Review: Occult Lore
Introduction
Occult Lore is a 238-page hardback magic-sourcebook for Atlas Games’ Penumbra line. It features a wide variety of magical traditions based largely on real-world occult beliefs and practices. Included are a lot of new prestige classes, spells, equipment, herbs and feats.
Firstly some warnings: I really am not a fan of DnD or D20. I’m not an expert on the rules and I bought this book for inspiration for my own Ars Magica game and because I have enjoyed most Atlas Games products in the past.
Overview
I enjoyed this book immensely. I found it useful and interesting in ways that I didn’t expect. Although I’ll go into more detail below, I’ll say now that one of the most useful aspects of this book is the story-seeds that each chapter includes. This is perhaps the most useful part of the book (beyond the new rules). Each new magical tradition includes one or more vignettes or plot ideas that incorporate the new rules, including tradition-based characters, creature templates, magical items and even deities. Additionally most (or all) magical traditions include a small (or large) group that practices the tradition, from a group of bards to a guild of astrologers and more.
I also found the layout to be pleasing. There is a minimum amount of artwork─ each chapter has a different artist─ but most of it is of good quality with only a few questionable pieces (YMMV). The only criticisms are really the boxed-text and the fiction. All of the boxed text with a darker grey background is Open Source (as well as an entire Appendix at the back of the book)- but the boxes would often crowd out the main text. The fiction at the start of each chapter introduces the concepts of the magic presented. Unfortunately, I found it unnecessary for most of the traditions and felt that it could have been better used. I wasn’t that keen on the font used for the main headings, but to be honest, it is just a niggle and is really not important. Content-wise, this book is a treasure trove of ideas for magical adventures, NPCs and all sorts of things.
Chapter One: Alchemy
This introduces the mysteries of alchemy, and was written by Adam Bank. Just a brief interlude: Adam Bank was the co-author of The Mysteries, one of the most acclaimed Ars Magica books ever. I found it amusing and annoying that most of his chapters are reworkings of his Ars Magica magic for a D20 system. Despite this, I enjoyed seeing a traditional medieval thought being translated for more generic fantasy settings.
In this chapter we have alchemy for medical uses- effectively a secular replacement for the cleric- a brutal but effective series of treatments following a skewed logic. Diseases are given treatment, including the Black Death and Typhus. There is new equipment- standard alchemical faire. Everything here is of use to a wizard with the alchemy skill, and it is quite well researched (or at least convincing), so can be of use for most settings high fantasy or gritty medieval. Along the lines of the alchemical healer is a new NPC class, called the Arcane Healer who follow a version of the Hippocratic Oath and follow the patron ‘god’ Asclepius (of Greek Legend fame).
A neat cult is included, taken pretty much from The Mysteries, of the Golden Cabal, who seek alchemical immortality. Using alchemy, they seek to purify themselves and thus transcend mortality. In the process, they excel at making potions and other nifty items. Some of the powers they gain are very nifty- as they slowly purify themselves, they gain all sorts of immunities, from disease, starvation and exposure and even age. There are three story seeds that cover the gamut of the chapter.
Chapter Two: Astrology
Written again by Adam Bank, it is another rehash of something already printed in The Mysteries. Nevertheless it is a solid chapter on astrology and includes the only fiction that I found of any use, as it clearly illustrated the rather complex problems that is inherent in any authentic treatment on astrology. It includes the new skill Astrology, which allows you to make horoscopes and nativities for yourself or others.
But what are horoscopes and nativities? Well, basically they are non-magical versions of the augur and other prophetic spells- they allow you to glimpse the future. They also allow you to gain intimate information on a target, and an inception horoscope gives the subjects bonuses when they attempt a feat or roll. The Spell Inception Feat allows you to bypass the XP cost of spells, as you tap into the energies of the celestial sphere─ there are limitations of course. The next new feature is the pangunculi, a little homunculus that grant the owner/creator certain immunities and powers. They get a text-box, as they are a new creature, and to give the game away, as long as certain taboos are obeyed, they confuse any spell (or horoscope) cast at the owner, making the spell target the pangunculus instead.
The meat past, we get a treatment of astrology for fantasy gaming. Various astrological terms are explained and just about all of them scream plot devices- astral conjunctions are the ultimate fantasy tool. “The prophecy says evil Overlord Gorgoroth awakens during the convergence of the zodiacal Houses of Zephirah and Locmah. We must stop it!” Etc.
A rather convoluted by nevertheless interesting Astrologer class follows- they are basically wizards who cast spells through astrological formulae. Also here is the possibility of astral worship- with a new religion, a few new domains and new prestige classes, the Solar Hierophant─ worshippers of the sun─ and the Lunar Mystagogue─ a keeper of secrets.
There is only one story seed in this chapter, related to the chapter fiction. It has a lot of potential given the various hooks throughout the chapter and I must confess to already have included it in my Ars Magica game (with a few alterations).
Chapter Three: Elementalism
The four main elements are expanded upon by Elton Robb. Elementalists are mages who control the primal elements directly. I personally think they should have been presented as a Prestige class rather than a PC class. But basically, as the elementalist develops he starts to personify his chosen element. At 10th level, he gains a new template, which more closely allies him with the element.
While most of this seems solid, it isn’t very interesting- elementalists have received a lot of treatment in many books and I really don’t think this does much more than make them a lot more detailed.
The chapter is filled out with some NPCs who personify the elements and form a global council- although they aren’t that powerful. We get some new monsters and four story seeds. A big spell list finishes the chapter, detailing the available spells for each elementalist.
Chapter Four: Geomancy
Chapter Four, by J. Scott Reeves introduces magical auras or zones and the ability to control those zones. Similar to the Wild and Dead magic zones in the Forgotten Realms, we have Positive and Negative magic zones, where magic is easy or hard to cast. Geomancy involves taking the two Feats Dowsing and Geomancy, which allow you to detect and manipulate those zones. This is a short chapter, but there really isn’t much more that can be said─ it is covered in the detail that it warrants. A rather light hearted adventure seed follows, but there is advice on how geomancy can be used in campaigns, as wizards would probably seek to locate their homes in positive magical areas and evil geomancers would target their enemies by making magic hard or impossible to cast with negative zones.
Chapter Five: Herbalism
This is the chapter I had the least amount of interest in. As you may have guessed, it deals with the magical and mundane effects of herbs and plants of all sorts and is written by Chris Jones. It has medicinal uses for herbs, but also features a small section on cooking! There are prestige classes that specialise in the use of herbs, as well as details on the various tools and equipment used. All of this struck me as not that interesting─ fodder for NPCs or low-fantasy games. The poisons may be of interest to some GMs, which is linked to a large part of the Appendix. There are two rather detailed story-seeds. This is a long chapter, and is quite detailed.
Chapter Six: Magical Imagination
Adam Bank returns to give us yet another revision of a chapter from The Mysteries. Again his treatment of the tradition is interesting and poses a lot of interesting ideas. Magical Imagination is the ability to create, manipulate and control Memory Palaces- mental constructs that store memories in exact details (like photographic memory). The chief users of this ability are the Heralds, a bardic organisation that preserves the lost knowledge of an ancient civilisation.
While this may sound amazingly arcane and incomprehensible, it is really a neat idea, once you wrap your mind around it. Memory palaces are basically an imaginary mansion where you imagine memorable items or objects in order to remember complex information. Still confused? Adam explains it better than I, so don’t worry, because he uses examples and so on.
The first part of this chapter details the Heralds. A new wondrous item appears (the herm─ a repository of ancient memories), as well as a bardic prestige class which makes use of the memory palaces- which in effect gives them access to Knowledge skill ranks, memorise things completely, and teleport (at high levels).
There are two story-seeds, both fairly epic.
Chapter Seven: Oneiromancy
The magic of dreams is given to us by Keith Baker, and oddly, this is the only chapter of Occult Lore that is primarily for GMs rather than players.
Most of the chapter deals with using dreams as adventure, plot and story ideas. A few different methods to use dreams are given, such as dreams for prophecy, as visions of the past, as a distraction and even just hack-n-slash adventures.
I cannot stress how chock-a-block this chapter is. Although it overdoes the rules aspects of dream magic, it is a great chapter filled with potential use for just about any game. Just about every aspect of dreams are dealt with- from Id, Ego and Super Ego, as well as combat, magic and dying in dreams, and even deities and domains of dreams, a Nightmare god and a nicer Elvish dream-god.
A large number of story-seeds follow, including some new templates- a dream lich (more of an undead dream-leech, as it has no phylactery), and the various manifestations of the dreamer’s psyche. There are number of neat little magical items and the Oneiromancer prestige class too.
Chapter Eight: Rational Magic
A slight misnomer, this chapter by J. Scott Reeves introduces the idea of people ruled by reason alone, who disbelieve in the possibility of magic and through their force of will, cause magic to cease to exist.
The entire premise revolves around the idea of logic- of making formal arguments in order to prove a point. The prestige class, The Skeptic, takes this to an extreme- they are people who use logic to deny the existance of magic and the supernatural. As they increase in level, they gain immunities and resistance to magic and magical creatures.
I have several major problems with this.
Firstly, it strikes me as almost exactly the same idea as the Third Edition Ars Magica True Reason concept by White Wolf─ people who believed in the natural order and reason to deny the existance of magic.
This is a large problem because in a fantasy setting, the natural world─ the buffer that the Skeptic uses to deny the existance of magic─ is magical in and of itself. In most DnD fantasy, elves and dragons are realities. Magical spells have a repeatable and real effect. Any real logical arguments would not disprove the existance of magic, but would come to the opposite conclusion: that magic is real and a vital and necessary part of nature. To come to any other conclusion in a fantasy setting is lunacy and delusion, not logic and reason.
Nevertheless, for PCs who want to be able to resist fireballs and turn dragons into pissed off crocodiles, this is the chapter for you. As usual, a story-seed follows.
Chapter Nine: Spirit Cultivation
Keith Baker gives us what is effectively non-evil Elvish necromancy that deals with the spirits of the dead rather than their corpses.
It all revolves around the concept that when people die, they leave on their bodies imprints of emotion and experiences─ which are accessed with the Speak with the Dead spell. Called Revenants, these imprints can be collected and manipulated by the Spirit Cultivators- a new prestige class called the Gleaner. The revenants are placed into receptacles where they can act like familiars and sentient magical items.
Most of this chapter is fairly solid, and is less esoteric than Oneiromancy or Magical Imagination. It has a whole bunch of new spirit-cultivation based magical items, that the revenants are bound into, as well as a new creature template: the unbound spirit. There are a lot of story-seeds and at the end of this chapter is a Revenant sheet, for the Gleaner PC to record the details of his Revenants, as they all have different abilities.
Chapter Ten: Sympathetic Magic
Another chapter by Keith Baker, Sympathetic magic uses that oldest and most powerful magical law: things that look alike are alike and once a part, always a part.
This chapter basically presents a much more flexible magic system than the standard D20 one. A mage using sympathetic magic performing rituals, and uses ‘magic points’. Again, Atlas decided to make Sympathetic magic reliant on an entire class, rather than a prestige class. I won’t go into the rules, but they do seem a bit complex. I haven’t playtested them so don’t take my word here as gospel.
After the five or six pages of sympathetic magic rules we get a Gypsy like organisation called the Travelers, and after them, a series of story-seeds.
Appendix One
This is a big chapter on plants with amazing effects. This is a big appendix and is fairly exhaustive─ covering not only real plants but largely magical ones. The usefulness of this chapter will vary a lot- for me it is not very useful, but those GMs using the herbalism rules or who wants to have a few minor fantastical touches, this could be of great use.
Appendix Two
The spell-list, this entire chapter is Open Content. It includes all of the specific spells that the myriad of prestige classes and PC classes have access too. There are a number of powerful spells here, as well as some really specific ones to do with spirits or elementalism. Nevertheless, they are all well thought out and interesting.
Conclusion
This book, despite being a mixed bag, was enough of a inspiration that I really enjoyed it. On the whole, it was well written and well edited─ a credit to Atlas and the authors. Most of what is in here would be of use to someone, with only a few chapters being bogged down in unnecessary rules and details. As far as D20 magic products go, I’d rate this as one of the better ones, as it injects a bit of ‘reality’ into the fantasy and thus makes it more believable and credible.
Style: 4
Substance: 4
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