Game: Atomik Grimoire
Publisher: Atomik Vortex Studio
Series: generic
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 25th, March 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 7/10 [ Good ]
Total Score: 7
Average Score: 7.00
Stay with me. Atomik Grimoire is a supplemental add-on for Atomik Magick. Atomik Magick is a generic add-on that requires the Atomik Add-On Booklet. The Add-On Booklet is free, Atomik Magick isn’t. These generic add-ons are designed to complement any game.
I don’t think you really need Atomik Magick to use Atomik Grimoire. The Grimoire contains 400 ready-to-use spells and I think they’re generic and transparent enough to be easily converted to any other system. Score one for the generic add-on idea.
Atomik Magic is an intelligent offering. It discusses historical and contemporary views on magic. The PDF introduces nine spheres of magic that are derived from magic principles and theories. Spheres include the likes of Elemental spells, Life spells, Death spells, Wisdom spells, etc. Spheres divide down into circles. Wisdom, for example, contains the Circle of Knowledge, the Circle of Divination and the Circle of Mentalism. Step back a level and you’re at one of four suggested schools of magic (known as the system) such as Witchcraft or Magery but this doesn’t really impact on specific spells. Spells in the Grimoire are labelled system/sphere/circle though.
The Magic Point (MP) value is a measure of how much energy it takes to cast a spell. In Atomik Magick we discuss ways to work out suitable MP values for spells we’ve designed ourselves but here in Atomik Grimoire we’re just given a value suitable for the specific spells in the supplement.
Difficulty and Speed values represent how hard it is to cast a spell and how quickly as a spell can be cast. As with the MP value in the Atomik Magick add-on, we consider the best way to calculate these values for constructed spells but that’s already done for us in the Grimoire. Duration, Range and even Magic Level follow suit in similar ways.
The spells themselves begin at page 8 of the 93-paged download. A sample spell looks a bit like this:
Restore Text
| Magic Level: 4 | Speed: 2 |
| MP Value: 19 | Range: Touch |
| Difficulty: +2 | Duration: Instant (Indefinite effect) |
Information Manipulation Level 6 (Restore). Restore Text will bring back all text, images or equivalent information, on up to 25 pages that were non-magically erased. If the text was magically erased, will only bring the text back if it was erased at Level 5 or less. To restore more than 25 pages, Reusability effect may be added. The range is Touch only.
That’s clear enough. That example was plucked purely at random but with a note towards its brevity and the convenience that offers to this lazy reviewer. Despite the short description, I think it’s evident that possible pit traps and questions have been spotted in advance and dealt with. That’s a good thing.
The lists of spells end at page 75 and give way to 6 pages of scrolls, elixirs and potions. These alchemical items, in turn, give way to four and a half pages of magic and enchanted items. Then there’s a couple of sample grimoires – spell books that actually list the specific spells described within their covers.
The master list of spells is seven pages long and it uses compact grey and white shaded tables to list all the spells contained in the PDF.
At the time this review was written Atomik Grimoire is set at US$ 5.00 and that makes it the cheapest of the Atomik add-ons to date – but it is something of a special case. I do think it represents value for money. It’s a worthwhile special case too, one of my few concerns with Atomik Magick was the sheer scope of the system; it’s large enough as to be a little intimidating. Atomik Grimoire is the perfect response to that, this product not only shows you that it is possible to create a vast number of spells with the Add-On system, not only gives you 400 ready-to-go spells for use but it eases you into the task of making up your own.
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