Path of Magic vs Spells & Spellcraft

[Jay Berg]

Hi guys,

this question might be a tad stupid but since I am living in a roleplaying diaspora (meaning there is no shop and experienced gms I can ask this) please be kind to me if it is.

I have read reviews about two products of Fantasy Flight Games and would like to know if they add to one another or whether they actually overlap? The products are "Path of Magic" and "Spells & Spellcraft". Since I am only starting out as a D20 gm (insert 31 years old rugged veteran of everything from Warhammer FRP to GURPS) I want to get a good library first. I have the usual stuff (core rule books) but am looking for good supplements to add depth. And since I was a sucker for Rolemaster because of the kazillions of different kinds magic forms I am interested in supplements in that area.

Please let me know what your experiences with the aforementioned books are.

Cheers

 

[Crothian]

No overlap. Spells and spellcraft has spells a few feats, and a bunch of magical aternatives and addons. Path of Magic has prestige classes, feats (none of them a reprint from Spells and Spellcraft), great bardic options, as well as organizations for arcane spellcasters. I've written reviews on both of these products, and I'm very happy with both.

 

[Jay Berg]

Thanks Crotian.

I've read your reviews and they are very helpful.

Maybe we can broaden the subject here. There are a lot of magic-related sourcebooks out there (Books of Eldritch Might, Relics & Rituals, Magic by AEG etc). Which ones would you guys recommend and why? If this discussion has already been done elsewhere I'd be very gratefull if you could post a link.

Cheers

 

[2WS-Steve]

There's also "Occult Lore" by Atlas and "Spells and Magic" by Bastion Press.

Occult Lore has the distinction of having Keith Baker, one of the WotC "Final 3" as a contributing writer. Both of these books include a lot of variant spellcasting classes.

Relics and Rituals 1 and 2 include lots of items and spells plus some prestige classes.

Frankly, I haven't been disappointed by any of the magic books I've picked up so page count to price ratio might be a reasonable way to go. If Ryan Dancey were still doing retail sales he'd probably offer a special Magic Christmas package including all currently available magic books at a significant discount (especially older items); maybe a retail outlet would be willing to do so...

If you want new spells and PrC's probably best to go with the R&R books, BoEM, or Path of Magic. For variant casters Magic, Spells and Magic, or Occult Lore are the best route. I'm not sure where Spells and Spellcraft fits.