Psion
Adventurer
Primer to Practical Magic
The Primer to Practical Magic is a publication by Pelgrane Press, publishers of the Dying Earth RPG; The Primer to Practical Magic is an adaptation of many aspects of that game to D20 System terms. The book was written/converted primarily by Jeanry Chandler.
Jack Vance's Dying Earth was one of the formative influences behind D&D, in particular the slot style spell mechanic which in previous editions was conceptualized as "memorization". Jack Vance's Dying Earth was an intriguing place full of eccentric wizards who cast fancifully names spell and grow servants in vats and where IOUN stones are mined from stars by demon-like cretures as they are eaten by the nothing at the edge of the universe.
A First Look
The Primer to Practical Magic is a 138-page perfect bound softcover book priced at $29.95.
The cover of the book is flat black. The cover is adorned by a monotone orange picture of a clawed, runed covered hand in a ray-traced style. Though a bit unusual for a cover illustration, it still strikes me as a bit basic. The cover is illustrated by Sarah Wroot.
The interior is black and white and illustrated by Ossi Hiekkala, Ralph Horley, Shaun Thomas, and Hilary Wade. Much of the art is basic line art, though Horsley's is nicely shaded and textured and full of character.
A Deeper Look
A large proportion of the Primer to Practical Magic is devoted to arcane spells from the Dying Earth setting. Some D20 System spells are merely renamed here and were quite likely inspired by Vance's books. For example, the D20 System spell imprisonment is essentially identical to the spell called The Spell of Forlorn Enscysment.
Other arcane spells are new, and the book details a variety of useful and dangerous spells from cantrips to 9th level. Allay seasickness is a simple but useful cantrip for would-be seafarers, while the Excellent Prismatic Spray attacks the target with a volley of "hard light" attacks that bypass many resistances.
There are a number of interesting spells herein, and those who complain that D20 spells are too combat oriented might find a few interesting alternatives herein. For example The Vulgur Interruption can be used to great effect to get the target to dismiss and relieve themselves, and Phandaal's Inside Out and Over might relieve high level wizards of the task of dungeon delving, as it forces the contents of subterrainian tunnels to the surface.
In some cases, the D20 System interpretation of some spells seems a little incomplete or imprecise. For example, the aforementioned Vulgur Interruption states only the effects in social situations and doesn't really state what happens in other situations if the target decides to deny the call of nature. In other places, spells seem to be a bit off in several categorizations such as school or level (the aforementioned Excellent Prismatic Spray is probably a level or two lower than the 9th level attributed to it as written.) Few of these are very major, and a good GM should be able to do the ajudication.
The spells herein are given illustrious success and dismal failure descriptions. This is part of a spell success/failure system introduced in the book. The system requires a spellcaster to make a spellcraft roll to cast spells; a failure by 8 or more or by rolling a failure on a second roll after a natural 1 results in the dismal failure result listed in the spell description. Exceeding the roll by 12 or by a natural 20 followed by another success is an "illustrious success."
The DC is explained somewhat poorly and still has me wondering how it actually works. The book says that the DC of the spellcraft checks "should be the same as the DC for resisting it with spell resistance, i.e., 10 + the spell level." But the problem is that this is not at all how spell resitance work; the resisting creature doesn't make the roll, the spellcaster attempting to resist it does. Further, the bonus is not spell level, but caster level. So which is it?
Spell level has the obvious effect of making the roll more difficult for higher level spells than lower level ones, but spell level goes up at half the speed of maximum skill ranks. At first level, a caster with maximun spellcraft ranks (4) and typical intelligence mod (+2) would get an illustrious success on a roll of 17 on the dice. By the time the character can cast 9th level spells, and with all advancements placed in intelligence and spellcraft ranks maxed out, the DC is only 19 but the modifier for spellcraft is +25, meaning the caster achieves an illustrious success with their highest level spell (9th) if they roll a 6 or more. The way this mechanic is described does not seem to work, as it seems to make the de facto spell effect the "illustrious success" result as the character advances in level. A more appropriate DC seems like it would be 10 + 2 x the spell level.
In addition to the spells which consume much of the book, spell components, mundane, and magical items of the Dying Earth are enumerated here. As mentioned earlier, the concept of Ioun stones (or rather, IOUN stones, as they were always capitalized in Vance's works) originated in the Dying Earth stories. All the existing Iouns stones are listed (twice, in fact, for unfathomable reason, as they are almost identical between the 3.0 and 3.5 DMGs, though the author insists on listing both.) However, if you like the little things, the book provides you with almost 50 new stone effects, shapes, and sizes.
The magic items chapter covers a number of other items in great detail. Though many of the items are seemingly fairly simple and not unlike sandard D20 System items like Ropes of Entanglement, the notes on their nature and operation are a bit more extensive than the oft times stale treatment of many d20 items, and have quirks making them a bit more unique. Particularly interesting are the various magical tomes, such as Kohha's Bewitching Stanzas, which can provide bonuses in social situations and even inspire emotions in a target when recited from.
The book also features a variety of appendices. These include some rules light guidelines on using the Dying Earth as a D20 System setting, feats and prestige classes appropriate to the Dying Earth. Prestige classes include Sharpers, Diabalolists, and Arch-magicians. All these classes have their own spellcasting advancement, which some Gms my find problematic. Sharpers, magic-wielding con-men, are probably the most compelling inclusion here for a normal D20 System campaign.
The real treasure of the appendices, however, are the vat creature rules. Through these rules, a wizard may create a variety of creatures as retainers. Though brief, the rules do a fair job of assigning an appropriate cost for creature types, and goes into compelling detail about the skills required to craft such a creature.
Conclusions
Overall, I was delighted to see some deeper narrative aspects of the Dying Earth universe brought to the D20 System. By using these spells as a basis, as well as other techniques and feats, it would be easy to see a campaign in which magic players a richer role, and a more complex one than the simple "fire support" role it has been accorded.
I was also delighted to see the implementation of vat creatures. I enjoyed books like Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane: Constructs because of similar concepts, but the author pulls together a thorough system on the subject in a relatively small amount of space.
I am disappointed in some mechanical execution in the book. As stated, some of the spells seem to rely heavily on GM ajudication, which with the right GM is not a problem if they are prepared to come at their game from that angle. The single biggest disappointment, however, is the spell success/failure system, which seems incomplete and confusing as written.
Overall Grade: C+
-Alan D. Kohler
The Primer to Practical Magic is a publication by Pelgrane Press, publishers of the Dying Earth RPG; The Primer to Practical Magic is an adaptation of many aspects of that game to D20 System terms. The book was written/converted primarily by Jeanry Chandler.
Jack Vance's Dying Earth was one of the formative influences behind D&D, in particular the slot style spell mechanic which in previous editions was conceptualized as "memorization". Jack Vance's Dying Earth was an intriguing place full of eccentric wizards who cast fancifully names spell and grow servants in vats and where IOUN stones are mined from stars by demon-like cretures as they are eaten by the nothing at the edge of the universe.
A First Look
The Primer to Practical Magic is a 138-page perfect bound softcover book priced at $29.95.
The cover of the book is flat black. The cover is adorned by a monotone orange picture of a clawed, runed covered hand in a ray-traced style. Though a bit unusual for a cover illustration, it still strikes me as a bit basic. The cover is illustrated by Sarah Wroot.
The interior is black and white and illustrated by Ossi Hiekkala, Ralph Horley, Shaun Thomas, and Hilary Wade. Much of the art is basic line art, though Horsley's is nicely shaded and textured and full of character.
A Deeper Look
A large proportion of the Primer to Practical Magic is devoted to arcane spells from the Dying Earth setting. Some D20 System spells are merely renamed here and were quite likely inspired by Vance's books. For example, the D20 System spell imprisonment is essentially identical to the spell called The Spell of Forlorn Enscysment.
Other arcane spells are new, and the book details a variety of useful and dangerous spells from cantrips to 9th level. Allay seasickness is a simple but useful cantrip for would-be seafarers, while the Excellent Prismatic Spray attacks the target with a volley of "hard light" attacks that bypass many resistances.
There are a number of interesting spells herein, and those who complain that D20 spells are too combat oriented might find a few interesting alternatives herein. For example The Vulgur Interruption can be used to great effect to get the target to dismiss and relieve themselves, and Phandaal's Inside Out and Over might relieve high level wizards of the task of dungeon delving, as it forces the contents of subterrainian tunnels to the surface.
In some cases, the D20 System interpretation of some spells seems a little incomplete or imprecise. For example, the aforementioned Vulgur Interruption states only the effects in social situations and doesn't really state what happens in other situations if the target decides to deny the call of nature. In other places, spells seem to be a bit off in several categorizations such as school or level (the aforementioned Excellent Prismatic Spray is probably a level or two lower than the 9th level attributed to it as written.) Few of these are very major, and a good GM should be able to do the ajudication.
The spells herein are given illustrious success and dismal failure descriptions. This is part of a spell success/failure system introduced in the book. The system requires a spellcaster to make a spellcraft roll to cast spells; a failure by 8 or more or by rolling a failure on a second roll after a natural 1 results in the dismal failure result listed in the spell description. Exceeding the roll by 12 or by a natural 20 followed by another success is an "illustrious success."
The DC is explained somewhat poorly and still has me wondering how it actually works. The book says that the DC of the spellcraft checks "should be the same as the DC for resisting it with spell resistance, i.e., 10 + the spell level." But the problem is that this is not at all how spell resitance work; the resisting creature doesn't make the roll, the spellcaster attempting to resist it does. Further, the bonus is not spell level, but caster level. So which is it?
Spell level has the obvious effect of making the roll more difficult for higher level spells than lower level ones, but spell level goes up at half the speed of maximum skill ranks. At first level, a caster with maximun spellcraft ranks (4) and typical intelligence mod (+2) would get an illustrious success on a roll of 17 on the dice. By the time the character can cast 9th level spells, and with all advancements placed in intelligence and spellcraft ranks maxed out, the DC is only 19 but the modifier for spellcraft is +25, meaning the caster achieves an illustrious success with their highest level spell (9th) if they roll a 6 or more. The way this mechanic is described does not seem to work, as it seems to make the de facto spell effect the "illustrious success" result as the character advances in level. A more appropriate DC seems like it would be 10 + 2 x the spell level.
In addition to the spells which consume much of the book, spell components, mundane, and magical items of the Dying Earth are enumerated here. As mentioned earlier, the concept of Ioun stones (or rather, IOUN stones, as they were always capitalized in Vance's works) originated in the Dying Earth stories. All the existing Iouns stones are listed (twice, in fact, for unfathomable reason, as they are almost identical between the 3.0 and 3.5 DMGs, though the author insists on listing both.) However, if you like the little things, the book provides you with almost 50 new stone effects, shapes, and sizes.
The magic items chapter covers a number of other items in great detail. Though many of the items are seemingly fairly simple and not unlike sandard D20 System items like Ropes of Entanglement, the notes on their nature and operation are a bit more extensive than the oft times stale treatment of many d20 items, and have quirks making them a bit more unique. Particularly interesting are the various magical tomes, such as Kohha's Bewitching Stanzas, which can provide bonuses in social situations and even inspire emotions in a target when recited from.
The book also features a variety of appendices. These include some rules light guidelines on using the Dying Earth as a D20 System setting, feats and prestige classes appropriate to the Dying Earth. Prestige classes include Sharpers, Diabalolists, and Arch-magicians. All these classes have their own spellcasting advancement, which some Gms my find problematic. Sharpers, magic-wielding con-men, are probably the most compelling inclusion here for a normal D20 System campaign.
The real treasure of the appendices, however, are the vat creature rules. Through these rules, a wizard may create a variety of creatures as retainers. Though brief, the rules do a fair job of assigning an appropriate cost for creature types, and goes into compelling detail about the skills required to craft such a creature.
Conclusions
Overall, I was delighted to see some deeper narrative aspects of the Dying Earth universe brought to the D20 System. By using these spells as a basis, as well as other techniques and feats, it would be easy to see a campaign in which magic players a richer role, and a more complex one than the simple "fire support" role it has been accorded.
I was also delighted to see the implementation of vat creatures. I enjoyed books like Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane: Constructs because of similar concepts, but the author pulls together a thorough system on the subject in a relatively small amount of space.
I am disappointed in some mechanical execution in the book. As stated, some of the spells seem to rely heavily on GM ajudication, which with the right GM is not a problem if they are prepared to come at their game from that angle. The single biggest disappointment, however, is the spell success/failure system, which seems incomplete and confusing as written.
Overall Grade: C+
-Alan D. Kohler
