Review: Iap's Practical Guide to the Arcane #1 and #2
Iap, over at Seraphim Guard kindly submitted two of his d20 supplements for me to review. The two offerings are:
Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane #1
Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane #2
Full Disclosure: Both of these items were provided free for the review. Also, I will get a very tiny affiliate benefit if you should purchase one of these items from RPGnow .
Quick Summary for the Impatient Reader: Both supplements contain useful spells and items, with a caveat that only mature game groups should have access to the more powerful spells. They are worth the reasonable $2.25 each.
“Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane #1″ (hereafter known as “Iap #1/#2″) is a six page pdf document containing 15 spells, 3 items and 1 feat. “Iap #2″ has 15 spells and five items in eight pages. Both carry the d20 compliant logo. The art is minimal, with only a nice black and white picture of Iap ( I assume) on the front page and a decorative border around the text. Editing is above average for a PDF offering, with no major typos or formatting issues. Font size and selection make this document easy to read and reference. It also printed out cleanly on standard paper.
The spells and items are formatted in the standard PHB/SRD manner, so using them is a snap.
As to content, the author is clearly looking to add more “flavor” spells to the average wizard’s spellbook. “Iap #1″ focuses on making the wizard more “wizardly.” The first spell, and one of my favorites, is “Iap’s Floating Throne.” This is a second level spell that provides a floating chair for the wizards to travel across long distances. It is a limited spell and little better than a horse, but significantly cooler. You can ride into town on a nag, like the grubby barbarian or float in on a magic throne.
Several of the spells fall into this “cool for role-playing, but not for killing” category, but there is some crunch. To lay out the hurt on someone, “Iap’s Lesser Spell Hanger” fits the bill. It is a low-level (first and second level spells only) version of contingency, but it is a swift action to activate. I liked the parity it provided with the psions, who have swift action powers and the limitation of only low-level spells can utilize it. There are higher level versions that allow more powerful spells to “hang.” Overall, I thought the spells were useful, creative and balanced.
“Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane #2″ is less a separate supplement than a “sequel” to the first publication. For example, “Iap #1″ contains a spell called “Iap’s Cache,” a low-level extra-dimensional storage spell. “Iap #2″ has “Iap’s Greater Cache,” which offers more space and longer duration. “Iap #2″ also tends to be for higher level casters overall.
I should mention the spells in “Iap #2″ are clearly designed for a table that focuses more on “role-playing” than “roll-playing.” Two of them “Iap’s Hold” and “Iap’s Planar Domain” allow creation of extra-dimensional realms, not just spaces. The latter even comes with a village full of people! While great fun for a mature gaming table, the ability to whip up a personal realm is a potential game balance annihilator.
Both books have a small selection of magic items. Some of them are just item equivalents of the spells, such as the “Jaunt Ring” that allows the use of the “Jaunt” spell. There are some unique items, such as the “Gestalt Ring” that allows two characters to share skill, sadly it also slowly drives them insane. Not sure I would give it out to PCs, but for NPCs, it is excellent. Not a huge selection of items, but useful nonetheless.
Overall, I liked the variety and idiosyncratic nature of these spells and magic items. Both supplements are well worth the fair $2.25 price tag
Trask, The Last Tyromancer
Filed Under: Reviews
About the Author: Trask is a long-time gamer, world traveler and history buff. He hopes that his scribblings will both inform and advance gaming as a hobby.