On a Useful Review of Wonder and Wickedness

05.00 Unknown 0 Comments

Wonder and Wickedness

• Look at that cover! It's sweet!
• Holy crap! Is there new art by Russ Nicholson in here!?
• Like the whole thing is illustrated by him. 
• What is this? Spells? Levelless spells?
• Demons crawling out of eggs?
• No, wait. 56 Leveless spells. 
• Six schools: 
• Diabolism
• Elementalism
• Necromancy
• Psychomancy
• Spiritualism
• Translocation
• Vivamancy
• Yep, leveless spells. All spells are appropriate for beginning casters and scale in power with caster level. From the introduction "The most common method of presenting spells within a fantasy RPG is a ranking by level. . . However, this is not the only reasonable approach, and the notion of no hierarchy of spells is the foundation of this supplement."
• Is this sweet? Yes, this is sweet, because holy moly do the spells feel magical!
• Here's an example, Chariot of Air
• A tumult of air elementals, prismatic and cacophonous, bears the sorcerer aloft and in any direction desired. Buffeted this way and that, no subtle action may be taken or communication attempted over the roar and incoherent babbling of the winds. Despite the many voices they have stolen, these creatures communicate by caresses and only madly wail in confusion if not in contact with the sorcerer.
• I hear a cacophony of people complaining about balance. Pshaw. This is clearly a Original Dungeons and Dragons or Basic/Expert style wizard, where they remain useful after their powers are expended because your sole utility isn't tied into your class abilities. That said, playing one of these wizards seems really cool! You can turn your spell into maleficence in order to do damage, or cast it. You can only prepare 1 spell per caster level. 
• Take Necromancy for example. There's the standard Death Ray and Lich-Craft (raise undead), but there's also Occult Consultation, where the sorcerer digs a square pit, fills it with wine, herbs, and a sacrifice to summon a throng of ghosts that you can question. You can summon a specific ghost with a true name or treasured possession, and if you wish, when the spell ends, you can follow the ghosts into the land of the dead, with no guarantee of return!
• The back half of the book is dedicated to the terrible things that can go wrong. When do they go wrong? When sorcerers try to reach too far. Are you a non-sorcerer casting one of these spells? Are you out of spells and trying to cast another one? Are you dead? 84 catastrophes are there to add an interesting twist when something goes wrong. 
• There's also a unique selection of 50 magic items. Like the orc mace, that turns people into orcs, or the shadow loom which weaves sorcerous garments.