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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="poilbrun" data-source="post: 2008977" data-attributes="member: 532">I've had this book for quite some time now, and I have thus have time to get an opinion on it. Among the various class books from WotC, Tome and Blood is the one I've used most. Does it mean it's the best supplement for D&D? Not really, far from it. However, a lot of information from this book is useful as is, or at least may be useful with some tweaking.First ImpressionThe book costs 19.95$ for 96 pages. Around 21 cents per page. It is softcover, with colour cover art and black and white inside art. The cover depicts a fight between three arcane magic users and what seems to be a demon (do not take my word on this) and is pretty cool in my opinion. The inside art is quite good with some exceptions. To sum up, I would have liked to pay a bit less for a softcover book with black and white inside art.The text doen't leave too much empty space on the page and the font used makes for easy reading. The margin are a bit wide for my taste, but as tables often overlaps them, it probably evens out. The writing styles is correct and also makes for easy reading ands there aren't too many typos left.Chapter by chapter analysisIntroduction: 1 page. Not much to say about it. A little introductory text, some useless ranting, and a description of the 5 chapters in the book.Arcane Lore: 33 pages. A bit of everything in this chapter. All in all, it makes for a good read, but not much more. I suppose newcomers to the game and spellcasters might find more useful informations than I did in this chapter.Creating an effective spellcaster: a few generalities about the creation and the advancement of an arcane spellcaster. By reading the description of the spellcaster in the Player's Handbook and being a little clever, the first pages are nearly useless. The pages on spell and magic item selection might be a bit less useless for newcomer, but I believe that the selection of spells and magic items really depends on the character you're playing and, as such, 3 pages cannot really help you about this. The information on specialization might however be really useful as it explains exactly what are the benefits and drawbacks of specializing in each school. Of course, if you study the spell lists before choosing to specialize, it is completely useless. But for those who don't know every spell by heart, this might be a good start to know whether to specialize or not, and in which school to specialize if you do.Familiars: Friends Indeed: this chapter makes for a very good read for everyone who believes a familiar is just a trick to get some bonus. The description of the process to acquire a familiar is quite useful since the PH didn't talk about this at all. The description of the abilities is also quite useful as it expands on the descriptions in the PH and explains a bit better. The Dismissing a Familiar and Death of a Familiar or of a Master are also useful since they explain situations that might be encountered during play and weren't much described before. Finally, the Alternate Familiars by Master Size is quite useful too, if not rule-wise, at least roleplaying-wise. The Improved Familiar might be useful too, but I've yet to see someone use a feat for it, especially since the feat can only be used when the arcane spellcaster if 5th or 7th level, which means that he either has not to take a familiar until then, or dismiss his current familiar.Close-up on Skills: this part explains the difference between the Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) skill that might have overlapping uses. I never had any problem with these two skills before, so it is pretty useless in my opinion.Sorcerers and Wizards and the World they live in: some useful background information, more useful to understand Arcane Spellcasters than to play one, but useful nonetheless...Organizations: the Few, the Proud: except the map that is pretty useless since it is so generic, this part is quite interesting. Even if every organization cannot be used from the book, with some tweaking they might blend well in nearly any campaign, or at the very least help a DM create his own guilds. I would have preferred to see this in a DM only chapter since I don't see the point of a player knowing every magic organization in a world...The Hollow: a Mage's Abode: useful information on what a common spellcaster's house may look like. I would have preferred rules on how to create one's own house with the various prices, but at least it can help players decide what to install in their house...Feats: 6 pages. This chapter is divided in two parts : the first one describes the rules related to Virtual Feats and Weaponlike Spells, the second one includes 23 new feats, some more useful than others, but quite good as a general rule.Prestige Classes: 28 pages. This chapter includes 15 new prestige classes.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Acolyte of the skin: a spellcaster belonging to this prestige class gains advantages linked to his skin that becomes similar to a fiend's skin.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alienist: a spellcaster who has links with alien lifeforms. A bit too Cthulhu-esque for most campaigns in my opinion.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arcane Trickster: the perfect combination of a rogue and an arcane spellcaster, using magic to improve his rogue abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bladesinger: limited to elves or half-elves, this prestige class mixes the advantages of a fighter and an arcane spellcaster in a deadly dance.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Blood Magus: revived spellcasters who are aware of the power of their blood and use it to empower their spells.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Candle caster: arcane spellcaster who are able to inscribe spells on candles and use them with greater effect by simulating metamagic feats.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dragon disciple: restricted to spellcasters who can cast spells without preparation, this prestige class allow a spellcaster to awaken his blood from draconic origin, transformin him little by little into a half-dragon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Elemental savant: a spellcaster who is attuned to an element up to the point that he becomes an elemental creature.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fatespinner: a spellcaster that learns to control fate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mage of the Arcane Order: an arcane spellcaster who must be able to prepare spells becomes part of a mage guild, gaining benefits associated with it, among which the ability to call spells stored in a spellpool in the guild hall.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mindbender: arcane spellcasters who learn to control the mind of others.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Palemaster: an arcane spellcaster specialized in undeath.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spellsword: an arcane spellcaster who learns to blend magic and weapon into a lethal combination. He gains the ability to cast spells more easily while in armor and to cast spells through his weapon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">True necromancer: an arcane and divine spellcaster who exerts authority over and is able to create undeads.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wayfarer guide: a spellcaster belonging to a guild specialized in transport through the use of the teleport spell.</li> </ul>Tools of the Trade: 8 pages. This chapter introduces new mundane (8), special (7), and magic items (30 metamagic rods, 9 staffs, 5 wondrous items). It also expands the rules for pricing magic items.Spells: 18 pages. This chapter explain rules for weaponlike spells, explain new uses for the prestidigitation spell and rules about Casting Time (including the use of metamagic feats by Sorcerers). It also expands the rules for creating new spells and introduce 53 new spells, the majority being a new form of an old spell.ConclusionThis book makes for a good read. Everything isn't the most interesting stuff ever written, but a lot of the content of this book can be used or helps understanding rules found in other books, which may not help everyone one, but is most certainly useful to newcomers. All in all, a nice book to have in one's collection.</blockquote>

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