In the spirit of full disclosure, I was given a copy of this supplement for a full and honest review.
Mastering the Elements. This supplement produced by Purple Aether Games (@PurpleAetherLLC), written and designed by Jacob S Kellogg (@JacobSKellog), opens with an earnest appeal to those players who want to be able to have all their spells on elemental brand and the DMs who want to arm their specific elemental cults with thematic spells. The mission statement of this supplement, "you can take your favorite elemental mage all the way from 1st to 20th level while remaining devoted to your concept, even if you’re dedicated to a single element" is backed up with a colossal collection 80 spells spread over ice, fire and lightning, covering all levels and cantrips, adding a veritable cornucopia of new spells for the frosty Wizard with ice in their veins, fiery-eyed Warlock bound to an infernal flame, Paladin of Thor in coruscating and/ or any player or DM wanting to broaden their magical horizons. These are listed in level order and then detailed in alphabetical order in separate ice, fire and lightning sections.
It's notable that there do mot appear to be any class tags on the spells, meaning they are open to anyone with the ability to cast spells of the spell in question's level. This is definitely a huge relief for those building a character or elemental order, as the entire spell smorgasbord is on the table everyone is invited!
I have to admit that, while I am becoming rather well-versed in the reviewing of adventures and supplements, spells are somewhat new for me to be reviewing, though I plan to give this the in depth treatment I give everything else, checking spells of the same level and trying to get a handle and reference of the appropriate power levels and abilities. To this end I shall go through each section picking around five that intrigue me the most, whether by name or mechanics, talking about those specifically (without giving too much away), before addressing this awesome collection of whizz-bangs, zaps and judders as a whole. Please be aware the spell descriptions are my own paraphrasing with details omitted.
Cold Spells. "Cold spells allow you to conjure solid ice, slow your enemies, hamper flames, and of course deal cold damage."
Agonizing Chill. This 5th level enchantment kicks things off with "a crippling cold that fills its entire body". This deals an automatic a potentially serious cold damage and forces a save or the target becomes Slowed, as in the 3rd level spell, and can repeat the save at the end of each turn, taking the rolling the same cold damage on a failure! A powerful way to begin things indeed! The image is rendered so vividly of a creature physically impaired by a blast of icy magic, a rime of frost covering their body and snot icicles dangling from their nose like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining. The automatic hit and damage is interesting, but with low number of high dice there's a wide range of possible damage, although it does repeat which could be killer, but a fifth slot for this and a single Slowed target seems a fair trade.
Cryostasis. This 8th level abjuration takes an hour and 1,000G diamond that is consumed in the casting. This creates a hardy cocoon/ sarcophagus of ice for a willing creature, placing them in unconscious and in suspended animation with time not passing for them on the inside. Oh, and unless it is difficulty dispelled or destroyed with fire, it lasts indefinitely. This seems like a great way to hide a character or creature or as a way to essentially send them into the future. I'm already thinking of so many fun ways this could be used to introduce a new character, villain or monster, as well as being a fascinating puzzle for a party to discover and try to understand. Could this contain one of the earliest elves, so much more ancient than any alive today, a primordial dragon unlike any in recorded history, or could this contain one of the first illithid to arrive in your setting, possibly vastly different with greater powers and technology? The narrative possibilities are endless!
Ice Blades. This 4th level conjuration summons snowflakes the size of saw blades that can be flung great distances, dealing slashing and cold action using bonus actions, somewhat like spirit weapon, but these babies come back to you, ready to throw again. The blades circle the caster when not being used and can any number can hurled at one of more targets. Beginning with a trio, the blades can be added to at higher levels. This is just a ridiculously cool looking, sounding and feeling spell that I'm aching to get it use. Definitely need to create a Mortal Kombat inspired mage as soon as possible.
Ice Warrior. This 3rd level conjuration creates a frozen friend to fight alongside you using the stats of a Veteran with limited arms and abilities. Additional ice warriors can be summoned at higher levels, up to a total of four at 9th level. With the restrictions, ice warriors can certainly be compared to and seen to as a more elementally specific conjure animals. Personally, I love spells that create allies, especially as I run a couple of duet games, as they allow you to feel a bit more like a conjuration mage from the Elder Scrolls, with more the merrier welcome. As a DM this can be daunting, but with the simplicity of acting after directly after the caster in initiative makes simpler. At the same time I love the idea of places being attacked by abominable assailants and this being traced back to a cold mage's ice cave, possibly with the ice warriors being formed around the frozen bodies of former victims for added horror and necromancy flavor.
Refreshing Chill. This evocation cantrip, described as a practice spell for cryomamcers, comes across as thematic combination of druidcraft and shape water for those of a colder nature. It certainly makes sense that magic users, particularly those specializing in an element would have access to a wide range of simple abilities, as with druids and their eponymous craft. I also thoroughly enjoy a flavored spell description that places it within the world and lives of the mage's that is it. This really is a nifty little flavorful cantrip.
Fire Spells "Fire spells are all about burning, but that doesn’t mean a pyromancer doesn’t still have a few tricks up their sleeve."
Detonate. This 3rd level evocation sets of a fiery explosion in a radius from the caster, forcing all creatures other than themselves to Strength save or take potentially a great deal of damage, get pushed back and onto their bottoms on a failure, or half and the don't move or get knocked prone, just standing there looking charcoaled like a cartoon character after the dynamite goes off -- only this time the caster is the Acme TNT! The big big badda boom moves loose objects and can be heard up to a long ways away, as with Thunderwave. In many ways this is the hot-headed big brother of Thunderwave who blows up and pushes your friends over in the playground. This makes me want to build a flaming Vengeance Paladin who runs in, Detonates with righteous fury, scattering enemies like bowling pins! Be careful when playing near friends!
Flame Body. This 9th level transmutation turns you into the humanoid torch! FLAME ON! You literally become a flaming form of yourself that can fly and send out fireballs without expending spellslots, as well as upping that damage die of any flame spells cast! Also, because you are fire you are harder to hit and if you are attack in melee or even stood too close the creature gets burned. This is just so many levels of awesome and just the kind of awesome thing you want to be able to do by the time you can cast 9th levels spells!
Flame Wreath. This evocation cantrip is the baby version of flame body, surrounding the caster in a vortex of flame and essentially being a fire-skinned word of radiance for those more fireous than pious. I always enjoy a reskin of a spell that makes it more thematic and useful.
Peer Through Flames. This 6th level divination consumes 500G of incense and charcoal (enough to find 50 familiars) and gives the caster the ability to become aware of all non-magical flames within a 100 miles, as well as being able to see, hear and speak through the flames, moving your attention between them with ease. When you speak, a flaming approximation of your face appears in the flames. I absolutely love this and I'm sorry, not sorry about all my references, but as soon as I read this I had images of Sirius Black from Harry Potter and Milisandre from Game of Thrones! This is an incredibly powerful, useful and thematic spell, as well as being a nice change from fire so often being purely destructive.
Servant of Flame. This 3rd level conjuration summons a group of magma mephits to fight at your behest, acting on their own group initiative and following the caster's commands. At higher levels you roll to see how many more are summoned, which is a nice touch with their fickle elemental nature. This is a simple and straightforward spell gaining the ability to conjure elemental minions, comparable to conjure animals, what's not to love?
Lightning Spells "Lightning spells allow you to stun your enemies, short-circuit other spells, and of course deal lightning damage."
Decimation Bolts. This 9th level evocation makes you Darkseid! You fire a ridiculous number of omega beams, I mean bolts of destructive elemental power in incredibly long lines forcing a Dexterity save, taking colossal zaps and getting stunned on a failure, half damage and only static mohawks on a success. These also dispel all magical effects or spells in the area of one or more of the bolts to boot! There's some just really, ahem, magical about 9th level spells and they are so hard to compare against anything when you have Wish on the table, but I really want to unleash this awesome power, and if I had to compare it's like doing a bunch lines of Meteor Swarm with a Dispel Magic chaser!
Enliven Corpse. This 2nd necromancy allows tithe caster to use an electric charge to animate a medium or small corpse like a lightning puppet, rather than an undead creature. Using your action you can puppet your lightning bloat, hitting with spell attacks and lightning damage. I have to say this is one of my favorites. The fantasy-science sense of it and the image of this possibly hovering corpse, jerking in a coruscating cage of impelling lightning is glorious. I cannot wait for my players to meet one of these lightning bloats™ coming down a dungeon corridor!
Lightning Army. This 5th level enchantment enhances up to four allies, charging them with lightning powers including the majority of the bonuses of haste, as well as additional lightning damage to attacks, being attacks and/ or ending your turn holding an enemy with your sparking hand-buzzer. I do so like a spell that can pump up the whole party, rather than having to pick a member or pay more. Plus I enjoy the concept of using lightning to get the party charged up and buzzing.
Lightning Speed. This evocation cantrip is a real nifty little move to charge your legs and get your gotta go fast on, enabling you to move with such abruptness that opportunity attacks against you have disadvantage for a round. Great for escaping and making you feel at least a little bit like Wally West...unless one of those attacks hits and you no longer feel like The Flash, but hey it's a handy bonus action cantrip.
Pulse Canon. This 7th level evocation turns the caster into a huge laser turret, firing a cone of massive lightning damage and stunning if the constitution save is failed. This can stick around for a good while and can be turned with a bonus action, so the potential for offence and defense are incredible! This is so freaking awesome and gives me some serious anime and old cartoon vibes, as well as thinking about how you could totally build a warforged mech or gundam with these abilities!
These are just a taste of the 80 spells with such a wide array of uses, and that feel so authentic and in tone/ in line with thy existing spells in D&D5e. This is something I will certainly be implementing in my games. This 24 page supplement is packed to the brim with quality spells with the subtle and effective design, layout and use of stock art.
As a player I thoroughly look forward to building a a static-bearded sorcerer dedicated to Talos, the Storm Lord, possibly named Tezl Van De'Graff.
As a DM I'm already plotting a Sub Zero and the Lin Kuei inspired martial arts and magic cult holed up and plotting in the hollow bowels of a ice berg. There's something wonderful about a player's reaction when discovering a spell scroll or spellbook they've never seen before! There's something shining in their beady little serial killer eyes that makes them seem most like people...
But seriously I am feeling so inspired by these spells to create so many different characters, NPCs, adventures and even campaigns! I'm definitely going to start introducing elements of these elemental into my games as soon as possible and just brace myself for my payer's reactions and excitement!
Kellogg has created a wonderful collection of spells, in-fitting with the game and taking ideas into some strange and wonderful places. This really is a nifty bunch of spells that will add some utility, flavour and excitement to your game, whichever side of the table you are, though be sure to check with the DM before adding these to your arsenal.
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