Pyramid Review
Magic Handbook (for the DC Universe RPG)
Written by Fred Jandt, Scott McCullar, Jim Spivey, and Nikola Vrtis
Published by West End Games
128 pages; $17.00
Magic has always been a strange duck in the Supers genre.
Sure, magic has been a constant presence in the comics; Dr. Fate & the Spectre were present in the 1940s, Zatanna hung out with the JLA, and Dr. Strange has always been available as an occult consultant for Marvel's assembled heroes.
But they've never quite fit in. Laser helmet wielding villains, galactic planet eaters, and wheelchair bound telepathic visionaries are all "standard" enough, but magicians tend to be somewhat outside of the standard super heroic box.
In superhero RPGs, magic is usually given a cursory treatment in the main book, and gets a big 'ol supplement later on. The 1980s Marvel Superheroes Game had its Realms of Magic supplement, which was an outstanding sourcebook on mysticism. Mayfair's DC Heroes had the excellent Magic sourcebook by Daniel Greenberg.
Now, West End Games has produced a supplement for their DC Universe RPG called, simply enough, The Magic Handbook. Like its predecessor, it expands on the use and role of magic in the DC Universe. But it's got a bit of a flaw. Due to a licensing quirk, WEG doesn't have the rights to cover the Vertigo line of comics. That means that this sourcebook doesn't cover, say, John Constantine, Swamp Thing, or The Sandman. This is an inconvenience, but thankfully it doesn't render the book useless . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 24, 2001
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