Introduction
Eldritch Weirdness: Book One ("EW" hereafter) is a collection of thirty new magical spells for use with author Matt "Mythmere" Finch's Swords & Wizardry rule set. Like OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry is a "retro-clone" game, specifically one intended to emulate the very first set of Dungeons & Dragons rules as they were published by Gygax and Arneson in 1974. Because of this, the spell formats will look quite familiar to anyone who has played D&D in the past, and there's a great deal of cross-compatability with other D&D versions.
Physical Presentation
EW is currently available only in electronic PDF form. The entire file runs for eight black-and-white pages, with the first being a title page and the last two mostly Open Gaming License information.
The only art is the illustration on the title page and it depicts a very odd-looking sorcerer (he looks somewhaty like one of the ubiquitous grey aliens from UFO folklore) gazing into a glowing crystal ball that is hovering in the air before him in a cloud of incense smoke. It's an interesting piece, to be sure, and really does look like it could have come from a 1970s D&D rulebook, which really tells you all you need to know about whether you're likely to appreciate it or not.
Contents
The new spells here are all designated as arcane, which means they're for magic-users only. Personally, I'm hoping to see some new tricks for clerics in a future sequel. The flavor and presentation of the thirty new spells in EW are perhaps best illustrated by a typical sample from the text:
Strange Waters (Arcane)
Level 3
Range: 10ft
Duration: 1 hour
A globe of water filled with twenty colorful fish appears in the air. The water can be drunk, and the fish are edible – with the exception of one, which is poisonous. Eating a fish allows the eater to fly for a short period of time (1d6 turns), or to shrink to diminutive size (1ft tall for a period of 2d6 turns) at his choice.
As you can see, the spells descriptions are concise and light on mechanics while the spell effects are wildly imaginative. In fact, they often justify EW's title by being downright weird. This is EW's greatest strength in my opinion, as this magic is much more "magical" than average and very much in keeping with the game's pulp fantasy roots. Heck, the example I gave above is one of the less strange enchantments detailed. Just wait until you get to the spell that causes your eyes to glow and glass to rattle in your presence while simultaneously making you more likable to cats.
The only potential negative is that some spell descriptions are a little vague, which seems to be by design. The author even admits: "One spell, 'Infuse,' is so open-ended it's got no discernable game purpose at all, unless you add something somewhere." Sure enough, here's the description for Infuse: "This spell infuses liquids (usually pre-prepared ones) with magical propensities and potentials. It does not, in and of itself, create potions." That's it. What does that mean? The author again: "Now go and imagine the hell out of it!" Okay.
Still, while imagining the hell out of things is a vital part of the classic D&D tradition, Infuse is still the exception here and not the rule. While most of these spell descriptions are concise, they're not in need of nearly as much GM interpretation.
Conclusion
Overall, I love the spells in EW. They're whimsical and weird without being ineffectual and simply ooze gonzo pulp fantasy style in the best traditions of Vance, Leiber, and others. If only every designer put this much effort into making each new spell more than just another way to blast the bad guys with fire or boost your armor class...
EW is also affordable, priced at $1.50 at the time of this writing, so the real question is: Are such extraordinary nuggets of wizardy goodness worth a nickel each? For me, it's a no-brainer. I'm already thinking of ways to work Beast of Chaos and Most Horrible Absorption into the repertoires of my own campaign's evil magic-users. Good times.
Ratings Summary
Style: 3
Substance: 4
