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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems $4.48
Average Rating:3.5 / 5
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Luciano F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/30/2005 00:00:00

Nice clean system involving crystals, magic and their aplications. Complements nice my magic system in my world<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: the interesting concepts and ideas presented<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Amy C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/08/2005 00:00:00

I bought this product in conjunction with Mineral Magic, with the idea of creating a character whose magic works through gems and stones. Ironically, though Mineral Magic was a quarter of the cost and size, it proved to be of more value in terms of what I needed to create my character.

First of all, Crystalmancy suffers from the flaw of being too heavy on game mechanics and too light on details of the specialty. Too much of the book is a list of prestige classes and a spell book as opposed to any detailed description of who crystalmancers are, their motivations, why their magic is better than traditional magic, and so forth. Some of the magic items are extremely high level fantasy--staves made of pure ruby??? And I found myself wanting to know a lot more about characters like Illameth and Genafae Rose, I wanted to know where the Emerald Hall was, how it was structured, some floor plans would have been nice.

Not to say there weren't any good ideas in this book at all. I found the idea of Genafae's Rose to be intriguing, and I plan to work it into my game. I did get some ideas from the spell list I can convert and use (since I play Hero System, not d20). A couple of the magic items are also within the realm of the possible.

The major flaws are spells and magic items that are just too fantastic compared to what you'd find in the Dungeon Master's Guide, some poor editing (numerous typos), and not enough practical detail leaving the reader yearning for more. I wish the authors had taken those extra steps. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Gilberto L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/16/2004 00:00:00

This is a nice product, and presents some new options to the D&D system. My main concern is that although advertised as a 3.5 product it is NOT entirely compatible. I.E. The Shield spells in Crystalmancy grant "nine-tenths cover" while in the 3.5 PHB (or 3.5 SRD) there are only "cover" and "total cover" (while the 3.0 PHB DID have nine-tenths cover).

However it's only a minor problem that any DM or player can easily overcome, but still, shouldn't have the 3.5 Rules label on the cover.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Ciaran H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/14/2004 00:00:00

Useful product, it should add a nice spot of flavor to any game-world.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Trampas W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/08/2004 00:00:00

Crystalmancy is a 57-page PDF product from EN World Publishing, and is the first book by Dallas Parsons. I have to say, if this book is his first, I can?t wait to see what is forthcoming.

Crystalmancy is, simply put, a sourcebook on crystal magic. Overall, I thought this book was great. It was simple, to the point, and refreshing. One of the big selling points is that the zip file includes both a color and a black-and-white copy, just in case you don?t have access to a color printer. Just a note to those who print this out ? be sure to print as ?landscape?, rather than ?portrait?. At first, it looks a bit odd in a 3-ring binder, but I think that adds to the charm.

Chapter One is about the Crystalmancer, a new base class modeled after the Player?s Handbook wizard. Scribe Scroll is replaced with a Spellcrystal ability, and the bonus feats are replaced by various Crystal Mastery abilities. What unbalances this class, though, is that it adds several trinkets at every even level, some of which are near equivalents of metamagic feats.

Don?t want to add a new base class to your campaign? No problem! One can always use the variant Crystalmancer prestige class instead. This is, unfortunately, the only prestige class in the book. I would have liked to see more. Perhaps something akin to the Crystal Proselyte in Malhavoc?s Mindscapes.

This chapter ends with two new feats (Craft Spellcrystal and Create Crystal Familiar), and a Knowledge (Gemology) skill, as well as a sidebar on spellcrystals. This section could have been better labeled, and would benefit from some touch-up layout work. It isn?t clearly labeled otherwise.

Chapter Two is Magic of the Gems, a guide to all sorts of new spells. What I like about this chapter is that it not only has a sorcerer/wizard/crystalmancer spell list, it also has one for bards, clerics, and druids as well. In other words, one can be nearly any spellcasting class (save for paladin and ranger) and be able to use crystalmancy spells. There?s tons of great spells in this chapter, including a particular nasty called Crystallize Blood. That one sends shivers up my spine.

Chapter Three is Crystal Items. This provides an assortment of magical weapons, armor, and other items, including some artifacts as well.

Chapter Four is Locations and Personalities. This chapter includes the Plane of Crystal, a place similar to our world, but made of crystal. There?s a map, as well as various places of interest. Meet Tresmril, Lord of the Crystal Realm while you?re there. Plus, there?s some adventure hooks. There?s also a group of Crystal Keepers, various Crystal Lords, and even a nifty language called Crystil. The alphabet corresponds to the English alphabet, which makes for a fun tool for game masters to add flavor.

Chapter Five is Gem Beasts. This has several new monsters, including a Crystal Creature template and sample Crystal Worg. There?s various other monsters, including a gem dragon. One can even play the Berylis as a player character race.

I found this book to be quite fun and refreshing. It?s hard to find new ways to keep spellcasters fresh, but this book does it well. There?s an underlying thoughtfulness for those who buy this, not only for player options but for the color and black-and-white versions.

This book could stand a bit of touch-up on layout (and that?s really a nitpick), and could stand to have more prestige classes. It may have been nice as well to delve into the relationship of crystalmancers and psions, especially on how they each use crystal.

Overall, this book was a great read, and a lot of fun. Most of my criticisms are nitpicks (i.e. layout on the skill-and-feats areas), and the only real area of concern is game balance for the Crystalmancer base class. I would have liked to see more prestige classes, and it may have been nice as well to delve into the relationship of crystalmancers and psions, especially on how they each use crystal. This is not really necessary, though.

This book was simple, to the point, and covered what it intended to cover (the magic of crystals) quite well. For the price of $5, it was well worth the buy.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Crystalmancy: The Powers of Gems
Publisher: EN Publishing
by DJ H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/28/2004 00:00:00

Little disappointed in this release. I like the idea of crystals in magic, but this is not the best implementation of it. Most spells seem too strong in some cases and not strong enough in others. In the cases where they are a little stronger than a spell at the level from the PHB, I was hoping to see an expensive compnonent cost to counteract, but sadly that is missing. The new base class seemed okay, but its flavor wasn't to my liking. The plane seemed neat at the end as a local to visit for a rare matierial.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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