So many years after I first purchased this product, this is still one of the best supplements I've ever incorporated into my games. My players really love using this magic system - it's completely spoiled them for the old Vancian ways of doing things. When I've got a new idea for a fantasy game I want to run, I'll often give my players a choice of systems, but I don't know why I bother. They always choose the same thing: our bastard mix of D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder 2, with Elements of Magic. They just want a chance to play with EoM again.

From what I've read about the new edition of Pathfinder, it sounds like EoM won't work with it very well. This makes me sad. Because this is a really fun and wonderful product, and it will be sad if later generations of gamers never encounter it because the systems can't support it anymore. As for us, we'll probably always keep our old system books around, just so we can run an adventure with Elements of Magic once in awhile.

Very interesting and flexible magic system. Allows players to create the effect they want without sticking to stock spells. The game balance is also pretty good, though I would recommend this for campaigns featuring this as the only sort of magic class, things become rather confusing trying to use this in addition to standard magic. My only complaint is its complexity; it can really slow down a game, and is too difficult for newer players.

So I don't usually purchase pdf-only products but after reading the reviews on this one I took my chances and bought it. And you know what, my choice was not made in vain, for this is one awesome product. It is taking me a bit of time and multiple re-readings to fully get the gist of everything, but now that I have, well its pretty awesome. The spell system is one of the more marvelous ones I have seen in D&D and its definitely a great product. I recommend it to all, I say buy it, read it, and use it.

My only regret is that it and its sequel are not in physical format because I for one would jump instantly at the chance of having this product in front of me in book format.

Elements of Magic (EOM) has to be the best d20 magic system mod in existence. It allows for a free form spell casting, while on the surface, may be slow, in play time, it isn't much slower then the basic system in the regular D&D 3rd.

THE CLASSES There are three new core classes introduced in the system which pretty much either suppliments the game or replaces the spell caster types already in the basic system. They are the Mage, Task Mage and Warrior Mage.

The Mage is the class that would end up replacing The Sorcerer, Wizard and Druid. Clerics Can use the Mage or the Warrior Mage depending whether they are primarily Fighers with divine powers or Spell users with some combat training. Mages start out with the most 'Spell Points', and 'Lists', which means, magically, per level, they have a broader spell design base and a greater number of spells used per day.

The Task Mage is sort of the fill in for the Bard. It's basically a Skill based class with a magic kicker.

The Warrior Mage is the fill in for the Paladin or the Ranger and also perhaps a Warrior Priest who does better at arms then their spell casting.

THE SYSTEM Instead of pre designed spells in the book, there are lists. And there is an extensive set of lists when you put all the 'verbs' and 'nouns' together. For example, one list is a Healing list, but you have to specify what you can heal when choosing a list, 'Heal Humanoids' is one as is 'Heal Metal'. There is also Evocation, Charm, Abjure as well as another dozen or so.

Spell casters normally have a few spells that they have as 'preferred' or memorized so it only takes a normal casting round to use. When a caster wants to design and cast a spell on the fly, it takes two rounds to cast. Which game wise works out, since the player can tell the DM the general purpose of the spell they are working on for their first round, then get the specifics during the time of the rest of the players/monsters are going, then do a normal casting the second round.

It might be mentioned that in EOM that there is no difference between Arcane and Divine Magic. So, unless your DM specifically restricts it, your Mage can use healing magic. Personally, I don't have a problem with this. Where Divine is Faith Healing, Mages actually alter the body to mend the wound.

Also, there are a few dozen new Feats as well as alterations in Feats that already exist. Meta magic works a little different with spell points and Item creation has been overhauled completely to use the EOM system. They are generally computable with the old system, though the costs tend to be different.

Pros: I like the system and have used it with success. It fits my concept of real magic users and allows me to get away from the seemingly artificial 'memorized' spell system that D&D uses.

Cons: It can slow down play considerably when the plaer using it is not on the ball. Also, it can be overwhelming to some with just the shear flexibility that they will encounter.

An average product. It still does not repair the 'spell-for-all-occasions' that ruins so many systems.

The only system I now allow for magic, this book is awesome. I found the 'point-based' magic system, and how it was divided, provided only slight problems, such as partial transformations. It can be worked around with a small amount of effort, definitely one of the most useful products I have enocuntered.

This is a great product that I can't recommend enough. I can't wait to put this into use.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The system seems very polished and useful. The array of options is astounding and seem to give magic a more lively feel especially versus Vancian systems.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The array of options is not easily summarized for easy reference during play. Signature spells mitigates this somewhat by encouraging the use of a standard list of spells, but I could see play slowing for players who are indecisive.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I don't think I'll ever know what to make of this until I try it out.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It really does seem flexible.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Bland. This is a "make your own flavor" system.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

I was working on a system like this myself (or at least thinking of how one would work) when I read the description of this product, I bought it and was and still am incredibly impressed. That?s not to say this system is game ready as is, I don?t think it?s that polished. What it is is an incredibly different and exciting way to do magic.

It basically breaks down the magic system into parts of the spell and lets you put together those parts however you want. The ability to alter the effects through adding cost (it?s an mp system) and the ability to combine 2 spells into one cast (if they work together) makes for an almost unlimited potential with your magic.

And now a few negative points to balance my incredible joy with this product. The system is complex, yet simple. . . yeah. It will take some time to get used to, you can?t just look at your list and call out the spell, you have to build each spell. However your players will most likely use a small amount of spells and alter them to fit the situation. (alterations involve range and area and such, all at cost) My main problem as the material stands is the amount of mp they suggest giving each character per day. It?s enough to cast 12 highest power spells a day. One they give an example of is a level 14 spell that lasts one day and instantly revives the person it?s cast on if they die during that day and then it heals them substantially. I don?t like the charging so well, they allow for a lot of triggers and that just does in combat work before combat. It also can be exploited easily, for example you could charge powerful damage spells into pebbles, give them to someone with a slingshot and watch them decimate enemies. My initial reaction would be to lower overall mp per day and limit the charging of spells drastically.

Overall it is an intriguing system that you could work with to create a really unique magical world.

The system is not as complex as it seems when you first read through, I don't think they do a very good job of explaining it.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I love the system and the ideas behind it.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Needs better editing. The charging spells system allows you to do way too much. Players that want faster paced learn and cast spell system will hate this.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

I loved the product.. I'm definetly recommending it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

This is a great alternative system for the core d20 fantasy rules. The rules are fresh imaginative, easy to play and realy complete. I gives you lots of flexibility.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Everything<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This is a fantastic system.

Overall, I am exceedingly impressed with the Revised Elements of Magic. I've ran two five-shot games now using the system. I've only noticed a few discrepencies in the balance; and my only other major qualm is with a couple instances of very poor editing in which part of a page gets trimmed away, or typos and grammatical errors.

However, this work is so good that I would offer my services as an extremely meticulous editor for free to improve it -- and that's saying a lot!

The balance issues come from the Transformation list and multiclassing between EoM core classes. Both of these can be exploited cleverly to a pretty extreme extent. Nonetheless, the exploitations more often than not lead to some extreme extens of fun as well, so it's really no big deal! I found a lot more loopholes than my players did, even though they all read through the system twice.

One thing I dislike is the fact that the base range for most all spells is Touch. I think that this should scale with MP used, because using MP for augmenting range underpowers a heck of a lot of the spells in comparison to the traditional spellset -- and keep in mind that I'm not forgetting the extreme versatility granted in EoM when considering the balance between the traditional spellset and this one. I decided on a quick-fix that allowed one range increment bonus for every 5 MP spent, for free.

Everything else is so wonderful that I rank this as one of the best products I've ever read. The example spells are hilarious and brilliant. They truly show the magic of the system (yeah yeah, sorry for the pun). I was inspired to write a ton of new spells just for fun.

The big downside: making EoM NPCs takes For-Ever. Capitalized and split in syllables for emphasis, yo. So I'd stick to using core NPC crap, but use EoM for the big bad evil mage or whatnot.

Perfect for PCs, great for inspired DMs (I love ripping spells and adding them to other NPCs like random sorcerers -- just use the equivalent spell level transition formula), and absolutely amazing for provoking description.

Spice up your games. It's worth the money just for the fun read.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: - Fantastically flexible system

• Promotes great description
• Fun read
• Decent balance
• Tons of fun examples<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - Long creation times for characters
• Some "insane loophole" tricks due to tiny balance flaws
• Technical spell augmentation issues<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Its a nice idea and well thought out. However not really practical, and too complicated. What would be far better . Is a much more rules light system, that allows the player to add on more complicated rules. Also one problem that occured to me after reading EOM. Was that it takes away the fluff and leaves you with the bare bones of a spell. However its the fluff I like.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: nice idea.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: too complicated , not practical.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

A very interesting variation on a spell-point using magic system. Build your own spells from points, combine different effects to put it all together. Put in some time making enough spells, and a DM can have a unique spell list to give to his players.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The versatility. You can whip up just about any spell you can think of with this. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A very good product with a good alternate magic system. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Other than little annoying things that I'll get to below, the product is very useful on many levels. It can be used as a way to create balanced spells for standard spellcasters. IO pesonally like the feel & balnce of the spellcasting system as presented.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The only complaint I have is the tendency in many EN Publishing products not to be completely clear in discription. There seems to be times when the author knows exactly what he is trying to say, and seems to think that they have been completely clear in the discription, but fail to get the point across directly. An example in this product would be signature spells. The text states the number of signature spells a mage may have. The implication seems to mean the number that he may EVER have. The next article then goeson to descripe how to change signature spells. The process sounds like spell preperation from the core rules. It seems that a the real statement should be the number of siganture spells the mage can have prepared per day.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>