The Inside Scoop on Gaming

When we were laying out the review, we decided that it would be best if we broke the review down into the five areas that are important to us when we are selecting a gaming product. We gave each section a mark out of ten and discussed the subject in relation to the product. We are hoping that this makes the review easy to read and helps people to decide whether or not this is a product for them. For those who want instant gratification, the total score and points of interest are listed at the end.
~ Crow & Mage

LAYOUT: 7/10
Fairly well laid out, plain but effective table of contents, good chapter organization. Page layout is standard 2-column/page except for chapter 3 (Spells) which is 3-column/page. No index, which loses some points with us, as we are big fans of a good index. Good use of tables in addition to the text sections. Some of the section breaks within chapters could use stronger header differentiation but overall, navigation is sufficient, page numbers are clearly visible.

ART: 6/10
Art is decent but sparse and all b/w, all pages have an interesting b/w border down the long edge and slender bars at top and bottom. Design of the Zodiac signs was particularly good. Placement of the art within the text was varied and unobtrusive. Cover is fairly basic, tome-like design, unassuming but effective. On one level, this speaks positively, because the book is almost solid content.

WRITING: 9/10
The writing is consistently excellent in this book. Information is easy to extract and the style is engaging. The importance of this should not be underestimated, as this is a book that is incredibly readable and therefore will be an enjoyable resource to use whether on the first reading or subsequent references.

CREATIVITY: 9/10
The book stays within a familiar structure while providing new concepts and material. The fictional background for each of the signs, spells, items, and other elements of the book is extremely well done. The creative and well-written descriptions add depth and interest to the world setting and we also found them inspiring with regard to ideas for our own original concept campaign. This kind of detail and creativity was refreshing and kept us interested all the way through. We both really appreciated the “correspondences” in the astrology section, those being the stone/metal, element, and deity associated with each sign of the zodiac as well as the types of persons and professions that are associated with each sign. The prestige classes and feats were new to us, including ones we had never really thought of like the High Astrologer class. (Crow: The explanation for the scantily-clad Albadian witches was not only marvellously creative and believable, but it gave me a good laugh because someone finally managed to justify those skimpy little outfits.)

FUNCTIONALITY: 10/10
First, there are 63 pages of spells. We love the spells and can see them being of interest to anyone working in the d20 system. There are a number of spells in this book that we would classify as “role-playing” spells, spells that enhance and encourage role-play. This makes us happy. We also really like the one-line description of each spell below the name in the description section; it makes it very easy to cruise this section for inspiration. Some of the higher-level spells are right nasty and that’s as it should be. We did not find “repeats” or spells we had seen before dusted off and reworded, which was a concern given the number of spells.

Spells aside, the book exceeded our expectations. The prestige classes are useable both within the world context and in other settings. The feats all have good role-play potential. We really liked the rituals and the astrology, feeling that both gave a greater sense of scope and scale to the game setting. All the magic items were both well conceived and well executed, we can see them providing a great deal of interest in a game. We especially loved the attention to detail in the history of each item.

We both noticed a distinct lack of polarity in this book, which was very nice. Many books fall back too easily on the black&white simplicity of good and evil, order and chaos. We really liked the fact that there was emphasis on the dual-nature of many aspects of the book from signs of the Zodiac which embody positive and negative qualities to the Cabalist feat which bridges arcane and divine magics and even to the fact that the leader of a band of necromancers goes by the name of Mirth. This kind of ambiguity leaves the burden of determination of morality on the GM and the players, which we think makes this a particularly flexible resource.

FINE POINTS:
-wonderful expansion of potentials for paladins and necromancers
-fantastic new opportunities for undead in a campaign
-very well-designed Zodiac system and a prestige class of magic-user to match
-Cabalist feat bridging Faith and the Arcane
-total of 6 new prestige classes and guidelines for converting basic prestige classes to the Scarred Lands setting
-excellent spells, rituals, and magic items to enrich any campaign, including the Lost Tomes of the Scarred Lands, descriptions of powerful tomes of magic just waiting to be reclaimed
-Slarecian Legacy section with psionic powers and three related classes

TOTAL SCORE: A (41/50)
Overall, an exceptionally good resource on all levels. We especially like the fact that everything is quite fresh and original, making the book worth the very reasonable purchase price.

Relics & Rituals, Lost Lore II
Relics & Rituals, Lost Lore II Capsule Review by Crow & Mage on 19/09/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Overall, an exceptionally good resource on all levels. Fresh and original, well worth the purchase price. Product: Relics & Rituals, Lost Lore II Author: many Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Sword & Sorcery Studios Line: Cost: $25.95US Page count: 236 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-58846-182-3 SKU: Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Crow & Mage on 19/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	When we were laying out the review, we decided that it would be best if we broke the review down into the five areas that are important to us when we are selecting a gaming product. We gave each section a mark out of ten and discussed the subject in relation to the product. We are hoping that this makes the review easy to read and helps people to decide whether or not this is a product for them. For those who want instant gratification, the total score and points of interest are listed at the end. ~ Crow & Mage LAYOUT: 7/10 Fairly well laid out, plain but effective table of contents, good chapter organization. Page layout is standard 2-column/page except for chapter 3 (Spells) which is 3-column/page. No index, which loses some points with us, as we are big fans of a good index. Good use of tables in addition to the text sections. Some of the section breaks within chapters could use stronger header differentiation but overall, navigation is sufficient, page numbers are clearly visible. ART: 6/10 Art is decent but sparse and all b/w, all pages have an interesting b/w border down the long edge and slender bars at top and bottom. Design of the Zodiac signs was particularly good. Placement of the art within the text was varied and unobtrusive. Cover is fairly basic, tome-like design, unassuming but effective. On one level, this speaks positively, because the book is almost solid content. WRITING: 9/10 The writing is consistently excellent in this book. Information is easy to extract and the style is engaging. The importance of this should not be underestimated, as this is a book that is incredibly readable and therefore will be an enjoyable resource to use whether on the first reading or subsequent references. CREATIVITY: 9/10 The book stays within a familiar structure while providing new concepts and material. The fictional background for each of the signs, spells, items, and other elements of the book is extremely well done. The creative and well-written descriptions add depth and interest to the world setting and we also found them inspiring with regard to ideas for our own original concept campaign. This kind of detail and creativity was refreshing and kept us interested all the way through. We both really appreciated the “correspondences” in the astrology section, those being the stone/metal, element, and deity associated with each sign of the zodiac as well as the types of persons and professions that are associated with each sign. The prestige classes and feats were new to us, including ones we had never really thought of like the High Astrologer class. (Crow: The explanation for the scantily-clad Albadian witches was not only marvellously creative and believable, but it gave me a good laugh because someone finally managed to justify those skimpy little outfits.) FUNCTIONALITY: 10/10 First, there are 63 pages of spells. We love the spells and can see them being of interest to anyone working in the d20 system. There are a number of spells in this book that we would classify as “role-playing” spells, spells that enhance and encourage role-play. This makes us happy. We also really like the one-line description of each spell below the name in the description section; it makes it very easy to cruise this section for inspiration. Some of the higher-level spells are right nasty and that’s as it should be. We did not find “repeats” or spells we had seen before dusted off and reworded, which was a concern given the number of spells. Spells aside, the book exceeded our expectations. The prestige classes are useable both within the world context and in other settings. The feats all have good role-play potential. We really liked the rituals and the astrology, feeling that both gave a greater sense of scope and scale to the game setting. All the magic items were both well conceived and well executed, we can see them providing a great deal of interest in a game. We especially loved the attention to detail in the history of each item. We both noticed a distinct lack of polarity in this book, which was very nice. Many books fall back too easily on the black&white simplicity of good and evil, order and chaos. We really liked the fact that there was emphasis on the dual-nature of many aspects of the book from signs of the Zodiac which embody positive and negative qualities to the Cabalist feat which bridges arcane and divine magics and even to the fact that the leader of a band of necromancers goes by the name of Mirth. This kind of ambiguity leaves the burden of determination of morality on the GM and the players, which we think makes this a particularly flexible resource. FINE POINTS: -wonderful expansion of potentials for paladins and necromancers -fantastic new opportunities for undead in a campaign -very well-designed Zodiac system and a prestige class of magic-user to match -Cabalist feat bridging Faith and the Arcane -total of 6 new prestige classes and guidelines for converting basic prestige classes to the Scarred Lands setting -excellent spells, rituals, and magic items to enrich any campaign, including the Lost Tomes of the Scarred Lands, descriptions of powerful tomes of magic just waiting to be reclaimed -Slarecian Legacy section with psionic powers and three related classes TOTAL SCORE: A (41/50) Overall, an exceptionally good resource on all levels. We especially like the fact that everything is quite fresh and original, making the book worth the very reasonable purchase price.

Relics & Rituals, Lost Lore II