Sovereign Stone Campaign Sourcebook

[PhoenixFour]

Production values are quite high on this sourcebook, with good paper stock, tight binding, and hardcover. Additionally, errata is already available for the sourcebook and (currently) weighs in at only one page of mostly minor errors/clarifications. Additionally, reading the declaration of what is and isn't open content in the book shows Sovereign Press's commitment to the d20/OGL as pretty much all of the rules content (and thus most of the book) has been declared open content.

The book is quite 'crunchy', having lots of rules with only enough repetition of SRD content to make life easier to someone running Sovereign Stone without repeating loads of essentially unchanged content from the D&D core books. Indeed, the rules that are repeated are for the most part ones that have changed in some way. One really neat thing about the Sovereign Stone Campaign book is that it is the first d20 supplement that I have come across that actually uses some of the rules from non-Wizards sources under the d20/OGL licenses. The 'sailor' class from Chaosium's 'Dragonlords of Melnibone' is used (and credited as required by the D20/OGL), though I have not yet checked my copy of that publication to see if it has been further altered by the fine folks at Sovereign Press.

The art for the most part is really excellent, though somewhat sparse for me (after all, you've got Larry Elmore! Make use of him!), but for the most part is good. The only place I felt that art quality suffered was in the brief monster section with some of the monster illustrations seeming a bit less than serious (most of these were NOT done by Elmore btw. Again, you have him, use him for the love of christmas!). Interior art is all black and white (actually, sort of gray and white) but does not suffer from the lack of color.

The classes are interesting, though there does seem to be a bit to much emphasis on variations of fighting classes. This could be just my personal bias though as I tend to like spellcasting classes better.

I am still digesting the magic rules (the major departure from standard D&D), but have been fairly impressed so far. The system is based around the concept that spellcasters should have to make rolls too! Basically (and this is a very basic description) all casters must meet a casting difficulty by rolling and adding modifiers for class level. If you don't meet the number on the first round (and for more powerful spells, you probably won't) you continue casting the next round and add your roll to your previous total. Continue till you succeed. There are a few more bells and whistles, but that is the main mechanic. Magic is based on the classic fantasy elements (fire/earth/air/water) plus an extra element (void). Spells are either single or multiple element based and which element you specialize in affects how hard it is to meet the casting number. While I have not yet playtested the magic, it definitely is a different feel from standard D&D. Void magic alone makes this whole setup really cool, as it is 'Dark Side' powers with a vengeance. The perks are great (you cast faster) but the penalties actually make you think twice about doing it. And the game mechanics for becoming 'tainted' and 'untainted' actually work really well without burdening the storyline when you don't want it to. My one caveat to the system is that at first glance it seems to make multi-element spells a bit hard to cast, but if I end up deciding that this first impression is correct I have already come up with a simple and easily implemented solution. One major note: it seems to me that retrofitting normal D&D spells into this system might be problematic due to the necessity of figuring casting difficulties, but this may be addressed in the forthcoming magic accessory 'Codex Mysterium'. 'Codex Mysterium will also take care of my other major gripe with Sov. Stone magic: relatively low number of published spells.

I will caveat this portion of the review with the fact that I rarely use published settings and when I do so I usually alter them a fair bit. I purchased Sovereign Stone mostly to check out the innovative magic system. That having been said, the background setting for the campaign is well done, if a bit more derivative of real world societies than I care for. There are some neat twists in the settings take on the non-humans and on humans themselves. As I don't usually use published settings, I am not really the best judge of this portion of the book, though I did enjoy reading it.

All in all, I found the book worth my money for the new take on magic by itself. There are other gems in here that I will be making use of as well, and if the rest of the series is this good I would be willing to play in and possibly even run a campaign of Sovereign Stone. Those who are shopping for a replacement for standard D&D magic will find Sov. Stone of interest, though those who merely wish to add new magic types to a standard campaign will likely be dissappointed as I don't think the two systems will mesh terribly well. And for those who want a fresh new campaign setting will definitely find that Sov. Stone has got some good ideas.

There's my 2 copper. Hope it's helpful.

Edit: Spellchecking before posting. Now there's a novel idea. LOL

 

[trancejeremy]

The Sovereign Stone Campaign book is an adapation of the Sovereign Stone game to d20. The basic concept of the world was apparently created by the relatively famous RPG artist Larry Elmore, and fleshed out by the fairly famous authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The game was also designed by several people who have worked at TSR, or have freelanced for them, (Jim Ward, Jeff Grubb, Lester Smith), as well as some other famous game designers (Greg Porter, Don Perrin).

Physically, it's a fairly impressive book. It's about 224 pages, hard cover, and retails for $30.00, which is not a bad price. The paper seems to be fairly thick, and the whole book seems extremely sturdy. The margins are fairly small. There is a lot of artwork, but most of it is fairly small. The artwork is extremely high quality, with much by Larry Elmore (but not that sleazy), as well as art by one of the early TSR artists, Jim Holloway. (His style is easily recognizable if you played D&D in the early 80s).

The setting is a somewhat typical fantasy world, although with many twists. Rather than living underground, Dwarves are sort of a combination of Mongols and American Indians. Elves are still nature loving, but their culture resembles the Japanese. They are also somewhat reclusive and dislike magic. Orcs, or Orks as they are spelled in Sovereign Stone, are a sea-faring race, apparently descended from Orcas (Killer Whales). And while still big and ugly, Orks are relatively peaceful, civilized, and bright. Instead of Halflings or Gnomes, there is a race called the Pecwae. They're sort of creepy looking little dog-like things (but not reptilian like Kobolds), who are very primitive.

There are also a number of human cultures, most of which resemble cultures from real world Earth. One resembles England, one resembles cave-men, a couple are based on the middle east, and a couple seem African.

In addition to the setting, there appears to be a metaplot - the world has begun to be invaded by an evil dude, with a army of evil critters. But this is really only hinted at in the book. Presumably this will be the focus of future products/novels.

Getting to the game itself, there are 8 new classes. Because the world of Sovereign Stone is relatively low powered when it comes to magic, and Sovereign Stone uses a completely different magic system than D&D, most the classes are combat orientated physically, rather than magically. The new classes include the Archer, Elemental Mage, Mounted Warrior, Noble (sort of an improved version of the Aristocrat NPC class), Sailor (fleshed out version of the Sailor from Dragon Lords of Melnibone), Soldier, Stalker (sort of an alternate Ranger), and Void Mage. 3 classes from the PHB have been reprinted here. There are also a large number of new feats, although those involving magic probably won't be useful with the regular D&D magic system.

Probably the biggest addition is the magic system. Rather than the fire & forget system from D&D, or a spell point system (like in Deadlands d20), Sovereign Stone uses a system that treats spell casting more like a skill than anything else. Spells can be cast often, but get increasingly difficult, and failed skill rolls cause the caster damage. None of the spells are particularly powerful, however. And it's seemingly impossible to retrofit D&D or d20 spells for use with the Sovereign Stone magic system. So, the Sovereign Stone magic system is probably not usuable in a regular D&D game, with regular D&D spells. It does however fit the Sovereign Stone gameworld. So it's not a bad thing.

There are also a large number of monsters, most of which are pretty gruesome. There is also a short introductory adventure. No index.

All in all, an excellent product. It might not be hugely useful to those not looking for a campaign setting, but most will find some of the classes useful. And the magic system is well done. But if you're just looking for a magic system, there will be a large book totally devoted to it in the near future (and it will apparently be stand-alone, not needing the Sovereign Stone Campaign book to use).

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Sovereign Stone is now a campaign world for the fabulous d20 System! Includes new races, new classes, skills and feats and a fantastic new magic system! Experience exciting adventures in the world created by Larry Elmore, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman!

 

[JustaPlayer]

Can you please delete this reveiw? I meant to give it a 2

 

[JustaPlayer]

Can you please delete this reveiw? I meant to give it a 2

 

[JustaPlayer]

Sovereign Stone Campaign Sourcebook

From the mind of Larry Elmore comes a world of magic and epic battles. This is the world Margaret Wies and Tracy Hickman made famous. The third edition of the Sovereign Stone RPG happens to be done in the new D20 system.

A First Look

Sovereign Stone is a 223-page hardbound. The cover depicts a color picture dragon battling a dark night (most likely a Vrykyl) set behind what appears to be some kind of stone arch with statues for columns. The interior is black and white, and the artwork ranges from good to excellent.

The text density is what you would expect from most non-Wizards publishers. The header, footer, and margins are not too large, with the chapter name in the footer. At a cost of $29.95, it’s again what you might expect for a product of 223 pages.

A Deeper Look

Sovereign Stone Campaign Sourcebook is organized into 11 chapters.

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter gives a brief overview of the peoples and races or the campaign world of Loerem. Also contained is a passage about the Gods and what the Sovereign Stone is.

Chapter 2: Races in Loerem

There are five main races described in this book.

Elves: These are like elves in most campaigns with the exception that they live in cities of very large populations.

Orka: This is a race of large humanoids that believe they are the first race on Loerem. They are a seafaring race that traces their ancestry back to sea monsters know as “orca.” They are also think mechanical tinkers of Loerem. With very little land of their own, they claim the seas as their homelands.

Pecwae: A race of short humanoids that average four-and-a-half feet tall. They are mostly pacifistic, believed due to their diminutive size. This race seems to have filled the spot of halflings.

Dwarves: Mostly a race of short, hardy horse riders who group together in clans. They believe the whole world belongs to them and don’t adhere to boundaries drawn by other races. They often raid and steal what they want from others. They live their lives on horseback and if for some reason you can’t ride a horse, you are left behind, never to be part of the clan again. These unhorsed dwarves often come together and make dwellings of their own, in order to trade with other races.

Human: Humans are the most significant race on Loerem. They are divided up into six different regions. Attributes are assigned to the character based on which region you hale from.

Chapter 3: Classes in Loerem

This chapter describes 11 different classes. Among them are the Fighter, Barbarian, and Rogue. These classes have been reprinted from the Players Handbook. In the chapter they state that this is done to show differences from the normal classes in those books. I myself believe this could have been done in short paragraphs instead of IMO wasting about six pages when there are not many differences.

Sailor: This class was taken from The Dragon Lords of Melnibone as open game content, and changed slightly to fit the setting of the Sovereign Stone. As you can gather from the name, this class is designed for seafaring characters. Sailors seem to be a cross between fighters and rogues.

Archer: This class uses a bow with precise accuracy. The higher they advance in this class the better the proficiency with a bow. I think this class is a bit under balanced.

Mounted Warrior: This class fights exceptionally well from horseback. While this class seems like a great addition at first, I have to take into account, how often is my character going to be fighting from a horse. When not on a horse it seems like a fighter, except without the feats. If I wanted to make my character a mounted warrior, I could have selected a fighter and chose feats to better fight from a horse. No need IMO to make an entire class on this concept.

Noble: As you would guess with the name, you are of wealthy blood. This is one of the weakest classes in the book. You get a D8 for your hit points. As you gain in levels, you get the leadership feat, and then you add plusses to that feat as you advance. (Total of +3) Also, at certain levels you get some extra funds. WOO WEE!

Soldier: This class is a fighter who is use to being a unit. They are use to close order fighting. As they gain in levels, they also gain a plus to initiative. They get an array of class features like Lightning reaction at 14th level: this gives him the ability to make two attacks of opportunity on an opponent in a round. At 18th level there is Killing Strike: once per combat as a full action a soldier can make a killing strike. The target must make a fort check against save DC equal to the soldiers attack roll. Failure means the soldier made a crit hit. There are other nifty features in this class as well. This is my favorite class in the introduced book, but I don’t know if I would play it.

Stalker: This is a class of bounty hunters, trackers, and pathfinders. They gain the track feat at first level. They gain some disarm benefits as they advance, and also some sneak attack abilities.

Elemental Mage: There are four classes of elemental mages. (fire, water, earth, air) Each of these classes are able to cast spells that are of the certain element. If you want to cast more than one element, you must multiclass into the second element. Also there are spells that combine two elements. The character must have a level in each of the elements to cast spells of that type. As you gain levels in a mage class, you get a spellcasting bonus of +1/level use to increase the speed at which you can cast your spells. Each race has an element that they are more suited to. I will describe this later.

Void Mage: The void mages are adept at casting spells from the shadow and necromancy schools. The most notable features of this class include the ability to use hit points to make spells take effect quicker. Also, the only ways a void mage can heal wounds is either naturally, or by draining the life force for another. Spells of healing won’t affect the void mage due to the taint that affects them. Also, if you choose this class, you become less suited to the other classes.

I personally think that they mage classes become to under balanced as you gain in levels. I will explain this later after I go through the chapter on magic.

Chapter 4: Skills & Feats

This is a short chapter mainly used to adapt metamagic feats to the new system of spellcasting. Other than that, there are a couple new feats to deal with archers and soldiers. Over all, I see nothing new and inspiring in this section.

Chapter 5: Money & Equipment

This chapter basically reprints equipment from the Players Handbook and sets it to the monetary unit of Loerem.

Chapter 6: Magic

Now we get to the real reason I picked up this book, a new system for casting magic. There are four elements of magic, five if you count void. Each race of Loerem is advantaged in a certain element. Consequently they are disadvantage in the element opposite of their advantaged element.

Earth magic deals with healing, protection, and construction. The races that are advantaged in this element are the humans, and Pecwae.

Air magic deals with charm, mentalism, travel, and illusion. Elves are advantaged in air magic.

Fire magic deals with divination (past) and conversion. This is the magic Dwarves are advantaged in.

Water magic deals with divination (present) and communication. Orka are advantaged in water magic.

Void magic deals with destruction, shadow and necromancy. All races can be advantaged in void, but once they use it, they are considered tainted and therefore disadvantaged in the other elements.

From combining two elements you gain the ability to cast more kinds of magic.

Air/Water is weather magic. Earth/Water is plant magic. Air/Fire is electrical magic. Earth/Fire is animal magic.

Now we get into casting spells. There is no limit to the number of spells a character can cast per day. Each spell in the book is given a Casting Threshold or CT. Each time a mage chooses to cast a spell he has to make a spellcasting roll that is equal to 1D20 + spellcasting bonus (from mage level) + any other special modifiers (such as pure elements used for components, or quicken spell). The mage continues to roll each round adding his spellcasting rolls together until he meets the CT of the spell, at which time the spell goes into effect. If casting dual-element spells, your spellcasting bonus is equal to the bonus received from your lowest spellcasting class. Example: 10th level fire mage/3rd level air mage is casting a spell from the Air/Fire combination, he only receives a +3 spellcasting bonus when casting the spell. A void mage may choose to sacrifice hp to complete the spell in that round. The void mage must have enough hp to complete the spell when he chooses to do this.

If at any time during the casting the mage rolls a one, it is considered a botch. If the mage is advantaged or neutral the mage can attempt a concentration check. DC for this check is based of weather the mage is advantaged or neutral to the element of the spell. On a success the mage can continue casting the spell as normal. Failing means the mage must cast the spell again. A botch or a roll of a 1 in a spell the caster is disadvantaged in means the spell fails. In addition, once the caster has rolled of one, weather he regains control or not, he must make a fortitude check. The DC for this depends on if the character is advantaged (DC8 + round number), neutral (DC10 + round number), or disadvantaged (DC12 + round number) in the spell in question. Failure of the roll means the caster takes 1d4 points of subdual damage. In the case of the void mage, this is actual damage.

For some reason most of the rules stated above are printed three times in this book, once of the elemental mages, for the void mages, and in this chapter. I find it to be a little waste of space.

Also the mage can know a certain number of spells as intimate, quick reference, or full reference.

Intimate knowledge spells, a character can cast at any time he wishes. The number of spells the caster can know intimately depends on the level of the caster and the intelligence modifier. To get this number you take a set CT number you can know and add (intelligence modifier x 10). For example: The total CT a 4th level player with intelligence of 17 may know intimately is 40 + (3x10) or 70. He can choose any number of spells from that element he wishes as long as the total CT of the spells is 70 or less.

Quick reference spells are spells must study for one round before casting, at which point he doesn’t need to study again for one hour and can cast as many times as he wishes in that time. The number of quick reference spells a mage may have again is based on the same CT system as above.

Full reference spell have to be studied for a number of rounds equal to the CT of the spell divided by 25. A mage may have an unlimited number of full reference spells.

There are a number of reasons that this system does not work IMO. There are no minimums in intelligence to cast any spells. 1) When casting a spell, you only receive attacks of opportunity against in the first round. I don’t know why this is when you aren’t doing anything in the other rounds except casting. 2) The only reason intelligence even comes up for mages is for what they know as intimate knowledge and quick reference. This to me means that any character can cast any spell. I see that as a major drawback. 3) I see no reason why ever player wouldn’t take at least one level in earth mage. The reason for this is that this is where healing spells come from. The spell gentle touch is a spell that heals 1d4 hp and has a CT of 12. This is can easily make in one round. If learned as intimate knowledge, a play may use this each round indefinitely. And for a slightly higher CT of 17 you can choose healer’s touch and heal 2d6 hp. Can you say no more need for healing potions? 4) As a player advances in an elemental class, the reasons to stay in that class become less. The only things gained as you advance in level are the spells known as intimate or quick reference and the spellcasting bonus. This does not compensate for the high CTs of certain spells. For example, a fire mage of 15th level is casting fireball, which has a CT of 66 and does 4d10 points of damage. At 15th level the character take an average of 3 rounds to cast this. 1d20 +15(spellcasting bonus) = 26 on an average round. Now the same spell, with the same CT and same damage. 1d20 +20(spellcasting bonus) = 31 average per round. The spell still takes 3 rounds to activate. In the mean time a fighter of equal level cut you to shreds.

Chapter 7: Spell List

There is nothing really new here. The spells have been made to conform to the new spellcasting system stated above.

Chapter 8: Adventuring in Loerem

This chapter covers the various regions of Loerem. Tells about the political systems, and certain cities. There is nothing real inspiring here IMO.

Chapter 9: Creatures of Loerem

For the most part I find these creatures uninspired with the exception of one. Some of the others are just pulled out of the Monster Manual with a few changes. The one that grab me are as follows:

Bahk: These are huge bipedal creatures with shelled backs. They love everything magic, it’s like candy to them. They can feel it in the air when they are near and are drawn to it and must poses the magic item. Their homes are littered with magic items they have gained. They absolutely hate dragons and will attack them on sight, often choking them or breaking their necks.

One thing that gets to me in this chapter is that the creatures don’t have an alignment. In fact Sovereign Stone doesn’t use alignment anywhere. Maybe this has something to do with play of the game, but I can’t figure out why they would not want to put them in. I think it can only be used to by the DM as a tool to judge whether a group should be fighting a certain creature or not, or to give a general guide as to the attitude of the creature.

Chapter 10: Champions of Good and Evil

This chapter describes the Dominion Lords, good NPCs changed by the sovereign stone into a paladin like character. Then there is the Vrykyl, evil undead NPCs that have been given special abilities to fight the Dominion Lords.

Once again, there are no alignment lists in the descriptions of the individuals list from each of the groups. Another thing that I thought should be done was that templates should have been made for each the Dominion Lords and Vrykyl.

Note: The entries for some of the above "creatues" have CRs set lower than the actual class levels of the NPS. Now add on the fact that they have special abilities, and you can easily tell that the CRs are off by at least 3 or 4.

Also in this chapter, there is a brief description of the Taan. Taan are a race of reptilian creatures that remind me of a certain race from Dragon Lance. The one thing that makes these creatures stand out; however, is that they are only advantaged in void magic and don’t use their essence to power this magic, but crystals imbedded in their skin.

Chapter 11: Flesh & Bone

This is a short introductory adventure.

Conclusion

The main reason I bought this book was to take a look at the new system for magic that other people were talking about. That being broken as I described above, there is not much of real value in this book, mainly reprinted classes and feats that have been modified to go with this broken magic system. I tend not to grade my books too much on art. That said, the only saving grace in this book was the Bahk, Dominion Lords, Vrykyl, and Taan. I may include each of these in my current campaign. But that to me doesn’t make this book worth picking up. It’s awful little usable information for 29.95. Thus, this book gets a score of 2. If the magic system I described sounds good to you, then by all means pick it up. If not, don’t waste your money as you will find very little of use as I did.

 

[JustaPlayer]

All fixed people

 

[trancejeremy]

FWIW, I think you're wrong about the magic system. It's a bit klunky, but it works.

While it is possible to cast those healing spells in one round, it's not probable. If you have 1 level of Earth Mage, you have a +1. You'd have to roll and 11 or better to cast gentle touch in one round. Or a 16 or better for the healing one.

Otherwise, the Earth Mage risks subdual damage (has to make a check every round past the first).

That's not to say magic healing isn't common. But that is not a bad thing when you consider there's no raise or ressurection in the Sov. Stone campaign setting.

The Noble class isn't really weak. It's an upgraded version of the NPC Aristocrat class. In the DMG, it says that the Aristocrat could be used as a PC class, so what's wrong with the Noble?

 

[JustaPlayer]

I would never use the Aristocrat as a PC class. It's only considered half the CR as a normale class, that means you have to take at least 2 levels to get one level worth of another class that was meant to be a player class. The reason it was made was to give a little level difference to NPCs that normally wouldn't have class ranks. Like I said though, casting magic that takes that long, you will be dead by my fighters blade long before you get a spell cast. Also, if a player has one level of mage and 10 levels fighter, he passes his fort check most the time. Not to mention that sub damage heals much faster than normal damage.

 

[Simon Collins]

This is not a playtest review.


The Sovereign Stone Campaign Sourcebook is now in its third incarnation. Its original release as its own game system brought heavy criticism and it had to be re-released to include updated information and to correct a plethora of errata. A decision was then made to switch to using the D20 system which has procuced this sourcebook.

Price: $29.95
Page Count: 224
Price per page: About 13 cents per page - pretty good value.

Format: Hardcover

External Artwork: An excellent piece of Elmore artworkdepicting a dark-armoured knight battling a red dragon, inset into a stone-effect surround.

Additional Page Use: The back page gives an overview of the campaign world. The first three pages contain contents and credits. The last page is an ad. The OGL takes up an extra two pages.

Internal Artwork: The internal black and white artwork is to a very high standard, and is done by a number of other artists including Elmore.

Page Layout: Margins and text density are normal, and the chunks of white space tend to be on chapter headings (which take up a whole page) and around artwork (of which there is quite a lot).

Text Style: Generally clear and easy to follow, although a little bit simplistic at times in its conceptualisation. Editing is good.

Whats Inside:

The campaign sourcebook begins with a map of the continent of Loerem where the Sovereign Stone Campaign Setting is based. The map shows the major political boundaries and general geographic features, plus capitals, cities, and known portals. Each chapter begins with some flavour text.

In Chapter One (8 pages), we are given an introduction to the campaign setting which could be used to give players an overview before running a game. The focal point of the campaign is that the nations of Loerem are about to be unpleasantly surprised by an invasion from a reptilian-like race called the Taan led by Dagnarus, Lord of the Void, who also commands undead knights. Dagnarus, believed to have been killed 200 years ago, has returned for vengeance on Loerem. An overview of the nations of Loerem is given, followed by brief information on the magical portals of Loerem, the gods, and the history of the artifact The Sovereign Stone (which may be the key to the imminent invasion).

Chapter Two (17 pages) discusses the races of Loerem, of which there are eleven (including six human subraces which are effectively treated as separate races):
Dunkargan - Racially prejudiced human subrace with an ancient Persian look about them.
Karnuan - Militaristic irreligious slave traders, enemies of the Dunkargans, though with similar looks.
Nimran - Friendly, matriarchal trading people - the art shows them to have the looks and trappings of 19th century Africa.
Nimorean - North African in looks, these cousins of the Nimrans have strong connections to the elves of Loerem.
Trevinici - Celtic in both manner and looks, they are barbarians with little use for magic.
Vinnengaelean - Depicted as mediaeval Europeans, Vinnengaeleans are the standard race in Loerem (i.e. the only one with no ability adjustments).
Pecwae - This pacifistic halfling-equivalent race live with the Trevinici, they dress Amerindian-style and have elf-like ears.
Elves - Japanese-style race who tattoo their faces, with flowery speech and an over-developed sense of duty and honour.
Clan Dwarves - think Mongols (well, short Mongols on ponies) who believe they are descended from wolves and that they shall reclaim all of Loerem as their own one day.
Unhorsed Dwarves - dwarves who have been cast out of their clan, and now live amongst the other races of Loerem in standard dwarf style.
Orks - Sea-based race with nautical and mechanical skills, as well as a strong superstitious belief in omens.
The chapter also deals with languages of Loerem and character age.

Chapter Three (23 pages) deals with the classes of Loerem. In addition to the three classes allowable from the Players Handbook (Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue), eight new classes are introduced: Archer, Elemental Mage, Mounted Warrior, Noble, Sailor, Soldier, Stalker, and Void Mage (destructive magic). Standard information is given for each class, including some reprinted material for the three allowable classes from the PHB.

Chapter Four (7 pages) deals with Skills & Feats. Each of the classes are given their respective skill points and gives some skills that are class skills dependent on race irrelevant of which class is taken. New skills are Literacy (here separated from the Speak Language skill), Sign Language, and Spellcraft (re-hashed for the new magic system). There follows a brief discussion of the effects of metamagic feats on the new spell system and there is a more detailed explanation of individual effects in a new version of each metamagic feat, suited to the new magic system. New feats include: Cooperative Spellcasting, Dead Shot (hit targets behind cover more easily) and Subduing Strike (allows lethal weapons to be used for subdual at half normal penalty).

Chapter Five (17 pages) details Money & Equipment in Loerem. Tables for starting money for the new classes, price and availability of goods, services and equipment, and spellcasting penalties due to armour are given here. The chapter is broken down usefully into 'Shops' (e.g. 'The Stables' has information and pricing on mounts and related gear).

Chapter Six (19 pages) details the new Magic system, a d20 translation of the original Sovereign Stone magic system. Magic is drawn from one of the four elements (air, fire, water, earth) or a mixture of two elements. In addition, a fifth element, Void, is introduced, which deals with destruction, necromancy, and shadow. In order to cast a spell (and a mage can cast any spell in his repertoire as many times as he likes, as long as he is still conscious) the mage must reach the Casting Threshold for the spell, a set number at which the spell comes into effect. Each round, the player rolls 1d20 and adds the character's spellcasting modfier (spellcasting bonus plus any special modifiers). The player keeps rolling each round, adding his score from the previous round(s) until the total equals or exceeds the Casting Threshold of the spell. If the player rolls a 1 at any time, he 'botches' and (unless a Concentration check is made) loses the spell. Every time a spell is cast, the mage must make a Fortitude check each round, suffering 1d4 points of subdual damage if failed. The DC of the save depends on the mage's race and whether they are using an element which they are powerful or weak in using. Using the Void to cast spells creates a different set of rules, where damage from failed Fortitude saves is normal damage, and the mage becomes 'tainted by void' - the mage takes one hit point damage, and becomes weak in the casting of all other elements until they heal all their hit points back to full. Void mages can also sacrifice hit points to fuel spells.
Various circumstantial modifiers are also given, and a discussion of how some of the standard descriptions of spells are altered for use with the new system. There is a discussion of the relationship of the five major races with magic, and of how spells are learnt and taught. Finally, the new system has three different levels of spell familiarity: Intimate Knowledge (spells cast direct from memory), Quick Reference (spell needs to be studied from spellbook for a round before casting) and Full Reference (spell needs to be studied from spellbook before casting, number of rounds required depends on power of spell). A few notes on spellbooks are also given.

Chapter Seven (43 pages) contains the spells for the new magic system, and there is also a table listing the element(s) each spell falls under. It includes such spells as Strength Of Stone, Purify Water, Air Becomes Fist, Fire Scry, and Zombie Servants.

Chapter Eight (19 pages) deals with Adventuring in Loerem. The various nations are briefly dealt with, outlining politics, culture, and geography, as well as important cities. Current affairs in Loerem are also outlined, including the imminent invasion of Dagnarus and the Taan. The chapter ends with some tips for GMs to develop their own adventures and campaigns in the world of Loerem.

Chapter Nine (29 pages) introduces creatures unique to Loerem. Each creature is given a page to itself, and contains a picture of the creature along with description and stats in standard format. Creatures include standards such as Hobgoblins, Giants and Ogres (each with its own Loeremic twist), but there are plenty of new creatures such as the Blueroot (a huge worm with a poison gas attack that hides beneath marshy pools for victims), and the Skig (an undead created by a failed Void experiment, with the ability to reform after destruction). Also, two creatures - the Bahk (a magic-hungry giant) and the elemental dragons of Loerem are given slightly longer consideration.

Chapter Ten (9 pages) details Champions of Good & Evil - the Dominion Lords (good knights who embody an ideal sacred to a god), and the Forces of Dagnarus, including the vampire-like Vrykyl (transformed in death by Dagnarus' unholy Dagger of the Vrykyl) and the Taan, Dagnarus' elite forces, as well as rumoured half-Taan (the result of Taan and human interbreeding).

The sourcebook ends with an introductory adventure called Flesh & Bone, where the PCs must intervene in an escalating disagreement between a farming village and a hemit mage who studies Void magic in the lands close by. The PCs will encounter undead raised by the Void mage and possibly discover a magical portal in the lair of the hermit.

At the back is a character sheet for the setting.

The High Points: Firstly, commendations to Sovereign Press for using both sides of the OGC guidelines - both its own level of OGC and the use of other publishers OGC in the text. They designated nearly the entirety of chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 as open content (with a few minor exceptions). Having bought both previous editions of Sovereign Stone, I have to say that I think this d20 version is an improvement in terms of completeness and presentation over previous versions. The concept of the Sovereign Stone setting, whilst not immensely original, is well thought out, has potential for development and with the names and other marketing strategies behind it (e.g. the novel line) should reach a fairly wide audience. The forces of Dagnarus and the Dominion Lords present opportunities for epic storylines in a similar way to Dragonlance, although the presentation seems geared towards a slighly more mature audience.

The Low Points: The main problems with this sourcebook for me was the balance of the game rules. As first stated, this is not a playtest review, but the following issues caused me some concern when assessing the rules:
* Ability adjustments are not balanced for most races (as per the DMG p.24).
* Humans are given ability adjustments whilst still retaining human racial features such as extra skill points. In addition, some humans gain additional access to skills normally considered cross-class.
* Several classes are introduced that have a narrow focus, and will be weak in all other situations comparative to standard classes such as fighter, barbarian and rogue. These classes could sometimes have been recreated by choosing certain skills and feats as one of the standard classes.
* Magic takes a long time to cast comparative to the standard D&D magic system. If the standard D&D system is balanced, then extending casting times will unbalance magic-using classes. It could be argued that the slow and risky casting of magic adds flavour - this might be true if the spells presented were achieving something vastly different to the effects of standard D&D magic, but the spell effects are mainly similar.
In addition, some of the creatures, races and classes are shallow in concept and held little appeal (though some of them were inspiring and well conceptualised).

Conclusion: Despite the seeming flaws with several important aspects of the rules system, I am still keen to give Sovereign Stone a try, which speaks of its innate appeal (this has much to do with its strong central concepts and epic feel). There are certain aspects that could be removed for use in a generic campaign but there are better things on the market if thats your aim, and I don't feel the magic system is balanced enough to make it worth the $30 to buy the book for this alone. Its firstly a campiagn setting and thats where its virtues lie - whether it can be made to work with its seemingly unbalanced rules, I have my doubts.