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The presentation in Magic & Mayhem is extremely well done. It has the usual full color glossy hard cover that is fairly common among D20 products, and 207 pages of b/w text and artwork. At $29.99, it's not a bad deal, especially when one considers the sheer amount of information in the book. The artwork in the book ranges from absolutely outstanding (you've done it again Samwise Didier) to just pretty good. Page layout is clean and mostly efficient, but there is a pretty large border on every page of text, but this is how all of the Warcraft books have been done so far, so it was not surprising. The text is the standard 2 column format with a reasonably sized font (not too big, not too small). Now, on to the actual content, of which will be reviewed chapter by chapter.
Chapter 1: Flame and Faith This chapter deals with how Arcane and Divine magic affect your campaign. The first half deals with Arcane Corruption, an idea that was hinted at in the main Warcraft RPG book with the High Elf magic addiction. While potentially crippling for a mage with a low Will save, these rules do a good job of lending credibility to the "Arcane Magic is bad" mentality that the Warcraft RPG strives to present. Essentially, an arcane magic user gains corruption points when failing Will saves in various circumstances, such as casting a spell from her max spell level or casting a spell in the presence of demons. The effects of corruption are further broke down into the various schools of magic. The rest of the chapter deals with tests of faith, Fel energy, and an introduction to rune magic. The tests of faith are an interesting way of keeping your divine caster players in line with their character's class background, and would make for some interesting role playing. Rune magic is discussed in more detail in a later chapter.
Chapter 2: Prepare Yourselves! This chapter is mostly about prestige classes. It starts off with a few new metamagic and technology feats, and then dives into the new classes. First up is a new core class called the Runemaster. This class is an intersting combination of the traditional monk with a new type of supplemental caster. While certainly not overpowering, the rune abilities and spells mix very well with martial arts fighter, so this core class seems very balanced. I would have liked to see another Core class though. Next up are the prestige classes. There are three technology PrCs, the Bombardier, Engineer, and Steamwarrior. The names pretty much sum up their abilities. The remaining prestige classes all have spell casting abilities of varying degrees. The "pure" caster PrCs consist of the Graven One, a more specialized necromancer, and the Witchdoctor. Both classes would probably make for better NPCs than actual PCs due to their evil nature and somewhat subtle abilities. The remaining PrCs consist of "warrior casters", and include the Spiritwalker, Shadow Hunter, and Warden. All of these classes have potential to create some powerful PCs, with the Shadow Hunter being the most accessible of the three. All in all, I'd have to say I was impressed that the developers didn't go insane with power with these new classes. The only classes that may threaten the balance of a campaign are the Warden and Spiritwalker, and even that is debatable. Both of these are race specific (Night elf and Tauren respectively), and require a few levels before reaching their potential, so I don't expect any problems.
Chapter 3: Fountains of Mana This chapter goes into full detail of Rune Magic. Essentially, runes are divided up into Families. Each family has a different, and distinct power focus. Runes are further divided up into A)Marks, which are runes on characters, B)Sigils, which are runes placed on surfaces, and C)Glyphs, which can be placed on objects. It is possible to make your own Rune Family using like minded spells, but the example families given are addequate enough, although a couple of the familes, such as the Restoration Family, will probably never be taken by new Runemasters. The remainder of the chapter deals with new spells, many of which are RPG representations of spells and abilities from the Warcraft computer games. This chapter is probably the one that will be used most by nonWarcraft players. Some of the spells are very powerful for their level, so GMs, be prepared!
Chapter 4: Destiny And Reward This chapter deals solely with magic items. It starts off with some new armor and weapon abilities, as well as some charts listing the various abilities with their market price. A useful tool to any GM. This chapter gives the rules for a whole slew of weapons, potions (including Panderan Brews!), rings, and "wonderous items". I was impressed by the sheer variety of items available, plus the option to craft your own with the new abilities. A very useful chapter for any D20 fantasy GM.
Chapter 5: Temple of Boom If I had to pick a chapter that was my least favorite, then this would be it. This came as a real letdown as I was looking forward to this aspect of the setting more than any others. While it does have some useful malfunction and material rules, I was hoping for an overall expansion of the tech creation rules from the main book, which can be a little hard to understand at first. Mostly, this chapter consists of new tech items and weapons. I would have preferred tech templates to specific items, but many of the items listed are so bizarre most would probably never think of them, such as the Inflatable Soldier and the Wand Harness. Again, many of the items and vehicles were inspired by their computer game counterparts. Not a bad chapter by any means, but I feel the authors focused too much on precreated items instead of putting the task of invetion in the hands of the players.
Appendix 1: Constructs This small chapter was probably intended for the Manual of Monsters, but somehow got left out when it went to print. So the publishers decided put it in this book. Basically 8 pages of golems, and nothing else. Not much different from traditional D&D golems for the most part, although some of their abilities are a bit different, and they seem to be much weaker than typical D&D golems. It gives D20 GMs more stuff to throw at their players, so it can't be bad!
Overall, I feel that this is a great addition to the D20 family! This is definately one of the more "crunchy" supplements out there, and even though it says Warcraft on the cover, it could easily be used for any fantasy campaign. Many would say that the book is too Prestige Class heavy, but that is due in part to the class system in Warcraft. It seems to be designed primarily for Prestige Classes! However, I truly can't recommend this book enough! If you are running Warcraft, then you probably already have this book, or are in the process of getting it. If you don't run Warcraft, then reading this book may just put you in the mood to take your players to Azeroth! Either way, you won't be disappointed!
