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The Red Book of Magic
 
$17.99
Average Rating:4.6 / 5
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The Red Book of Magic
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The Red Book of Magic
Publisher: Chaosium
by A customer [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/24/2023 10:11:18

More of all the stuff you'd expect to be in here. All is good.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Red Book of Magic
Publisher: Chaosium
by David B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/05/2021 04:39:27

I liked the work, I would have liked that the Runemagic lists had noted which Gods get the new spells, as I have discovered some of these are likely Sub cult spells of some of the larger Gods like HUMAKT from watching The Whitebull Campaign on YouTube. I will get the hard copy when we can go shopping again without a CHEM suit. It is on order.... just wanting like an UZ at dinner time... I might eat the table.

I have the hard copy, it was very tasty and useful to Uz ⚫III.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Red Book of Magic
Publisher: Chaosium
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/22/2020 10:18:09

Collecting pretty much all of the Rune magic and spirit magic spells that have seen print over the years (and many that haven't), THE RED BOOK OF MAGIC is a terrific refernce work for RQ gamemasters and players alike. A lot of these spells have been absent for decades, some appearing only in long out-of-print books. Having them all in one place is invaluable.

The art, like that of pretty much the entire RQG line, is first rate. It captures the Bronze Age, Near East/Central Asian aesthetic of the setting, and keeps firmly in the "sword and sandal" tradition of the game.

The spells are accompanied by expanded rules and explanations, including some excellent "in-world" writings on the nature of magic. It does a great job of helping you visualize what the magic would look like in play. Rune metals, always a big part of the setting, finally get a treatment here.

Be warned: like it says on the back cover you are not getting sorcery (or mysticism) here. Those will have to wait. Like the Bestiary, this one is pretty much a "must have" and will allow you to greatly expand your game until the Cults book comes along.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Red Book of Magic
Publisher: Chaosium
by Morgan C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/22/2020 10:16:49

This book adds several Spirit Magic spells, and many Rune Spells, to those presented in Runequest, Roleplaying in Glorantha (henceforth, RQG). Rules for terminology, learning, casting, augmenting, and just plain "how do the spells look and sound" are given, in a much more focused manner than in RQG. Many spells have wonderful illustrations to highlight their visual effects and enhance the overall "feel" of Glorantha and its magic. Some of the illustrations, including the cover, are "PG".

Most of the new Rune spells are from non-Lightbringer dieties: runes of Solar/Fire, Darkness, Plant, Chaos and Moon feature prominently. Depending on your campaign, these would mainly be used by antagonists to your RQG PCs. GMs can now amp up any encounter with hostile trolls or chaos!

One minor disappointment is that there is no table of which cults offer which of these new rune spells. However, that would be huge, and very hard to place within the organization of this book. You'll have to make reasonable decisions, or just wait until the upcoming Cults book.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Red Book of Magic
Publisher: Chaosium
by Robert M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/21/2020 11:54:13

Very disappointing purchase.

The section on rune metals could have been expanded to the level of detail that various magics have. Where is the metal, how is it found, some measure of context and story. More differentiation of general categories of enchanted and unenchanted rune metals. As it stands, the category of rune metal appears to lack cohesive form as a species of thing. Some unenchanted rune metals have magical effect, some do not. In a consciously Bronze Age setting, far more should be done to detail the power of metal.

The additional spells lacked context with an example being the additional runes associated with Invisibility compared with RQ Role Playing In Glorantha. Looking at the Summon Ancestor spell, it and the tables are not significantly different from the spell as presented in RQG. Rules for illusions, highlighted as a selling point, are not different from that of RQG. As has seemed to be the case for many supplements for this game over the years, it is often the same information repackaged and resold.

Finally, the artwork requires some commentary. Partial nudes may well have a place for art critics and historians to discuss their merit. These materials are commonly possessed by under aged children and in other contexts their promulgation would be reasonably considered something to be controlled. Editorial decisions being what they are, I find this particular decision by the game creators to be troublng.

This would be better released as a more comprehensive treatment of Gloranthan magic that may or may not be forthcoming (Gods of Glorantha reboot?). If that is the case, spirit magic should encompass one book, rune magic one book, and sorcery one book with an additional book including detailed culturally relevant magic items.

Would definitely not recommend buying.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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