The Curse of the Pharaohs is the second major expansion for Assassin's Creed Origins, developed by Ubisoft. It introduces players to a whole new region, the afterlife of ancient Egypt, where they must uncover the secrets and mysteries of the pharaohs. This expansion takes the gameplay experience to a whole new level, with a visually stunning world, thrilling storylines, and challenging missions. The main storyline of The Curse of the Pharaohs revolves around Bayek, the protagonist, who discovers that the pharaohs' mummies have been resurrected and are wreaking havoc in the afterlife. As Bayek, players must delve into this mystical world and find a way to put an end to the curse that plagues the pharaohs. One of the standout features of this expansion is the new region it introduces, called Thebes.
The Vigilant is sort of a ranger/paladin guardian/agent type fighter with spellcasting abilities. It is, to be frank, probably the most ill-conceived prestige class of the bunch. The concept is a little fuzzy, sort of a super-border guard/agent. In addition, the skills set seems disjoint as well as overpowering. It has a spell advancement similar to the assassin’s. But it also receives a d12 hit die type, free feats at many levels, and the best attack bonus advancement. It struck me as less of a concept and more of a "munchkin grab bag."
Some material is presented in boxed sections set apart from the text, such as the new feats, new skill, and material on side effects of magic in the scarred lands. The Relics Rituals R R book has a black cover, similar in style to the white covered Creature Collection , which both, in turn, seem to be distantly inspired by the D D 3e Core Rulebooks.
One of the standout features of this expansion is the new region it introduces, called Thebes. This ancient city is brought to life with meticulous attention to detail, from the grand temples to the bustling streets. Players will find themselves exploring iconic landmarks like the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, and the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.
Dndbeyond occult relics
Enter: Swords & Sorcery Studios
One day late last year, I wandered into the local Book, Game, and Cake Decorating Supplies store and saw something rather unusual, and rather interesting. In the cardboard Wizards of the Coast (WotC) display, next to all the shiny new Third Edition (3e) Players Handbooks and Dungeon Masters Guides, was a new book that almost looked like it was cast from the same mold. Almost.
To my amazement, I found that an outfit calling themselves Sword and Sorcery Studios (SSS) had produced a monster book for the D20 system and got it on the shelves before WotC 3e Monster Manual . That made quite a statement about who to keep your eye on in the coming months as the D20 bandwagon started to fill up.
Also to my amazement, I also soon found that Sword and Sorcery Studios is somehow under the White Wolf umbrella. I’m not sure if it’s a front, a semi-independent relationship, a puppet, or something best explained by analogy to the old Illuminati card game. At any rate, I found it rather ironic that the company whose fans arguably hold the deepest loathing D&D was now putting out products for it.
Though it obviously suffered from signs of incompatibility stemming from being released before the whole 3e enchilada was likewise released, the Creature Collection was well received. While almost everyone agreed that it was no substitute for the official D&D 3e Monster Manual , it was touted as a fresh and original collection of creatures much akin to the old First Edition AD&D Fiend Folio.
That was quite an accomplishment, all things considered. The lauding for originality and the boldness to rush it to market helped establish SSS as one of the premier D20 vendors.
Now it is months later. A question to ask might be how much impact has the SSS Creature Collection had on various 3e D&D campaigns? There were some creatures that I found fit to immediately integrate into my campaign, like Ratmen and Hags. However there where many other creatures in the CC that, while interesting, didn’t weave their way into my campaign and were largely forgotten. Creatures like … what other creatures were in the CC now?
So that leads us to the real topic, SSS’s second D20 "core rulebook" style book, Relics & Rituals . Does this book have what it takes to make a more lasting impact on the D&D 3e [cough] sorry, D20 landscape? And now that SSS and its contributors have had a while to curl up with the D&D 3e rules, will it be more consistent with the D20 system?
The Relics & Rituals (R&R) book has a black cover, similar in style to the white covered Creature Collection , which both, in turn, seem to be distantly inspired by the D&D 3e Core Rulebooks. The cover is adorned by a pentagram logo, which is sure to raise eyebrows among more conservative parents of young gamers who try to sneak this book in the house. Yes, I know Patricia Pulling is just a bad memory by now, but I imagine some young gamer out there who has paged through the book is shaking his head at the decision.
The interior is black & white. The outside borders of the pages are adorned with the same "cracked" pattern that appeared in the Creature Collection .
The art in the interior is generally well done and pertinent. The quality of the art is on the average better than that in the CC, and there is nothing resembling the pitiful "spilled ink" pictures that marred the pages of the CC.
Creatures from the Scarred lands make frequent appearances, establishing this as a scarred lands product vice a generic one, though I (and I’m sure, many of you) have no intention of using it that way. Some highlights include the illustration for some of the spells, such as the illustration for "Daggers of Vaul," which depicts a hag with arms outspread and a pair of adventures being attacked by a storm of daggers. Another
One interesting talent in the book that caught my eye (whose name I could not discern) was whoever did some of the signature pointilism-shaded "scantily clad sorceress" pictures, such as those for "Rie’s Dance of Seduction" and "Greak Knock." It manages to convey a bit of that classical D&D fantasy feel while at the same time not being blatantly "Elmore-esque."
The text seems to strike the right medium between compactness and readability, and the margins are not overly gratuitous, which is something I have see in other WW products.
The book is organized into six chapters, plus a preface by Gary Gygax, an introductory explanation of the Scarred Lands, and the obligatory D20 license at the end. The chapters are: Prestige Classes, Spells, Ritual Magic, True Rituals, Magic Items, and Relics. I can see how some of the chapters might have been logically combined, but it seems that for the size and scope of this book, the chapter divisions were justifiable.
Each chapter has an introductory page that is mostly blank, but includes a small amount of the text for the chapter. This is the one organizational failing of the book, I think. Little blurbs of text on pages that look like they are meant to set of a chapter tend to get ignored or missed. I recall that the old AD&D 2e Skills & Powers book had an approach like this. There was a rule in the beginning of the first chapter allowing you to buy extra spell slots that almost no player knew about because the first thing they did is skip to the "meat" that they presumed started on the next page.
Other than that, the organization within the chapters is largely functional and easy to read and use. The prestige classes are presented such that each one begins on a new page. Contrast this to the layout of prestige classes in the 3e DMG and creature entries in the 3e MM. The inter-page breaks, though compact, made it difficult to follow where the different entries began and ended.
Some material is presented in boxed sections set apart from the text, such as the new feats, new skill, and material on side effects of magic in the scarred lands. This works well, as this is the sort of material that you want highlighted as there is a good chance that you may want to look up these sorts of details in a hurry.
The spells and magic items are mostly split into a description section giving Scarred Lands campaign background info, and a section describing the game effects. This is also a very good idea, and makes it easy to use both as a Scarred Lands sourcebook and as supplemental material for GMs who use their own game worlds.
Normally I wouldn’t even comment on a preface. But I think this time I will.
Gary Gygax, who should need no introduction, is one of the creators of Dungeons and Dragons and arguably one of the figures that set the RPG hobby in motion. Albeit that some love him and some hate him, it is understandable why one might want him to write a preface for such a book. However, I’ve seen this frequently enough that it seems to be little more than a fashion statement and I’m not sure it really serves much purpose anymore.
In his preface, Gygax as much as admits that he knows very little about the Scarred Lands. That statement is to me an admission to what a bald-faced rote move such prefaces are becoming. To his credit, he does express the same type of wonderment and contemplation of how to use this material as many salivating buyers of this book doubtlessly feel, so it is easy to empathize with him. But then, most of those salivating customers will flip right past this section as they advance to the good stuff, so the impact is lost.
There are seven new prestige classes for the game: the Blood Witch, Crypt Lord, Incarnate, Penumbral Lord, Sea Witch, Summoner, and Vigilant. All are spellcasters, else why include them in the book?
The Blood Witch, Crypt Lord, Incarnate, and Summoner are all "continuing spellcasters" that follow the same pattern that the loremaster does in the DMG: the character receives some special abilities in addition to continuing to advance in casting capability of their basic spellcasting class. The others have their own spell list and progression.
The Blood Witch is a spellcaster who can use constitution points from blood drain to power metamagic enhancements to spells. At lower levels, this blood must come from the Blood Witch, but at higher levels it is possible to use a sacrifice to do this. This concept is very bound up with the scarred lands concept of magic from titan blood, but the mechanics can possibly be used and adapted for use in other campaigns.
The Crypt Lord is a very basic concept, a necromantic spellcaster (arcane or divine) who focuses on animating and mastering the undead. With a few tweaks, this prestige class could make a compelling staple villain in any campaign that features undead and the concept of evil necromancers.
The Incarnate is a little more campaign specific concept. The character must always have been a druid and must never have been an alignment other than true neutral. Once an incarnate, the character becomes aware of their past lives and begins to acquire the abilities to assume forms held in past lives. At least half of these shapes must be of animals or dire animals, but the remainder may be humanoids, fey, or magical beasts. I have seen (and used) the concept of recurring incarnations as a form of immortality in other game products (most notably palladium games Mystic China). While this is a very interesting take, some that aren’t using the Scarred Lands campaign setting may find its adaptability poor.
The Penumbral Lord is sort of an arcane spellcaster who specializes in shadow magic. It has many shadowdancer-like abilities in addition to its own spell list (to include a number of new spells that were, for the most part, also added to the Sorcerer/Wizard). I think that the class isn’t put together as well as the "continuing spellcaster" based prestige classes.
The Sea Witch is a mage that fills in the special role of a spellcaster that helps / aids / protects a ship, and may have been an arcane or divine spellcaster. Though they continue to use the same methods for spellcasting that their previous class did, they use their own spell list. They also have a number of abilities which enhance their role as a "ship mage," such as being able to cast personal spells on the ship they are bonded to, and to defray the cost of metamagic enhancements while on a ship, and an aquatic version of the wild shape ability. Though I prefer the "continuing spellcaster" approach, the class is well enough put together and performs the role it was meant to. Though players may not find this class desirable unless it is a seafaring campaign, it is a logical outgrowth of the role spellcasters might take in the seas of a fantasy campaign and most DMs should find it suitable for NPCs in such a campaign.
The Summoner is a spellcaster, again arcane or divine, who forms a pact with a magical beast, dragon, or outsider, and specializes in summoning creatures of a type matching their patron. They learn metamagic feats that can be applied to their summoning spells without cost, but cannot be "stacked". They also get bonus summoning spells that can be cast as if the next higher versions of the summoning spell. If you already use the variant rules for sorcerers learning spells from such patrons in your game, this prestige class should be a natural fit. It should also please players who are fond of card and computer games that feature summoner type mages, such as Magic: the Gathering and the Final Fantasy Games, as it helps make a summoning focussed mage practical. The rules on the bonus spells are a little confusing, however.
The Vigilant is sort of a ranger/paladin guardian/agent type fighter with spellcasting abilities. It is, to be frank, probably the most ill-conceived prestige class of the bunch. The concept is a little fuzzy, sort of a super-border guard/agent. In addition, the skills set seems disjoint as well as overpowering. It has a spell advancement similar to the assassin’s. But it also receives a d12 hit die type, free feats at many levels, and the best attack bonus advancement. It struck me as less of a concept and more of a "munchkin grab bag."
Overall, there are some good usable concepts that can be used directly in a campaign, or be recast into something usable.
There are additional spells in the "True rituals" chapter; this section simply details the spells chapter of the book.
The chapter leads off with the introduction of a new clerical domain (missionary), a discussion of magic in the Scarred lands campaign, and (onto the good stuff) new feats. There are two new feats, both of them seem balanced and usable in a variety of campaign. The first is chain spell , which at the cost of 3 levels allows you to make a ray or cone spell "chain" similar to a chain lightning spell. Hide spell allows you to make an evocation spell invisible and inaudible, at the cost of two levels.
There’s another feat in the Magic Items chapter, just so you don’t miss it…
I don’t know if this is a "kudos" or a "bad thing", but the spell lists are integrated with the spell lists from the PHB. This is good if you want to play a Scarred Lands campaign and just want to browse through one book to pick your spells. It is a bad thing if you just want to browse through the spells in this book to see what is worth stealing.
One notable deviation from "3e doctrine" is that in many cases, additional spells have been added to certain levels of some clerical domains. I know some purists will wrinkle their nose at this one, but I’m not so sure it’s a bad idea. The domains as presented in the PHB always seem a little limited to me.
But that said, the spells are generally very good. They mostly manage to be both original and retain much of the D&D "feel" to them. I haven’t pored through every last word in the book, but thus far I have spotted no glaringly abusive spells, and most seem fairly balanced against PHB spells of the same level.
Here is a VERY abridged list few of the more interesting spells:
Animal infusion – animal 2, Drd 2, Rgr 3, Sor/Wiz 3, grants caster one ability of an animal.
Animate Shadow – Sor/Wiz 3, shadows animate and entangle targets.
Brothers in Arms – Clr 5, Pal 4, Str 5, allows allies to share HP and stength points
Condemned – Clr 4, target becomes unaffected by magical healing.
Daggers of Vaul – Clr 7, Sor/Wiz 7, animated a cloud of sharp objects.
Declaration of Death – Brd 6, Sor/Wiz 6, convince target that it has died
Dragons Breath – Sor/Wiz 3, breath dragon breath type 1d6/level, catch: you take 1/level!
Hedradda’s Balance – Clr 2, Law 2 Protects willing recipient from emotional bias (would be useful on usenet)
Holy Beacon – Pal 1, signals paladin that another paladin is in danger (see below)
Holy Beacon’s Answer – Pal 4, teleport to location of holy beacon.
Incite – Clr 7, Missionary 7, enlist a large group of people to help you.
Quick Sober – Brd 1, Clr 0, Sor/Wiz 0, Cures alcoholic influences (I’ve had my players ask if there was a spell like this!)
Recall Champion – Clr 8, War 8, call a dead hero to aid you.
A bunch of "shadow" theme spells for the penumbral lord.
Soul strike – Sor/Wiz 7, calls tortured sprits that drain Con from target; if they kill the victim, the drag his soul to the netherworld (cannot be raised, but can be ressurected).
The only spells I can think of that I would never use in my game are those that allow clerics to forcibly convert others to their religion.
Ritual Magic and True Rituals
Chapter 3 describes the ritual magic rules. Chapter 4 provides a list of True Rituals, spells that can only be cast in ritual form.
These chapters describe ritual magic. Ritual magic lets you realize enhanced effects from casting spells by enlisting the aid of others. If the other participants are also spellcasters, so much the better, but almost anyone can contribute. In addition, ritual magic takes additional time, has inherent dangers, and requires expensive components. In the case of true rituals, there is also always an XP cost.
There are three types of ritual magic: augmented ritual magic, combined ritual magic, and true rituals.
Augmented ritual magic lets you offset the cost of using metamagic feats by enlisting the help of others to perform a ritual. If you really need to extend the range or maximize a spell but do not have the slots or levels to do so, ritual magic will let you do it. If you pay the price (see above) and if you enlist enough help.
Combined ritual magic lets you add levels to level variable effects of a spell. You calculate a bonus level based on the number and type of people assisting you in a ritual. These bonus casting levels must be split among different aspects of the spell being cast. Thus if the spell you are casting has variable range and duration by level, you must decide how you want to split the bonus casting levels provided by the spell.
Finally, there are True Rituals. True rituals are special spells that must be researched by 2 or more people and cast by 2 or more people. In some cases, where an extra spellcaster is required, a number of lesser or non-spellcasters may be substituted. There is always an XP cost associated with true ritual spells.
Only clerics, druids, or wizards can cast true rituals. The chapter on true rituals gives one example true ritual for each class for each level from 1 to 9. Effects vary from giving a newlywed couple a protective bonus, constructing a druidic circle, bringing forest to life, building a temple on the spot, creating a cloud castle, creating certain forms of undead, converting all of one caster’s wizard levels to sorcerer levels, and bestowing immortality on a caster – if one of the other casters is willing to sacrifice their life! These are obviously just examples, and I’m sure that DMs everywhere will delight on adding to this list in their own campaign.
If the modified time of the ritual is over one hour, the caster must make a roll or lose half of the energy into damaging the participants! There is a new skill, ritual casting, provided just for this purpose.
The rules are well thought out and consistent with the existing D20 material, and are in my opinion the most valuable part of the book and stands to make the biggest impact on an ongoing campaign. The ideas encompassed here aren’t new. The 2 nd edition AD&D game had several hacks at this sort of thing with such things as cooperative magic in the Tome of Magic and the true dweomer rules in the High Level Campaigns book, not to mention countless campaigns whose object was to "stop the dastardly ritual."
But with the ritual magic rules, you not only have a cleaner, consolidated set of rules for doing this sort of thing, but also have a tool for the PCs (or NPCs) to use. Rituals just scream "plot device", as they always have. But the ritual magic rules give the DM something more solid to go on with these plots than they have in the past.
Magic Items & Relics
The last two chapters are perhaps what Relics & Rituals is most famed for. SSS made a call to all who dared to submit their own items. The result is a rich tapestry of items that suit a wide variety of campaigns. The editors obviously must have had quite a few to pick from, because the stuff that made the cut is mostly both imaginative and mechanically sound.
The only major grumble I have heard is that the book includes no GP or XP values for the items.
Items all have a section detailing their role in the history of the scarred lands in addition to the game effect. Though this was obviously intended to cleft the "open game material" from SSS’s Scarred Lands material, it works well. It gives DMs food for though and a bit of flavor for the items, even if they aren’t running a Scarred Lands campaign. Many D20 products get bogged down in mechanical details and all too often pays too little attention to other details. Items range from simple & flavorful to the "oh, wow, I want one of those" type items to please your inner munchkin.
A few sample items include:
Bloodfang dagger – raises sneak attack dice types to d10.
Hammer of shattering – dwarven hammer than ignores hardness.
Mageblade – sword that casts mage armor on the wielder when drawn.
Whirlwind blade – lets the user use whirlwind attack
Magic Animal Ring – Allows user to polymorph to one animal form
Ring of the Pack – magically linked rings that lets wearers sense where other wearers of such rings are
Artemesia’s Garotte – a garotte that can seek out its target, moving like a snake
Horseshoes of the Vanishing Steed – put them on the ground, poof , instant horse.
Impregnable strongbox – a chest that has a lid on each side, and a lock on each side. Each lid opens into a separate cubic space, and to get open a side, the locks must be opened in a particular order.
The magic items chapter includes one item that is sure to draw players’ attention, namely a new magic item category: tattoos. Obviously, you just don’t find tattoos lying around the dungeon. There is a feat, and you have to find someone who has it who is willing to part with the attendant XP. You are limited to a total "rank" of tattoos equal to twice your con bonus and no single tattoo can have a spell requirement of a level higher than your con bonus. Tattoos are designed as command word activated spell effect items. Since there are limitations on the number of magic tattoos, the "no space limitation" modifier does not apply. Though they truly aren’t command word activated, all tattoos have side effect, which is why they use that cost.
The relics are interesting as well, but many of the major artifacts seem a bit world-specific for general use. However, one interesting set of major artifacts struck me right away: the Swords of Scarn. The swords are more than mildly reminiscent of the Swords in Fred Saberhagen’s Swords books, and even has illustrations that resemble the cover of said books. They are aligned to the four elements (plus shadow) vice the themes Saberhagen chose, but the feel was still there.
Conclusion and Final Words
I’m really hesitant to give a "5" rating on what will be my first review on RPG.net, but I’m going to. This book is packed with ideas and useful, fleshed out material for both players and DMs. It will serve as a wonderful resource for a DM intending to use the Scarred Lands setting, or to use as material in his own magic-oriented high fantasy campaign. It seems that the SSS editors went out of their way to make sure it was suitable in both callings.
My few complaints are minor. There were a many fan contributions to this book, and in some places it shows. Some items aren’t as explicit or clear as their WotC-originated counterparts. There are some things that depart from 3e/D20 doctrine that may cause some problems with purists.
For example, new WotC products I’ve seen thus far tend to avoid adding new skills, especially highly specific ones. I’d be tempted to merely use concentration and/or spellcraft skills and dispense with the ritual casting skill. Some items seemed a little out of place or redundant; the contributor who made and editor who allowed the shadowsword must not have read the "ghost touch" ability in the DMG.
The Relics & Rituals book has sufficient substance that I think it will be stiff competition to WotC products. Compare WotC’s Monsters of Fearun . Relics & Rituals is over twice the page count for a mere three dollars more. If SSS keeps this up and other vendors follow suit, perhaps WotC will be forced to make the cost of future items more reasonable. But then, if the D20 vendors keep it up, maybe it doesn’t matter if WotC changes their pricing.
Overall, I think this book will have a lasting impact on many campaigns and the D20 landscape as well, and SSS should prove to be a pre-eminent D20 vendor. It should be interesting in a few months to look back and see if I have overestimated it as I did the Creature Collection .
Somehow, though, I don’t think I have.
Also side note, I never understood the difference between Artifact and Relic, I have had DMs use them in a way I think are pretty interchangeable.
In The Curse of the Pharaohs, players will also encounter formidable enemies, including the resurrected pharaohs themselves. Each pharaoh possesses unique abilities and poses a significant challenge that players must overcome. Furthermore, players will face off against mythical creatures inspired by Egyptian folklore, like giant scorpions and massive Anubis warriors. These epic battles provide an exhilarating gameplay experience that tests both skill and strategy. Aside from the main storyline, The Curse of the Pharaohs offers a wealth of side quests and activities. Players can engage in tomb exploration, where they will uncover ancient treasures and earn valuable rewards. They can also undertake various missions for NPCs, which shed light on the lives and struggles of the ancient Egyptians. Overall, The Curse of the Pharaohs is a highly immersive and captivating expansion for Assassin's Creed Origins. It expands upon the already immersive world of ancient Egypt, introducing players to a mystical afterlife filled with danger and intrigue. With its visually stunning graphics, engaging storyline, and challenging gameplay, this expansion offers an unforgettable experience for fans of the franchise..
Reviews for "How AC Origins: Curse of the Pharaohs Adds a New Dimension to the Game"
- Mark - 2/5 stars
I was thoroughly disappointed with "AC Origins: Curse of the Pharaohs". Despite the beautiful setting and intriguing premise, the game falls flat on several fronts. The story feels rushed and lacks depth, failing to engage me in any meaningful way. The gameplay mechanics are also repetitive and lack innovation. Overall, this expansion feels like a missed opportunity to deliver a worthwhile addition to the game.
- Rebecca - 2/5 stars
I had high hopes for "AC Origins: Curse of the Pharaohs", but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. The main issue I had was with the technical aspects of the game. There were constant glitches and bugs that hindered my progress and made the overall experience frustrating. Additionally, the pacing of the story felt off, with abrupt jumps and a lack of cohesion. It's a shame because the concept had so much potential, but it simply didn't deliver.
- Chris - 3/5 stars
While "AC Origins: Curse of the Pharaohs" has its moments, it ultimately falls short in terms of engaging gameplay. The combat mechanics remain largely unchanged from the base game, resulting in a lack of excitement and challenge. The side quests also feel repetitive and fail to offer anything new or interesting. While the expansion offers a visually stunning environment, it fails to provide a captivating experience overall. It's a decent addition for die-hard fans of the series, but for casual players, it may not be worth the investment.