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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2009933" data-attributes="member: 9860">This is not a playtest review.The Book Of Eldritch Might III is the third in the Eldritch Might series by Malhavoc Press and deals with matters arcane; though unlike previous books in the series, this one concentrates on places of power.The Book Of Eldritch Might III is a 6.39 MB .pdf file costing $11. Layout is pretty good, though some of the font sizes used for sidebars and introductory text looks a bit small on a computer screen. Decent bookmarks mean finding your way round the product is simple. The art by Kieran Yanner and Sam Wood is good, with a dark and somewhat gloomy feel; maps are basic but clear, with scale and compass direction. Writing style is good as is editing.The basic concept behind Eldritch Might III is the discovery of a magical gem called The Nexus, each facet of which holds the means to gain access to a powerful planar location. In addition to this, the gem itself is a place of power. Eldritch Might III details seven of these facet-locations, including the Nexus itself. Each location gives the opportunity to introduce a variety of new spells, characters, creatures, magic items, and a few feats and a prestige class - these aspects are detailed in their relevant location. There are also adventure ideas given in the margins (from level 1-20), along with some commentary and ideas from 'Malhavoc' himself on uses for spells.Chapter One: The NexusThis describes the planar location of the Nexus itself, its magical portals to other realms along with stats for its main occupants, a semi-divine yuan-ti guardian, her son, and its insectoid defenders. The portals can be used to scry on the various realms as well as to travel to them, and there are a number of spells and magical items related to the scrying aspect of the location, as well as optional rules for scrying where certain powerful locations and spell resistance can disrupt the ability to scry.Chapter Two: Bastion Of The D'StradiGives an overview of a desert land nearly over-run by a demon horde. The demons have been repelled but continue to attack from another plane and have nefarious plans for an army that will help a second attempt at invasion. The inhabitants of the desert land raise undead from the demons' victims to help fight against the demon horde. Three versions of the new demon are statted out along with stats for the leaders of the demons and the threatened land respectively. There are some feats, spells, and magical items that are inspired by the war detailed in the remainder of the chapter. Chapter Three: Pool Of GlenmasisThis magical pool is the setting of a fey marketplace for magical items where deadly combat is magically proscribed. Some regular vendors are statted out and a range of fey-style spells are given, as well as some of the magical items that may be sold there.Chapter Four: Vabrin's ForgeThis is a forge owned by an Ettin sorcerer who has developed the ability to create intelligent magical items. There are a number of spells and a couple of feats related to intelligent magical items, and a further section looks at intelligent magical items in more detail, including some discussion on intelligent items gaining levels with some detailed rules for creating these items, including a range of item-only feats, and some examples.Chapter Five: The Vale Of StarsA place of very powerful magic, the vale of stars features a heady mix of an abandoned castle once owned by dragons, a liquefied starlight mine, genie slavers, and locals with the natural talent to cast spells in ordinary conversation. The chapter features notes and rules on dragon magic, liquid starlight, subliminal magic, a prestige class: the starlight mage, spells with draconic names, and a batch of magic items to reflect the vale's history.Chapter Six: Tomb Of Frozen DreamsThis is a series of ice caves where a group of arcane magic-users have found the means to freeze dreams. These dreams can unlock long-forgotten knowledge, and can give the person who melts the ice containing the dream certain temporary game benefits as the dream infuses their soul. Spells and magic items linked with the ice-dream cabal (the Hedrudal) are included.Chapter Seven: City In The StormA city in the midst of a huge thunderstorm reached by flying whales. In the city is a potent artifact guarded by the scions of past heroes. These scions vie for political power but band together against evil creatures released from the artifact in the distant past that seek to gain the artifact for themselves. These flying serpent-like creatures and the flying whales are both statted out as well as a template for mist creatures that inhabit the area (with an example mist wyvern). Spells and magic items of the scion bloodlines are described in the remainder of the chapter.The product ends with notes on using some of the spells with a permanency spell, conversion to spellsongs of relevant spells, and spells for the variant sorcerer in The Book Of Eldritch Might II. There is then an index and spell list that makes finding any spell in the product a simple matter.Conclusion:I enjoyed the change from the previous Eldritch Might books, both in terms of the more printer-friendly look and the location of the new spells, items, etc. in a specific campaign location with adventure ideas. This seemed to ground the ideas a bit more than in previous volumes. The rules presented were of course excellent and there is little to complain about from that angle. The only negative aspect for me was the limited information on the personality and behaviour of the NPCs given in each section, which seems to be a feature of malhavoc's releases. Note that there are regular references to spells and items in previous volumes from Malhavoc Press.Overall, this is a stimulating and well-written book with plenty of rules and ideas that are also usable outside the framework given.</blockquote>

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