Raise your character to the pinnacle of magical might with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic! Within this book, secrets arcane and divine lie ready to burst into life at the hands of all the spellcasting classes in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. In addition to the brand-new magus class—a master of both arcane magic and martial prowess—you'll also find a whole new system for spellcasting, rules for spell duels and other magical specialities, and pages upon pages of new spells, feats, and more. Because when it comes to magic, why settle for less than absolute power?
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic includes:
- The magus, a new base class combining deadly arcane magic with the skills and weapons of a trained warrior. - Words of power, an innovative and flexible new spellcasting system. - New options for dedicated casters, such as alchemist discoveries, alternative uses for channeled energy, druid companions, sorcerer bloodlines, eidolon abilities, witch hexes, and oracle mysteries. - Additional feats and magical abilities for martially oriented casters, including monk ki tricks, inquisitor archetypes, and ranger traps. - New magical conditions called spellblihgts, as well as systems for crafting constructs, binding outsiders, and spell-dueling. - More than 100 new spells, plus detailed guidelines for designing your own.
I am in the process of converting from D&D 3.5 to Pathfinder much later than everyone else. In general, Pathfinder is an impressive system and the true inheritor of the Dungeon's and Dragon's brand. The problem with 3.5 that it emphasizes combat too much and role-playing too little is still a part of the Pathfinder system. However, the customization of your character is very impressive in Pathfinder.
This book did what it should for a DM. It filled my head with ideas for things that I can use. The character options are very well done. In 3.5 the primary way that you customized your character was through a prestige class. Pathfinder moves strongly away from that and customization happens with base classes. With the Advanced Player Guide, which I haven't read but will be soon, this rises to 17 classes. That's a great way of defining your character from the start.
There are five chapters, all of them really good. I personally don't think that I will use the words of power alternative magic system, but I think that it will be attractive to some groups. The spells in particular are very well done and very evocative. While the spells are very much combat oriented, they are very thematic. They allow more than ever before, the ability to play a character through their spell selection. They also address things like creating demiplanes and stopping the aging process. There are a mind boggling number of options for characters here.
What is really impressive is how well thought out it is and how much care went into it. Wizards always maintained far too fast a publication schedule and all their books are really mixed bags, often with a lot of dreck in them. This book is just well thought through and contains a massive amount of really good ideas. If you want to do a supplement for a rules heavy role playing game this is how to do it.
Basic Premise: Advanced magic rules for the Pathfinder RPG, 1st edition.
When a game is set in a high fantasy world that has a lot of magic in it, players want access to as much of it as possible. This book delivers on some fronts and falls in others. The rules for designing your own magic are probably the ones that interested me the most. The words of power are interesting. I think I was expecting to see a lot (more) of new spells included in this book, and while there were some, that's not what this book is all about. It's useful, but you have to dig a bit.