MageWare - review by Jason Lund (Anio)
MageWare is a 12 page PDF (including 1 cover page, 1 table of contents and credits page, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover page) written by Owen K.C. Stephens for Interactive Design Adventures. It is a collection of magic items and spells for a D20 Modern Arcana-based game. It is presented in the form of a shopping catalogue for mages and is stylistic though simple in its approach.
The layout is clean and does not contain any art. Aside from the two colour pages (the cover page and the back page), this is a printer friendly PDF. Unfortunately, the book marking is simple and does not link directly to each magic item or spell. Unless a PDF is only a couple of pages long, PDFs from the RPG industry should have concise and user friendly bookmarks to reduce the annoyance of constant page flipping, including a link to each individual magic item, spell, monster or class. Aside from a missing spell (see below), the editing is good and the text is free of spelling errors.
The MageWare catalog includes six items of magically related hardware, though not all of the items are magical. Highlights include the scroll printer, the RIM drive, a computer memory stick that stores a single spell, and the spellpod, a computer slightly larger than a PDA that functions as a spell book. The MageWare catalog also offers five pieces of magical software. Featured software includes Portals, a basic spell book program and SpellBlocker Pro, software that functions like a virus scanner but targeted at removing magic from computer software. I particularly liked the Internet Apprentice. It is a magic application that can independently perform a host of tasks relating to computers, arcane lore and research, all while making itself available from anywhere that its attuned user has access to email or a phone line.
I liked that the spells in MageWare are really for the modern age and not just re-imagined DnD spells, as many of the spells in the D20 Modern Core Rulebook are. Most are quite flavourful and seem well balanced and I especially liked the range of utilitarian spells. Especially useful spells include Autopilot, which allows a car to drive itself, and Global Positioning Sorcery, which allows a caster to learn their relative position on the globe (and possibly gain an image of their surroundings). I also liked Rap Sheet, which allows the caster to learn a target's criminal record and Edit, a spell that allows the caster to swap the image of one person for another in a photo, in a digital recording or on a video tape. It is good to see that these spells address situations that are common in a D20 Modern game and not just based on doing more damage to an opponent. The author suggests that these spells should be made generally available to any spell casting class based in a modern setting.
Only one of the spells does not seem appropriate for its level and another spell is listed but not detailed in the text. CPR is a 3rd level spell which functions as the Raise Dead spell but only works upon creatures that have died within the past minute. This spell would seem to be a no-brainer and should perhaps be moved to 4th level. The 1st level spell, Cinematic Supply, is listed along with the other spells but is not described in the text. The brief description of Cinematic Supply in the spell list makes it seem as though it could be open to abuse, but without specific details, it is not possible to confirm one way or the other. In total, twenty spells are listed, though only nineteen are described.
Summary
MageWare addresses a component of the D20 Modern game that is not often catered to: magic items and spells of the modern era. I was more impressed with the spells as a group than the magic items and specifically liked that they are targeted at the modern world and not just re-packaged DnD spells. Given the number of other roleplaying games that cover modern and near-future magical settings, including but not limited to Shadowrun and Mage The Ascension, it is surprising to not see more spell collections as is provided in MageWare for D20 Modern. A lot is packed into its 12 pages, with almost a dozen magic items and almost twenty spells, but the price is a little steep at $5, especially when other PDFs at this price range average 30+ pages and include art. None of the inclusions in MageWare are particularly stellar but they can easily find a place alongside other magic items and spells for a D20 Urban Arcana game.
Review by Jason Lund (Anio)
