Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery

[Messageboard Golem]

Your foot is on the road of chaos. As you explore this strange school of Wild Sorcery, the power of static magic will fall away, revealing the primal, chaotic forces corkscrewing through the world around you. A strong will and a quick mind is required to harness the essence of chaos, but even the wiliest may not survive their brush with the raw element of creation. Though chaos magic does not deal with malevolent, intelligent forces or the denizens of the grave, its power is wild and untamed and wholly unnatural within the material world. It is in constant flux, coiling and writhing just beyond everyday life, and whatever it touches . . . changes.

 

[Morrus]

Chaos Magic is the third in Mongoose's Encyclopaedia Arcane series. It differs from its two predecessors, Necromancy and Demonology in that it rewrites the D&D magic system completely, dropping the Vancian standard (referred to by Mongoose as 'static' magic) for a more flexible, freeform system.

When I first heard about this book, I assumed it was Wild Magic for 3E. I assumed this right up until the moment my copy arrived in the mail and I opened up the book. Well, it's not Wild Magic - what Mongoose have done is written an entirely new magic system for D&D based on the concept of using raw chaotic energy to produce a desired effect. No wild surges, random effect tables or anything like that - the energy may be 'chaos', but the use of it is very controlled.

The Chaos Mage is, of course, a character class. It's similar to the standard Wizard, with an obvious alignment requirement of 'any chaotic'. Class Abilities include things like Chaos Familiar (a familiar created out of chaotic energy - stronger than a 'static' familiar but with certain drawbacks) and Purge Chaos used to pull oneself back from the destructive Paths of Chaos mentioned below). There are two prestige classes mentioned - the Bloodcarver (who injures himself in order to focus the chaotic power) and the Doomringer (who combines necromancy and chaos magic, providing energy for the caster's magic by draining it from the dead).

The system uses casting checks against a DC determined by the various spell elements chosen at the time of casting. For example, the caster may choose an effect of Raw Damage (DC 10), an area of Cone (DC +5), a range of Close (DC +1) and a duration of 1 minute per level (DC + 10) for a total DC of 26. The casting check is a d20 roll plus the caster's class level, plus his Charisma bonus. There is no limit to the number of spells available per day, but each casting causes 2 HP of subdual damage for every 5 full points of the DC (so the above spell would cause 10 points of subdual damage).

The caster also needs to watch out for Backlashes, which occur whenever he rolls a 1 on his casting check; each Backlash pushes the caster further down a Path of Chaos (there are several different paths), which have different effects on the character at each step along the path. If you have Mongoose's Necromancy book, you'll get the idea, as they use something similar there. Otherwise, think along the lines of the Dark Powers checks from Ravenloft. There are seven paths - the paths of Berserk Growth, Bloody Rage, Rapid Regression, Shrieking Pain, Screaming Shadows, Writhing Serpents, Tortured Stone and Whispering Madness, randomly selected when the Chaos Mage suffers his first Backlash. The first step along each path is relatively harmless - for example, the Path of Berserk Growth begins with Blades of Chaos - the mage's hair changes colour to green and adopts the texture of grass; towards the end of this path, the caster's entire body becomes a mass of vegetation (which is darned inconvenient!). The final (tenth) step in each path turns your character forevermore into a creature of chaos, destroying him.

Rather than thinking of this as wild magic for 3E, you'd be better off thinking of it as an alternative magic system for the game.

So just how flexible is the system? As presented (although I'm sure that any DM could easily expand on the options), you have a choice of four different overall effects - Damage, Materialisation, Movement and Transformation. Each of these is again subdivided - Damage, for example, is divided into raw, persistent and degrading effects, whilst the others are divided into category is dependent upon the power level required - Movement is divided into minor (20 ft plus 5 ft/2 caster levels), Moderate, Major all the way up to Universal (1 plane). The elements essentially control the mechanics - you select Area, Range, Duration and Saving Throw, which all add up to a total DC for your spell. I haven't had the opportunity to exhaustively test this system - in principle it looks very elegant and flexible; whether or not it is flexible enough or whether it is balanced enough is another matter, but looking at it I can see no obvious flaws. I ran a single NPC in my game using this system a couple of days ago, and ran across no problems (apart from some very confused players!).

The bulk of the book is concerned with presenting this system, but there is more to be found here. Wanton Talents (for some reason I'm reminded of Gary Gygax's 1E wandering prostitute table...) are available to 'static mages' - there are seven such talents, such as Chaos Flare and Random Amplification, and these are used to enhance normal spellcasting. Characters with these talents make a concentration check in order to use them to affect the spell being cast. If you recall the 2e Tome of Magic level variation table for wild magic, this is, in effect the same thing approached from a different angle.

Bottled Lightning deals with chaotic magic items - 6 pages of rules on how a chaos mage can craft such an artefact. Chaotic items are less stable than their static counterparts, and each is unique - there are no 'standard item' lists. The caster moulds his own item at the time of creation. These rules are a tad complicated but appear to work fine.

This book presents a totally new magic system for D&D; and I'm sure that it's a system that many people have tried to create for their own camapaigns. I know that I've had variations on this theme in scattered notebooks spanning various incarnations of D&D/AD&D over the years. It's not a new concept - other games have done it before, with varying degrees of success - but it is the first time it has been done for D&D (unless you count the 2E Player's Option 'True Dweomers', which also concentrated on 'building' your unique magical effect). This is also the first Mongoose product written by someone other than Matthew Sprange, and I feel that Sam Witt has done a fine job here. That said, I have merely read the book and playtested it for on gaming session as an NPC; a new system is hard to review accurately until it has been exhaustively tested. Because of this, I am going to give this book a preliminary 4/5; I may well come back and amend that score (and this review) should I find that either 1) the system works so well that I'll permanently adopt it for my games or 2) the system is broken and requires substantial work on the DM's part. I'll be trying the system in my weekly game for the next month or so, so don't expect me to come back to this review until February at the least.

 

[Psion]

Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery

One of Mongoose Publishing's most attractive lines to date has been their Encyclopaedia Arcane series. The first two books in the series, Demonology: The Dark Road and Necromancy: Beyond the Grave too a deeper look at two traditions of arcane magic that the authors felt the d20 system rules did not adequately cover.

Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery takes a slightly different cant. Instead of expanding on a realm of magic that already exists in the d20 system rules in some capacity, it instead tried to develop a new type of arcane magic that has not yet been examined by the d20 system rules.

Now the words "wild" and "magic" in the title may lead you to believe that you will be getting a rehash of the wild magic rules as they existed in the AD&D 2<SUP>nd</SUP> edition Tome of Magic book. Well in some ways it is like that. But in many ways, it isn't.

A First Look

Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery is a 64 page perfect-bound book priced at $14.95. The cover has a border pattern similar to the previous books. The cover has a rendition of a scantily-clad woman with outstretched arms and streamers of blue energy flowing from her hands and whirling about her body.

The interior is black and white. The interior art is fairly well done, with pencil and pen-and-ink pieces by a variety of artists. I miss the detailed artwork of Chris Quilliams from earlier Mongoose art. However, none of the art was as bad as some of the stuff that appears in earlier Mongoose books. There are a few illustrations that are a little racy and/or tacky, but not to the degree that the book bowls you over with it.

The typeface is about average, with some large headers. Combined with the presentation and price, this delivers a decent value.

A Deeper Look

As with the other books in the series, the book is not organized into clearly defined chapters, but rather a variety of topical sections.

The book begins with a little overview of the underlying theory of the chaos magic. The premise is that the universe is composed of two elements: substance and illusion. Substance is chaos, but is given form by the order imposed by sentience. Chaos mages power springs from the use of the raw primal chaos inherent in the universe.

The use of chaos as a form of magic can be realized in a few ways under this book. The existing arcane spellcasting classes (called static mages herein) can dabble in adding elements of chaos magic to their own magic. In doing so, they develop what are called wanton talents. Wanton talents can be developed by accidental or deliberate exposure to primal chaos, by the caster suffering death (and presumably resurrection), or by means of research. The nature of the talent is random, but once the caster has the talent, it may be used to alter or enhance their spells in a particular way. For example, a spellcaster with the chaotic component can draw from raw primal chaos to power her spells in the place of a normal material component, but suffers damage from doing so. Random amplification makes the casters spells that require dice rolls more random, but with a potentially great payoff: the caster roll two different sets of dice, and depending on how the roll compares, the caster may use the lesser of the two, the greater, the average, or the total.

While this is a nice flavorful little perk that some arcane spellcasters can take advantage of, the real meat revolves around a new basic arcane spellcasting class, the chaos mage. On the surface, the chaos mage appears similar to other arcane spellcasters. They are a basic class (i.e., you can play one at first level) with poor combat abilities and fortitude and reflex saves, but a good willpower save advancement, and they have a variety of class abilities that they receive as they advance in levels.

However, chaos mages are different in that they have no spells per day or spells known charts. Their spellcasting is totally off the cuff. To cast a chaos spell, the player decides what she wants to do, and rolls for it.

This is done by selecting a number of elements. All spells require at least one basic effect element, though more advanced chaos mages can select more than one. Basic elements include effect like one of a few raw damage effects, materialization effects, movement, or transformation effects. This gives the spell a base DC. Then the caster can add area elements, range elements, duration elements, and saving throw elements. Each of these elements can add to the DC of the spell. Once all elements are selected, the DC is total, and the caster makes a caster level check, using 1d20 + chaos mage class level + charisma modifier. If the roll succeeds, the spell goes off as planned.

The limiting factor on chaos spells - other than the fact they might not work - is that the chaos mage takes damage every time she casts one. If you made the caster roll, the damage is only subdual. If the roll fails, the damage is applied as real damage. The damage applied is a function of the DC of the spell; one point of damage is inflicted per 5 full points of DC.

Another hazard associated with the use of chaos magic is backlash. The first time that the character rolls a "1" on a casting check, a backlash occurs. When this happens, the GM (deliberately or randomly) selects one of several paths of chaos. Once such a path is selected, that is the path that the character will always use.

Each path of chaos has a specific theme and ten steps. For example, the path of berserk growth involves the growth of wild things. The first step is merely cosmetic (in this case, the character's hair takes on the appearance of grass and instantly regrows if cut.) Subsequent steps have more severe game penalties associated with them. Should the character ever reach the 10<SUP>th</SUP> step, the character is effectively gone. For example, the 10<SUP>th</SUP> step in the path of berserk growth, plants burst forth from the character's body and the character becomes a grove of shifting alien plants.

Each time the character has a backlash, they progress one more step down the path. To make matters worse, the further down a path you are, the easier it is to tread further along the path. Instead of a 1, if you are far along a path, you only need roll less than the step number on the path to trigger a backlash. However, high level chaos mages can expend XP to reverse their course along the path of chaos.

I like the idea of the paths of chaos, but personally thought that it should really depend more on the power of the spell being cast, to make casting powerful spells seem that much more daunting a prospect. Perhaps you could allow a will save verses the backlash, with a DC equal to the casting DC.

In addition to the classes, casting system, and paths of chaos that seem to form the core of the book, a number of other resources are provided.

Some new feats are introduced to take your chaos mage in even more unique directions. Casting focus simply allows a bonus to caster level checks. Specialized focus allows a larger bonus to caster level checks, but it only applies to a single effect element. Chaotic healing gives you the ability to heal faster on the average, but more sporadically.

The section entitled Servants of Chaos describes the creation of a chaos familiar. Chaos familiars are gained as a class ability at 4<SUP>th</SUP> level. The player (or GM) designs the chaos familiar by selecting from lists of traits and special abilities.

The section entitled Wild Specialists introduces two prestige classes for chaos mages. The bloodcarver is a chaos mage that further focuses their magic by means of self-mutilation. Doomringers are a cult that combine their art with necromancy, and can redirect damage from Chaos Magic spells to a corpse that they form a bond with.

The prestige classes do not explicitly state anywhere that their levels count toward chaos mage spellcasting. One would assume that in this case that their levels don't count, but it seems to me like some of the class abilities granted by these classes would be fighting uphill if you lose the chaos spellcasting advancement. It seems to me like at least partial advancement as a chaos mage for the purposes of spellcasting would be appropriate.

Chaos mages don't craft items as typical spellcasters do. A section entitled Bottled Lightning details how chaos mages can make their own brand of magic items. The process is more haphazard than standard d20 magic items, does not require XP, and only has a limited range of capabilities. Further, the items tend to decay, especially when untended and can only be used by those attuned to the item… a process that inflicts penalties to the character's physical scores. I am a little iffy on the possible balance repercussions of this section, more so than the rest of the book.

The book concludes with a short section on GM tips and designer notes, which attempt to provide some insight into how the system works in play and how to handle possible problems that could crop up.

Conclusion

Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery definitely isn't what some people expected it to be: a retelling of the AD&D 2e wild mage. That said, I think it will appeal to a lot of the same player: those who are willing to gamble with their characters lives to get a cool effect or power. Unlike the 2e wild mage, a chaos mage will probably not be a major threat to his companions, beyond the fact that bad rolling can really make the chaos mage fail to hold up his end of the party load.

Much like Demonology: The Dark Road, this book requires a GM who is tolerant of foibles of randomness and adjudication. I am uncertain of how chaos magic would play out in a campaign given its unusual techniques. Using HP as a source of magical power and relying heavily on dice rolls when spellcasting sounds like it could have some unintended consequences.

That said, I like Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery a bit more as a product. Not only is it better organized, but it also seems like it would be easier to insert in a campaign that is not wholly focused on the book. Even if you decide not to use the book wholesale, there is a lot of material you can use. For example, you might use the paths of chaos as curses or side effects from other brands of chaotic or baleful magic, or might use the spell construction system as the basis for your own.

I could see this book being useful supplementing the existing repertoire of arcane spellcasters in an existing game. Brave GMs may even consider the somewhat fun sounding proposition of replacing conventional arcane spellcasters in a game with chaos mages.

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[DM_Jeff]

Chaos Magic is the third in the unique Encyclopedia Arcane series of Mongoose offerings detailing new systems of magic use.

Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery
by Sam Witt
Cover art by Anne Stokes
$14.95 64-page d20 sourcebook for DM's and players alike

Background: Finally getting the real copy of this book in my hands was quite a thrill. You see, my crew was one of the primary playtest groups on this project, and I can`t tell you how many changes we poured over and playtested time and again. The Mongoose designers, and author Sam Witt must be commended for the attention to detail and the care they put into the project. It shows. And in case you think it`s not fair I be writing this review, I ask who better than someone who saw the system strained to abuse and use at his own table? Read on and see...

Appearance: Chaos Magic is a 64-page perfect-bound d20 sourcebook that introduces a whole new system of magic use. The cover art by Anne Stokes shows a Chaos Mage invoking a powerful enchantment about her and conveys a feeling of what you`ll fine inside, showing both a beauty but a hint of dark danger. The interior is well laid out and organized, borders are not abused, text density is very good and interior art ranges from good to very good. The inside front cover is used for a table that helps the chaos mage compute his spell casting, and the inside rear cover is an ad for some other Mongoose d20 titles.

Review: Chaos magic isn`t what many veterans may first think. It`s not a whole book of tables that you roll on to see what wacky things might happen when you cast a spell. It is a system of magic whereby hopeful and brave characters subscribe to magic as a force to be shaped and used through the body on a whim, not tied to bookish study or religious devotion. The book begins with an introduction, the philosophies behind the practice, and the differences between chaos magic and other `dependable` forms...called static magic. Chaos magic allows your character to shape spells as he casts them, on the spot. The universe, so say chaos wizards, is really only made up of substance and form, and Chaos Magic is the ultimate tool for using both to your own ends. With that in mind, more subtle effects like divinations won`t come into play. But the true applications are only limited by your creativity and imagination.

Next we get a look in which static casters can dabble in the world of chaos magic. Through a number of ways (including research, exposure, or...DEATH), they can augment their spells with a few random elements (discovered by rolling on a table, the player doesn`t get to pick). The wizard or sorcerer gains what`s called a wanton talent which might let them cast spells with highly variable effects like for lesser or greater damage, more potent to resist, or with no spell components. This is really the only way to dabble for these classes, for a static mage may never multiclass into a chaos mage.

Next we get the chaos mage presented as a new base d20 character class. He`s modest in both hit and skill points, isn`t all that great with a weapon, and saves like most spellslingers. Astute readers of course will notice that there’s no spell progression chart. That`s when the player grins!

In a nutshell, chaos magic requires imagination and a little addition. A chaos mage picks from a well-organized list of descriptive effects he`d like to use to craft his desired spell. Each of these items carries a point cost, that when added together gives the player the DC number that they must succeed by rolling 1d20 + caster level + Charisma modifier. A single-roll raw spellcasting system! There`s no limit to the number of spells that can be cast per day, nor is there ever a need to keep a spellbook, or pray, or prepare. Lock, load and let loose!

Anticipating questions I`ve set up a little Q&A session:

Q: If I can cast spells all day whenever I want, I`ll be all-powerful pretty quick won`t I? My DM will have a heart-attack.
A: We once thought as you do. The system is integrally balanced, but allows you freedom to be creative instead of limiting you to the same old pool of effects.
* If you create spells with too many powers, the DC will be impossible to beat, wasting your attempt!
* Even if you make the attempt, you take 1 point of subdual damage for every 5 points of the DC of the effect you are trying (a DC 30 spell for example will deal you 6 subdual).
* If you fail, you take the damage above but it’s REAL damage, not subdual.
* Every time you botch (roll a natural 1) you stand the chance of furthering your decent down one of the Dark Paths...mutative punishments you endure for the benefit of shaping raw magic through your body.

Q: All that math seems like an awful lot of work to cast a spell, won`t it slow down my games?
A: It`s less math than you think. There’s really just simple addition. You want to cast a raw damage spell (DC 10) in a cone (+10) within close range (+1) with a duration of instantaneous (+0). Your DC is 21. Roll your d20, add your caster level plus your Charisma modifier. Done! Of course, players will start out a little clunky, but you learn the basics quite quickly. Complicated favorite spells can be crafted and figured in between sessions and worked up in notes to cast at a moment`s notice. Want to damage that pesky outsider with energy resistance to cold and acid? Pick an alternate energy type and fire away!

The casting process starts off by having you choose a base effect: either Damage, Materialization, Movement or Transformation. These things can effect you, a friend, a foe, or lots of foes, just like regular spells. You piece together the final spell by choosing area, range, duration and saving throw modifications you want and watch the fun! You can even have a familiar, but you create the thing yourself. My group played a session where every character was some bit of a chaos mage up to 6th level. The effects and inspiration were both a surprise to me and the other players, making the Chaos Mages involved characters to play with a variety of neat effects at their disposal. While plenty of examples are given in the text, it`s a good idea that the DM have a firm grasp of the formula and the types of effects that the players might try.

Next comes the lists of Dark Paths: those mutative, progressive effects that might plague a character each time he botches. Each path has 10 steps. The first time the Chaos Mage rolls a 1 on a casting attempt, he gains step 1 in a randomly-determined path: Berserk Growth, Bloody Rage, Rapid Regression, Shrieking Pain, Screaming Shadows, Writing Serpents, Tortured Stone or Whispering Madness. The fact that none of these are called the Path of Flowers or the Path of Love might betray what awaits Chaos Mages who use their powers too often. Each additional time a Chaos mage rolls a 1 a second d20 is rolled. If that number is equal to or less than the number of steps they have, another step is added. Each path has a theme of powers, madness, and mutations, some even interestingly beneficial, but they each get progressively worse. Skin oozes, shadows cling, arthritis, deformities, and eventually at Step 10 total annihilation and chaos warps your body beyond mortal limits.

By the way, a Chaos mage can relieve himself of steps beyond the first by spending experience points. At 12th level the Chaos Mage gets the chance to purge a level by spending 500 XP`s times the step level he wishes to remove. A Chaos Mage with 4 steps of the Shreiking Pain path may spend 2000 XP`s to go back to only having 3 steps. Also, DM`s are encouraged to create their own diabolical paths to plague their players with!

Next we get a handful of Chaos feats that let you break the rules in cool ways, two specially designed Chaos Mage prestige classes to follow (the Bloodcarver and the Doomringer) along with full rules for Chaos Magic item creation, a chapter specifically on help for the DM and designer`s notes explaining the many reasons behind design decisions.

Conclusion: If you run a campaign with a creative player who wants to explore and tackle the challenge of a new magic system, are looking for great new ways to surprise your players with NPC`s or villains, or just crave a system where the only real limit to what you can do with a spell is your imagination and how much damage you wanna take, this is the book for you. It`s been playtested thoroughly and the guys and gals at our table all agreed it is a winner.

-Jeff Ibach

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This ambitious book wades into the field where so many have failed before - making a point based magic system for DnD.

Magic systems are the aspect of the rules that interest me the most and I liked previous Mongoose products so I gave Chaos Magic rather a careful read. My conclusion is that despite some excellent ideas it ultimately fails to provide a fun and balanced novel way to do magic in d20.

Previous E.A. books dealt with magical practices well established in non-gaming fantasy and mythology. Their big attraction was in giving the game-mechanic reasons for the well established stereotypes. Beyond the world of War Hammer and the margins of Michael Moorcook, chaos mages are not nearly as well established concept. This means that in determining costs and benefits of chaos magic atmosphere, in this book, follows the game mechanics instead of the other way around. Together with the significant drop in quality and quantity of "grey box" fiction that has so far been the hallmark of Mongoose books this means that the book is significantly less rich in feel and inspiration then its predecessors.

With atmosphere diminished from Demonology and Necromancy the weight of the book falls on the game mechanics of chaos magic. Does it really succeed in delivering the holy grail of d20 system: non-rigid magical system?

Answer is a guarded "Kind of". Many balance issues loom large and some obvious problems have been overlooked but the basic premise seems relatively sound and a dedicated DM can probably make something out of it.

Premise is simple enough - forces of chaos are ever-present and talented individuals can harness them to produce a variety of magical effects. Price they pay is the exhaustion and damage to their bodies and possible malevolent mutations that get worse as one progresses down the path of chaos magic. Benefit is variability of effects and possibility that, with risk, less skilful mages could in a pinch produce spells beyond their usual capabilities.

Key element is a casting check, d20 level check modified by the relevant ability - charisma and potential feat bonuses that needs to be over the DC for a given spell. If the check succeeds, spell goes of and caster suffers DC/5 worth of subdual damage. If it fails so does the spell and the damage is real.
Balance issues are immediately apparent. More then for any class, prime ability becomes of utmost importance to chaos mage, difference amounting to essentially a level difference between two chaos mages with slightly different charisma. One good thing about d20 is that skills and feats and liberal helping of class abilities meant that bad character stats are not insurmountable handicap. Not so here. It also means that chaos mages have pre-assigned highest stats: Cha and Con (for hit points) - annulling another great achievement of d20, that of making various stat assignments valid options within a single class. Furthermore this means that those feats that help with casting check become must-takes for chaos mages. I have long maintained that if anything becomes a must-take it is either unbalanced or should not be called a feat.

Using damage as a balancing element for spell casting has been tried before. As elegant as it may seem is not without its pitfalls. Beyond the obvious emphasis it puts on already extremely useful stat: Con, it opens the entire issue of healing. The Player's Handbook states that any amount of magical healing will whip out equivalent amount of the subdual damage the character has suffered making healing chaos mages significantly easier. For a regular adventuring party healing damage, even within combat, is not a great problem. Even a first level cleric can cure the average of 20 or so points per day which translates into 100 or so DC to be distributed around for the chaos mage. Obviously this would shot the cleric down as anything but the healing machine for the mage but it is quite clear that in many circumstances this could prove to be optimal party strategy - annulling another great achievement of d20, reduction of supporting role each class is forced to play. Clearly cleric player might chose not to help but at the price of being seen as the selfish for not following the optimal strategy. Furthermore, this puts the chaos mage adventuring without the cleric at the gross disadvantage furthermore limiting the flexibility of the class.
Abundance of potions of healing and cleric's ability to craft those in large quantities at relatively low price only exuberate this problem further at higher levels.

Furthermore, even with decent clerical support chaos mage is a veritable damage dealing machine: At first level, assuming 17 cha and 14 con our mage would have 6HP and casting check bonus of +6 (Assuming Casting Focus and Blood of Chaos feats). "Medium range - persistent damage" spell will cause equivalent of magic missile (best offensive first level spell) in damage with 85% chance of success and 5 of those available *per encounter*. Single cure spell delivered in the combat will double this number.
By fifth level (when wizard relishes his newly found two fireballs per day) our chaos mage will have cha 18 translating into check bonus of +11 and around 25HP. "Close Burst of Raw Damage" will go off with 80% chance inflicting on average 5HP more then fireball, using more advantageous saving throw, having greater area and functionally similar range. In addition TWELVE will be available PER ENCOUNTER, not counting potions of healing. At this point it is almost pointless to bother with damage limitations any more.

Obviously damage does a poor job of balancing the class. So here comes a truly novel idea of this book: Paths of Chaos. Those are the series of dehumanising effects that plague chaos wizards who overuse their craft. This is a great idea of this book and something that puts it apart from the vast number of entirely unsuccessful "mana" systems for DnD.

The premise is again elegant: On rolling of 1 on her casting check and then bellow her current point on the path on a d20, caster undergoes a horrific transformation, each worse then the last, causing her pain and deforming her body and psyche. Ten transformations and she is gone. On the surface this is similar mechanism to the necromantic feats from the previous E.A. in effect it is vastly different.
Firstly, necromancer can live and function without the feats. They can be used as rarely as one chooses to. Spells and other class abilities guarantee that character is still viable without them. Not so with the chaos mage - spells are her tools of trade, without using them she might as well not take the class. Yet the danger constantly looms. This means that at any given time chaos mage will be mutated to some degree.

Postponing the discussion of the mutations themselves, where does this leave us with respect to the number of spells character can cast and therefore game balance:
First mutation will likely occur within the first 20 spells. Second within the next 20^2=400 spells, third within the next 20*19=380 spell and so on - total number of spells within which one can expect the death of the character being 2880. At 12th level character acquires the mechanism for reversing the stream so this 2880 have to be distributed over 11 levels of play to about 263 per level or roughly half of that number to assure decent chance of survival and avoid most deleterious disfigurations. Even under the very fast progression through levels suggested by the core books this amounts to significantly less spells per encounter (7-10) then the damage limitations would allow, (showing those to be definitively irrelevant from the game mechanic point of view). This is roughly balanced with the wizard if a bit on the overpowered side considering that they can all be the most powerful spell the character can cast.

This calculation reveals the true limitation on the chaos mages. Damage considerations become trivial in comparison and the only thing chaos mage needs to worry about are backlashes. This has one definitively positive effect - that of eliminating frivolous casting. With “lifetime” number of spells limited (even if only statistically) spells will only be cast when absolutely necessary. This is salutary as it removes some of "taken for granted" feel that magic have in regular DnD but in this case it has some serious side-effects. Foremost of those is that, given that backlash is equally likely for all sorts of spells, and that backlash is TRUE limiting factor, only most powerful spells with the decent pull-off chances will ever be cast. This on the other hand reduces the versatility of the Chaos Mage in comparison with the mage seriously damaging the very reson d’etre of the class.

At 12th level however all of this changes dramatically. New class ability is introduced which enables the character to push back the impeding doom. For (mutation level)*500XP (250XP if another must have feat has been taken) it can be pushed one point back. Assuming our chaos mage has made it to the 9th mutation by now, it will cost her bit over two months and a hefty sum of 11000XP to get back to the 2nd. 11000XP is a large amount. At this stage it amounts to practically an entire level of advancement. The benefits of spending it, however, are unmatched in value per investment in all of d20 system. Once this expenditure has been taken and 12th level character is back to the second point on the mutation path further backlashes become rare (once in 400 castings) and easily reparable (500 XP). This reduces the chief balancing factor of the class to expenditure of roughly 1.2 points of XP per spell cast, a veritable joke at the level when encounters net the character several hundred XP apiece. From this point on, any semblance of the balance is out of window.
12th level chaos mage (+18/+21 casting check, 65 HP with properly groomed constitution) casts without healing 20-30 powerful spells per encounter with almost guaranteed success and virtually unlimited number of auxiliary spells in non-combat situations. In comparison, 13th level wizard (level gained while Chaos Mage was paying out her mutations), a very powerful character in his own right, pales into insignificance.
The designer notes in the end claim that the original version of the rules denied the possibility of buying back the steps on the Path of Chaos. Obviously, the implications of changing this rule in the manner presented were not given nearly enough consideration.

It is possible to house rule many of this rules to get the somewhat better system. Backlash chance can somehow be related to the level of a spell being cast in order to avoid “always cast the most powerful ones” problem. Damage dealt can be increased and/or made un-healable magically to make it more of a balancing factor, the mechanism for curing mutations can be rewritten. All of those however demand a lot of work and detract seriously from the elegance of the system. Question is then: is it worth it?

Finally we get to the issue of what is gained by introducing the chaos magic, either as a substitute for regular magic or as an addition to it. Three answers suggest themselves: 1) A more flexible system of magic where just about any kind of effect is possible for audacious and lucky caster 2) System with less of a mechanic feel then the standard DnD where spells are cast carefully and with apprehension and are not taken for granted. And 3) A distinctly new flavour filling an important niche in fantasy gaming.

While I believe that 3) was true for Necromancy and Demonology I simply do not see it as a case for Chaos Magic. This is just a personal opinion but I have always found War Hammer chaos (At which this book seems to be loosely modelled) the weakest feature of otherwise well detailed campaign world. In Moorcock it was always described very vaguely and, at any rate, stuff of this book reminds of Moorcock’s chaos sorcery only superficially. Beyond those two this fantasy fan has a trouble remembering any other practice or lore from either non-gaming fantasy or mythology that even loosely falls under the purview of this book.

2) is for me the most important reason of all – reason why I loved previous E.A. books so much and a reason why I would try to make Chaos Magic work if I ever do so. Transferring spell limitation from per day to per lifetime or per level (which is effectively what backlash mechanic does) is an interesting concept and one that needs to be explored more. It definitively has a potential to solve this standing problem in d20 magical system.

Reason 1) is one most mentioned in the book itself. I have already argued to some extent that it is not justified with the system as it currently stands. Making it unreasonable to cast any but the most powerful spells automatically limits the chaos mage. Limiting the number of spells channels her further towards the exactly those applications of magic that are all but impossible for other party members to achieve. Sadly, in most cases this means the area effect damage dealing spells combined with one or two spells for personal protection. Fireball ubiquity is already a serious problem for d20 magic system, in the system in which character is allowed and even implicitly encouraged (by making only most powerful magic pay) to casts nothing but fireball-equivalents, diversity and flexibility will be the first to suffer. The authors of the book obviously were aware, at least subconsciously, that this is what is going to happen when they have dedicated most of the magical effects section to the damage distributions and area-effect spreads. Pure expedience of play is almost guaranteed to cause “static” mage with semi-random selection of spells to be more “flexible” then his chaotic counterpart with her two or three “best value per risk” incantations.

Finally, a word or two need to be said about the mutations themselves as they are guaranteed to influence the atmosphere of the game at least throughout fist 11 levels before mage gets her ability to keep them under the control. Reader of my reviews will remember how much I liked the Necromantic consequences and the risks associated with the demon summoning. Superficially these are very similar but fundamentally they differ significantly. Beyond the already stated fact that necromantic and demonological consequences simulate time honoured fantasy concepts and the paths of chaos simulate something out of the GW game-book, they differ in the way they affect the play as well. Necromantic consequences generally either have serious mechanical consequences (Holly Aversion) or very interesting role-playing aspects (Eater of the Dead). Chaos ones to the contrary are largely centred on being gratuitously gross. Very few have meaningful game mechanic consequences and most seem to tend to inhibit rather then inspire role-playing. Either the campaign will dwell incessantly on the horrible pain and anguish of a character oozing crystals from her body or developing ulcerous fungi all over her skin, in which case it will become boring exercise in angst, or it won’t in which case it will turn into parody when everybody ceases to care. Eater of the Dead looking for his daily ration can be anything from a minor annoyance to an adventure hook, Seeping Boils is just an invitation to angst.
Those mutations that do include substantial role-playing element – namely ones from the Path of Bloody Rage do so in the manner most detrimental to the campaign at large. I once had a player who, of his own free will, played almost exactly what I would except of character midway down this path in the hands of honest role-player. Frankly, it was not a pleasant experience. Humane interaction within and without party makes the backbone of enjoyable RPG and game mechanic that turns character into a mean anti-social manic-depresive simply makes game less enjoyable to everyone.

At the long last I come to the production values of the book. They are in line with Mongoose average so far. Cover is beautiful and interior illustrations are of uniform quality, much improved from previous E.A books. They are wading ever deeper into the babe-art territory but they are still on the right side of (my subjective) line of good taste. As a matter of fact some of the sexiest (without being profane) d20 illustrations are to be found in this book. Gray text fiction, previously one of the high points of Moongoose books is apparently increasingly being subcontracted to relative novices and it shows. However it was much reduced in quantity in this book which will undoubtedly please many “crunchy bits lovers” as much as it saddens me. As a new thing back inner cover s no longer featuring art – it has got Mongoose advertisement on it, sad but understandable.

Overall I feel this book to be the weakest Mongoose product s far. It gives the shaky game mechanics without the depth of atmosphere to cover it up. I was tempted to give it 2/5 but on understanding that I might be judging it to harshly in the light of its peerless predecessors and in the light of the fact that I will probably end up using at least some ideas from it I give it a fragile 3.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I (like many, I imagine) was WAY excited about this book and its prospects. I mean, come on! This was supposed to be "Wild Magic" for 3E, right. Well it isn't. If that is what you want then go to Natural 20's web site. They have a far superior product there. So I was destined for dissapointment, to be sure. However, I really wanted to give the book a chance. I don't like to think I wated my hard earned cash. If I can delude myself into thinking a book was at least "Worth it" then everybody comes away happy, right?

Well, there is no happy ending here. "Chaos Magic" is the third in Mongoose Press' magic series. All three books have attempted in some way to rewrite the standard way of casting spells in D&D. This book is the most extensive rewrite yet. Mainly these books take the premise that its OK to crank up the power level so long as you hand out stiff penalties along the way. Along these lines chaos magic, as outlined in the book, is a set of VERY flexible guidelines. You can basically wriggle your way into casting any kind of spell you want (except maybe divination - but then who cares when you can summon anyone you wish to talk to.) I am reminded of some of the sample "Characters-you-should-not-allow" listed in the Champions book. You remember - the "blind-deaf-no arms-no legs-hyperphobic-multi enemied-confined to his room-being" with god like powers. What fun is that! Even if you do enjoy those kinds of characters, trust me - you are, at the very least, giving your DM fits!

Take the proposed magic creation system. It is overly complicated - e.g. you have to make hardness checks against the material used to forge the item, but that hardness deteriorates, unless you "repair" the item, but if you do repair the item, it deteriorate faster every time you repair it, and ...... oh heck - you get the idea.

So, IMHO the basic premise of the book was lacking. You may be wondering if there was something salvageable in the book. Yes. "Chaos Magic" has some pretty nice ideas within its pages. The best example of this is the "Doomringer" prestige class; a very cool fusion of necromancy and chaos magic. Horribly broken, but cool nonetheless. And I also enjoyed the "Wanton Talents" section where static mages can tap into chaos magic. Again, pretty unworkable, but they would make cool feats with minor rewriting.

And so it goes - every time I think I found something I could use, it turned out to be unworkable. The concepts were good - the execution was lacking. But, this is what saved the book from a '1' in my mind. It got me thinking at least. It never hurts to read something that sparks the imagination. However, as a DM I spend enough time working on new adventures, etc. I do not want to have to tweak a broken system - especially when that system if a massive rework of something that already worked.

One more thing - so many of Mongoose press' books looks like term papers I wrote in high school. The font is huge, the margins are very wide. There is plenty of blocked off quotes taking up gobs of room. At least the illustrations are very nice. They also take up lots of room. My first reading of the entire book took about an hour hours, and I was takin' notes fer crying out loud.

I may open this book up to glean some info someday down the road. But I am pretty sure that I will never play or run for a chaos mage. Even if this were the best magic concept ever, I think it should be with the other two Encylopedia arcane books, for all the content you get for $$. I gotta say, Mongoose may be cranking out too much too quickly. Maybe I'm cynical, but isn't a Mongoose just another word for a weasel?

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This review is for Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery. I want to thank Alex Fennell of Mongoose Publishing for his generosity in providing me with a copy. Chaos Magic is Mongoose's latest offering in the d20 sourcebook line and the third volume in their Encyclopaedia Arcane series. It is a 64-page softcover supplement that retails for $14.95.
Chaos Magic is not just another book about magic and spells. Rather, it presents a completely new and different magic system that may be incorporated into your existing campaign. It is a system that highly encourages originality and role-playing, especially among players. This is not a simple re-work of the old 2nd. edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules on wild magic, as the title may suggest, but something entirely unique.
The premise behind this book is that a mage (must be chaotic in alignment) may tap into the powers of chaos in order to cast spells. Unlike conventional spell casting, there is no limitation on the number of spells cast in a 24 hour period. However, utilization of this power poses great risk to the caster. Every spell cast invokes subdual damage upon the caster and if a failed or miscast spell occurs, it can mean dire consequences to the caster, including death. Personally, I have always believed that there should be a downside to being a magic user. It's one of the qualities I liked about Raistlin and the Dragonlance setting. Chaos Magic is exactly the kind of book that fits into this mindset. Becoming a chaos mage is not for players who are unimaginative or feint of heart or cannot bear the thought of their beloved character being subjected to very bad things...
The format of the book is structured so that player and DM alike may easily comprehend the game mechanics behind chaos magic. The book begins with an overview that leads directly into understanding how a character may become a chaos mage (the character just doesn't wake up one morning and decide to try to tap into the power of chaos). Next comes the sections detailing the actual mechanics behind casting chaos spells. There are no set spells that a player chooses to cast, but a series of elements (or choices, if you will) that lead up to the actual spell taking shape. This is where originality and imagination come into play. You get to develop and describe exactly how the spell looks, what it does, and if any kind of special effect occurs as your mage weaves the very elements of pure chaotic energy into the spell.
As I mentioned before, one big limitation is every successful spell cast deals one point of subdual damage for every 5 points in the spell's casting DC to the mage himself. Don't succeed in your casting check; the damage is real rather than subdual. Furthermore, if you roll that infamous '1' on the d20 it gets really bad. Additionally, long-term exposure to chaos energy will eventually "wreak all maner of changes upon the body and mind of the chaos mage as he begins to tread the Paths of Chaos."
The price of chaos is a costly one. Once a mage suffers a backlash of chaotic energy, he begins his journey down one of eight Paths of Chaos. Once started on this journey, the mage can never fully turn back. The eight paths listed are: Path of Beserk Growth, Path of Bloody Rage, Path of Rapid Regression, Path of SHrieking Pain, Path of Screaming Shadows, Path of Writhing Serpents, Path of Tortured Stone, and Path of Whispering Madness. These paths represent a series of mutations of one form or another that afflict the mage. Each path has ten progressive steps that culminate in the loss of the character as the forces of chaos take what is now theirs. The book rounds out with sections in skills and feats and in crafting and developing magic items (some explosive reprecussions there, let me tell you).
Overall, Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery is fresh and innovative. It is not for everyone, but those who want spice, originality and danger in their campaign would be well advised to get this book. It is a good investment for both players and DMs alike.

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.