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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8585114" data-attributes="member: 8461">Based on the time-frame for which it was released, I feel comfortable in assuming that the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17468/Wizards-Spell-Compendium-Vol-1-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Wizard's Spell Compendium</a> was born from the success of the Encyclopedia Magica series. If so, it's one of the rare examples of someone saying "hey, let's take this one good idea we had and milk it like crazy" turning out to not be a bad idea, as it gave us not only four incredible volumes of arcane spells, but another three of divine spells, and even the excellent <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17531/Van-Richtens-Monster-Hunters-Compendium-Vol-1-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium</a> series, complete with an entirely new guide!But it's the Wizard's Spell Compendium that I'm talking about today, and for those who want the TL;DR, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this, except for the usual complaint that it's technically incomplete insofar as AD&D 2nd Edition spells goes (for reasons mentioned in my last overview), and that the DriveThruRPG offerings have neither a POD option nor even a bundle for the PDFs. Seriously, what's up with that?In terms of what's inside the pages of these books, though...I knew before I ever even cracked the covers of these that I would love them, and they still managed to exceed my expectations! It's not even that my nerdy heart practically exploded at the sheer utility of this, but rather how far the people behind this project went in making it as useful as possible.For instance, a significant number of the spells here have received editing since their original release. I remember seeing the temporal freedom spell when it was first released in Dragon #219 and thinking that it was incredibly powerful (since it protected you from the aging that spells like haste inflicted on you when casting them). Here it's been properly downgraded so as to be less open to abuse. That the staff behind this project went through and actually tweaked things like this justifies the entire series unto itself, in my opinion.And really, that's me burying the lede. How about each and every spell having a rarity rating, one which outlines in practical terms what that means for your characters AND giving guidelines on what sources' spells are what rarity? That is, it tells you that spells in the PHB are "common," which means that virtually every wizard knows about them, whereas spells in the Tome of Magic are "uncommon," and can't be taken automatically when you level up but can be created via spell research, while spells from <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-leatherette-series-phbr-dmgr-hr-and-more.677493/post-8255790" target="_blank">DMGR7 The Complete Book of Necromancers</a> are "rare" and impose a penalty to research roles (but not for specialists), etc. It's so freaking useful!You know what else is useful? Campaign-specific icons next to spells that warrant them! Now you can also adjust the rating (or other appropriateness) of a spell by where it's from! So yeah, if you don't think that spells from Al-Qadim are appropriate for your Dark Sun game, despite them both being desert-based, it's easy to filter them out. There's even an icon for "savage" settings, denoting a tone rather than a particular campaign, showing that they really went the extra mile.And there's just so many other helpful tidbits, particularly in the final volume's appendices. Starting spell tables for literally every single magic school you could specialize in, including those from the Player's Option books! Overviews on how to become a lich! World- and race-specific spell lists! There were even notes on "path"-based spell lists, which I hadn't heard of for AD&D 2nd Edition (but had seen for 3.5 in the Distant Horizons Games products <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28926/Paths-of-Power?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Paths of Power</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/19288/Paths-of-Power-II-Monstrous-Paths?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Paths of Power II</a>).Now, the series did overlook a few spells, some of which were on purpose and some of which were simple errors (for more on the latter, see <a href="https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66499" target="_blank">this thread</a> over at Dragonsfoot). In the case of the former, it was because the book's focus on spells that any PC could potentially learn meant that some styles of magic (such as the realm spells of the Birthright campaign) were deliberately excluded while others were simply not included as a judgment call (such as the timereaver spell from the Dragonlance campaign setting). Even then, things like 1st Edition cantrips and the psionic enchantments from the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17183/Dragon-Kings-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Dragon Kings</a> supplement were moved over to the appendix, in what seems like another (much-appreciated) nod toward completeness as well as usability.Though I suppose I will have to walk back my statement as to not having any more complaints, since this series doesn't do one thing which Encyclopedia Magica did: list the source product of each spell. I know the editor openly questions the usefulness of such a thing in the foreword to the first volume, saying that only the "most ardent of bibliophiles" would find it useful, but guess what, Mr. Editor? I'm an ardent bibliophile, so I would have found it useful! Grr!Ah, who am I kidding? I can't bring myself to be mad at this series over that. It's just so good. It even reins in (albeit as an optional rule) the total number of spells that wizards can know per level if they raise their Intelligence above 18. In the PHB, that used to let them transcend that cap entirely; here, it simply pushes it back, but doesn't allow it to be overcome. I know people tend to chafe at lowering the power-level for spellcasting classes (everyone still talks about that section on reining in the cleric from <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/looking-back-at-the-leatherette-series-phbr-dmgr-hr-and-more.677493/post-8172321" target="_blank">PHBR3 The Complete Priest's Handbook</a>), but I appreciated that.So yeah, while it might not be absolutely perfect, this is still a treasure-trove of goodness. Who needs new classes or kits when you can make your wizards unique by giving them a couple of spells from this series which your players have never heard of before? Or maybe let your party's wizard hear rumors of a fantastic new spell from this book, and dangle that as your next adventure's plot hook? There's just so much potential in these tomes.D&D magic may be entirely fictitious, but I'd wager that everyone who knows about them was enchanted by these literal "spell books."Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</blockquote>

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