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Magic Item Compendium (D&D) (Dungeons & Dragons)Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! Magic Item Compendium (D&D) (Dungeons & Dragons) by: Andy Collins, Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, Eytan Bernstein, Frank Brunner, John Snead, Owen K.C. Stephens  Amazon.co.uk's Price: £20.99 Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 793 EAN: 9780786943456 ISBN: 0786943459 Label: Wizards of the Coast Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: March 20, 2007 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Studio: Wizards of the Coast Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating: - A thorough, efficient and well-edited (!) accessory... it just scrapes five stars.Why only just? A few reasons really... Wizards of the Coast seem reticent to provide indexes in their D&D supplements. Why is this? I have absolutely no idea, other than they are in such a rush to put out product that they don't allow enough time for the compiling of indexes. Another thing is that the Magic Item Compendium is about three years overdue and, though obvious by its name, is not much more than a compilation of previous items from many other source books. It's not that this isn't necessary, but it feels like this sourcebook was put off in order to allow others to be released first (Weapons of Legacy springs to mind, for one). Don't get me wrong, it's a great book, and has the feeling of a "pure" sourcebook, the sort that would be considered a Core Book if they expanded that range beyond the original three. Others I would put in there would be the Spell Compendium, Epic Level Handbook, the Draconomicon and even the Tome of Magic. It has that kind of aesthetic... a gathering of many sources into one clean supplement covering one of the fundamental aspects of Dungeons & Dragons. Sounds like a core book to me! When I say clean, I mean it. This book is one of the most well organised I have seen from Wizards in a hell of a long time (Spell Compendium excepted). Someone with some smarts decided to break down the magical items into four very simple sections, which I applaud, meaning that you should be able to locate what you want pretty quickly - this is, of course, why we need indexes! Item page numbers are listed in the appendices, with the sourcebook code before the number, but you still have to know where to find the item in the relevant appendix! Indices, people, indices! But that point aside, the editing really is top notch by recent standards (you'll see from my other reviews that I'm not one to mince my words about bad editing!). And, what's more, we have appendices for the items, too. Could it be that someone at Wizards is paying attention to the feedback they get? The chapter and appendices for your perusal: Chapter 1: Armor (p5-27) Chapter 2: Weapons (p27-67) Chapter 3: Clothing (p67-149) Chapter 4: Tools (p149-191) Chapter 5: Magic Item Sets (p191-217) Chapter 6: Using Magic Items (p217-235) Appendix 1: Magic Items by Price (p235-265) Appendix 2: Random Treasure (p265-285) Magic Item Record Sheet (p286) The appendices are nice and thorough, and the whole book has a feeling of fluidity, the writing has a uniformity that surpasses most collaborative efforts. Most of the items listed are fairly simple, with very clear information on each one: ITEM NAME Price and Item Level Body Slot (where it is held or worn on the body) Caster Level Aura (the item's aura strength when subject to a detect magic spell) Activation (the type of action required, if any, to use the item) Weight It's that simple, really. I'm sure I'll be referring to this book very, very often in future, although that does underline the niggling feeling that WotC supplements could be organised more uniformly overall, rather than taking every aspect of the D&D game and splitting into 50 different sourcebooks, only to then be gathered back into a compendium like this! Believe it or not, there is even a RULES Compendium slated for release in late 2007. I ask you! Will it be useful? Yes, but it's terribly cynical. If you want a nice, clean collection of magic items, I don't see how it could be much better than this. Keep it up, Wizards.  Try searching the Internet for "Magic Item Compendium (D&D) (Dungeons & Dragons)" or Ebay for "Magic Item Compendium (D&D) (Dungeons & Dragons)". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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