do not need to be kept in a spellbook but must be readied. This is similar in some ways to a cleric in that the caster can know these spells and change what they have prepared to cast. The main strength of this spell system though, is the flexibility. For instance, spell slots can be moved around with quite a bit of leeway. For example, you can take three spells slots of the same level and turn it into a spell slot of a higher level, or take a spell slot of a higher level, and turn it into two spell slots for a lower level.
You can cast spells that are heightened, using a higher level spell slot for a different effect, changing certain aspects of the spell, or diminished, using a slot one level lower, and effecting the spell in a negative way like reduced damage or range. This system is perfectly useable in and of itself and the spells latter on serve as good examples.
Some other gems in this section include spell catalysts. These devices are often gem stones or other valuable treasures that are consumed in the casting and add various effects to the spell even as they are destroyed. I know most players won't hesitate to throw an emerald worth at least five hundred gold pieces into a spell for an extra 2d6 damage. The only bad thing is that there is less than half a page of examples and it's not clear on if you can combine catalysts or if there is a limit. I'd probably impose a limit of no more than your bonus modifier.
The problem comes with things like spell Templates. There is a key section that mentions the term laden. Now laden means that you cast the spell with two slots of the same level, so for example, in a standard game, you'd use two first level slots of make a magic missile spell laden. I say this is a problem because while it talks about what the various spell templates do, it doesn't actually provide the feats for them. So the question is, does a blessed spell require the user to make it laden? You'd never know as the book only states that this effect is gained from the Blessed Mage feat, which isn't detailed in this book.
Another problem is the spells. Unlike standard D&D these spells aren't broken up into different types (arcane and divine). Perhaps it's just that part of me that screams, “Why separate the classes from the system?” You can't use these spells straight in a normal D&D game. Sure, Bast is a nice 0 level spell that could probably be used for arcane or divine list, giving only a +2 bonus to your next attack roll, but other spells blur the division in D&D that mages do damage and clerics heal and have more versatility.
Take Regeneration, an exotic 8th level spell. It restores lost limbs and body parts but such a spell would normally be beyond the reach of almost any mage. Not so here. As a matter of fact, there is no real healer set of spells, although some spells can heal, just not in the fashion that standard D&D spells do.
The spells, for the AU game are great as they show how many of the standard spells work in this different setting with it's different rules providing the GM with a solid guideline but without the conversion notes that are in another product, making this a total of three products you'd need to use this product with 3.0 without overbalancing your game, is it worth it?
If you want to see more variety and options in your game, yes.
If combined with Way of the Staff, this is a 4 star product but it's reliance on that book for feat descriptions and the classes to go along with these spells hinders it's stand alone use, especially if you just want a book of spells for your D&D game. Be aware that conversions will require work but should add a lot of variety to your campaign.
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