A magical compendium

[Kade Starfire]

So I'm thinking on getting people together to build a magical compendium. Basically it would include info on the different planes, the "science" of magic both divine and arcane, info on familiars/companions, magic spells and items and such.
The idea is it would be something drawing primarily from already established sources from paizo and expanding on it in most cases. Is this something y'all would like?

[sepik121]

sounds interesting to me. I definitely enjoy things that expand on the different planes. More magical items is always a plus for me too

[Kade Starfire]

That would be the idea. It would include expanded rules for the making of items and spells, so if you want to a flying widget that runs on laughter you can.

[Crimeo]

I think the planes are kind of too much of a mess for this, if you're trying to stick to and summarize actual rules as you say. A lot of them are if not contradictory, at least bizarre and confusing enough to tie you into weird knots.

I personally would be more interested in more of an atlas type thing for planes. Like "here are a bunch of awesome planes our encylopedia authors have visited or heard about" as well as descriptions of societies found living in the astral plane, etc., for imagination fodder, rather than trying to nail down technical rules.

[GM Rednal]

It could be interesting. ^^ Be sure to triple-check each area's status under the OGL before referencing it, though, as that can get pretty complicated.

[Kade Starfire]

I like the ideas I'm hearing. This is inspired by the old Unearthed Arcana from d&d. Should it make it into print, it would be broken into several volumes with one dedicated solely to the planes, another dedicated to making magic, and 1 or 2 as a universal spell book. Ideally it would take the planes, the main ones, and hammer them out. I really love the "this is the explorer encyclopedia" idea. Gives it a fun feel to the idea.

[Kade Starfire]

Kade Starfire wrote:

I like the ideas I'm hearing. This is inspired by the old Unearthed Arcana from d&d. Should it make it into print, it would be broken into several volumes with one dedicated solely to the planes, another dedicated to making magic, and 1 or 2 as a universal spell book. Ideally it would take the planes, the main ones, and hammer them out. I really love the "this is the explorer encyclopedia" idea. Gives it a fun feel to the idea.

Not as much as you think. If I go ahead with this, I'll apply for a compatibility license so I can use their proprietary stuff, but most of this is covered in the OGL anyway as it is core related material. It's the fringe stuff like expanded class and spell stuff that isn't.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

@Kade: I think you replied to your own post rather than GM Rednal's.

Also check out Dark Roads and Golden Hells from Kobold Press, and its supplement Shadow Planes and Pocket Worlds.

[Thedmstrikes]

Kade Starfire-
If you go through with this, I would like to suggest adding new untouched planes that can have a Golarion bent, or viewpoint just like all the past "newly explored" planes have bents from their source world. Besides, you will never run out of layers of the Abyss. There is a lot of material out there already for the more well known planes, so again, I suggest that the entries for these say so and limit the amount of information that is regurgitated in the compendium in lieu of new material. With new material, you can create lords of planes, entire weird races, magical items galore, and more.
Another approach could be a series of products, similar to an AP as the narrating characters encounter new places to detail. This will allow you to react to feedback as the product develops. You could always make annual compendiums like Dragon magazine was doing for a while to get a true compendium feel. Just some thoughts and suggestions from my viewpoint. Good luck.