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FASA has released two new supplements for Earthdawn - Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets (142 pages) and Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive (103 pages). Magic contains new rules for blood magic, adept magic, thread magic, spell magic, enchanting, astral space, summoning, spell design, and other types of magic, including shamanism. Arcane Mysteries contains new spells and magic items.

One of the best features of these supplements is the introduction of talent knacks. Talent knacks allow for additional specialized uses of talents such as arrowcutting, sensing cursed weapons, and astral tracking. Knacks cost from 100 to 500 legend points. Magic requires that knacks be taught when advancing circles, but Arcane Mysteries allows an adept to create new knacks. The knacks are a great addition to Earthdawn, providing a low-cost means for additional character development and differentiation. However, limiting knacks so that they may only be learned when advancing circles seems overly restrictive (although it is characteristic of Earthdawn - one step forward, two steps back).

If you are familiar with the Grimoire for Shadowrun or other recent magic supplements produced for other games, then you have a pretty good idea about what's inside Magic. The information on the various styles of magic and astral space provide useful, if not original, material for Earthdawn. The description of blood oaths and self-sacrifice magic, in particular, is a nice treatment of classic elements of fantasy, such as a dying curse, that have rarely been addressed well in other games. I found it curious though that with Earthdawn's focus on Barsaive, the background in these supplements is presented solely in terms of game mechanics instead of describing their role and use in the cultures and societies of Barsaive. I also thought it curious that FASA choose to begin the Magic supplement with the somewhat jarring discussion of blood magic.

The extensive lists of additional spells in Arcane Mysteries are a welcome addition to Earthdawn. One of the first things our group did when playing Earthdawn was import spells from other game systems to supplement the meager lists in the primary rulebook.

While Magic and Arcane Mysteries are worthy additions to Earthdawn, overall, they seem like one book for the price of two.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

"Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets" and "Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive"
Author: various Category: Company/Publisher: FASA Reviewed by Jeb Boyt on 08/04/97. Genre tags: none	FASA has released two new supplements for Earthdawn - Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets (142 pages) and Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive (103 pages). Magic contains new rules for blood magic, adept magic, thread magic, spell magic, enchanting, astral space, summoning, spell design, and other types of magic, including shamanism. Arcane Mysteries contains new spells and magic items. One of the best features of these supplements is the introduction of talent knacks. Talent knacks allow for additional specialized uses of talents such as arrowcutting, sensing cursed weapons, and astral tracking. Knacks cost from 100 to 500 legend points. Magic requires that knacks be taught when advancing circles, but Arcane Mysteries allows an adept to create new knacks. The knacks are a great addition to Earthdawn, providing a low-cost means for additional character development and differentiation. However, limiting knacks so that they may only be learned when advancing circles seems overly restrictive (although it is characteristic of Earthdawn - one step forward, two steps back). If you are familiar with the Grimoire for Shadowrun or other recent magic supplements produced for other games, then you have a pretty good idea about what's inside Magic. The information on the various styles of magic and astral space provide useful, if not original, material for Earthdawn. The description of blood oaths and self-sacrifice magic, in particular, is a nice treatment of classic elements of fantasy, such as a dying curse, that have rarely been addressed well in other games. I found it curious though that with Earthdawn's focus on Barsaive, the background in these supplements is presented solely in terms of game mechanics instead of describing their role and use in the cultures and societies of Barsaive. I also thought it curious that FASA choose to begin the Magic supplement with the somewhat jarring discussion of blood magic. The extensive lists of additional spells in Arcane Mysteries are a welcome addition to Earthdawn. One of the first things our group did when playing Earthdawn was import spells from other game systems to supplement the meager lists in the primary rulebook. While Magic and Arcane Mysteries are worthy additions to Earthdawn, overall, they seem like one book for the price of two. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

"Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets" and "Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive"