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Review: Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth |  |
This is a review of Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth, by E.N. Publishing.
I had heard a little bit about EN Publishing's Elements of Magic prior to reading Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth, so I was somewhat intrigued from the start. As I read this book, however, my enthusiasm for it quickly grew. Here was an e-book that was edited and proofread better than many print products that I've read, and with an interesting, flexible, and fun magic system that's pretty easy to plop into any modern or fantasy d20 game. Allow me to explain where my enthusiasm comes from.
The e-book starts with an introduction, as you'd expect, and then leads into a very intelligent discussion of myth, legend, folktale and superstition. It not only discusses what these things are, exploring various types of myths, including the Monomyth and the Fellowship Cycle, but it does a very good job of explaining why myth can make a good game better. This is not just a theoretical essay, it's a guide for breathing new life into your game, for adding resonance to quests that might feel somewhat generic otherwise.
As interesting as this discussion is, however, the real meat of the product is the magic system, and it is very, very good. Magic is broken up into a series of spellcasting skills—skills like Create, Attack, Illusion, and Charm, to name a few—which you gain access to by taking Tradition feats. A Tradition feat represents the spellcasting tradition that you follow—again, to name a few: Stage Magic, Dreamtime, Necromancy, and Classical Fey—and give you access to certain spellcasting skills as class skills. To cast a spell, you simply choose the effect that you want, including range, duration, and other particulars, and work with the GM to find an appropriate level and DC. Then you cast the spell. It sounds like magic might slow the game down, doesn't it? It really doesn't. Spontaneous casting, as described above, takes two full rounds to use. To mitigate this, you can create ‘signature spells'; basically, spontaneous spells that you've created beforehand, that do the same thing every time you cast them, but only require a standard action to cast. Thus, the flexibility is maintained, and the game is sped up considerably.
Granted, the book is not without its problems. There are a very few editing mistakes, and I can think of a few places where some errata is needed. For example, the book explains that, in order to cast a spell of higher level than is normally possible, you must take Strength burn. However, at certain points in the text, a different penalty (the fatigued condition) is referred to. In another part of the book, a few Tradition feats are provided for standard fantasy d20 (the system is designed with modern d20 in mind). However, one of these feats requires the use of action points, which are normally unavailable in fantasy d20. However, little things like this do nothing to detract from the overall superb quality of this product. Perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that I fully intend to use it in my own game, and I'm very, very excited about it.
What I Liked: Great writing, intelligent discussions, and excellent artwork. Not only that, but the magic system is perhaps one of the most interesting, flexible, and balances systems I've seen for quite some time. Also, for those looking for a little flavor with their crunch, there's a lengthy section on the default campaign setting for Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth, a setting called High Fantasy for modern d20. It's well-written and very interesting, and gives you a lot of good examples of how to create spells via the system.
What I Didn't Like: Very little. There were a few errors and items requiring minor errata, but nothing game-breaking.
