Psion
Adventurer
[imager]http://www.crafty-games.com/images/cover_channeler.jpg[/imager]Spellbound: Volume I - The Channeler is the first in the series of “High Magic” supplements adding spellcasting character options to Spycraft 2.0. The book is written by Scott Gearin and published by Crafty Games.
A First Look
Spellbound: Volume I - The Channeler is available in PDF for $6.00 US. The product is distributed as zip file with on screen and printer-friendly versions. The screen version weighs in at 33 pages (including a cover page and OGL).
Even the screen version is a bit more plain/printer friendly than previous PDF products by Crafty, having only monochrome art, and very little at that. The art is by Kevin Sanborn, and other than a few sigils on the interior, consists of a fairly unimpressive cover sketch of a sample channeler.
The arrangement of the printer friendly version is somewhat unfortunate as well, being sorted into a single column. It seems to me that multiple columns is a feature you most want in a printer version to make reading easier.
A Deeper Look
Spellbound is a series of magic supplements for the Spycraft 2.0 system, of which this is the first. Each supplement details a single base class and a single associated school of magic. Altogether, the series is supposed to cover all the spells in the SRD and more. There are to be 8 such supplements (and accordingly, eight schools and classes).
The concept of 8 schools are similar to the existing SRD schools, but not exactly the same schools. The schools to be covered by the series are calling, channeling, conjuration, enchantment, mystery, necromancy, trickery, and warding. Presumably the reason different names are used is to allow for some minor realignment of the schools.
The Spellbound series further splits the eight schools into subschools (in this case, three subschools: energy, force, and weather). You couple this with the fact that each class presented is very specialized in its school, in some way the shape of these books somewhat resembles the School of Magic books published by one of the Spycraft line’s inaugural authors, Kevin Wilson. Of course, Wilson hasn’t been part of the Spycraft team for a while, but I found the parallel interesting.
So, I’ve remarked on the parallels between Spellbound and the core magic system, what’s different?
First off, it’s a point based system. When I first saw that, I considered that Spellbound might just be a refresh of the system in Dark Inheritance (it’s not). Second it’s a skill-based system with skill checks. I winced upon hearing this second point, as I have seen many d20 skill-based magic adaptations either:
The skill check for the system is based on a new profession skill focus; there is one new focus/forte option for each new class/school. In addition to being the skill you roll spellcasting checks with, the profession skill determines the number of spells you know is determined by the profession rank (though only characters with casting levels can cast spells).
Part of the intent of the system is to minimize the number of rolls you need to resolve a spellcasting attempt. One result of this is that one spellcasting profession roll is used to resolve all obstacles there are to spellcasting. So there is a DC provided by the level of the spell, and another DC provided by spell resistance, the roll to resolve the spell is the higher of the two DCs.
As mentioned, Spellbound is a point based system. The point system is fairly straightforward, costing the user 1 point per spell level; the Channeler class provides spell points at the rate of two points per class level per scene. There is no lower limit here; 0 level spells are effectively unlimited.
The Channeler class regulates what level of spells you can cast. Though this caps out at 9th level like the standard fantasy rules, it is modestly delayed on a level by level basis compared to standard d20 fantasy casters.
Metamagic is also handled quite differently from d20 fantasy material in two main ways. First off, metamagic is made available as one of 2 casting tricks provided by a feat. In each case, the other casting trick provided is a “hobble” trick that sort of has an “anti-metamagic” effect. By sacrificing one of a variety of qualities of the spell, the character can cast a spell of one level higher than they are normally permitted.
Secondly, the metamagic only adds to the cost of the effect, not the limit to what you can cast. So a character can cast a metamagiced 1st level spell who could not cast a 2nd level spell.
The product provides all the hooks you need to implement spellcasting using the Spycraft 2.0 system. Spells and skill checks are defined in Spycraft terms, and the book provides details needed for running Spycraft games like NPC and campaign qualities.
Conclusions
You may like this book...
You may like this book if you want to see magic in Spycraft and your picture of magic in Spycraft is one built on very specialized casters.
You might not like this book...
You might not like this book if what you want out of modern spellcasting is something very broad with lots of spontaneous effects, or if you wanted something that’s a total departure from spellcasting as defined in the D20 SRD.
My Take
(This section is the application of my personal values and my desire to represent my tastes. I recognize that not everyone has the same values in gaming books, from which I derive my rating. If you disagree with my rating, I suggest you read the rest of my review and draw your own conclusions.)
One surprise to me was that, unlike both D20 Modern and Dark Inheritance: Powered by Spycraft, the system uses spells up to 9th level instead of 5th. This is shift in philosophy makes it a bit different from what you may be used to in modern magic in gaming. But can it work?
One of the perpetual fears of balancing magic in d20 system games is that magic essentially trumps skills. Though this concern has been raised in the context of D&D, it has yet to get much traction. However, in Spycraft 2.0, skills are very important, so perhaps this is more of a concern. That being the case, it could well be that making spellcasters very specialized is just the ticket for making a magic using character work in a modern setting.
Above I mentioned that I was fearful upon hearing of a skill based magic system. In the final analysis, I think that the system skirts around most of the complications I have seen in such systems, and appears fairly straightforward to use.
The feel of the casters is a bit different than what I am used to in modern magical gaming. The specialized nature of casters perhaps resembles psionics or superpowers in nature more than the multi-talented nature that magic is lent in many modern RPGs.
Overall Grade: B+
-Alan D. Kohler
A First Look
Spellbound: Volume I - The Channeler is available in PDF for $6.00 US. The product is distributed as zip file with on screen and printer-friendly versions. The screen version weighs in at 33 pages (including a cover page and OGL).
Even the screen version is a bit more plain/printer friendly than previous PDF products by Crafty, having only monochrome art, and very little at that. The art is by Kevin Sanborn, and other than a few sigils on the interior, consists of a fairly unimpressive cover sketch of a sample channeler.
The arrangement of the printer friendly version is somewhat unfortunate as well, being sorted into a single column. It seems to me that multiple columns is a feature you most want in a printer version to make reading easier.
A Deeper Look
Spellbound is a series of magic supplements for the Spycraft 2.0 system, of which this is the first. Each supplement details a single base class and a single associated school of magic. Altogether, the series is supposed to cover all the spells in the SRD and more. There are to be 8 such supplements (and accordingly, eight schools and classes).
The concept of 8 schools are similar to the existing SRD schools, but not exactly the same schools. The schools to be covered by the series are calling, channeling, conjuration, enchantment, mystery, necromancy, trickery, and warding. Presumably the reason different names are used is to allow for some minor realignment of the schools.
The Spellbound series further splits the eight schools into subschools (in this case, three subschools: energy, force, and weather). You couple this with the fact that each class presented is very specialized in its school, in some way the shape of these books somewhat resembles the School of Magic books published by one of the Spycraft line’s inaugural authors, Kevin Wilson. Of course, Wilson hasn’t been part of the Spycraft team for a while, but I found the parallel interesting.
So, I’ve remarked on the parallels between Spellbound and the core magic system, what’s different?
First off, it’s a point based system. When I first saw that, I considered that Spellbound might just be a refresh of the system in Dark Inheritance (it’s not). Second it’s a skill-based system with skill checks. I winced upon hearing this second point, as I have seen many d20 skill-based magic adaptations either:
- Are so full of loopholes that it’s unplayable. (Truenamer, I’m looking at you.) Or,
- Are so full of conditions and special cases that it’s unplayable.
The skill check for the system is based on a new profession skill focus; there is one new focus/forte option for each new class/school. In addition to being the skill you roll spellcasting checks with, the profession skill determines the number of spells you know is determined by the profession rank (though only characters with casting levels can cast spells).
Part of the intent of the system is to minimize the number of rolls you need to resolve a spellcasting attempt. One result of this is that one spellcasting profession roll is used to resolve all obstacles there are to spellcasting. So there is a DC provided by the level of the spell, and another DC provided by spell resistance, the roll to resolve the spell is the higher of the two DCs.
As mentioned, Spellbound is a point based system. The point system is fairly straightforward, costing the user 1 point per spell level; the Channeler class provides spell points at the rate of two points per class level per scene. There is no lower limit here; 0 level spells are effectively unlimited.
The Channeler class regulates what level of spells you can cast. Though this caps out at 9th level like the standard fantasy rules, it is modestly delayed on a level by level basis compared to standard d20 fantasy casters.
Metamagic is also handled quite differently from d20 fantasy material in two main ways. First off, metamagic is made available as one of 2 casting tricks provided by a feat. In each case, the other casting trick provided is a “hobble” trick that sort of has an “anti-metamagic” effect. By sacrificing one of a variety of qualities of the spell, the character can cast a spell of one level higher than they are normally permitted.
Secondly, the metamagic only adds to the cost of the effect, not the limit to what you can cast. So a character can cast a metamagiced 1st level spell who could not cast a 2nd level spell.
The product provides all the hooks you need to implement spellcasting using the Spycraft 2.0 system. Spells and skill checks are defined in Spycraft terms, and the book provides details needed for running Spycraft games like NPC and campaign qualities.
Conclusions
You may like this book...
You may like this book if you want to see magic in Spycraft and your picture of magic in Spycraft is one built on very specialized casters.
You might not like this book...
You might not like this book if what you want out of modern spellcasting is something very broad with lots of spontaneous effects, or if you wanted something that’s a total departure from spellcasting as defined in the D20 SRD.
My Take
(This section is the application of my personal values and my desire to represent my tastes. I recognize that not everyone has the same values in gaming books, from which I derive my rating. If you disagree with my rating, I suggest you read the rest of my review and draw your own conclusions.)
One surprise to me was that, unlike both D20 Modern and Dark Inheritance: Powered by Spycraft, the system uses spells up to 9th level instead of 5th. This is shift in philosophy makes it a bit different from what you may be used to in modern magic in gaming. But can it work?
One of the perpetual fears of balancing magic in d20 system games is that magic essentially trumps skills. Though this concern has been raised in the context of D&D, it has yet to get much traction. However, in Spycraft 2.0, skills are very important, so perhaps this is more of a concern. That being the case, it could well be that making spellcasters very specialized is just the ticket for making a magic using character work in a modern setting.
Above I mentioned that I was fearful upon hearing of a skill based magic system. In the final analysis, I think that the system skirts around most of the complications I have seen in such systems, and appears fairly straightforward to use.
The feel of the casters is a bit different than what I am used to in modern magical gaming. The specialized nature of casters perhaps resembles psionics or superpowers in nature more than the multi-talented nature that magic is lent in many modern RPGs.
Overall Grade: B+
-Alan D. Kohler
Last edited:
