Review of Thimbleton Inksquire's Runic Compendium, from Runic Press.
Full transparency, I received a free copy of this supplement for review purposes. As usual I will rate this on four metrics: Utility, Quality, Presentation, and Price.
Utility: This is a complete and balanced alternate system of magic to use alongside the standard systems in 5e games or replace it completely. As such it’s a little more niche, but if you are in the market for non-Vancian magic, this book delivers. There are runecasting variants and subclasses for every class, as well as new full class with each own three ‘cores’ or subclasses. There are runes, magic items, monsters, playable ancestries, and an adventure. There’s a lot here for GMs to use. 5/5
Quality: The folks at Runic Press, who have collaborated before under a Community Collaboration name, keep getting better. The classes, subclasses and runes are interesting, nay, inspired. The monsters are cool and terrifying. The new systems introduced are elegant and simple, arguably better than what they replace. Writing is clear and evocative. 5/5
Presentation: Beautiful art, good layout, great grammar. No wasted space, but enough white space to avoid eyestrain and variety in font etc to avoid boredom. I’m impressed. Again, they just keep getting better. 5/5
Price: 20 dollars? Are you kidding me? For the following content:
The Runesmith Class: A dedicated runecasting class.
16 Runic Subclasses for existing 5E Classes.
Over 80 Powerful Runes to master.
66 Monsters and Runecasting NPCs to challenge.
More than 20 Runic Magic Items to discover.
Beautifully illustrated art and gorgeous 2-up page layouts.
With an actual brand new system and good lore, over 167 pages, none of which are wasted.
Contrast with current WoTC prices of 70 dollars for less, and the quality of Runic Press’ work…this is a steal. Go buy it. Now. 5/5
Overall: They knocked it out of the park, and this is a must have for the net phase of 5e in the open marketplace, from Tales of the Valiant to every other 5e compatible creator. 5/5
Get a discount on it here! https://tinyurl.com/GoGRunic20
