This book, second to bear the name "Book of Eldritch Might," not only lives up to its predecessor but surpasses it in almost every way. Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press continues to surprise and entertain me with their products.
The following is a chapter by chapter review of this book, currently available in PDF form from www.montecook.com
Chapter 1: Alternate Classes
This chapter provides alternatives to the sorcerer and bard core classes found in the D&D Players Handbook. The bard variant is the most drastically changed of the two, and outshines the sorcerer variant rather handily. The bard has recieved a boost in skill points here, as well as a whole new spellcasting system based around three "levels" of spells triggered by music: Spellnotes, spellchords, and spellmelodies. Cook's bard is far more musically inclined than the one presented in the PHB, this new spell system being the meat of this change. Bards can now cast their spellsongs in armor without chance of spell failure (as long as the armor check penalty is below 3), and the bardic music feature has been removed in favor of this new spellsong system. Bardic knowledge remains, and evasion is added on as an extra ability. Overall, the class is well balanced, and adds a pleasant dose of flavor to a class that otherwise lacked focus.
The sorcerer variant is, for the most part, no more than an abbreviated spell list. The spell list contains more "cast on the fly" raw energy type spells, and less "cerebral" spells. In shorter terms, there's more spells like Fireball and less like Identify and Legend Lore.
Chapter 2: Feats
This chapter contains a few more of the "Eldritch" type feats first introduced in the first Book of Eldritch Might. I think these feats are a tad overpowered, but they require a great deal of attribute weight as prerequisites, so it isn't game breaking.
The standout here is the new bard feats, based on the spellsong system introduced in the first chapter. These feats are similar to metamagic feats in that they enhance the power of the bard's spells, but they're less reliable than the tried and true metamagic feats. A roll is required to see their effectiveness. Most are also given alternate names to reflect their musical nature; words like "forte" and other musical terms are a welcome dose of flavor. All in all, well done here.
Chapter 3: Prestige Classes
This chapter presents four new prestige classes representing a variety of classic roles and not so classic roles. The first in this chapter is the "Diplomancer," a spellcaster who uses his magic to increase his skill in interpersonal interaction. It's an interesting concept, and Cook manages to pull it off pretty well. I like this class.
Next up is the Eldritch Warrior, a magic-using warrior that doesn't cast spells as much as imbue his equipment with magical energy. We've seen a lot of this before, so I wasn't too impressed. Still, it's one of the better varieties I've seen, and the art was good here.
Next is the Knight of the Chord, a combat-oriented Prestige Class rather obviously geared towards the bard. A classic example of the warrior that sings ribald ballads as he charges into battle, this is a nice class that adds a combat focus to a bard character.
Last is the Song Mage, a spellcaster that enhances his abilities through music and singing. Nice flavor, nice abilities. Once again, something we've seen before, but a welcome addition to the new rules landscape.
Chapter 4: Soul Magic
I had to read this chapter twice. Maybe it was because I was tired, but it did seem rather confusing at first. Still, when I got to the meat of it, the concept intrigued me. On his website, Cook cited Terry Pratchett as one of his inspirations for this chapter (not the humor and levity, but more the "spells that want to cast themselves" deal). Basically, that's what these spells are. Essentially, they're sentient magic, with a bit of their creator invested in them, hinted at something beyond the mere workings we've already seen. Great, original material here. I loved it after I got into it.
Chapter 5: Spellsongs
The new tools of the alternate bard are presented here. It has what you'd expect, a good variety of effect, attack, and healing magic woven into a musical flavor. Generally a tad on the underpowered side compared to spells, but you'd expect as much from bards.
Chapter 6: New Spells
This chapter has new spells, not as many as the first Book of Eldritch Might, but enough. I honestly wasn't too impressed here. Monte seems to have a fetish for endless variants on attack spells, but there aren't many of those here (a good thing, actually). Instead, these seem to have a "spell for anything" feel, and I can't see many of them having any sort of widespread use.
Chapter 7: Magic Items
Like the last chapter, this one was a little lackluster. A few baubles and trinkets to include in your campaign, nothing to write home about.
Chapter 8: Monsters
This chapter presents a new type of outsider, the "Arcane Angel." Good monsters for an encounter or two, but nothing with real staying power aside from the angels (and even then, it's limited).
Overall, this book was very well done, but seemed a little front loaded, the latter third slowing down and showing some tarnish. Still, definitely worth the seven dollars I paid for it, and I hope to see more from Malhavoc in the future.
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