As with the other products in this line, this book has some good ideas. The Arcane Backgrounds in the core book are very much the same. There is no difference between Magic, Miracles, and Psionics other than the name and the casting skill. That is boring. The assumption is that you will get some flavor from your setting (that is the general idea of the core book -- it gives the basics and you build upon it). This helps to give you some ideas on how to make something interesting and gives good mechanical guidelines on how to accomplish it. I have used some of the aracane backgrounds in this book and come up with a few of my own, and it has greatly added to our games.

I don't think I can give a product more praise than the fact that I use it frequently. Converting a setting to Savage Worlds means custom arcane backgrounds and this is a smart way to go about it. Often, I'll be wondering how to make an AB and find out that something very similar is already in the book as a sample. Primarily this is a GM facing book. Players can and should get use out of it, but that should be done with the GM involved. You can make all sorts of interesting arcane backgrounds, but that isn't helpful if it's not an appropriate fit for the setting the GM is running.

The book breaks down an Arcane Background to its constinuent parts. The arcane skill, the requirements, its trappings, power list, limitations, and unique features. Then you have 7 points to build the AB.

Of special note is that the features are meant to be priced the same as the Making Races rules in the core Savage Worlds book. This is excellent because it a) gives you a baseline to how potent something is, and b) if you want to go beyond the bounds of this book and add new features, maybe an Arcane Background inherently has you grow permanent claws, well that's 2 points according to Making Races, so that's 2 points worth of features!

While this doesn't cover every single situation that I've come up with, it has made the work easier for me 90% of the time. If you're making a custom arcane background, I can't recommend this enough.

This kind of out of the box thinking and application of mechanics towards non-obvious trappings shows a fundamental understanding of Savage Worlds that helps me really trust the design philosophy of this line of products.

A great product for creating new Arcane Backgrounds. Uses point buy system for creating an Arcane Background that uses a method similar to racial trait/creation. I could only wish for some examples of trappings.

This is a fantastic product that anyone who plans on homebrewing in SWADE should own. It's an extensive toolbox that allows you to create vibrent and unique arcane backgrounds, using a framework that follows simmiliar logic as the race creator from the core book.

If you feel like the Arcane Backgrounds in the core rulebook are boring and want to make your own, this product that make that proccess easy for you. I can't wait to see what else this author has in store for SWADE.

This is an excellent product! It, and the companion add-ons really fill the role that is badly needed for fantasy content for SWADE. I wish I had had it prior to starting my last campaign. I made up my own backgrounds but found the ones in this supplement better balanced, logical, and much cleaner.

I'd love to see a magic item supplement like this by this author! Especially focused on low power items.

A must have toolbox for for everyone SWADE GM.

A complaint that I hear about the SWADE magic system is that all the spellcasters seem kind of samey. Well, this this, your table can change that.

This guide breaks down all aspects of arcane spell casting and explains the SWADE ways of things in a concise way. The pile of Arcane Backgrounds should be enough to make every player happy.