Arcana Unearthed

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Not to be confused with Unearthed Arcana.

Arcana Unearthed

Open Gaming License
.

Development

Arcana Unearthed (2003) was advertised as a "variant player's handbook" with an alternative system of d20 rules taking place in Monte Cook's setting known as "The Diamond Throne," a world controlled by giants, which was later revised as Arcana Evolved (2005).[2]: 36 

Themes

Two of the most important themes of the game are

giants
temporarily lose their wisdom to become stronger and more warlike. Monte Cook emphasized that players should avoid archetypes (presumably referring to the character archetypes of Dungeons & Dragons) and design their characters more creatively.

Setting

The

magical properties of crystals
.

Title confusion

Arcana Unearthed is not to be confused with Unearthed Arcana, the title of two books published in 1985 and 2004 that provided additional material for use in the then-current version of Dungeons & Dragons. The name Arcana Unearthed was chosen partially as a homage to the earlier of these two books. The announcement of the 2004 version came as an unpleasant surprise to Cook and some of his fans, who believed that they had an understanding with Wizards of the Coast that this title would not be re-used in the near future.

Reception

Arcana Unearthed won the 2004 Gold

ENnie Award for Best Game, and the Silver for Best Art (Cover).[3]

The cover, by artist Mark Zug, won the Chesley Award for Best Gaming-Related Illustration in 2005.[4]

Reviews

Arcana Evolved

Arcana Evolved[6] is an updated "director's cut" of Arcana Unearthed released in 2005. Arcana Evolved is 432 pages in full color. It adds the contents of two previously separate books, The Diamond Throne and the Player's Companion, to the original variant player's handbook, along with new material including a new class and race, many new feats and spells, and rules for higher level characters than were possible in the original book. On the less mechanical side, it also advances the time line of the Diamond Throne campaign setting by several years - years which feature the return of dragons to the lands of the Diamond Throne, reviving an ancient rivalry with the ruling giants.

Arcana Evolved won the 2005 Gold

Ennie Award for "Best Interior Art".[7]

Additional books

Malhavoc Press have expanded the Arcana Unearthed universe with a series of books, including the rulebooks The Diamond Throne,[8] Legacy of Dragons,[9] Grimoire II, and Mystic Secrets,[10] and the short story collection Children of the Rune.[11] Some other publishers, including Blue Devil Games, have also supported the Arcana Unearthed line. Since the release of Arcana Evolved, Malhavoc has released a number of supporting books specific to the new edition, such as the Spell Treasury, Transcendence and Ruins of Intrigue.

Sue Weinlein Cook edited the 2004 short story collection Children of the Rune.[12]

References

  1. OCLC 54086948
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-61317-084-7
    .
  3. ^ "2004 Noms and Winners". ENnie Awards. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  4. ^ (October 2005). "Chesley Awards", Chronicle 27 (9): 10–11.
  5. ^ https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?335320
  6. OCLC 61200087
    .
  7. ^ "The ENnie Awards -- 2005 Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  8. OCLC 488963440
    .
  9. OCLC 55693588
    .
  10. OCLC 488963444
    .
  11. OCLC 60579790.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  12. ^ Jones, Michael M. (March 2005). "Children of the Rune". Chronicle. 27 (3): 28.

External links

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