Collateral is hands-down my favorite thing from Daniel Madison. Most of the time when I buy an e-book or something containing several effects, it's because I want one or two specific effects that sound interesting. Or it's the case that all of the effects, while good, are impractical or are too gimmick-heavy. I was sort of expecting something similar this time. It happened with Identity and Dangerous (this is not to say that they're bad products, but there's only a few items that I use on a regular basis).
So imagine my delight when I discovered that the majority of the material in Collateral is equally phenomenal. I can honestly see myself using almost every effect from this, with the exception of one or two. There are a few gimmicks involved, but nothing like the gimmicks from Identity (again, not that the one's from Identity are bad, just impractical for the kind of magic I do). These are gimmicks that are simple (think "Torn" or "Angle Zero" or "Cinders" and you'll understand what I mean when I say simple).
The highlight for me is probably Infliction. It's incredibly practical, completely streamlined, and easy to do. But again, I must stress that the majority of the material in here is very very strong. Infliction is a great example of the kind of thinking that went into all of these effects.
Most of the concepts taught are very versatile.
When I think of Daniel Madison, I think of streamlined, refined magic. The best way to describe Collateral, for me, would be to think of all of the best DM effects that he saved up and put into one book. If you love Daniel Madison, buy this. If you hate Daniel Madison, you'll probably still hate him (honestly though, who could hate him?) but you should buy this anyway.
For a full description of all of the effects, see R3's review or check out devil's advocate productions.
Ben Long approves of this product.
So imagine my delight when I discovered that the majority of the material in Collateral is equally phenomenal. I can honestly see myself using almost every effect from this, with the exception of one or two. There are a few gimmicks involved, but nothing like the gimmicks from Identity (again, not that the one's from Identity are bad, just impractical for the kind of magic I do). These are gimmicks that are simple (think "Torn" or "Angle Zero" or "Cinders" and you'll understand what I mean when I say simple).
The highlight for me is probably Infliction. It's incredibly practical, completely streamlined, and easy to do. But again, I must stress that the majority of the material in here is very very strong. Infliction is a great example of the kind of thinking that went into all of these effects.
Most of the concepts taught are very versatile.
When I think of Daniel Madison, I think of streamlined, refined magic. The best way to describe Collateral, for me, would be to think of all of the best DM effects that he saved up and put into one book. If you love Daniel Madison, buy this. If you hate Daniel Madison, you'll probably still hate him (honestly though, who could hate him?) but you should buy this anyway.
For a full description of all of the effects, see R3's review or check out devil's advocate productions.
Ben Long approves of this product.
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