Advanced classes fro d20 Mod. The presents the Hermetic Mage. A caster of the same ilk as Alistair Crowley. 21 pages including cover and OGL, it is actually pretty packed. Lots of good ideas on expanding the magic used in the d20 Mod system.

At first glance, the Hermetic Mage comes across as a hybrid of the Mage and Occultist classes from the D20 Modern SRD, able to both cast spells and obtain magic items when advancing in level. However, they also have a great deal of skill with Incantations which also increases as they advance. Their spell list seems a bit narrow, which is odd given that they are followers of the tradition of Hermes Trismegistos, greatest arcane mage of all human history, yet upon closer examination you will notice that they have access to a number of divine spells in addition to the expected arcane ones, which I suppose makes up for the stricter list. I would have made a bigger deal of that, but that's just me.

One thing that puzzles me is this: Why doesn't the Hermetic Mage have the Spellcraft skill, yet the Diviner class from the same author does when they don't cast actual spells?

Also, it says that Hermetic Mages make Research checks at a vastly-reduced DC to discover incantations at 1st level. Is there a limit to how many they can Research per level, or do they simply keep rolling until they fail or learn every incantation in the Urban Arcana book, whichever comes first?

Still, 93 Games Studios does decent work, and if you're running a D20 Modern campaign in the Dark*Matter, Shadow Chasers/Shadow Stalkers, or Urban Arcana settings, you'll find a lot of good material from them.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>