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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2009715" data-attributes="member: 172">Hand of GloryHand of Glory is a "threat book" detailing a major villainous organization for the Shadowforce Archer setting of AEG's Spycraft espionage game.A First LookHand of Glory is a 96 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $24.95. This is somewhat pricey for a d20 book of this size, though many of AEG's recent d20 offerings have also been in this format (such as Secrets of the Lion, Way of the Samurai, and Way of the Ninja.The cover of the book has a flat black background with a character on the front depicted in gray tones, similar in style to other Spycraft books. The picture, by Veronica V. Jones, depicts a woman in exotic garb with a glowing hand, presumably Eva Krauss, leader of the Hand of Glory.The interior art is black and white, and features a variety of artists. The book has various action ink drawings, but many of the pictures seem rather simplistic and static compared to earlier Spycraft books.The interior text density is good, typical of Spycraft books. A Deeper Look(Warning: The following contains secrets of the Shadowforce Archer setting)Hand of Glory is divided into four chapters.The first chapter is entitled Campaign and sets the stage for a campaign in which the players engage with the Hand of Glory. The chapter begins with the front page of a fictional newspaper describing various events in the world linked to the Hand of Glory, foremost of which is the erupting of multiple volcanoes around the world. The rest of the chapter describes what is really going on, and provides plot hooks for involving Shadowforce Archer characters in adventures related to the described events.The second chapter is entitled Villain. It includes a more exhaustive history of the Hand than in the Shadowforce Archer setting book. As described in that book, the Hand of Glory was started by a woman named Eva Krauss, who is really a human woman possessed by a supernatural entity who desires to return the Earth to an ice age. The Hand is a secretive organization with mystical knowledge and a keen interest in artifacts which they use for power. The Hand was also, according to the fictional history of the setting, involved in the rise and fall or Nazi Germany.In addition to the history, the second chapter outlines the organization of the Hand, their methods and bases. It also introduces two organizations opposed to the Hand that the PCs may take advantage of: a gentleman's explorer's society called the Finnian Collector's Society, and Xong Tzu Jen, an agent of the Chinese government charged with maintaining the security of ancient artifacts in China.The third chapter introduces new rules. This includes two new departments. The indoctrinated are members of the Hand indoctrinated at an early age, and the old blood represent members of cultures that still hold on to ancient traditions.The chapter introduces one new basic class and four new prestige classes. The new basic class is the explorer. The explorer has abilities that aid in the discovery of phenomena and relics.The prestige classes are mystical in nature, and include:- Channeler: The channeler is a character who forms a bond with a unique mystical relic and derives power from it.- Sage: Sages are characters with unique insight and knowledge of the supernatural world. Sages have abilities that grant them invocations and additional power in rituals.- Spiritualist: The spiritualist receives special abilities that allow them to detect and deal with disembodied spirits.- Valkyrie: Valkyries are female agents of the Hand infused with supernatural physical might by Eva Krauss.The chapter introduces new fringe feats (introduced in the Archer Foundation sourcebook), mystic feats, invocations, relics, and superscience gadgets. Among other things, these allow the creation of golems, which are part of the Hand's forces. The thirst level rules are extended allowing greater power (including the ability to bring characters back from the dead) and rules on seasons provide bonuses and penalties to mysticism skill rolls in various times of the years.As mentioned in my review of Shadowforce Archer, the statistics for Eva Krauss were goofed up. The rules chapter provides statistics for Eva Krauss corrected and utilizing new prestige classes and other rules in this book.The rules chapter also introduces a number of "NPC classes." These aren't quite the same thing as the NPC classes in other books. They are more or less quick archetypes allowing the GM to provide quick oppoistion. Instead of a normal outlay of skill points and class skills, the NPC classes have a selection of "full" and "half" skills; the NPCs have the listed full skills at 1 rank per level and half skills at a rank equal to one half their levels.The last chapter is entitled Challenge, and provides game statistics, threats, and plot hooks for a number of serials involving the Hand. The chapter also includes a map of a Hand base and a chase map of Buenos Aires for use in the game.ConclusionAs with many recent AEG books, I feel this one is a bit pricey for the page count. However, it does seem well written and has some good ideas for use in a Shadowforce Archer game. You should probably consider buying Hand of Glory if you are interested in running a game involving the Hand, or if you want more information and rules for the SFA mysticism system.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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