The Book of Eldritch Might II: Songs and Souls of Power

[Simon Collins]

This is not a playtest review.

The Book Of Eldritch Might II: Songs And Souls Of Power is the sequel to Monte Cook/Malhavoc Press' first release, The Book Of Eldritch Might. It features a host of new classes, feats, magic and monsters. This is a review of the 6.43 MB .pdf version.

At $7 for the .pdf and $12.95 for the soon-to-be-released print version, this seems reasonably good value for money in terms of the amount of content. Text density and space usage isn't the best but its attractive on the eye; perhaps better use of the space may be made for the print version. The art is generally good, though lacking texture at times. By necessity (i.e. its a rulebook), the writing style is concise but still elegant with good editing.

Chapter One: Alternate Classes, gives variations on the bard and sorcerer classes. The Bard variant makes a few minor changes such as 6 skill points per level rather than 4 and gains evasion and improved evasion as he gains levels, but the major change is that this bard variant uses spellsongs instead of bardic music and spells. Spellsongs have a similar effect as spells except they have a verbal component only. Spellsongs are split into three types - single notes, chords, and melodies. Chords have a more powerful effect than notes and melodies are more powerful than chords - they also take longer to 'cast' - a move-equivalent action for notes, standard action for chords and full-round action for melodies. Spell slots for notes can be combined to produce chord 'spells' and chords can be combined to produce melodies. Bards can combine notes to produce chords and chords to produce melodies. This section also includes a bardic deity and his music domain. Among a few minor changes, the sorcerer variant upgrades the sorcerer to a d6 Hit Die, 4 skill points per level, does not require material components (paying XP instead for spells that would normally require costly ingredients), knows more spells than his standard counterpart (though the number he can cast remains the same), and a new sorcerer spell list, which is compiled to reflect the fact that sorcerers tend to cast the same spell several times in a day - thus, it contains more spells with immediate impact and less divinations and spells which take time to cast.

Chapter Two: Feats, includes ten new feats. The feats are partly orientated towards spellsongs but also include some eldritch feats, which confer actual magical powers and are treated as spell-like abilities (but have hefty prerequisites).

Chapter Three: Prestige Classes, introduces four new prestige classes. The diplomancer uses magic to enhance social interaction and diplomatic efforts, with features including the ability to enhance enchantments and later to read minds. The Eldritch Warrior uses rituals, feats and arcane runes to enhanc his combat ability. Knight Of The Chord is kind of a bardic paladin, worshippers of the bardic deity outlined in Chapter One; they use music to attack evil. The Song Mage uses the ability of song to infuse her magic with extra power, including the ability to sonically shield herself or dispel areas of magical silence amongst others.

Chapter Four: Soul Magic, discusses a special type of magic - a sentient spell encoded into a symbol. The spell has a desire to be cast and can influence arcane casters to automatically cast the spell as soon as the symbol is read, no matter the level of the caster. Soul Magic is essentially an intelligent magical item (most like a scroll) and there is some advice on introducing this powerful magic into a campaign with care, with some examples.

Chapter Five: Spellsongs, gives a number of examples of spellsongs for use with the Bard variant in Chapter One. The spells are divided into their three types (notes, chords, and melodies). Notes include such effects as countersong (similar to bardic music), momentary charm and minor healing through song. Chords include such effects as disrupt thoughts, fascinate and minor wall of sound. Melodies include such effects as destroy utterly with sound and disrupt magic.

Chapter Six: Spells, includes over 40 new spells, most of which are wizard/sorcerer spells including spells such as robe of reflection, X Ray vision and disintegration field. Some of the spells come with a litle piece of in-character advice on the uses that can be made of the spell.

Chapter Seven: Magic Items, gives five new armour special abilities, three items of magical armour, two weapon special abilities, three magical weapons, and fifteen other magical items. There are also two artifacts, including the Book of Eldritch Might itself (a sentient spellbook with infinite pages).

Chapter Eight: Monsters, gives three new monsters - arcane angels (valiance and thaerestrian), eye golems, and unholy riven. Each monster ties in with eldritch matters.

Conclusion:
The list of playtesters at the beginning of this sourcebook is an indication of the measures that have been taken to ensure that the rules presented in EM2 are balanced and playable. The ideas presented seem useful and should be able to be integrated into most fantasy campaign settings if desired. I particularly liked the changes to the bard, giving more focus to their musical abilities. You can't please all of the people all of the time and EM2 is no exception to this adage. There are ideas presented here that didn't work for me (I wasn't fussed on the Knight of the Chord and Song Mage prestige classes, soul magic or the eye golem) but what appeals is going to be different for everybody. The details above should give you an idea of how much is going to be useful to you and thus whether it represents value for money.
Note that some of the text of EM2 refers to concepts and rules detailed in EM1.

 

[Kerisate]

I just got the chance to go through this second of the Book of Eldritch Mights. (One has to assume there will be more given the success of the first two.)

Overall, like most of the Monte Cook offerings, this is a solid offering. The real strength is is in the new spells (I particularly like the one where you can "steal" the spells currently "protecting" another character), but the entire selection is more than worth the 7.50 it will cost you on-line.

Being a fan of the Bard, I like Cook's new direction for the Bard. Afterall, the current 3E version is a dim copy of what bards used to be, and certainly a dim copy of what bards SHOULD be able to be in a fantasy setting (why the WotC 3E bard is handicapped with so few skill points and then does not have access to simple traditionally bardic type spells like Color Spray, I don't know).

I think its great that he bumped the skill points up to 6 per level plus intelligence. As a close cousin to the rogue, the bard needs skills--particularly considering he/she has lost much of his/her punch in terms of real combat abilities. If the Bard is to be a support character, then he/she needs the skills to be a successful support character that a party appreciates.

And thank you Monte for Evasion. WHY the 3E people gave evasion to the Barbarian and Monk and not the Bard, I have never been able to figure out. The 3E bard as is cannot really stand toe-to-toe in combat, so why folks who out of necessity must rely on fast talking and fast moving to stay out of reach of the bulk of combat are not allowed evasion at any point in their class, I don't know. Obviously Cook has been giving that same issue some thought, and his bard gets evasion.

I also sort of like the "musical theme" controlling the character. Elaborating on the "Bardic Music" bit in the basic bard, Cook's bards cast notes, chords, and melodies, not spells per se. This system allows the bard the verstility to "combine" notes into individualized chords and melodies with the assistance of other bards (bands and back-up singers will just have to become standard henchmen for Bards). My only objection (a nit-picky minor one) is that it pidgeon holes bards into the singer mode. In "reality" most bards did not sing, per se, they were storytellers, messengers, and newsreporters--all forms of communication that require oratory, not singing. But, that just means the bard who wants to be a Vergil needs a new label for the same concepts Cook presents for his musically oriented bard.

The Sorcerer revision is also a solid re-think of the 3E. While so many folks were excited about the Sorcerer when originally presented, the game rules clearly benefit the Wizard long term, and the sorcerer always seemed just "tagged on" to the system. Cook's sorcerer gets marginally more spells available (not so many that the Wizard loses his/her "I can know more spells than you" benefit), more skill points per level, and a few more class skills in which to put them. Overall, the added class skills particularly seem a good idea as they seem to recognize that someone whose primary ability is based on Charisma might just be a little more of a people person (for example, diplomacy was added) than the original Sorcerer considered.

I particularly liked the bit accounting for sorcerer PCs NOT having to provide components. It's not explicitely stated in the PHB, but it is implied that Sorcerer's don't need components, their magic is internally based. So, Cook's detailing how the sorcerer throws spells traditionally limited by exotic or expensive components (he uses stoneskin as an example) is a solid set of rules to follow. The sorcerer does not need the component, but like a wizard making a magical item, he pays for the "exotic element" with a small portion of x.p. This is so appropriate and simple, I'm not surprised we've overlooked it before now. Of course the sorcerer whose power is innate would use a portion of their lifeforce to power a more exotic spell.

I found the Prestige classes to be passable--not nearly as interesting as the bard revision.

And, while I tend to like Cook overall, he has a tendency to give Prestige Classes and spells awkard names (Diplomancer?). There's the wicked part of me that says if a player can not pronounce the name of a spell (Obstufication, for example), they shouldn't be able to have their character cast them.

Oh, and does anyone else find it ironic that in this "book" detailing a "new" bard class and system for bardic music that Cook presents two "NEW" bard spells for the other way of doing bards? Hmmmm

Overall, the work is worth the money, and it should be a good addition to many folks gaming.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

About the sorceror: a few utility spells like haste and shield (i think) get bumped up in level, so the sorceror has a different feel from casting always the same spells.
I'ts a very important balance issue... check his site

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Hey didn't you have another review over on Oriental Adventures? Did you pull it cause nobody agreed with you but that one guy?

You didn't like the book, but I can't find your review.

My buddy says Im crazy cause I don't like it, but I told him that there were reviews that said it was crap.

Where'd it go?

 

[The Sigil]

The Book of Eldritch Might II is the second sourcebook for arcane spellcasters published by Monte Cook's imprint, Malhavoc Press.

OGC Designation: Pretty good. I criticized the designation in the BoEM I but this one is much more clear, delineating certain sections and/or chapters as OGC. The OGC designation seems to cover about 1/3 of the book.

First Impressions: After the runaway hit Book of Eldritch Magic, what could Monte do for an encore? Well, how about re-design two of the three major arcane spellcasting classes? How about a few more Feats and Prestige Classes (staples of any new supplement, it seems)? These were hit and miss. I really enjoyed the section on Soul Magic - just as the One Ring "wants to be found," we have spells that "want to be cast." This can be a really cool and insidious and a bit spooky addition to a campaign. It ws probably my favorite section in the book. The major reason to get this book if you're looking for new ideas are for the alternate sorcerer and the Soul Magic sections - the remainder is simply more Feats, Prestige Classes, Spell, Magic Items, and Monsters (not necessarily bad, but dangerous because just about everyone else does these too).

Initial Annoyances: The variant bard. While Monte made some ingenious rules changes for the bard (I liked the concept of spellsongs), I have to agree with Psion - in the final analysis, the variant basically reshuffles the bard's abilities but adds very little to them - and in wrapping the abilities into three levels of music (instead of seven spell levels), it's hard to strike a balance where lower-level bards aren't as powerful as slightly higher level bards because with just three "power levels" it takes a lot more time to get the ability to acquire "higher power" stuff from the "next level up." Granularity is important to separate power levels and the variant bard does not have granularity. OTOH, it does make it MUCH easier to have multiple bards cooperating to produce effects.

Content Breakdown:

Right from the start, the BoEM2 gets the new variant classes out of the way. The bard and the sorcerer are re-vamped here. Bards lose their spells and their bardic music ability but instead have spellsongs - these are split into three varieties: spellnotes, spellchords, and spellmelodies. They do get 6 skill points per level and a few extra abilities (such as Evasion and Improved Evasion), but on the whole, I worry that this bard may be even weaker (that's right, weaker) than the PHB bard. By tying all of the bard's abilities to spellsongs, and by noting that a silence spell is like an anti-magic field to spellsongs, Monte presents us with a bard that can be crippled with one low-level spell (silence). At least the "old" bard could use some of his spells (with the Silent Spell Feat) in such a predicament. OTOH, this bard is more flexible, able to split a spellchord into spellnotes or combine spellnotes into a spellchord. Furthermore, multiple bards can each contribute a spellnote or two to cast a spellchord, making cooperative casting among new bards easy. Ultimately, though, the bard just gets his abilities reorganized without getting anything brand new. I had hoped for much better - this was disappointing.

The variant sorcerer, on the other hand, was a much better treatment - sorcerers get their spells known and spell slots reorganized to allow them to gain new levels of spells at the same time as their wizardly counterparts (rather than a level later). However, the sorcerer also gets a revised spell list to reflect their "on the fly" flexibility and combat utility compared to a wizard. Some spells are shed entirely (mostly of the slow diviniation variety). The spell list is similar to the original sorcerer, but with enough differences to be worth a look. This may not be terribly original, but it is a good idea in that it recognizes some of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the sorcerer's spontaneous casting method and attempts to correct abuses. The downside is that the sorcer becomes more of a "combat mage" and loses considerable flexibility.

Chapter two brings us more Feats - ten, to be exact. Five of these are feats to enhance spellsongs, four are Eldritch (Metamagic) Feats, and one is an Item Creation Feat. The spellsong feats are essentially metamagic Feats applied to the spellsong mechanic for new bards. The Eldritch Feats tend to deal with dispels - one (Lace Spell: Resistant) makes it harder to dispel a spell you cast, one (Spellripper) essentially grants a free use of "dispel magic" against spells on any target hit by an offensive spell, and one (Unravel) is a lesser version of spellripper that shuts down a spell your opponent may have during the instant the spell hits before restoring it (e.g., hitting a target under the influence of the Protection from Elements: Fire spell with an Unravel-Laced fireball means the target is affected as though he does not have the Protection from Elements spell going when hit, though the spell otherwise continues to function normally). The Item Creation Feat, Create Soul Magic Spell, allows you to (surprise) create Soul Magic Spells (see below for more information).

Chapter three brings us a serving of prestige classes - the diplomancer, the eldritch warrior, the knight of the chord, and the song mage. The diplomancer's powers revolve around subtle persuasiveness and grant bonuses to enchantment and language-dependent spells they use, while providing them with some immunity from "flashy" evocation effects. The eldritch warrior's powers center around casting spells through his weapons and magically enhancing his weapons and armor, granting them bonuses in combat - a fighter/sorcerer combination. The knight of the chord focuses more on using bardic abilities through his weapons and armor and is a hybrid fighter/bard. The song mage was, I felt, the coolest of the classes, and basically provides a bard with many new options relative to song and sound - things like "song as sustenance" where the song mage can mitigate the need for food bring a new dimension to the bard-ish classes.

Chapter four was the highlight for me - Soul Magic. Simply put, these are scrolls (not always found on scrolls, necessarily, but can be found in runes, symbols, and other such things) that WANT to be cast - and force a spellcaster who sees them to cast them (not always with control of the effects, but at no cost to the caster). I won't spoil it by going further - suffice to say that it can be really Cthulhu-esque for the party to be adventuring and come across strange writings - and as the sorcerer studies the writings, he begins chanting an incantation against his will, his eyes wide open as great power courses through him to cause an effect far beyond his own capabilities.

Spellsongs are next - basically, these are spells changed slightly in format for the variant bard. This is followed up by some new spells for sorcerers - I liked Disintegration Field (finally, a spell that allows me to create a perfect garbage disposal by disintegrating everything that enters an area). Gestalt, which fuses two creatures together, is a very interesting spell, but could cause some logistical nightmares if used on PCs - all the more reason to use it! Knavescour, which protects items by hitting anyone who touches them without permission with a blast of acid, is a nasty one. Loved it. There are some less than great spells, though. The various "Call of" spells struck me as rather, well, blah. These force a creature to steal the nearest item or to go home or come to you - with an unlimited range, I'm seriously concernted about balance here. I wasn't thrilled with Animate Necrosis either - you animate the dead tissue in the wound of a living creature so it forms a tendril and attacks them, attempting to strangle them? It's just not my thing. Squamous Pulse (reduces a creature's natural Armor Bonus by half and deals a number of d6 in damage equal to its natural armor bonus to the creature) also struck me as quite broken without a costly material component or XP component. It is particularly silly to envision against constructs and the like, since it is supposed to cause a creature's hide to burst and hemmorrhage - I just don't see a construct doing that.

We get a chapter devoted to magic items - while these are all solid, (and includes the seemingly mandatory "harp-bow" for bards), most of these are not too inspiring to me. In the artifacts section, we are introduced to the book's namesake, the Book of Eldritch Might. This artifact is a great boon to arcane spellcasters (wizards more than sorcerers), as it can magically copy random spells into spellbooks. In addition, studying it can provide a +4 insight bonus on Knowledge (arcane) and Spellcraft checks... and it can be used to duplicate a Bard's Knowledge ability (albeit with some coaxing in the form of a Diplomacy check).

Finally, a short "throw-in" of celestials dedicated to magic (more so than law or goodness) is added, along with the Eye Golem (an eye-on-a-stick) and Unholy Riven (a magic-eating creature). The celestials seemed out of place - these are supposed to be the embodiments of goodness, not of magic! They needed a different name.

Presentation: Much improved from the BoEM - the graphics continue to be good, the layout is nice, and many of the problems I had with the BoEM are fixed in the BoEM2. It makes use of the PDF Bookmarking feature, Chapters are well-organized, and the book has a better-organized feel to it.

Conclusion: It's good but not superb. While the sorcerer was a welcome re-write, the bard was less so. I do have a little bit of a problem that so much of the book (including the spellsongs) were simply re-writes of existing material (bardic spells and abilities put into different terms). The section of Soul Magic was excellent. The creatures and magic items were nothing special. Outside of the spells mentioned above, the spells are excellent, a notch above the BoEM. It's a solid book, even with some of the weak points discussed. Because of the great amount of rewriting rather than contribution of original material, I knocked it down a peg - the original material is a high 4. I wavered about whether to give this a high 3 or a low 4, but I think it deserves a low 4.

--The Sigil
November 22, 2002

 

[Messageboard Golem]

In defense of Monte's bard, you glossed over the Accompaniment feat. A normal bard caught in a silence area can use Silent Spell to cast spells (all normal bard spells have a verbal component). Monte's bard has a similar feat, Accompaniment. The difference is that Silent Spell raises the spell level by one and Accompaniment merely requires a focus be added to the spell: a musical instrument. Personally, I loved old-style bards and this one tempts me more than the PHB bard does.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Duane Nutley, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack

Sizing Up the Target
Book of Eldritch Might 2 is a 65 page pdf available from RPGnow for $9.00. Penned by Monte Cook as part of his Malhavoc Press company, it is also available in print from Sword & Sorcery, the company that imprints all Malhavoc pdf material. This review will focus on the pdf. I would like to point out at this stage that there are meant to be some differences between the pdf and print versions. What these exact differences are, I do not know, as I do not own a copy of the print version.

First Blood
Songs and Souls of Power is an apt title for this book as special attention has been given to the bard class (songs), and a large chapter that really has no other relevance to the rest of the book deals with creating spells through souls. The sourcebook deals solely (soully?) with game mechanic related material – new core classes, prestige classes, spells, magic items and creatures. The first chapter presents two new variants on existing core classes – the bard and the sorcerer. I believe Monte Cook created these variants as a response to requests from fans. Originally Monte created a variant ranger that is available from his website, but as that has no relevance to any of the products released by Malhavoc Press, it has not been included in any other publication. The bard sees the most radical change compared to the class presented in the PHB. More skill points, a couple of rogue class abilities, new class abilities that affect spellsongs, the loss of bardic music abilities, but more importantly – a new magic system for bards and bards alone. Spells from the PHB and bardic music abilities are now incorporated into the new spellsong system as well as new spells. I will look at this further with the chapter on spellsongs. The change for the sorcerer is more skill points, a higher HD and a slight change in the amount of spells known. The spell list has been modified, certain spells like divination spells and more utilitarian have been taken off the list altogether. To compensate for the bonuses gained some spells have been bumped up in level so they take a sorcerer longer to take. This might not seem all that bad, but when you remember that a sorcerer gains new spell levels one level later than wizards, then these spells are gained roughly 3 levels behind wizards in normal play. So it makes it interesting for someone to decide to take either the normal sorcerer from the PHB or take this variant for the bonuses it gives straight away. Both of these variant classes have strengths and weaknesses when compared to the original classes. I think this is actually a good thing as it allows people to play the type of character they choose. Also both types of classes – the original and this variant, can be used by a GM in a campaign if they allow it as this can allow for differences between the two people of the same class.

Chapter Two is a small chapter introducing some new feats. There are two groups of feats introduced – some more Eldritch Lace feats which first appeared in Book of Eldritch Might 1 and some bard specific feats to be used with spellsongs. One thing of note though is that some of these feats and some of the prestige classes in the next chapter require a feat that is not in this book, or any other book published by Malhavoc Press. Instead the feat can be found on Monte’s website. This I find a little bit poor as if there is a requirement that is needed for a number of feats or classes, you would think that it would be included in the source as well instead of accessing another source, in this case a website.

Chapter Three contains four new prestige classes, the majority of which are bard related. I like the fact that there are three classes which can focus the bard in certain areas depending on the person: Diplomancer is for bard concerned with negotiation and social interaction, Knight of the Chord is for combat-focused bards, while Song Mage is for magic inclined bards to specialise their magic potential. The last prestige class presented in this chapter is the Eldritch Warrior and can basically be taken by any class, it is just that the bard is more than likely able to achieve the requirements quicker than other classes as all skills required are on their skill list. I find the classes to be well presented, balanced and intriguing.

Chapter Four is the chapter on Soul Magic. This is a new concept and one I have a little bit of trouble understanding. Basically an arcane spellcaster creates a spell by sacrificing some of their soul (in experience points) but cannot use the spell themselves. Instead the spell will be used by someone who comes along and unleashes the spell, which also takes part of their soul to bring into being (by ability score loss). Soul magic is magic with an intelligence and is actively wanting to be cast. For spellcasters who are imprisoned it is a way to get help and hopefully freedom. To create a soul spell, one must have the feat that is detailed in the Feats chapter. I think that this chapter is solely for a GM and is to add a bit of mystery and secrecy around a magical effect. The soul spell will be created by someone else and may be cast by a party member as an interaction in game play.

Chapter Five contains all the spellsongs that a bard can know in their new spell system. Instead of spells levels there are spell notes, spell chords and spell melodies. These roughly equate to spells of 1st, 3rd and 5th level respectively. The length of time to cast these spellsongs depends on whether they are notes, chords or melodies. Notes take a move-equivalent action, notes a standard action and melodies a full round action. This means in effect that a bard can cast a spell note and make an attack in the same round! Perhaps slightly unbalanced in game play, but the spellnotes do not really have any extraordinary spells in them. As stated earlier all bardic music abilities are now spellsongs and bards are still restricted in how many spellsongs they know per level. Some might see this as a limiting factor as music abilities in the original are 1/day/level, so it is now like the sorcerer in determining which bard to play. Both have their good points and weaknesses. Bonus spells are still off Charisma, but this is now slightly different to the bonus spell list in the PHB. Another strength of this variant bard is that casting in armor is now possible, but only for certain armors.

Chapter Six contains new spells. Simply that – new arcane spells. After perusing through the spells, I gleefully asked my current DM if my wizard could learn some of these spells as he progressed in levels. All of these spells are useful to a wizard in certain situations and depending on how they play.

Chapter Seven details new magic items and a couple of artifacts including the Book of Eldritch Might itself! A number of these items are bard specific, but the vast majority are usable by anyone.

Chapter Eight contains a couple of new monsters, two new angels that are focused on magic as well as a spell-eater with a twist, in that the monster was originally a spellcaster themselves.

Book of Eldritch Might 2 is definitely a “crunchy” sourcebook filled with information usable by both players and GMs in game play. All parts have a central theme in that they are all related to arcane magic in some way. Bards and sorcerers are the main focus of the book and I think this was intentional as wizards were the primary focus of the original Book of Eldritch Might. However the spells and magic items are of use to wizards as well as bards and sorcerers.

Critical Hits
Book of Eldritch Might 2 was one of the first sourcebooks released that contained new bard information and as such was and still is a great source for bard fans. The variant sorcerer is interesting and attempts to make up for some of the weaknesses of the original. Soul magic, while confusing for me, does seem to be a way to make magic mystical and unique to even the most jaded of players.

Critical Misses
The sourcebook as a pdf is not really printer-friendly. A thick heavy border takes up the top portion of each page. Also there is a faint side border on each page that thankfully does not progress to a background for each page. When printed out it is hard to see the side border but it is there if you look. But this together with the top border is heavier on printers than other products that provide a screen pdf and printer-friendly pdf.
Also the lack of a feat was annoying, as I had to search to see where this feat is located. It is unclear whether Chapters Four, Five and Seven are OGC or Product Identity. None of these chapters are mentioned in the first part about Product Identity and in declaring what is Open Content, these chapters are just not mentioned at all.

Coup de Grace
Overall Book of Eldritch Might 2: Songs and Souls of Power is a great all-round source of information on arcane magic. There is something for all arcane spellcasters and when considering when this was first released, makes it a top-notch sourcebook. Today it provides gamers with an alternate source of information on what is fast becoming a glut of information about all things magically arcane.

To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.