James McMurray
First Post
Anyone gotten this yet? I'm thinking about getting it and wanted a bit more than the one review's worth of feedback on it.
Thanks1
Thanks1
Spells and Spellcraft
- Thread starter James McMurray
- Start date
Limper
First Post
I've not been to impressed with the product. The ideas are not very original, the organization is awful, the mecahnics are barely 3e complient, so in essence I'd give it two thumbs down. Its at best OK if you haven't put much work into Mages and Spellcasters in your campaign If you Have avoid it. I've been very disappointed.
Psion
Adventurer
Kaptain Kantrip recommends it. 
I have it. It's really not that bad mechanically, especially in comparison to some other FFG stuff. Lots of good stuff in one place, but of course you won't find as much detail and inspiration as you will on books that cover the individual topics (frex Shaman's Handbook, Mongooses Shamans, Chaos Magic, Wild Spellcraft, etc.) but in some cases that makes it slot into an existing game easier. The small gods idea is really cool.
I have it. It's really not that bad mechanically, especially in comparison to some other FFG stuff. Lots of good stuff in one place, but of course you won't find as much detail and inspiration as you will on books that cover the individual topics (frex Shaman's Handbook, Mongooses Shamans, Chaos Magic, Wild Spellcraft, etc.) but in some cases that makes it slot into an existing game easier. The small gods idea is really cool.
James McMurray
First Post
Well, that's one no and one yes (the review here said it was a great buy). Then again, for all I know drnuncheon (the reviewer) is the author of the thing. That's why I try to avoid believing any products that only have one or two reviews.
C'mon folks, help me out. Alternatively, suggest some other books I could blow my money on, its burnin' its way through my pockets as I type this!
C'mon folks, help me out. Alternatively, suggest some other books I could blow my money on, its burnin' its way through my pockets as I type this!
oh, it's worth it!
I just finished Spells and Spellcraft a few days ago, and it's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be, Limper. In fact, a good portion of it is quality stuff, although i do have some gripes. One of my biggest gripes is that in a lot of places, the rules tend to deviate from typical 3e mechanics, espically things like alchemical item creation and construct making. They're not incompatible or anything, just not quite as streamlined as they could be. still, it's a minor issue. TypeO's are also something of an annoyance. damnit guys, stop watching those invader zims and get back to proofreading!
Also, If you're a big chaos magic fan and want to develop this concept thoroughly in your game, you should probably look somewhere else. 'Course, if you just want to dabble in it, then the rules they provide are pretty much all you'd really need.
In fact, that seems to be both the main asset and main problem with this book: It has a decent-but-not-heavily-detailed amount of information about a very wide variety of topics. You want an elemental/undead/parasite/planar/etc.... familiar ? it's in here. Just don't expect more than two or three of each. (which is OK with me, after all, how many times are you going to need those undead familiar stats ?
There's a bunch of interesting new concepts/new takes on old ones, and enough rules for each one to get playing with a minimum of hassle. Some of it may just need some tweaking for it to make sense. (why should all wards be 30' in radius?)
The art's pretty good, but sparse. My favorite pic is the concerned looking frog sitting on it's assed-out master's chest, next to the arrow. Also, I don't know why all the bows in the book are strung backwards, must be a personal thing :-}
The book qualifies as "extra-crunchy" leaving out annoying bits like 'wizards and the world in which they live' crap that plagues wotc spaltbooks with large amounts of the obvious. if you buy books by density of useable information, then this one is a good value for the buck.
Well, that about ends my random impressions/reviews on Spells and Spellcraft. I was going to do a summary of all the new stuff the book had, but it started taking a really long time, which i suppose speaks well of the book. In fact, i'm happier i got this book, covering a nice, wide variety of topics that i would have been if i'd dumped my 25 bucks into a book dedicated entirely to wild magic, or golems, or arcane libraries, or alchemy...etc. It really does expand nicely on a lot of magic-related subjects.
I just finished Spells and Spellcraft a few days ago, and it's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be, Limper. In fact, a good portion of it is quality stuff, although i do have some gripes. One of my biggest gripes is that in a lot of places, the rules tend to deviate from typical 3e mechanics, espically things like alchemical item creation and construct making. They're not incompatible or anything, just not quite as streamlined as they could be. still, it's a minor issue. TypeO's are also something of an annoyance. damnit guys, stop watching those invader zims and get back to proofreading!
Also, If you're a big chaos magic fan and want to develop this concept thoroughly in your game, you should probably look somewhere else. 'Course, if you just want to dabble in it, then the rules they provide are pretty much all you'd really need. In fact, that seems to be both the main asset and main problem with this book: It has a decent-but-not-heavily-detailed amount of information about a very wide variety of topics. You want an elemental/undead/parasite/planar/etc.... familiar ? it's in here. Just don't expect more than two or three of each. (which is OK with me, after all, how many times are you going to need those undead familiar stats ?
There's a bunch of interesting new concepts/new takes on old ones, and enough rules for each one to get playing with a minimum of hassle. Some of it may just need some tweaking for it to make sense. (why should all wards be 30' in radius?)
The art's pretty good, but sparse. My favorite pic is the concerned looking frog sitting on it's assed-out master's chest, next to the arrow. Also, I don't know why all the bows in the book are strung backwards, must be a personal thing :-}
The book qualifies as "extra-crunchy" leaving out annoying bits like 'wizards and the world in which they live' crap that plagues wotc spaltbooks with large amounts of the obvious. if you buy books by density of useable information, then this one is a good value for the buck.
Well, that about ends my random impressions/reviews on Spells and Spellcraft. I was going to do a summary of all the new stuff the book had, but it started taking a really long time, which i suppose speaks well of the book. In fact, i'm happier i got this book, covering a nice, wide variety of topics that i would have been if i'd dumped my 25 bucks into a book dedicated entirely to wild magic, or golems, or arcane libraries, or alchemy...etc. It really does expand nicely on a lot of magic-related subjects.
Last edited:
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
James McMurray said:
Hmmmmm. I'm a big fan of those $5 WotC PDFs when I'm aching for a RPG read and I can't think of an independant d20 book to buy. That said, have you thought about Darwin's World? I've read some good reviews of it. And what about "Godlike!" ?
Ouch.
James McMurray
First Post
Well, I headed up to my local gaming shop and thumbed through it, but he spells didn't really grab me, so I gave it a no. In fact, nothing really grabbed me that I saw there, but that's cool, I can probably use that money somewhere else a bit more practical. 
Crothian
First Post
James McMurray said:Well, I headed up to my local gaming shop and thumbed through it, but he spells didn't really grab me, so I gave it a no. In fact, nothing really grabbed me that I saw there, but that's cool, I can probably use that money somewhere else a bit more practical.
Or find a d20 product that fits you better. THat's one of the great things about this d20 game.
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