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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009917" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Bruce Boughner, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack and Co-host of Mortality Radio Sizing Up the Target Path of Magic is a 171-page hardcover accessory published by Fantasy Flight Games in their Legends & Lairs series. The authors are Wil Upchurch, Greg Benage, Shawn Cashman, James Maliszewski, Brian Patterson and Sam Witt. The cover is done by Brian Schomburg and is done in the faux-tome cover style and is available for $24.95First Blood Legends & Lairs has been a consistent performer in the d20 wars, Traps & Treachery, Spells & Spellcraft and the Seafarers Handbook were among their early releases. Great products that show a great deal of time spent in development and game balancing. Their line is steadfastly one of my favorite accessories. Path of Magic is the second of their releases that focuses strictly on classes and this one is for Bards, Sorcerers and Wizards. While short on chapters, only five, they are well balanced for a spell-caster, starting with classes, 20 of them!!! Arcane Negotiator (summoners), dwarven Chanters (dwarven bards), Swamp Witch (diviners), Force Weavers (evokers) and Grand Divas (female bards) are among the prestige classes described here. The prestige classes take a spell-caster into a powerful path of development. Most of the classes also are followed by a Secret Society of similar casters that can be woven into your own plot threads. Something new here is the advent of the Legendary Class. After reaching the pinnacle of power as a Prestige Class where does your character go? As with the Epic-level Handbook, into Legendary status. The player must declare his intention to achieve these classes at minimum 2 levels in advance of starting as one. Once on this path, for good or bad, success or failure, there is no changing back. Each legendary class has it’s own set of requirements, skills and feats. The Traveler, Death Lord, Maestro, and Wizard King are examples of these legendary classes. The chapter ends with four variant classes for the first level character to take. The Arcane Engineer, a magitech that uses their spell abilities to combine with science to create new devices. The Arsenalist, who understands and employs gunpowder to increase their mage abilities. The Mind Weaver that is not quite a psion but more than a sorcerer, drawing on mental energy as well as arcane for power. And the Sun Mage becoming living solar batteries to power their arcane might. The second chapter covers new feats like Arcane Strike, Counterspell Riposte and Eldritch Defense are good samples of the three dozen new arcane feats here. Bards are the focus of the next chapter in Performances of Power, using those performances to enhance companions, and augment spells. The four disciplines of bardic magic style; arcane gesture, lyrics, rhythms and musical note give the beginning of a bardic college for the DM to develop. The effects of the bards performance give examples like sustain spell, range magnification and focused energy. There are also inhibitor effects to be used on opponents and expanded musical abilities. Finally the grouping of bards into Troupes and the enhanced abilities the combined efforts can give are also laid down. Chapter Four discusses the spellcaster’s world, taking on the subjects of magical traditions and schools. The cost and time of training, traveling masters, Academies and Spells and Research are discussed before the example of the Stormweavers School (one of several) is given as a sample. Its history, academy, masters and lesson plan demonstrates the point of the chapter, certainly a great aid for the harried DM. Then the development of wizard towers; from the ground up are given. Charts on location, size, cost, construction time and mystical attuning of the tower are graphically designed to help the mage develop his ‘space’. Then Arcane Societies and their development are bandied in detail, from ranks to membership to the benefits and drawbacks of membership before giving several examples. What would any book on wizardry be without those wonderful toys? The last chapter has just that. Breaking it down into three sections on Expendable Foci, Fonts of Power and Eldritch Staves. Expendable Foci discusses how to apply mystical energy into those portable storage bins like rings potions and talismans. Side effects like manafire and the creation, use and charging of the foci are given. Fonts of Power draws on the sources of arcane might, Elemental Energy, Planar Energy, Necromancy, Bloodlines etc are given with the benefits and possible detriments are discussed. Then how to locate, tap and use these fonts by applying them to current arcane spell lists. Eldritch Staves rounds out the book, touching on the images of Merlin and Gandalf’s staves, the writers launch into the role of and creation of a Wizard’s staff. Feats (called elements) for the staff are given, allowing the staff to grow as the wizard does... OUTSTANDING!!!!! Critical Hits Path of Magic is a definite improvement over Spells and Spellcraft, going into a greater depth with regards to the trapping of the spellcaster rather than loading us up on spells and the like. The Guilds and Secret Societies are the meat and potatoes of novels and films and the plans for developing them are topics often seen in issues of Dragon but never in a hardback tome like this. Bravo! The artwork of the book more than passable, Fantasy Flight’s art staff are among the best in the business. Critical Misses Sequel, sequel, sequel! Work on these topics was great, let’s find other untapped potential for characters, NPCs and plot devices like this. It’s rare for a sequel book like this to surpass the original but this one did. Coup de Grace This is a must have book for both Dm’s and players who are fond of spell tossers as their favored class. There is such a wealth of information that can be used on both sides of the screen that it would be hard to not recommend it.To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=3" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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