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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheSword" data-source="post: 9019112" data-attributes="member: 6879661">[ATTACH=full]284701[/ATTACH]Group advantage was a game changer but as I said in my response to [USER=7023840]@Snarf Zagyg[/USER]Magic is one of the things most criticized in 4e. The channelling mechanic was seen as pointless and in many cases actively dangerous.Because Magic tests were unopposed they were seen as too difficult until you reached a certain XP at which point they became amazing and took over. The way overcasting worked you adding an extra point of damage for every SL (10%) you beat the spell test by. You could also target an extra creature for every 2 SLs you beat the test by. So it was better to cast the Petty spell dart than most more powerful but harder to cast spells. Winds of Magic largely fixes all these issues.Fluff wise the book contains a full history of magic in the empire, details on each lore of magic, it’s practitioners, colleges and sample NPC. Every wind has additional spells and a full specialist career for that lore of magic. One of the neatest things it adds is magical transformations called Marks. More on that in a moment.Second sight can now be used to replicate other skills where appropriate. So you could use second sight to follow a wizard instead of using the track skill.There are new miscast tables (You no longer get 1d10 bleeds from a nosebleed!) A very neat  result is the marked by magic result which is very cool! You gain a visual and in some cases mechanical effect from getting so close to magic. Each lore has a table of these Arcane Marks. For instance a light wizard might gain eyes of pure white which gives -1 SL in fellowship tests. Or gain an aura of light that makes light sources grow brighter by 2 yards whenever you get within 20 yards of them. Minor mechanical effects but extremely characterful. One of the marks for each wind is  even that you gain a talent that makes it easier to use that lore… suffused by XA wizard can use their enchanted staff to deliver a touch spell instead of making a melee brawling check.You get +1 SL to cast a spell that is already affected by a spell from your lore that round.Channelling has been changed a huge amount. You don’t have to pick the spell first when you start to channel. It’s no longer necessary to channel all the power for a spell - you can now part-channel and then take the magic test in the hope you get the rest of the SLs you need (in the past you had to channel all the way or lose the spell) you can also now vent the power as an action. You can critically channel to gain WPB extra channelling SLs but also take minor miscast (unless you have aethyric attunement talent - which you probably do). If you fumble a miscast roll you only take a minor miscast (ignored if you used ingredients with the spell).It’s also worth noting in Archives of the Empire 3 - there is an extra bonus for wizards called cants which they gain as they learn spells. These Cants use a little of the channeled energy… examples for Bright Wizards for instance include: Brighten Blaze which lets you enlarge fires and possibly set nearby creatures ablaze; Set Alight which lets you set people on fire if you hit with a melee attract and Fervent Bellow which lets you remove broken conditions from an ally. These are really neat and make channelling more flexible.Overcasting has been changed a lot. Instead of getting flat increases to targets, area of effect, range and duration as well as stacking with increased damage you now decide to spend overcasting SLs on these things with diminishing returns and additional damage is one of these options rather than stacking on top of them. Dart is no longer the Uber-spell!For instance you can spend 1 SL of overcasting to gain +1 target but now 5 SLs are needed to get +2 targets. A Fireball with 5 yards radius is good again.There are lots more spells… dozens of them.There are rules for rituals which require extended casting and special ingredients but have powerful effects. You can make power stones, summon elementals, create familiars, and imbue your own staff with enchantments (see later)There are new downtime endeavors for brewing potions, gathering ingredients and performing rituals.There are new careers for Beadles (A university porter), mundane alchemists, Master Vigilants (who are wizards hunting wizards) and Scryers.There are new skills - Augury which allows you to get bonuses to a couple of tests each day if successful. Psychometry to read objects psychic residues.There are new rules for Alchemy with a wide range of alchemical products that can be created. Including some quasi magical items like the Al-Kahest or the Compass of Meteoric SilverThere are rules for Wizards robes which aid channelling and enchanted staffs which aid casting.Rules for writing spell scrolls.Rules for brewing magical potions with side effects and options for combining effects (Very Harry Potteresq)Rules for Power stones which make it easier to cast spells as a one off.Rules for grimoires and cursed items.Rules for incarnate elementals (very powerful summons) and the rituals to bind them.Rules for crafting constructs and familiars and customizing them (even using them as characters that can develop)Rules for environmental magic saturation and magical environmental corruption, storms of magic, key lines, way stones and using/crafting them. Arcane fulcrums and nexuses of power with some examples given and their powers.There are some magical Nemesis like Egrim Van Horstman, the Blue Scribes of Tzeentch fully statted out. Also a Fimir Demonologist along with a couple of pages of nasty Fimir marsh spells. She’s called Mona Mimn.The book finishes off with two pages of adventure outlines involving an Auction and an Apprentice. With a magical licence for a PC to fill out at the very end.All in all this book is pretty freaking amazing for anyone wanting to play a wizard. I just wish I knew someone to DM for me!</blockquote>

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