Hi guys,
I have finally rummaged through all the books and papers on my desk to uncover EA Illusionism, which came back from the printers just a couple of days ago. This is the first book we have published by Jospeh Miller, but look out for his EA Familiars next year.
Illusionist Wizards have been around since 1st edition of the game, and Joseph kicks off with an overview into this school of magic, taking a look at the fundamentals involved in this kind of casting, as well as the practitioners skilled in its use. We are introduced to the concept of lay-mages (common or garden wizards who use illusionism as part of their repertoire), Orhodox Illusionists who use shadow energy to craft illusions based on their own experience and skill, Unorthodox Illusionists who concentrate more on the effects of illusions rather than the originality of their designs, and the Unaligned Illusionists, who steer a middle ground between the others. Full rules for following any of these paths is given, aloowing any arcane spellcaster to be adapated.
The Orthodox Illusionism chapter expands the idea of this subset right out, giving new uses for old skills (as well as introducing Craft - illusion), new feats (Augment Illusion, Command Illusion, Penetrating Phantasms, among many others), as well as a whole load of Orthodox spells that will allow the illusionist to fine tune his castings to create the most unique illusions your group has yet seen. The Orthodox illusionist will quickly become skilled at casting figments, glamours, patterns and phantasms. The Unorthodox Illusionism chapter does the same thing for the other side of the School of Magic, but has a very different focus. Feats include Command Shadows, Instil Intellect and Penetrating Shadows, adding greater potentcy to this field, allowing the spellcaster to specialise in shadow spells. The new Unorthodox spells mirror this specialisation, with Animate Shadow, Umbral Landscape and Wraithform, among others.
Unaligned Illusionism contains all the information a specialist walking between the two paths or lay-mage will need for this School of Magic, and while they are able to borrow from both Orthodox and Unorthodox disciplines, they have a few tricks up their sleeves of their own, and their new spells will give any party an added edge, whether in the city, wilderness or dungeon - Fool's Coin and Frightful Presence, for example, or Reucrring Image and Wall of Patterns.
The Lords of Illusions chapter contains the prestige classes desirable to those who wish to push the School of Illusionism to the absolute limits. The Figmentist is a performer or entertainer and becomes a master of distraction and diversion gaining, among other things, the ability to perform Spontaeneous Casting on figment spells. The Glamourer can change the appearence of entire landscapes or turn others invisible, and can act as dread assassins or devious spies. However, they are also adept at uncovering the disguises and illusions of others. The Hypnotist specialises in making others perform actions they would not normally attempt through the power of his illusions, and so can act as a superb interrogator or infromation broker. He has an eerily fascinating voice and can use eye contact to create subtle hypnotic patterns to enhance suggestability. Other prestige classes make an appearence too, such as the Mind Reaver, Shadow Walker (a favourite!) and the Unaligned Master, but I'll leave those as a surprise for now.
Rose Coloured Glasses looks at the magic items often created by illusionists, including the namesake of the chapter, which shows everything the wearer sees in the most favourable light possible. I am sure a Games Master or inventive player could have a lot of fun with that one!
EA Illusionsim will be available in the UK within a couploe of weeks, and will arrive on US shores about a week after that, priced £9.95 and $14.95.
I have finally rummaged through all the books and papers on my desk to uncover EA Illusionism, which came back from the printers just a couple of days ago. This is the first book we have published by Jospeh Miller, but look out for his EA Familiars next year.
Illusionist Wizards have been around since 1st edition of the game, and Joseph kicks off with an overview into this school of magic, taking a look at the fundamentals involved in this kind of casting, as well as the practitioners skilled in its use. We are introduced to the concept of lay-mages (common or garden wizards who use illusionism as part of their repertoire), Orhodox Illusionists who use shadow energy to craft illusions based on their own experience and skill, Unorthodox Illusionists who concentrate more on the effects of illusions rather than the originality of their designs, and the Unaligned Illusionists, who steer a middle ground between the others. Full rules for following any of these paths is given, aloowing any arcane spellcaster to be adapated.
The Orthodox Illusionism chapter expands the idea of this subset right out, giving new uses for old skills (as well as introducing Craft - illusion), new feats (Augment Illusion, Command Illusion, Penetrating Phantasms, among many others), as well as a whole load of Orthodox spells that will allow the illusionist to fine tune his castings to create the most unique illusions your group has yet seen. The Orthodox illusionist will quickly become skilled at casting figments, glamours, patterns and phantasms. The Unorthodox Illusionism chapter does the same thing for the other side of the School of Magic, but has a very different focus. Feats include Command Shadows, Instil Intellect and Penetrating Shadows, adding greater potentcy to this field, allowing the spellcaster to specialise in shadow spells. The new Unorthodox spells mirror this specialisation, with Animate Shadow, Umbral Landscape and Wraithform, among others.
Unaligned Illusionism contains all the information a specialist walking between the two paths or lay-mage will need for this School of Magic, and while they are able to borrow from both Orthodox and Unorthodox disciplines, they have a few tricks up their sleeves of their own, and their new spells will give any party an added edge, whether in the city, wilderness or dungeon - Fool's Coin and Frightful Presence, for example, or Reucrring Image and Wall of Patterns.
The Lords of Illusions chapter contains the prestige classes desirable to those who wish to push the School of Illusionism to the absolute limits. The Figmentist is a performer or entertainer and becomes a master of distraction and diversion gaining, among other things, the ability to perform Spontaeneous Casting on figment spells. The Glamourer can change the appearence of entire landscapes or turn others invisible, and can act as dread assassins or devious spies. However, they are also adept at uncovering the disguises and illusions of others. The Hypnotist specialises in making others perform actions they would not normally attempt through the power of his illusions, and so can act as a superb interrogator or infromation broker. He has an eerily fascinating voice and can use eye contact to create subtle hypnotic patterns to enhance suggestability. Other prestige classes make an appearence too, such as the Mind Reaver, Shadow Walker (a favourite!) and the Unaligned Master, but I'll leave those as a surprise for now.
Rose Coloured Glasses looks at the magic items often created by illusionists, including the namesake of the chapter, which shows everything the wearer sees in the most favourable light possible. I am sure a Games Master or inventive player could have a lot of fun with that one!
EA Illusionsim will be available in the UK within a couploe of weeks, and will arrive on US shores about a week after that, priced £9.95 and $14.95.
