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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some rules not relevant any more, but still a good book, 2 April 2001
This is a good book. When it was first released it was probably a great book, while it's not quite so useful now, it's still pretty good.To start with the bad: Some of the rules relating directly to doing magic are for 1st edition magic rules. Quite a few of the merits and flaws mentioned are also in the Revised Second Edition Rulebook. A few of the stories put in to provide background end just as they start to get good. Finally, the rules for designing talismans are complicated, annoying, dive you weak talismans, and don't add up when you apply them to the example talismans. On the good side: You get a lot of Rotes, Abilities, Talismans, Merits and Flaws (some bad, but most good). There are sections on all the different groups; both descriptions and member's eye view. It talks about paradox, resonance, foci and other such stuff in a useful way, without laying down any absolute laws. The Certamen or Mage duel rules are really good and have just the right flavour, plus there are suggestions for alternatives such as Verbena shapeshifting duels, or Virtual Adept flame wars. The rules for familiars are also here, they could do with more detail, but they are quite useful. One thing I really like was the background stories; they really do let you see the context that the rules fit into, and are far better at describing events than dry historical description. My favourite story is one where you have representatives from each tradition on the 'Magic Bus Chantry' and they all try to explain their version of the formation of the Council of Nine to a young Orphan Mage. When it first came out this book would have been an absolute must-buy. It isn't as useful as it was then, but if you're prepared to use what you want and leave what you don't, and do some work yourself, then this is a very useful book.
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