The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
Pocket Grimoire Divine is one of two Pocket Grimoires (the other is Arcane) from Green Ronin Publishing.
OGC Designation: Very good, nearly 100% of the book is OGC.
First Impressions: Any "core" divine caster (cleric, druid, ranger, paladin) will not want to miss this one. It keeps every spell in one handy-dandy location. It's small and relatively easy to carry, and contains a large assortment of spells. What's not to like?
Initial Annoyances: With no artwork, this book is a very dry read. Then again, this is truly an RPG "Reference Manual" and one doesn't really expect artwork from it. Also annoying is the renaming of spells pulled from Relics and Rituals so as to make the names OGC. This annoyance goes to SSS, not Green Ronin, though.
Content Breakdown:
This book contains all the spells in the PHB, plus a good sampling of "best of"s from other sources. Simply put, this is a whole bunch of spells. It's an excellent reference book, though it would have been nice to include the reference to the original product from which each spell was drawn. Also, it's quite redundant if you already have Relics & Rituals and the Player's Handbook.
In addition, this adds a good number of domains to the list in the PHB. Again, many of these are from Relics & Rituals.
Presentation: It's simple and clean and very minimalist. Pages are kept nice and tight and full of text.
Conclusion: You really could give this one pretty much the same review as PG:Arcane - which I have. They are the same book, with one a list of Arcane spells and the other a list of Divine spells (and the added bonus of domains). This is the quintessential collection example - not that this is a bad thing, but it's not exactly bursting with originality. It accomplishes its purpose, but given that most players have the Player's Handbook already (and therefore a good number of the spells already in here), I don't know that it adds a whole lot of utility - especially to those who also have Relics & Rituals. It's not flashy, it's not original, but it IS quite useful to the right person - a player of a divine caster whose DM allows spells from non-PHB sources, and possibly to DMs who don't have (or don't want to get) all of the other books listed in the Section 15 of this one (for which you can't blame them). There's no "wow" factor at all, so I can't give it a 5. I really can't give it a 4, either - this is a perfectly clean, if visually unappealing (at least on the interior) collection of spells - but at the end of the day it IS just a collection of spells, many of which you probably already have. On the other hand, it does save you from having to lug larger books to the gaming table if all you need are spells (but let's be honest, that's usually not all you need). A high 3, then, will have to do.
OGC Designation: Very good, nearly 100% of the book is OGC.
First Impressions: Any "core" divine caster (cleric, druid, ranger, paladin) will not want to miss this one. It keeps every spell in one handy-dandy location. It's small and relatively easy to carry, and contains a large assortment of spells. What's not to like?
Initial Annoyances: With no artwork, this book is a very dry read. Then again, this is truly an RPG "Reference Manual" and one doesn't really expect artwork from it. Also annoying is the renaming of spells pulled from Relics and Rituals so as to make the names OGC. This annoyance goes to SSS, not Green Ronin, though.
Content Breakdown:
This book contains all the spells in the PHB, plus a good sampling of "best of"s from other sources. Simply put, this is a whole bunch of spells. It's an excellent reference book, though it would have been nice to include the reference to the original product from which each spell was drawn. Also, it's quite redundant if you already have Relics & Rituals and the Player's Handbook.
In addition, this adds a good number of domains to the list in the PHB. Again, many of these are from Relics & Rituals.
Presentation: It's simple and clean and very minimalist. Pages are kept nice and tight and full of text.
Conclusion: You really could give this one pretty much the same review as PG:Arcane - which I have. They are the same book, with one a list of Arcane spells and the other a list of Divine spells (and the added bonus of domains). This is the quintessential collection example - not that this is a bad thing, but it's not exactly bursting with originality. It accomplishes its purpose, but given that most players have the Player's Handbook already (and therefore a good number of the spells already in here), I don't know that it adds a whole lot of utility - especially to those who also have Relics & Rituals. It's not flashy, it's not original, but it IS quite useful to the right person - a player of a divine caster whose DM allows spells from non-PHB sources, and possibly to DMs who don't have (or don't want to get) all of the other books listed in the Section 15 of this one (for which you can't blame them). There's no "wow" factor at all, so I can't give it a 5. I really can't give it a 4, either - this is a perfectly clean, if visually unappealing (at least on the interior) collection of spells - but at the end of the day it IS just a collection of spells, many of which you probably already have. On the other hand, it does save you from having to lug larger books to the gaming table if all you need are spells (but let's be honest, that's usually not all you need). A high 3, then, will have to do.
