Arcania of Legend: Blood Magic - PDF Now Available

[MongooseMatt]

The first in an all new Open Content series for the Legend RPG, Arcania of Legend books will introduce different forms of magic into your games, allowing you to pick and choose which is right for characters and worlds alike. It starts with Blood Magic…

You can grab a copy right now at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_i ... s_id=99583

This tome examines the beliefs and uses of life force in cultural magic, offering rules, spells and supernatural creatures which thrive upon it. It begins with insights concerning what life force is and how it drives supernatural effects. The differences in animal and human blood are investigated, focussing on what rewards are granted for varying levels of sacrifice up to and including youth or even death. Also included are new concepts of how inherited bloodlines can provide mystical abilities, the consumption of blood endowing strengths and powers, and methods of preserving life (or unlife) by exsanguination.

[Hopeless]

Tempting have a game planned for this Sunday and this might be very useful though I'd rather wait and get it and the pdf thanks to bits and mortar mind you!

[Dan True]

Nice. When will the dead tree version arrive?

-Dan

[Prime_Evil]

Wow...that was much earlier than expected!

Does this mean that we will see other Arcania of Legend books later in this year?

It certainly wouldn't take too much trouble to clean up some of the issues with the MRQ II Necromantic Arts book and re-release it under the Legend brand...

Plus, I would love to see books such as Demonology, Illusions, and Earth Magic (covering ley lines and places of power)...

[MongooseMatt]

Nice. When will the dead tree version arrive?

-Dan

Early to mid-next month.

[MongooseMatt]

Plus, I would love to see books such as Demonology, Illusions, and Earth Magic (covering ley lines and places of power)...

Certainly our intention.

[Prime_Evil]

Hmmm...I've picked up the PDF and have had a quick glance through it. Blood Magic is well worth getting if you want to run a swords & sorcery campaign or a dark fantasy campaign. The rules for concert casting and the rules for summoning demons are well worth the price of admission alone. It looks like it provides an alternate system for divine magic based upon two new advanced skills that aren't seamlessly compatible with the rules for divine magic core rulebook. I won't be able to say more without looking at the work more closely, but it seems that this book offers a broad range of options around the theme of Blood Magic that GMs can adopt or ignore as they see fit. It looks like this book should be approached as a toolbox rather than as a rules expansion to be adopted in full.

[languagegeek]

Tempting have a game planned for this Sunday and this might be very useful though I'd rather wait and get it and the pdf thanks to bits and mortar mind you!

How does Mongoose's Bits and Mortar work?

[Simulacrum]

I was lucky enough to see Pete's draft some time back (and I just bough the PDF). There are some straight alternative spell casting rules there, but the basic skills of Piety and Invoke for Divine Magic simply map across Pact and Theology skills and are alternatives to those if you prefer the terminology etc.

BM also provides for pantheistic worship if you want to, which incidentally is how many people in AoT would manage their divine relationships, although for AoT Rites (Own) = Invoke (Pantheon) whereas the Pact/Piety skill is still Deity-specific.

It's great to see the demon summoning and creation rules, plus concert casting all set out as OGC, and importantly, Temporary Enchantments (basically spells set to a trigger).

All in all BM, in my opinion, contains a lot of Pete's evolved thinking about RQII/Legend. I would not be surprised if some of the concepts provided as alternative approaches to the core
Legend rules were worked in to RQ6.

[Bifford]

This looks like it will be rather nice!

I already added BM to the rpggeek site as un-released... have now submitted a revision to say the pdf os available

[Hopeless]

Tempting have a game planned for this Sunday and this might be very useful though I'd rather wait and get it and the pdf thanks to bits and mortar mind you!

How does Mongoose's Bits and Mortar work?

I wait for it to show up on leisure games web site's list of new releases for the week that usually get released every sunday or so.

There was quite to rush for Arms of Legend so had to wait a week for my order to be confirmed but when it was they sent the link to download the pdf version of the product I ordered.

I don't recall seeing anything they had from Mongoose not being on the bits and mortar section but then I've been more focused on Traveller and Legend and the One Ring to notice anything else having a pdf copy available with the hard print copy order.

[Bifford]

Would someone let me know what the page count and page size is for blood magic?

The admins on rpggeek need to know for my recent item submission.

Many thanks,
Sam

[Prime_Evil]

The page count is 102, including covers and the OGL. The page size is the same as the rest of the Legend product line.

[Prime_Evil]

Incidentally, one of the real surprises of this book is how good some of the examples scattered through the text are - they have a strong Swords and Sorcery flavour that really sets them apart from generic D&D style fantasy. Consider this sample from pages 54-55:

Xuthoth discovers in the crypts of an forgotten ruin the fabled Crown of Serpents. Inscribed on the inner surface is the diabolical spell of Enslave Serpent Folk. After much study and theoretical practice, the sorcerer travels to the far south into the steaming jungles of Vasulia, the ancient home of the now degenerate reptilians. Placing the crown upon his head Xuthoth casts the spell with a range of 150km, demanding that all the folk assemble at his location. It takes three days before the last of the resentfully subjugated slaves arrives to bow at Xuthoth’s feet. He then demands the gathered army of 10,000 serpent folk march north to attack the fat merchants of Khoss. With such loyal troops, albeit enforced, and a near infinite supply of sacrificial victims from which he can draw blood, the sorcerer begins to dream of conquering the entire continent...

Very tasty!

[alex_greene]

I had expected to see it somewhat later than this. I have now just bought the PDF, and you can imagine the sense of anticipation I now feel.

[Mankcam]

This looks cool - I have the print copy on pre-order. I'm thinking this could have a wide scope, such as portraying fantasy Mesoamerican-type Priests through to Demonologists. Sounds cool.

[alex_greene]

Indeed, I have looked forward to this book for some time. I needed this to complete an idea I have had for a Legend faction I wish to write up.

[Hopeless]

Incidentally, one of the real surprises of this book is how good some of the examples scattered through the text are - they have a strong Swords and Sorcery flavour that really sets them apart from generic D&D style fantasy. Consider this sample from pages 54-55:

Xuthoth discovers in the crypts of an forgotten ruin the fabled Crown of Serpents. Inscribed on the inner surface is the diabolical spell of Enslave Serpent Folk. After much study and theoretical practice, the sorcerer travels to the far south into the steaming jungles of Vasulia, the ancient home of the now degenerate reptilians. Placing the crown upon his head Xuthoth casts the spell with a range of 150km, demanding that all the folk assemble at his location. It takes three days before the last of the resentfully subjugated slaves arrives to bow at Xuthoth’s feet. He then demands the gathered army of 10,000 serpent folk march north to attack the fat merchants of Khoss. With such loyal troops, albeit enforced, and a near infinite supply of sacrificial victims from which he can draw blood, the sorcerer begins to dream of conquering the entire continent...

Very tasty!

You know when i read this I had this image of something approaching Xuthoth from behind and the sorceror looked over his shoulder and stared at an ancient serpent folk who promptly grabbed him and removed the crown before starting to slowly crush him.
"Thank you, since your ancestors imposed their sorcery to prevent me physically travelling beyond my homeland to retrieve my crown I had to contrive that bit of artistic licence to insure a fool like yourself would return it and in so doing free me from your species wretched little spell..." and then eat the unfortunate sorceror...

Sorry i really couldn't resist!

[alex_greene]

I had the image in mind of something similar - a truly ancient, non-degenerate Lizard Person coming along, brushing aside the magic from the crown as if it was a Magnitude 1 Tickle spell, and saying "Nice of you to find this for me! I am always misplacing my toys!" before removing the crown from his head. After having removed head and crown from his shoulders.

[Prime_Evil]

Hehe. Isn't it traditional that ambitious sorcerer-kings always come to a nasty end as a result of their own hubris?