The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Mighty sorcery indeed!

Relics and Rituals was one of the first supplements from Sword and Sorcery Studios, who seem to quite enjoy the old-school practice of alliteration in titles.

Dungeons and Dragons, as any gamer who hasn't lived in a cave knows, is probably THE fantasy game. Half-realistic, half-epic, 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons has had one of the biggest impacts on the gaming industry of any game in years. Whether you enjoy it or not, it's here.

With it came things like the Open Gaming License, and with that came a whole horde of spinoff companies, each selling their own D20 projects. White Wolf (makers of Vampire, Mage, Exalted, and various other Storyteller system games; one of the largest gaming companies around) surprised many people when they started making their own D20 projects under the name Sword and Sorcery Studios. Does Relics and Rituals rise above the rather large crowd?

Rary's Mnemonic Device

The book is organized as follows:

Prestige Classes

Spells

Ritual Magic

True Rituals

Magic Items

Relics

Phantasmal Thriller

One of the things that Relics and Rituals does very well is convey the feeling of its setting, the Scarred Lands. While there isn't a whole lot of detail, you can still get a good feel for how the world as a whole acts. Every spell in the book has a paragraph or two devoted to describing how it was created, or how it is most commonly used, or some bit of setting info. In a virtual miracle of editing prowess (especially for White Wolf), none of these descriptions clash with what the spells actually do.

This applies not only to the spells, but also to all of the magic items, each of which has its own little backstory. It's almost as if the magic items are important, unique, and different, rather than being the usual cookie-cutter items they are in... well, almost every fantasy game in existence. If you've ever wondered what the difference is between a wand of magic missiles and a phaser stuck on "maim," these items are for you. The disadvantage is that it takes a bit of adaptation to use these items in a campaign not set on Scarn.

Detect Detect Spells

So how about a few samples to show the general feel of what's going on here?

Prestige classes: Penumbral Lord (not everything shadowy is evil), Sea Witch (indispensable in a seafaring game), and Summoner (making it worthwhile to be one).

Expectable Spells: Dragon's Breath (the cone version of your standard 3rd level attack spell), Dar'Tan's Shadow Bolt ( a one-target lightning bolt that you can hold for a few rounds), Greater Healing Circle (twice the effect at two levels higher), Power Word, Thunder (boom), and Rabbit Feet (bonus to move silently).

Interesting Spells: Eclipse (yup, an eclipse), Adhere to Wood (your skin sticks to wood), Holy Beacon (when a Paladin needs help), Tattoo Item (turns an object into a tattoo that you can bring out - a ranger spell!), and Alibi (wonderful for prankster magi).

Spiffy Items: Clothborn Armor (plate that feels like padded armor), Armor of the Sea Monarchs (made of little pieces of coral and seashells), Ring of Windfury (arrows that strike the target also carry a Gust of Wind), Blood Bands of Awakening (Awakens an animal as per the spell, but with an evil spirit), and the Chalice of Wonders (an artifact that takes your unconscious desires and fulfills them like a badly worded Wish! Ouch!).

Power Word, NO!

The only disadvantage to this book, as far as I can see, is that most GM's won't allow it in their game. This is a rather large disadvantage indeed for someone who's not playing in or running a Scarred Lands game.

The spells in this book are noticeably above the average power of equal-level spells in the PHB. None of them, so far as I noticed, actually break the guidelines set forth in the DMG for spell power at a particular level, but nonetheless they are more powerful than most PHB spells. The items are more properly "balanced," if that word can be applied to unique, one-of-a-kind magical masterworks. The prestige classes run the usual gamut of power.

Enlightening Bolt

The book certainly has style, especially in its portrayal of the world. The occasional editing slip-up does exist, mostly in the prestige classes, but it's not too bad. The book has no appendix, but is well-organized enough (and has a nice enough table of contents) that it doesn't really need one. The pictures are all pretty good, and even the rougher ones are still recognizable. The pictures even have something to do with the text! Headers look like headers, and there is a general stylistic unity throughout the book. 5 for style.

For substance I would have given a 5, except that you can't use all of the substance in other people's games. The general power level makes most GM's wary of letting their PC's have spells or items from this book. In an actual Scarred Lands game this would be an invaluable, perhaps necessary reference, and in another game, it could be adapted with a bit of work. 4 for substance.

In the final analysis, this is quite a good supplement. I may have to look at a few other Scarred Lands products to see whether they kept up the good work.

Spell names in this review are from the big list of useless spells, available here and on many other fine webpages.