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Behind the Spells: Animate Dead $1.00
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
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by Chris G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 11/19/2006 00:00:00

Behind the Spells Animate Dead

There seems to be a little less to this PDF then the others in the series. It has the same very good introduction and telling of how the spell came to be. But there is less mechanics in here and those I feel are a little more of the high point of the series of books. The series of books though each take a single spell and really bring it to life. The book gives context and depth to spells that while cool and neat just seem to be in a vacuum as players everywhere just accept that they have always been there and never wonder around how and why they are. There are also adventure hooks in here for the clever DM. They are not obvious but without the story about each spells creation there are ideas and plots that can easily come to life in someone?s campaign. Behind the Spells Animate Dead is another is this long line of PDFs. Each one is short being only about a half dozen pages. This one is five pages in length. They have no art but a decent lay out. Each has information on the history of the spell as well as a few mechanical bits that can new rules or new versions of the spell. The book starts off with the story of Kritak a gnoll shaman. He had some issues with his pack leader and that eventually led to the animate dead spell. It is a nice story and certainly one that can be used for plots in a campaign especially if one uses a lot of gnolls. One of the new mechanics introduced is kind of weird. The idea is that one caster can steal the undead controlled by another caster. It is a neat idea that involves the blood of the person trying to steal the undead. The control is just temporary and could make for some interesting adventures and combats as a cleric or some such takes some of the undead the evil necromancer and turns them on him. It is an interesting idea that I think could be a lot of fun. There is also rules for what do do with excess created undead. The creator can basically give those undead to an ally caster who will then have control of them. There is one alternate spell in the book and it is Corpse Soldiers. It is a mid level spell that allows one to create a lot more undead and amass a small army. They are slightly more powerful then normal and this makes a good spell for a higher level necromancer to use. There is also a weapon enchantment which causes monsters killed by the weapon to rise as undead. Both of these are fun and can really enhance a game. Animate Dead was never one of my favorite spells. However, this book builds on it and I think makes it more fun. It gives it a bit of depth and provides some good behind the scenes ways to make the spell more useful. As usual with the book I am left wanting more. Their small size makes them easy to use and fast to read.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Creative as usual<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I always want more <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Behind the Spells: Animate Dead
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