John Cooper
Explorer
LEGENDS OF SORCERY
By Charles Rice
RPGObjects product number RPO4500
64-page PDF, $8.95
Legends of Sorcery is an interesting concept: a variant spellcasting system (using the same spells as in the Player's Handbook) that not only works as a standalone system, but is also the "core" spellcasting system used in all future (and backwards-compatible to all current) products by RPGObjects. I'm already familiar with their Legends of the Samurai and Legends of the Dark Ages lines, and this product is fully compatible with both.
The cover (available only in the screen version of the PDF; the printer-friendly version understandably removes it) is by Jeremy Simmons, and it depicts (in full color, with shades of brown predominating) several archaic forms of writing, a couple of friezes, a pair of crossed swords, a Roman column, and so on. It's a nice piece, and apparently it serves multiple duties as the background covers for a few PDFs in the Legends lines (understandable, since PDF publishing tends to have a much smaller budget than print publishing).
Interior artwork consists of 13 black-and-white pieces by Joseph Wigfield, and those who already own several other RPGObjects PDFs may recognize a couple of these, as at least some have appeared in other products. I recognized the elementalist causing lightning to shoot through the body of his enemy on page 17, the (Shaolin-type) monk on page 21, and the spellcaster attacking three ninja with their own weapons on page 33 as all having appeared before in various Legends of the Samurai PDFs, to name a few. Still, the artwork is still well done, with crisp lines and good use of shading.
The PDF has three chapters. The first, Introduction, introduces the Legends magic system, pointing out what is the same and what is different between it and the standard d20 magic system. This new system is skill-based, requiring a casting check - either a Knowledge (arcana) check for arcane magic or a Knowledge (religion) check for divine magic - in order to successfully cast a spell, with the possibility of various types of spell failure if the check does not succeed. (Depending upon the die roll, some types of "spell failure" still get the spell off, but at the cost of causing problems for the spellcaster, from fatigue to actual damage.) The DC to cast a spell is 15 + (the spell's level times 5), but this is modified by a Base Magic Bonus (equivalent to a Base Attack Bonus) that each spellcasting class gains as a modifier to the die roll. Still, the system is designed so that even a high-level spellcaster will find it more difficult to cast his higher-level spells than his lower-level spells, which is quite a difference from the standard system, where as long as you still have spell slots available, it's no more difficult casting wish than magic missile. Chapter 1 takes all of two pages, then it's on to the meatier stuff which builds upon the foundation of the first chapter.
Chapter 2, Magic Characters, presents 12 character classes divided into low-magic (alchemist, artificer [which is different from the class of the same name from the Eberron campaign setting, it bears pointing out], holy man, naturalist, and sage), medium-magic (elementalist, hermit, monk, pagan priest, priest, seer, and trickster), and high-magic classes (of which none are presented here, as they're taken from the PH). It's interesting to note that the sorcerer doesn't exist in the Legends line, as all magic is cast spontaneously, leaving the sorcerer class without a separate role. Of the new classes presented here, I particularly liked the alchemist, which seemed appropriately built to give it the feel needed for an alchemist without it being over-the-top or pointless. (I could see myself running a PC through 20 levels of alchemist, which is something of an indicator I use as to whether or not I feel a new class is a worthwhile addition.) Some of these, like the elementalist, I've actually seen before in other RPGObjects PDFs, but it's a nice idea to gather them all together into a "core" book. (Although I notice it didn't take long to break out of the core; Legends of Sorcery: Gems introduces two new spellcasting classes! I'll post my review of that product after I finish with this one.)
Chapter 3, Spellcasting, deals with the Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion) checks used to cast spells (and even adds a new Knowledge skill, Knowledge (astrology/divination) - I'm not sure what I think of that, as skill points are a finite resource and coming up with new "required" skills out of the blue tends to weaken a character's overall effectiveness). The chapter also has 12 spellcasting feats, 12 metamagic feats (many with the same name as the metamagic feats in the PH, but since spellcasting is so fundamentally different from the d20 norm, there's no way for the PH metamagic feats to work the same way in a Legends campaign), 4 magic options, 6 generic deities (really just an overarching theme and two domains for each of the six), Fate and Destiny points, and then the numerous spell lists for the various spellcasting classes, with 40 new spells at the end of the chapter. Again, I recognized a few of the new spells from previous RPGObjects PDFs, and almost all of them seem like pretty cool additions...with one main exception. Lost in the Fog causes a 20-foot-radius cloud of fog to spread somewhere in an unknown range from the spellcaster (I say "unknown" because the "Range" entry is literally blank), causing anyone within the cloud to make a Will save or become lost. Those that are lost can attempt a DC 20 Intelligence check to find their way out of the cloud, which only lasts for one round per caster level anyway. Why does this seem like a bad spell, you ask? Because it's a 9th-level spell! I just about choked reading that, especially when obscuring mist, a 1st-level spell, lasts 10 times longer than lost in the fog. About the only way the spell might be able to redeem itself is by actually quantifying what "lost" means in this context, as the spell description currently doesn't specify. If we're talking "lost" as in "gone and never seen again" (effectively "dead"), then that makes some sort of sense, and the shortened duration actually works in the caster's favor, as it gives his enemies less time to try to escape, but as currently written, it's the biggest joke spell in the lot.
Proofreading and editing seemed a bit lower in quality than in previous RPGObjects products, with a few more errors getting past Andy Rau (listed in the credits as the editor; there is no proofreader listed) than I recall in the past. Here I'm not just talking about simple things like forgetting to italicize spell names or capitalize size categories (although there were several instances of each), but also simple misspellings ("compliment" instead of "complement," "do" instead of "due"), font size problems (some of the entries of "1st," "2nd," and so on in the various level references were so tiny as to be difficult to make out), alphabetization problems (many of the spell lists were not alphabetized at all, or rather were alphabetized by spell school - like the sorcerer/wizard spells in the PH - without actually listing the spell schools anywhere!), misuse of several "standard" d20 terms (like "spell books" instead of "spellbooks" or "spell casting" instead of "spellcasting" - which would be fine if they used the two-word terms exclusively, but this was much more hit-and-miss, with the worst offense being the actual title of the third chapter!), and a few missing periods here and there.
There was also a tendency to refer to things that aren't actually a part of this PDF, without mentioning where the reader might go to find that information. For instance, several of the RPGObjects lines involve rules for nobility ranks, allegiances, bloodlines, and lineage traits, and each of these is referenced at least once or twice in Legends of Sorcery, but the rules for each are not part of this book. I happen to know of them because I've read through the Legends of the Samurai and Legends of the Dark Ages lines, but somebody picking up Legends of Sorcery as their first RPGObjects purchase will be a bit lost. Likewise, a member of the hermit class can gain Power Source, Power Surge, and Second Sight as bonus feats, but those feats are not part of this PDF, nor in the PH or Expanded Psionics Handbook, so the player wishing to run a hermit has effectively had those options removed for him. There's also reference to a thief class not present in this PDF - perhaps not surprisingly, since this product focuses on spellcasting classes, but a reference as to where the thief class is presented would have been nice.
The spell lists, which I mentioned earlier, were particularly bad, as many of the "M" or "X" entries weren't superscripted, there were quite a few of the 40 new spells that didn't actually make it to the spell lists (making it less likely that they'll ever get used, if the players aren't even aware that they're available!), and a few of them had spells that weren't called the same name as the spell's write-up in the back, also leading to some confusion. What particularly irritated me was that many of these are "repeat" errors. When reading through an RPG book, I habitually jot down errors I note. For a print product, all that generally does is give me a feel for the proofreading job (which I usually make a point of noting in my reviews); for a PDF, I also take the time to type up my "list of errors noted" and forward them to the company, in the hopes that the appropriate changes might get made quickly, to the benefit of the purchasers of said product. (This is definitely one of the benefits that PDF products have over print products: quicker fixes!) However, I found myself making note of the exact same errors in quite a few instances, as the Legends of the Dark Ages line had spells like crusader's zeal, martyr's cry, noble armor, noble mantle, noble/ignoble weapon, nobility/ignobility shield, and nobility/ignobility ward, all of which were missing from the spell lists in Legends of the Dark Ages (and which I pointed out to Charles after reviewing that product) and are similarly missing from the spell lists in Legends of Sorcery. I like to think that by compiling and sending in my lists of errors I'm actually providing a useful service, but sometimes I wonder if I'm not just wasting my time.... Regardless, I'll email my list in to Charles again this time and see what comes of it.
In any case, Legends of Sorcery does a good job of doing what it set out to do: create a new spellcasting system that works a bit more in line with the concepts that Charles Rice has already created in his other various Legends lines, which have thus far (to my knowledge, anyway) been set on historical Earth at various points in the past (feudal Japan, Europe in the Dark Ages, the Camelot era), and in which magic was "tacked on" to historical events. Legends books seem like they work best when self-contained anyway (by that I mean everyone using the rules in the ruleset for that Legends campaign exclusively, and not "porting in," say, a PH druid or wizard character - or something even more exotic, like a ninja from Complete Adventurer). As this will be the "core" book of future Legends releases, I can highly recommend it to anyone planning on running any Legends campaigns, as it really will be an essential product to the smooth running of such a campaign. (Unless, of course, you were planning on running a more "accurate" historical campaign where magic isn't a factor - which again, is what makes pulling all such "spellcasting" rules into a standalone product such a nice move on Charles' part.) From this point on, they can focus on the nonmagical (and thus more accurate) aspects of any Earth time period and leave all of the "fantastic" stuff to supplements like this. I can envision, say, perhaps a future Legends of the Vikings product sometime down the road (note: I'm just making this up whole cloth; don't necessarily expect such a product) that focuses almost exclusively on historical accuracy, with perhaps a sidebar at the end referencing which spellcasting classes from this product would be logical add-ons for a more "magical" Vikings campaign. It's a very good way to go about things, and lays the groundwork for some very cool future products.
I also greatly appreciate the fact that Charles has managed to find a way to completely rework the entire spellcasting system in such a way as to keep virtually all d20 spells viable in the campaign. Many variant magic systems force the user to ignore the spells from the PH (or other d20 sources) because they're not compatible with the new system; Charles' spellcasting system works nicely with the pre-existing spells, so your Legends PCs won't have to do without their magic missiles or their bull's strength spells.
I'm sort of wavering between a high "3 (Average)" and a low "4 (Good)" on this product. I think I'll bump it up to the higher score if only because I appreciate the elegance of the system Charles devised. I can definitely recommend it to anyone running any of the various Legends campaigns, but those interested in a variant skill-based spellcasting system might want to give it a look as well.
By Charles Rice
RPGObjects product number RPO4500
64-page PDF, $8.95
Legends of Sorcery is an interesting concept: a variant spellcasting system (using the same spells as in the Player's Handbook) that not only works as a standalone system, but is also the "core" spellcasting system used in all future (and backwards-compatible to all current) products by RPGObjects. I'm already familiar with their Legends of the Samurai and Legends of the Dark Ages lines, and this product is fully compatible with both.
The cover (available only in the screen version of the PDF; the printer-friendly version understandably removes it) is by Jeremy Simmons, and it depicts (in full color, with shades of brown predominating) several archaic forms of writing, a couple of friezes, a pair of crossed swords, a Roman column, and so on. It's a nice piece, and apparently it serves multiple duties as the background covers for a few PDFs in the Legends lines (understandable, since PDF publishing tends to have a much smaller budget than print publishing).
Interior artwork consists of 13 black-and-white pieces by Joseph Wigfield, and those who already own several other RPGObjects PDFs may recognize a couple of these, as at least some have appeared in other products. I recognized the elementalist causing lightning to shoot through the body of his enemy on page 17, the (Shaolin-type) monk on page 21, and the spellcaster attacking three ninja with their own weapons on page 33 as all having appeared before in various Legends of the Samurai PDFs, to name a few. Still, the artwork is still well done, with crisp lines and good use of shading.
The PDF has three chapters. The first, Introduction, introduces the Legends magic system, pointing out what is the same and what is different between it and the standard d20 magic system. This new system is skill-based, requiring a casting check - either a Knowledge (arcana) check for arcane magic or a Knowledge (religion) check for divine magic - in order to successfully cast a spell, with the possibility of various types of spell failure if the check does not succeed. (Depending upon the die roll, some types of "spell failure" still get the spell off, but at the cost of causing problems for the spellcaster, from fatigue to actual damage.) The DC to cast a spell is 15 + (the spell's level times 5), but this is modified by a Base Magic Bonus (equivalent to a Base Attack Bonus) that each spellcasting class gains as a modifier to the die roll. Still, the system is designed so that even a high-level spellcaster will find it more difficult to cast his higher-level spells than his lower-level spells, which is quite a difference from the standard system, where as long as you still have spell slots available, it's no more difficult casting wish than magic missile. Chapter 1 takes all of two pages, then it's on to the meatier stuff which builds upon the foundation of the first chapter.
Chapter 2, Magic Characters, presents 12 character classes divided into low-magic (alchemist, artificer [which is different from the class of the same name from the Eberron campaign setting, it bears pointing out], holy man, naturalist, and sage), medium-magic (elementalist, hermit, monk, pagan priest, priest, seer, and trickster), and high-magic classes (of which none are presented here, as they're taken from the PH). It's interesting to note that the sorcerer doesn't exist in the Legends line, as all magic is cast spontaneously, leaving the sorcerer class without a separate role. Of the new classes presented here, I particularly liked the alchemist, which seemed appropriately built to give it the feel needed for an alchemist without it being over-the-top or pointless. (I could see myself running a PC through 20 levels of alchemist, which is something of an indicator I use as to whether or not I feel a new class is a worthwhile addition.) Some of these, like the elementalist, I've actually seen before in other RPGObjects PDFs, but it's a nice idea to gather them all together into a "core" book. (Although I notice it didn't take long to break out of the core; Legends of Sorcery: Gems introduces two new spellcasting classes! I'll post my review of that product after I finish with this one.)
Chapter 3, Spellcasting, deals with the Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion) checks used to cast spells (and even adds a new Knowledge skill, Knowledge (astrology/divination) - I'm not sure what I think of that, as skill points are a finite resource and coming up with new "required" skills out of the blue tends to weaken a character's overall effectiveness). The chapter also has 12 spellcasting feats, 12 metamagic feats (many with the same name as the metamagic feats in the PH, but since spellcasting is so fundamentally different from the d20 norm, there's no way for the PH metamagic feats to work the same way in a Legends campaign), 4 magic options, 6 generic deities (really just an overarching theme and two domains for each of the six), Fate and Destiny points, and then the numerous spell lists for the various spellcasting classes, with 40 new spells at the end of the chapter. Again, I recognized a few of the new spells from previous RPGObjects PDFs, and almost all of them seem like pretty cool additions...with one main exception. Lost in the Fog causes a 20-foot-radius cloud of fog to spread somewhere in an unknown range from the spellcaster (I say "unknown" because the "Range" entry is literally blank), causing anyone within the cloud to make a Will save or become lost. Those that are lost can attempt a DC 20 Intelligence check to find their way out of the cloud, which only lasts for one round per caster level anyway. Why does this seem like a bad spell, you ask? Because it's a 9th-level spell! I just about choked reading that, especially when obscuring mist, a 1st-level spell, lasts 10 times longer than lost in the fog. About the only way the spell might be able to redeem itself is by actually quantifying what "lost" means in this context, as the spell description currently doesn't specify. If we're talking "lost" as in "gone and never seen again" (effectively "dead"), then that makes some sort of sense, and the shortened duration actually works in the caster's favor, as it gives his enemies less time to try to escape, but as currently written, it's the biggest joke spell in the lot.
Proofreading and editing seemed a bit lower in quality than in previous RPGObjects products, with a few more errors getting past Andy Rau (listed in the credits as the editor; there is no proofreader listed) than I recall in the past. Here I'm not just talking about simple things like forgetting to italicize spell names or capitalize size categories (although there were several instances of each), but also simple misspellings ("compliment" instead of "complement," "do" instead of "due"), font size problems (some of the entries of "1st," "2nd," and so on in the various level references were so tiny as to be difficult to make out), alphabetization problems (many of the spell lists were not alphabetized at all, or rather were alphabetized by spell school - like the sorcerer/wizard spells in the PH - without actually listing the spell schools anywhere!), misuse of several "standard" d20 terms (like "spell books" instead of "spellbooks" or "spell casting" instead of "spellcasting" - which would be fine if they used the two-word terms exclusively, but this was much more hit-and-miss, with the worst offense being the actual title of the third chapter!), and a few missing periods here and there.
There was also a tendency to refer to things that aren't actually a part of this PDF, without mentioning where the reader might go to find that information. For instance, several of the RPGObjects lines involve rules for nobility ranks, allegiances, bloodlines, and lineage traits, and each of these is referenced at least once or twice in Legends of Sorcery, but the rules for each are not part of this book. I happen to know of them because I've read through the Legends of the Samurai and Legends of the Dark Ages lines, but somebody picking up Legends of Sorcery as their first RPGObjects purchase will be a bit lost. Likewise, a member of the hermit class can gain Power Source, Power Surge, and Second Sight as bonus feats, but those feats are not part of this PDF, nor in the PH or Expanded Psionics Handbook, so the player wishing to run a hermit has effectively had those options removed for him. There's also reference to a thief class not present in this PDF - perhaps not surprisingly, since this product focuses on spellcasting classes, but a reference as to where the thief class is presented would have been nice.
The spell lists, which I mentioned earlier, were particularly bad, as many of the "M" or "X" entries weren't superscripted, there were quite a few of the 40 new spells that didn't actually make it to the spell lists (making it less likely that they'll ever get used, if the players aren't even aware that they're available!), and a few of them had spells that weren't called the same name as the spell's write-up in the back, also leading to some confusion. What particularly irritated me was that many of these are "repeat" errors. When reading through an RPG book, I habitually jot down errors I note. For a print product, all that generally does is give me a feel for the proofreading job (which I usually make a point of noting in my reviews); for a PDF, I also take the time to type up my "list of errors noted" and forward them to the company, in the hopes that the appropriate changes might get made quickly, to the benefit of the purchasers of said product. (This is definitely one of the benefits that PDF products have over print products: quicker fixes!) However, I found myself making note of the exact same errors in quite a few instances, as the Legends of the Dark Ages line had spells like crusader's zeal, martyr's cry, noble armor, noble mantle, noble/ignoble weapon, nobility/ignobility shield, and nobility/ignobility ward, all of which were missing from the spell lists in Legends of the Dark Ages (and which I pointed out to Charles after reviewing that product) and are similarly missing from the spell lists in Legends of Sorcery. I like to think that by compiling and sending in my lists of errors I'm actually providing a useful service, but sometimes I wonder if I'm not just wasting my time.... Regardless, I'll email my list in to Charles again this time and see what comes of it.
In any case, Legends of Sorcery does a good job of doing what it set out to do: create a new spellcasting system that works a bit more in line with the concepts that Charles Rice has already created in his other various Legends lines, which have thus far (to my knowledge, anyway) been set on historical Earth at various points in the past (feudal Japan, Europe in the Dark Ages, the Camelot era), and in which magic was "tacked on" to historical events. Legends books seem like they work best when self-contained anyway (by that I mean everyone using the rules in the ruleset for that Legends campaign exclusively, and not "porting in," say, a PH druid or wizard character - or something even more exotic, like a ninja from Complete Adventurer). As this will be the "core" book of future Legends releases, I can highly recommend it to anyone planning on running any Legends campaigns, as it really will be an essential product to the smooth running of such a campaign. (Unless, of course, you were planning on running a more "accurate" historical campaign where magic isn't a factor - which again, is what makes pulling all such "spellcasting" rules into a standalone product such a nice move on Charles' part.) From this point on, they can focus on the nonmagical (and thus more accurate) aspects of any Earth time period and leave all of the "fantastic" stuff to supplements like this. I can envision, say, perhaps a future Legends of the Vikings product sometime down the road (note: I'm just making this up whole cloth; don't necessarily expect such a product) that focuses almost exclusively on historical accuracy, with perhaps a sidebar at the end referencing which spellcasting classes from this product would be logical add-ons for a more "magical" Vikings campaign. It's a very good way to go about things, and lays the groundwork for some very cool future products.
I also greatly appreciate the fact that Charles has managed to find a way to completely rework the entire spellcasting system in such a way as to keep virtually all d20 spells viable in the campaign. Many variant magic systems force the user to ignore the spells from the PH (or other d20 sources) because they're not compatible with the new system; Charles' spellcasting system works nicely with the pre-existing spells, so your Legends PCs won't have to do without their magic missiles or their bull's strength spells.
I'm sort of wavering between a high "3 (Average)" and a low "4 (Good)" on this product. I think I'll bump it up to the higher score if only because I appreciate the elegance of the system Charles devised. I can definitely recommend it to anyone running any of the various Legends campaigns, but those interested in a variant skill-based spellcasting system might want to give it a look as well.
