The martial artist is a staple of popular culture and has been for decades in Western society. The fighting prowess of the martial artist has been amply demonstrated in comic books, in novels, in film and in television and many martial artists have achieved superstardom, or even cinematic immortality. In the East, martial arts popular culture has an even longer history, with famous monks, both entirely fictional and historical, taking centre stage in film for almost a century and in literature for literally millennia.
The martial artist appeals to us on multiple levels. Visually, unarmed fighting techniques are beautiful, even the most straightforward of them, for there is beauty in brutal simplicity; this means that well made martial films and shows are thrilling to watch. Beyond the visceral thrill of watching lightning fast flips, punches, kicks and throws, there is also the unspoken admiration we have for anyone who can truly claim to be a master of some skill. The best martial artists are absolutely, unswervingly dedicated to the perfection of their bodies and of their fighting skills and we, as viewers, or even martial arts practitioners, respond to that.
Elves delight the readers of fantasy books and gamers alike. Ephermal beings of light and spirit, they dance just on the edge of our awareness. They can be angels and demons, the personification of otherworldly magic or nature spirits depending on who does the telling. They may be warriors, wizards, singers, poets, dreamers…or nothing at all, just figments of movement at the corner of our eye. It is this seemingly infinite well of possibilities that causes us to come back to elves again, and again, and yet again. Elves can embody the best of us, our purest qualities unsullied by the decay of time or the grime of compromise. Unlike the more pragmatic humans they act on the epic scale, directly choosing good and evil without flinching.
The Collector’s Series II takes an advanced look at the whole range of class and racial sourcebooks from Mongoose Publishing, all designed to greatly widen a player’s options for his character within the d20 games system. More than simple continuations, the second series of Quintessential books slot seamlessly into any fantasy-based campaign, giving advanced alternatives for characters of one class or race within the game, allowing both players and Games Masters the chance to give mid- and high-level characters new options without overpowering or unbalancing the game as a whole. The Collector’s Series II will not necessarily allow players to make their characters even better, but they will be able to do a lot more than they ever thought possible.
The Quintessential Elf II does not aim to revolutionize the portrayal of elves that already exists in the literature of fantasy gaming. Elves are the single most commonly written about race; trying to change the accumulated perceptions created by such a mass would take a work of rare genius.
Rather, Quintessential Elf II focuses on trying to help the reader get the most out of what he already knows about elves. It starts off with basic rules for tailoring elves to fit specific roles in a campaign or world. We then move on to discuss building truly epic elves using multiple classes and legendary career paths that lead to the ultimate reaches of combined martial might and elven magic.
We then turn our attention to the technology and knowledge of the elves. Rather than presenting a single possibility the three chapters (Elven Ways and Means, The Magical Elf, and Fey Tricks) cover a wide variety of elven types. How do elves that are effectively angels differ from those who represent the spirits of nature? What tricks does an wild spirit elf bring to the table that a near divine immortal does not? By mixing and matching elements form these chapters Games Masters and players will be able to portray elven cultures without falling back on simple stereotypes.
Elven Ways and Means bears the heaviest burden of the three knowledge chapters. It lays out four potential "elven technologies" each with unique flavor and use. Elfin crafts allow the elves to imbue relatively crude items with beauty and magical power. Grown crystals give the elves access to an infinitely deep well of physical material to work with, so that they can avoid grubbing for metal. Living magic twists the standard d20 rules for wondrous items so that elves can create trees with sap of steel and a thousand fruits. Woven light allows elves to reach out and forge a blade of moonlight, or weave a cloak of starlight. Taking these as bases for elven society allows the both players and Games Masters to create elves that truly live in a very different way than their mortal kin.
The other two chapters, The Magical Elf and Fey Tricks, try to give players practical uses for the ethereal concepts discussed in the rest of the book. Saying that the elves embody spirits of light does not necessarily give the player a host of new options for customizing his character's presence in the game world. The Magical Elf solves this problem by providing Charm feats that represent the character's powers in a discrete, mechanically clear way. Fey Tricks continues the trend by outlining various feats related to the character's innate connection to the world of essential forces.
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