Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts review

Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts

by Dyson Logos via ZERO/Barrier

Do you run old school Dungeons and Dragons or any of the retroclones like Labyrinth Lords? Do you want more variety in your magic using classes? If the answer is 'yes' then this book is definitely for you. It is very clear cut in it's goals and designs giving you a whole truck load of information and rules for expanding the roles of the Magic User.

First off we are given the base two classes of Cleric and Wizard, followed by eleven more classes each with their own specializations. From the dark Pact-Bound to the fighting Elven Swordmage and everything in between. My personal favorite being the Unseen, a mix of a thief and spellcaster with some special abilities to make them extra sneaky. You get everything necessary, spell lists, experience chart, saving throws, etc. These are fully finished classes and not just half thought up ideas.

Following up this is the full list and description of spells. All of them for all the classes are included here. No “See book XX” here, you get it all. Some of these I have never seen or thought of before along side the old standards and commons. A very nice meaty list to say the least.

Then we move onto Magic Items. Covering how spell adders work, ways to make magic items more unique in your game world and limits on using some items at the same time. Again we are treated to a good list of items, all detailed out and ready to be used. The variety alone covering all the item types provides more than enough to fill a campaign or two with. Again lots of usable material ready to go right now.

In the last few pages we get a bit about special summonable creatures like Elementals and the Flesh Beast. Plus a short two page section on converting this information into the more advanced editions of the retroclone games (namely the AEC for Labyrinth Lord).

Now the only cons I have for this book is the lack of any artwork. While I am perfectly happy with this good chunk of usable information in one tome there are some out there who want to see a few illustrations from time to time. Well there aren't any here, just lots of game material.

All in all I have to give this book two thumbs up. It delivers exactly what it claims and it does so with plenty more than expected. Especially if you are an old school dungeon crawling fan who wants to branch out their character options.

You can purchase it via these channels:

In PDF at Drivethrurpg

in PDF at RPGNow

In PRINT at lulu dot com.

Also be sure to check out the authors excellent blog:

Dyson's Dodecahedron


Hope you enjoyed the review.