Pyramid Review
Hexarcana (for the Deadlands RPG)
By Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Written by John Goff
128 pages; $20.00
Hexarcana, by Pinnacle Entertainment Group's John Goff, both updates and collects the new Arcane Backgrounds released in three boxed sets (Martial Artist, Thaumaturgical Diffusionists, and Voodooist) and an expands the spells and powers available to the standard spell-casting Arcane Backgrounds (Blessed, Huckster, and Shaman). While the book is specifically targeted to only a portion of Deadlands players and Marshals, Goff's work is up to his usual high standards and can be used by anyone willing to convert the material into their favorite gaming system.
Players with the standard spell-casting Arcane Backgrounds (Blessed, Hucksters, and Shamans) will find seventeen new miracles, five gifts, two divine interventions, six tricks, eleven hexes, three guardian spirits, and sixteen favors in this work. These are all written for the second edition rules and include some notes on updating first edition characters to second edition system. Each of these are new and do not repeat information found in the supplements designed for each of these Arcane Backgrounds (Fire and Brimstone, Hucksters and Hexes, and Ghost Dancers, respectively). Players trying to decide between one of these earlier books or Hexarcana should probably go with the original book first, as there will be more information specific to their background there. Those wishing to expand on this . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 10, 2000
Copyright © 2000 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.