Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Ultimate Spheres of Power Review
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="LongGoneWriter" data-source="post: 7937553" data-attributes="member: 6857996"><p>Hello my delightful darlings, it’s time for a new PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! This edition we leave the Golem behind and check out a few majorly impressive products from third-party publishers – specifically, <a href="https://www.dropdeadstudios.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Drop Dead Studios</strong></a>. You may know them as the fine folks behind the <strong>Spheres of Power</strong> and <strong>Spheres of Might </strong>alternate rules systems. Well, recently they’ve released a new, massive tome compiling most of everything they’ve ever printed into one convenient volume: say hello to <strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power!</strong></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]119316[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Let’s start out with <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300249/Ultimate-Spheres-of-Power" target="_blank"><strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power</strong></a>. Clocking in at a hefty 633 pages, it’s larger than the core rulebook for the system it supplements – heck, it’s larger than the <strong>Pathfinder 2E Core Rulebook</strong>! That’s kinda to be expected, what with it being a compilation of everything ever printed for a specific system (think about how staggering it would be to see everything Paizo ever printed for a system compiled into a single “book”), but it can still be a little intimidating if you don’t know what you’re getting into.</p><p></p><p>A lot of what I have to say about <strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power</strong> circles back to that defining feature of it as a product – that it is literally everything printed for Spheres of Power collected into a single book. In fact, it wouldn’t be hard to say that <strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power</strong> can be too much of a good thing. I love the flexibility and potential made available by an alternate system of magic; but having so much material in one place can bring with it some unexpected drawbacks.</p><p></p><p>One of the biggest casualties of this effect is pacing, or layout. For example, after having read through the book, my instinct is that the chapter on spheres should have been placed as early as possible in the book. After all, <strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power </strong>is all about an alternate magic system, so it makes sense that it would be the first thing to read. While having classes before spells follows the format that Paizo laid out, I think I’d find it easier to understand the classes if I had the context of the actual magic system they referenced.</p><p></p><p>Don’t let my qualms about things like layout distract from the main point, however. <strong>Ultimate Spheres of Power</strong> is an excellent resource for players and GMs looking to mix up the magic in their campaigns. Even if you don’t use the rules for building your own traditions or even the classes themselves, there’s plenty here to snag to give your BBEG dragon a curveball when your players walk into the fight too cocksure.</p><p></p><p>One of the benefits of compiling all the rules for Spheres of power is that it gives GMs plenty of toys to play with. Not only does the World Building chapter include a step-by-step example of how to use to the Sphere rules to make, say, a magic system where martial arts is used to telekinetically control the four elements, but there’s also a solid bestiary of creatures that use these new rules and templates to make ‘em hit harder. After all, if your players are going to be cheesing it up with teleporting to another solar system, you need to be able to keep up!</p><p></p><p>Speaking of other worlds, one of the things I really appreciated that may not have been possible without the compendium book is the collection of alternate worlds and settings for you to play in. There are examples of low-magic worlds, high-magic worlds, a new plane, new organizations – all the juiciest hooks you could need to leave Golarion behind. Give it a shot!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LongGoneWriter, post: 7937553, member: 6857996"] Hello my delightful darlings, it’s time for a new PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! This edition we leave the Golem behind and check out a few majorly impressive products from third-party publishers – specifically, [URL='https://www.dropdeadstudios.com/'][B]Drop Dead Studios[/B][/URL]. You may know them as the fine folks behind the [B]Spheres of Power[/B] and [B]Spheres of Might [/B]alternate rules systems. Well, recently they’ve released a new, massive tome compiling most of everything they’ve ever printed into one convenient volume: say hello to [B]Ultimate Spheres of Power![/B] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="300249.jpg"]119316[/ATTACH][/CENTER] Let’s start out with [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300249/Ultimate-Spheres-of-Power'][B]Ultimate Spheres of Power[/B][/URL]. Clocking in at a hefty 633 pages, it’s larger than the core rulebook for the system it supplements – heck, it’s larger than the [B]Pathfinder 2E Core Rulebook[/B]! That’s kinda to be expected, what with it being a compilation of everything ever printed for a specific system (think about how staggering it would be to see everything Paizo ever printed for a system compiled into a single “book”), but it can still be a little intimidating if you don’t know what you’re getting into. A lot of what I have to say about [B]Ultimate Spheres of Power[/B] circles back to that defining feature of it as a product – that it is literally everything printed for Spheres of Power collected into a single book. In fact, it wouldn’t be hard to say that [B]Ultimate Spheres of Power[/B] can be too much of a good thing. I love the flexibility and potential made available by an alternate system of magic; but having so much material in one place can bring with it some unexpected drawbacks. One of the biggest casualties of this effect is pacing, or layout. For example, after having read through the book, my instinct is that the chapter on spheres should have been placed as early as possible in the book. After all, [B]Ultimate Spheres of Power [/B]is all about an alternate magic system, so it makes sense that it would be the first thing to read. While having classes before spells follows the format that Paizo laid out, I think I’d find it easier to understand the classes if I had the context of the actual magic system they referenced. Don’t let my qualms about things like layout distract from the main point, however. [B]Ultimate Spheres of Power[/B] is an excellent resource for players and GMs looking to mix up the magic in their campaigns. Even if you don’t use the rules for building your own traditions or even the classes themselves, there’s plenty here to snag to give your BBEG dragon a curveball when your players walk into the fight too cocksure. One of the benefits of compiling all the rules for Spheres of power is that it gives GMs plenty of toys to play with. Not only does the World Building chapter include a step-by-step example of how to use to the Sphere rules to make, say, a magic system where martial arts is used to telekinetically control the four elements, but there’s also a solid bestiary of creatures that use these new rules and templates to make ‘em hit harder. After all, if your players are going to be cheesing it up with teleporting to another solar system, you need to be able to keep up! Speaking of other worlds, one of the things I really appreciated that may not have been possible without the compendium book is the collection of alternate worlds and settings for you to play in. There are examples of low-magic worlds, high-magic worlds, a new plane, new organizations – all the juiciest hooks you could need to leave Golarion behind. Give it a shot! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Ultimate Spheres of Power Review
Top