heHeroic Fantasy Handbookis a rules supplement that brings the flavor of heroic fantasy to your favorite role-playing game.Cleaving away decades worth of detritus of assumptions and expectations about how characters heal, fight, and adventure – how magic works – what spells do – and more, theHeroic Fantasy Handbookoffers a fresh way to play with familiar D20 fantasy mechanics. TheHeroic Fantasy Handbookis designed for use with theAdventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) but is readily compatible with other fantasy role-playing games built on the same core rules. In the Heroic Fantasy Handbook you get:
- An entirely new magic system,eldritch magic, designed to capture the flavor of heroic fantasy. Subtle but powerful, eldritch magic brings a new arsenal of effects into your game. Low-level eldritch casters can infuriate their foes, summon minor demons from the Outer Darkness, or call wolves from the forest. High-level eldritch wizards can call giant eagles from distant mountain lairs, lead foes into madness through corrupting dreams, or unleash the hounds of hell to hunt down their enemies. But eldritch magic carries risks, not the least of which is corruption and madness from the black arts.
- A new way of creating magical effects,ceremonial magic, for worlds where not every magic-user casts spells in a round. With ceremonial magic, characters can perform lengthy ceremonies from a variety of traditions ranging from the chthonic to the liturgical to the shamanic. Using traditional implements, trinkets, and talismans, and drawing on power found in reagents, blood sacrifice, faithful cultists, or places of magical potence, the ceremonialist can work miracles or suffer the terrible consequences of failure.
- A new way of casting spells,spellsinging, that allows characters to spontaneously weave together new spells on the fly. Use spellsinging to represent the fluid arts of the elves, the psionic powers of a dying race, or the weaving of words of power by island wizards.
- Over155 new spellsdesigned for use by eldritch casters, ceremonialists, and spellsingers. Forget comic-book teleportation and fireballs. If you walk the dark path, be ready to madden your foes withdark whisper, torture them body and soul withiron maidenor even yank out their bones and animate their flensed skeleton as your minion withfillet and serve. If you crave elemental power, get ready to transform rain into acid withrain of vitriol, raze your enemys walls withsunder structure, or even call down astarfallfrom the heavenly firmament.
- A set of10 new character classesinspired by the archetypes of heroic fantasy. Comfort and console the wounded and rally the faithful as anecclesiastic. Master the power of ancient runes and learn the wisdom of the ages as arunecaster. Unleash your charismatic ferocity as an alluring but deadlywarmistress. Plumb magic so dark that no mere human could survive it as aZaharan sorcerer.
- A set ofnew rules for heroic adventuring, including fate points, heroic funerals, warrior codes, critical hit tables, new special maneuvers, updates to the mechanics for thief skills, and more.
- And much, much more!
