First, allow me to say that Relics and Rituals II: Lost Lore happens to be the source of my first writing credits, having submitted two entries that made it into the book. The spell veil of lust, and the magic item, the cloak of comfort. Not much, mind you, but I certainly was proud to see my name in print amongst the various author contributors, extensive though that list may have been. Having been a contributor it also means I received a free copy of the book (two in fact). With that said, one might think I would be biased towards the book.
Well, if that's the case, it's certainly not in the books favor.
While Sword and Sorcery Studios has never been, in my opinion, too great a source for balanced mechanics, at least in its Scarred Lands line, I had been willing to overlook that in earlier products, where I rather expected there'd be some flubs before they got the hang of it. The Creature Collection came out before even the Monster Manual hit the shelves(if only barely). Relics and Rituals, I do believe, was the first book printed for third edition devoted almost solely to spells and magic items. So I would expect, and can live with, some mistakes.
By now, however, I would have figured those would be ironed out. As it would go, though, such was not the case. Relics and Rituals II suffers from a number of problems. But, let's take things one step at a time. After all, the book's not all that bad - I just expected more from it.
Chapter one is easily the high point of the book for me. As a devotee of the Scarred Lands setting, I was quite happy with the additions chapter one made to it. This chapter starts off with a discussion of faith and arcane magic, and how they intertwine. It goes into how arcane spellcasters fit into the faith of each of the settings eight major gods, then proceeds into cabalists - wizards who invoke the holy names and formulas of the gods to enhance their arcane spells. I'm tempted to say this is one of the most universally compelling parts of the book, that will add something new to a campaign whether or not one is running the Scarred Lands.
With the purchase of the Cabalist feat, an arcane spellcaster gains a number of cabalistic invocations that they may use to enhance their spells. These invocations, being attached to the gods, can only be used by individuals who do not oppose that deities alignment. This does give an advantage to a True Neutral arcane spellcaster, who can use an invocation of any alignment, and curtails the options of spellcasters with alignment extremes (CG, LG, CE, LE), but with there being two invocations per deity, and the Cabalist feat granting only a number of invocations equal to 1 + the spellcasters Intelligence modifier when the feat is picked up, there's still a minimum of 6 choices to choose from (there are no True Neutral cabalistic invocations, notably, due to the way Scarred Lands setting is set up). These invocations add onto the casting time of a spell when used, and require both a Somatic and Verbal component even where one normally does not exist, but they have a number of different benefits, such as adding +3 to the DC of fire-based spells when cast on Evil targets, or adding a straight out +1 DC to spells with the electricity or sonic descriptors. But, it's not so much the mechanics that interested me, as just the concept. The cabalistic invocations add flavor to a character, and make that next spell tossed out something more than just another lightning bolt or fireball.
The joy doesn't stop there when chapter one continues into the Houses of the Gods. That is, the Scarred Lands zodiac. While those not using the setting may find this section not overly useful, it can, at least, offer DM's up the idea of introducing a zodiac of their own into their games. While a few feats and a prestige class play into the zodiac later in the book, I enjoyed the zodiac simply for the read. It helps to further flesh out the Scarred Lands setting, and detail it in ways most DM's may never have even thought of. It provides just a little bit more history and insight into the setting.
Then we come to a short section on Scarred Lands alchemy. Not quite the sort of thing to my liking, so I essentially just skimmed over that page. To those who are into alchemy in D&D, though, well - there's a little of that in here.
Next up, we reach the feats. Now, the first Relics and Rituals had all of two feats in it. Relics and Rituals II, however, kicks that number up quite a bit - offering about five pages worth of them, and a few new spins on those feats as well. The first few are nothing special, a collection of general feats vaguely tied to spellcasting or the zodiac. Then we reach the Miracle feats - based off of turn/rebuke attempts, these are the Scarred Lands equivalent to feats such as Divine Might or the like which were first introduced in Defenders of the Faith. While numbering all of a scant three, the concept, while certainly not new, was a good one to see in the book. Of the three, the one that seems potentially the most open for abuse is Reaver's Sacrament, which, by channeling negative energy into a weapon, prevents the wounds that weapon inflicts during the duration of Reaver's Sacrament from being healed by magic. This can be undone by channeling positive energy into the wound, but this requires a turning check which would effectively turn a creature with HD equal to the cleric who first used Reaver's Sacrament in the first place. On top of how questionably powerful Reaver's Sacrament is, I couldn't find any mention of what sort of action it took to activate these feats.
I'm not finished with the feats yet, however. While the sorcerer has always been described as possessing dragon blood, or the blood of some other inherently magical creature running through its veins, I believe it is Relics and Rituals II that is the first to have actually run with that idea, beyond perhaps the Dragon Disciple in Tome and Blood. How it does so in here is by offering up three new, sorcerer-specific feats known as Scion feats. Essentially, these represent what sort of bloodline that the sorcerer in question comes from, and gives them a few powers, and an appropriate spell list, for that bloodline. The bloodlines represented here are for those descended from the titan Mesos, the titan Mormo and angels. Now, in comparison to the Reaver's Sacrament, these feats are, arguably, under-powered. Those who take them effectively have most of their spell list chosen for them ahead of time, as each feat has an accompanying spell list that the sorcerer must first choose from whenever gaining new spells. These feats add +1 to the caster level for these spells, as well as +2 to a roll, but some might believe that hardly makes up for some of the subpar spell choices the Scion spell lists have. I'm inclined to agree. However, since the release of Relics and Rituals II, a number of prestige classes based on these Scion feats have come out, and I look at the relative weakness of the Scion feats as a vague balancing point for the power these prestige classes offer. On their own, however, while they certainly add some background to a character, they also make for a potentially poor feat-choice.
The last of these feats, following in the two previous class-based feats, would be the Virtue feats, which can only be taken by Paladins. This time, only two are given. Courage, which enhances the courage ability of the paladin, and Mercy, which enhances their ability to lay on hands. With that, we end chapter one.
Chapter Two: Prestige Classes
What's a d20 book without prestige classes, after all? They're the bread and butter of third edition books. The first two pages show how prestige classes from the Dungeon Masters Guide fit into the Scarred Lands. A useful little read, with a sexy piece of artwork attached. Then, we get into the new prestige classes the book has to offer, seven in total.
In all fairness, I think some of the balancing factor in prestige classes can be hard to get at times, particularly when it comes to Sorcerer's and Wizard's, who don't really have much to give up in the first place, and are quite reliant upon their spells. However, I think some of the prestige classes failed at that balancing act, and some were just poorly done, balance or no balance.
For instance, let's take the Hellian. More or less set up for sorcerer's, the major requirements for the prestige class are the feats Albadian Sorcery and Craft Magic Tattoo, both arguably not the greatest of feats to have, 5 ranks in Craft (tattoo), 3 ranks in Diplomacy, and, though I personally don't find this too big of a requirement for a sorcerer, 8 ranks in Spellcraft. In return, the Hellian gains fulls spellcasting progression, good Reflex and Will saves, immunity to cold at 7th level, +2 DC to one different spell per level in Hellian, and a few other useful abilities. Personally, I'm of the opinion that just because you can enter into a prestige class, doesn't mean you should. As it is, it seems a lot of prestige classes are set up in such a way that it's foolish to stay in a base class if you don't have to.
But, so it goes, and so do a few within this book.
Once I actually step aside from the mechanics of the prestige classes, though, I find that I rather like quite a few of them. The High Astrologer in particular struck my fancy. Stargazers who study the sky in order to enhance their spellcasting ability and to foretell the future, they also happen to have been founded by the forsaken elves, who similarly strike my fancy. While the prestige classes may need some fixing of their mechanics, between the Mormo-serving Lady of Serpents, a deadly seducer and poisoner, the necromantic Son of Mirth, and the treant-bound druids known as the Jordeh, amongst others, I'm sure someone will find something they like.
Woo. All right...spells. Ahh, spells. They make up the content of chapter three.
What do I have to say about the spells? Well...this is where my opinion on the book began to diminish. I'd say, roughly, about a third of the spells are about as powerful as they should be, about a third of the spells are less powerful than they should be, and about a third of the spells are more powerful than they should be. As with nearly all Scarred Lands books, the actual descriptions for these spells is usually quite interesting, but when it comes into allowing them into a game? Well, I'd be leary of it. Let's show some examples, though, and let you decide:
Well, let's go with stone bolt, for one. This first level Sorcerer or Wizard spell allows the caster to create one stone bolt per level when cast. These require a ranged touch attack to hit, and if successful, inflict 1d4 +1 damage, as well as require a Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for one round, as well as a Reflex save to avoid being knocked prone. So a 20th level wizard can cast a 1st level spell, aim it at one target, and, depending on how many hit, can potentially dish out 20d4 +20 damage that requires 20 Fortitude saves to avoid being stunned and 20 Reflex saves to avoid being knocked prone. Ranged touch attacks aren't particularly hard to make, and no matter how good ones saves are, almost anyone is bound to fail one of their 20 Fortitude saves and one of their 20 Reflex saves. As a 1st level spell, the wizard can just keep on casting these, using empowered or maximized versions for the higher level slots. For a 1st level spell that's ridiculous. Heck, it's arguably better than that best of 1st level spells, magic missile
Then there's the second level spell, shocking missile. Permanent until discharged, this spell enchants an arrow to inflict an additional 1d8 +1 points of electricity damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d8 +10. Now, two things: What counts as discharging? Putting it back into a quiver, or only making an attack with it? What about that ridiculous amount of damage? Well, that could be wrong, anyway - if you check the spell listing in the beginning of the chapter, it says it only deals out 2d8 +1 damage, period. But that's still a matter of shoddy editing.
How about the second level cleric spell, bread of life? This enchants a loaf of bread that then splits into four pieces. Eating one piece of it acts as a full meal and heals 1d8 + 1 damage per caster level, no maximum. While a loaf of bread isn't going to last as long as a potion, that still means, even in the span of one day, for a second level spell, you get 4d8 +12 points of healing out of one loaf of bread for a 2nd level spell. That may not be too useful during combat, but, really, who needs potions? One casting will provide 4 1d8 +3 (minimum) healing potion equivalents per day, with no need to spend XP or gold. Realistically, I'll also add, that bread is going to last more than a day. Yes, when the spell is cast, the bread must be "of good quality," and one might argue that the magic fades when the bread can no longer be described as "good quality," but it makes no mention of that. As written, it severely cuts into the worth of potions, and outside of combat, heals quite a hefty portion of damage. I don't find it particularly well balanced.
Let's not forget the summon (specific creature) spells. What do they allow you to do? Well, for one, a 17th level Wizard could summon up a Challenge Rating 18 monster for the next 17 hours, with no XP cost. It does require a small bit of organic material from the type of creature to be summoned, but, hey, just kill one of the creature to be summoned, and you'll be set for quite some time, component wise. Sure, it also only allows one type of creature to be summoned, but when that creature is above your challenge rating? Who cares! Unlike a planar ally or binding spell, it also doesn't require the caster make any deals with the creature summoned. It also has a casting time that takes all of a full round. As written, this spell, along with all the others I've listed, is broken.
And the list goes on.
Some of these spells have been fixed or clarified, such as shocking missile and stone bolt, but the fact remains that, as listed, many of the spells in Relics and Rituals II are poorly worded, poorly edited, or just poorly thought out to begin with. The problems are many and glaring.
They're not all bad, mind you - I was particularly amused by the spell malicious image, which is a most amusing response to mirror image. It's really not a good third level spell at all, seeing as how it has no other use than against mirror image, but it made me grin when I read it. What it does is enchant the duplicates made from a mirror image spell, and imbues them with both malice towards the person they're duplicating as well as an actual ability to harm the spellcaster being duplicated. It's a very spiteful, very amusing spell.
But enough with that. Onto the brief chapter four.
Chapter Four: True Rituals
Originally introduced in the first Relics and Rituals, Relics and Rituals II continues in the ritual tradition. Appropriately enough. Though there's quite a few less rituals this time around, most are suitably impressive - seven total, none of them below third level. One is 8th, and two are 9th. The two ones that most caught my attention would be city of the dead, which turns living creatures in a small area all into undead unless they succeed at a Will save. The other is infernal legion, which calls 100 HD of evil outsiders to fight for the caster while the new moon hangs in the sky. True Rituals are meant to be powerful beyond compare - and have equivalently steep costs to cast because of that - and this small selection certainly is.
Chapter Five! Magic items. Ahhh...let's see, let's see....standard new stuff. This one actually introduces a few new special abilities as well. The most notable one would be Arcane Puissance, which, adding +2 to the market price of the weapon it's placed on, allows any arcane spellcasters to add half their arcane spellcasting level to their attack roll as a competence bonus when attacking with the weapon. For a wizard or a sorcerer, this allows them to slug it out in melee without getting too out of hand. However, in the hands of a bard - or an eldritch knight - this power might become a bit much. The ability isn't necessarily bad in and of itself, just that in certain combinations, it could be. Beware before letting it into a game.
There's also the Ring of Mesos, which, when worn by a sorcerer, doubles the number of 1st through 4th level bonus spells the sorcerer has (So a sorcerer with a 16 Charisma would gain 2 bonus 1st, 2nd and 3rd level spells instead of 1). Furthermore, it allows sorcerers who wear them to add metamagic feats onto their spells without increasing the casting time. I liked this item as it's one way for a sorcerer to Quicken spells without having to learn the Arcane Preparation feat.
Just like the last Relics and Rituals, this book also offers up a number of new magical tattoos. None stuck out overly much to me, though I do find mother's tongue to be amusing. The tattoo lets the user speak with animals, but in turn, while the tattoo is active, the user cannot speak with any sentient being.
And what would Relics and Rituals II be without the Relics?
Well, just Rituals II, obviously, but thankfully, it provided us with the Relics, too. However, just like with the rituals in this book, the section on relics is also short - all of six pages between both the minor and major artifacts. As I lamentably said before...this book isn't the greatest, and some of what's in here shows that. I point you to Belsameth's blade. This potent, vorpal longsword mentions that, instead of cutting off a random limb of an opponent, that it instead always takes off the head. You know, like all vorpal blades do in 3rd edition. There's nothing inherently wrong or broken with the artifact - after all, it's an artifact - just that those lines about severing limbs shouldn't have made it into the book. The editing job for Relics and Rituals II was poor indeed in my opinion.
Other than that complaint, the artifacts were fairly satisfactory in nature, from the rod of the Ghoul King, which can control up to 500 HD of ghouls and ghasts, to Denev's Heart, a piece of the titan Denev herself, which slowly turns those who linger near to it closer to a True Neutral alignment while instilling loyalty in them to the land upon which they live.
Chapter Six. Dreaded chapter six. For me, anyway. This details the slarecian legacy, those mysterious, almost alien creatures of the Scarred Lands, at least in brief, and their associations with psionics.
I hate it already. In this case, however, this is entirely due to personal bias, and has very little to due with the quality of the work. I like neither psionics nor the slarecians, so this chapter was a whole lot of who cares for me. For those interested in how psionics work in the Scarred Lands, and how it relates to the slarecians, than this is right up your alley. It even offers up three new psionic prestige classes, and four new psionic powers. It's all of about 11 pages long, but this could very well be the selling point for some of you - or the thing that turns you off to it. In either case, I'm going to get to the end of this book, with chapter seven.
Lost tomes of the Scarred Lands. Here's an interesting little chapter. It focuses on various magical texts to be found in the Scarred Lands, and what one would find on them. These are all spellbooks in one form or another, and I mean spellbook in the loosest sense of the word. They all have spells, but not all are books. Take for example the Brass Tablets of Thulkas, which are abouty 8' square and weigh around 5 tons. Each. Of which there's 49 of them. Or the 14 foot long piece of coral that Queen Ran the blood kraken uses for a spellbook. This chapter provides both interesting books for your PC's to find, or other spellbook-like oddities, as well as offer up a few new ideas of how one might record their spells. It's with these "spellbooks" that Relics and Rituals II wraps up on.
Finishing touches:
The artwork had a few highpoints, such as with the artwork for the DMG prestige classes (the Loremaster looks a heck of a lot better in Lost Lore than it does in the Dungeon Masters Guide), or for malicious image, but otherwise, it's just standard, not particularly noteworthy stuff.
Just going with page count, it's also a fairly good bargain, at $26 for 235 or so pages of text. However, when it comes to the actual contents...eh. I'd be a bit leary of it.
Now, I am giving this book a 3, but with reservations. For a book so focused on spells, I really think it fell short of what should have been expected of it. As "the largest independent publisher of d20 material," I would think they should have better editing and less issues with balance troubling them. I do realize that much of this books material came about from an open call, and as such, the quality of the material is going to vary considerably, but the screening process really should have caught a lot of what slipped through. I am appreciative for my own entries making it into the book, and certainly don't claim they're the best, and certainly do hope Sword and Sorcery Studios keeps on with their open calls, but hopefully the problems that cropped up in this book will not show up in any upcoming books of spells or magic items that they put out. The way they describe things can be enthralling at times, and Sword and Sorcery Studios definitely produces some of the best role-playing books to read, but when it comes to actually using them in a game, books like this really make me question whether or not I should.
Suffice to say, R&R2 takes some of the old concepts and turns them on their head. From new Prestiges classes, new feats and spells, to everything you could EVER want. It may not have the raw spell turning power of Book of Eldritch Might. But believe me you won't regret having a wizard memorize Bolt of Power (get a nice shiny piece of magma and watch the carnage folks!) or having your PC take High Astrologer (especially if you want him to predict with some accuracy, the death of that annoying player that hasn't yet got the fundamentals down! 
*is kidding* or just by using on the Lost Tomes. You want your party's wizard to know a good fire spell but just don't want any old spellbook he can find? Try the Brass Tablets of Thulkas. Best of all it can predict a fiery end if he can find enough of the Tablets! Or maybe you have a Spellsword wanting to use a new blade? Hey give him one of the 18 blades of Vode Nulan (just make sure he knows not to pick up Wicked's edge! 
