Review of Books of Sorcery, Vol. 2: The White and Black Treatises

In Short

Providing history, rules, and new spells for both Sorcery and Necromancy, The Books of Sorcery, Vol. II The Black and White Treatises (hereinafter “BaWT”) is meant to be a comprehensive guide to spellcasting. New spells ranging from the trivial (a small harvest in a small area one time) to the spectacular (becoming a cthuonic god-being). Different colleges of study and approaches to magic are also presented in an effort to add more depth to Sorcery and Necromancy.

Be aware that BaWT includes many spells from 1e products, updating them for 2e. Some have received significant changes, however, such as the new classification of the bone lion spell as Necromancy.

The Good: There are a *lot* of spells here, providing spellcasting characters with a large number of options. Many of the Necromancy spells are clearly setup to provide an epic ‘final battle’, or even a full campaign’s worth of fights, for a group of heroes.

The Bad: The history discussion and schools of thought are a little bland. Game balance was clearly a priority with some spells, perhaps at the expense of the fun of those spells. More attention to cultural magic practicing traditions would have been a welcome addition.

The Physical Thing

This 160 page black and white softcover showcases above average production values for its $24.99 price tag. The editing and formatting are both high quality, and the artwork is good and often corresponds to the text. As with other Exalted products each chapter begins with a comic meant to focus the reader’s interest.

BaWT is split into two different books – one on Sorcery and one on Necromancy – each of which is accessible by just flipping the book over and starting anew. While this does result in wasted pages (author info, title, table of contents, etc. all presented twice), it’s fun and looks neat. BaWT has no index, instead choosing to group spells alphabetically by Circle. While this doesn’t make navigation overly difficult, it does result in a lot of page flipping when the reader can’t remember the exact name of a desired spell.

Under the Cover

One of the metaphysical aspects of Sorcery and Necromancy is that each spell is unique and unalterable. Death of Obsidian Butterflies is one spell, Death of Obsidian Locusts is another. While a cynical reader might say this is a more efficient supplement model than just producing a system to create spells with, the goal is to preserve the mystique of magic and to make every spell feel unique – and every spell does feel unique. In many ways this approach to magic allows Exalted to retain a sense of discovery and wonder when it comes to spellcasting that may be lost in other games.

Chapter One The World of Sorcery - 28 pages.

After discussing the metaphysical rules of magic, such as that nothing can truly return the dead to life, that Sorcery and Necromancy spells that mimic the effects of the other type must always be one circle lower, and that every spell is unique and unalterable, this chapter jumps right in to the history of Sorcery, how Sorcery is learned, and some unique Charms that may be applied to Sorcery.

Initiation into Sorcery is different on its face all over the world, but every sorcerer goes through the five Ordeals of Humility, Tutelage, Journey, Fear, and Sacrifice. Even then every sorcerer’s initiation will be different. A young Sidereal might be confronted with an infinity, such as losing his lover forever, for Fear while a Lunar might have to survive a confrontation with a Chimera. In addition to small, flavorful details like the initiation this chapter provides a variety of examples of schools of magic (such as the Heptagram), three philosophical approaches to magic, a Charm that gives static benefits based on the character’s approach to magic (such as being able to Countermagic the powers of the Fair Folk)

The history of Sorcery is varied, depending on who is asked, but primarily involves an epic quest by an ancient Celestial Exalted to master this arcane force. The descriptions of the schools are all interesting, and while the history of Sorcery itself is a little bland there are still plenty of interesting tidbits to give a Storyteller ideas for fragments of ancient text and historical archives.

Chapter Two The White Treatise of Sorcery - 63 pages.

This large collection of spells offers something for everyone and I certainly can’t fault the chapter for its diversity. Where I will fault it is with the inclusion of some spells of very questionable use. One spell, for instance, causes flowers to bloom, animals to give birth, and crops to reach their prime. It only works on a small area, once per year, and its use seems to be to quickly harvest before a frost or, perhaps in a military setting, to take crops before razing them (though this isn’t suggested). That’s a neat idea, but the spell is very narrowly useful. When compared to other spells of the same Circle it’s difficult to imagine a player desiring this spell, or a Storyteller wanting to show it off in game.

Even considering that many spells are less than optimal, there’s plenty of content here for everyone. Battle spells, travel spells, communication spells, and others are represented in several forms in every Circle. While many 1E spells are reprinted, they’ve been tweaked for balance and usefulness and are a welcome revision. The only other problem here is some confusion, at times, in the spell descriptions but it’s an uncommon problem.

Chapter One The World of Necromancy - 14 pages.

Necromancy, split into three Circles like Sorcery and wielded by everyone (lowest), Celestial Exalted (middle), and Abyssal Exalted (highest), is as powerful as Sorcery but much more focused. Many spells specifically target ghosts and those that don’t often have the effect of rotting flesh, spreading disease, or creating automatons – just as you would expect from Necromancy.

While shorter and less detailed, Necromancy receives similar attention to Sorcery. How to become a necromancer, the history of Necromancy, schools, philosophical approaches to Necromancy, and other concepts are all presented and they’re pretty good. I like that the book discusses Necromancy outside of the Underworld and Abyssal Exalted, even paying attention to Lunar and Dragon-Blooded practitioners. The five trials to become a necromancer are particularly cool, forcing the would-be necromancer to deal with the darker and nastier aspects of Necromancy from the start.

Chapter Two The Black Treatise of Necromancy - 37 pages.

Necromancy is of a power level with Sorcery, but focused on death and largely lacking the direct elemental attacks of Sorcery. Many spells harm ghosts and are clearly meant for large scale battles against undead. Others tend to harm a target with curses and disease, and still more either animate corpses or build great war machines. It’s clear that part of the focus of Necromancy is to create an excellent set of powers for a major villain – instant army, golems, mecha, and even spells that transform the caster into an incredibly powerful creature from beyond. While there are still plenty of player resources here, the real benefit is going to come to Storytellers looking for an antagonist.

The spells of less use here are that way because of their situational nature. If your game doesn’t feature a ready supply of ghosts, for example, a large portion of the spells either won’t be castable or won’t have a target. Of course, if the game isn’t going to prominently feature undeath then Necromancy magic probably isn’t an appropriate character choice anyway.

My Take

What can I say, it’s a major resource for any Exalted game and if you’re a player or Storyteller you should own this. The backgrounds on both Sorcery and Necromancy are fun and filled with interesting ideas, though I wish there was even more material. Many spells will be familiar to 1E fans, but rebalanced and updated to make them more useful. Those new to Exalted will find that BaWT is absolutely loaded with content and that it dramatically expands the power of spellcasters in their game.

Fun, imaginative spells, interesting background material, and something for everyone make this one worth picking up.