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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2009728" data-attributes="member: 172">Forged in MagicForged in Magic is a magic item sourcebook by Paradigm concepts. Paradigm is the publisher of the Arcanis campaign setting, and much of the book's background material is apparently drawn from the Arcanis setting.A First LookForged in Magic is a 128-page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $19.95 US. This is a good price for a book of this size.The cover of Forged in Magic depicts a man stirring a cauldron full of molten metal with a sword rising from it, while a woman (striking an unusually relaxed pose) is casting a spell on the sword. The cover art is by Carrie Hill.The interior is black-and-white. Interior artists include Reece Ambrose, Ant, Andrew Baker Bob Giadrosich, Anthony Grabski, Eric Lofgren, Thomas Manning, and Steve Snyder. The interior art ranges from poor crude line art to very good and well shaded and composed illustrations of warriors and standards.The interior text is a little large, knocking down some of the cost effectiveness that is gained by the books low price per page ratio. The layout could be a bit easier to read; the book would have benefitted from dividing the item descriptions into descriptions and game effects. There are some typographical errors. For example, in several places where a fraction is called for, there is an underscore instead.A Deeper LookForged in Magic provides over 400 magic and psionic items. Each item has complete descriptions, including complete cost and requirement descriptions.The book is arranged into sections according to magic item, but doesn't use the same sequence and categorical sections as the DMG does.The first section is rings, followed by potions, rods and wands, staves, wondrous items, monster charms, weapons of war, constructs, armor, shields, miscellaneous weapons, swords, weapon and armor abilities, spells, feats, materials, and a new prestige class, the master smith. Two appendices provide a summary of deities and other details of Arcanis that are referred to in the book. After the appendices are a set of tables for randomizing items from the book.The book has a fair focus on psionics, not especially surprising considering that Arcanis features psionics. Universal items are scattered about the book, mostly in the wondrous items section, but some in other sections as appropriate. For example, there are a number of staves that use psionic powers. A specific example are the elixers of psychic power, which provide power points and a DC bonus for use of specific psionic combat modes.Rods and wands are combined into one category. There are only three wands, but they more resemble rods or staves in power and effect, and two list craft rod as a requirement, so they are effectively rods for all practical purposes. The third wand clearly exceeds the normal limits for wands.Monster Charms are a new category of item, or so the book says, but they only require the Craft Wondrous Item or "Fetish" feats (I do not know the source of the last feat, but suspect it comes from Arcanis.) Each one is a charm crafted from a body part from a specific creature that allows use of some of a creature's natural abilities.The Weapons of War section features items that are used as part of a military campaign. This includes magical siege engines, standard, helmet plumes, and stone guardians (basically a golem that acts like a sort of magic mecha.)The constructs section introduces a variety of new construct creatures, including the fauxgoyle (a construct made to resemble a small gargoyle) and the reanimate template (which basically is an attempt to salvage a destroyed construct, with considerably reduced power.)The new materials section introduces a number of material which lend special properties to items crafted using the material, similar to the nature of mithral and adamantium in the DMG. For example, alloys of titanium and beryllium are introduced that produce very light armor, and armor made of orikalka provides spell resistance to the wearer.The imbue with essence feat and the master smith prestige class have a similar function: they allow the creation of magic items by non-spellcasters. The former is a bit unbalanced in that it apparently has the ability to supplant any craft feat, and the writeup seems like it is missing some important details about how it works. The master smith is much better balanced: they have some very reasonable limitations on the types of items they can make.A listing of the items in the book would be beyond the scope of this review. Generally, the concepts behind the items are good. They are less formulaic than many items I have seen in sourcebooks of this sort, giving many of them a more exotic, mysterious feel. Some of them, however, seem to betray the rules for magic items without adequate explanation.ConclusionForged in Magic is a nice resource if you are looking for additional items for your campaign. I don't think the background material is as adaptable or inspiring as that of the items in the Relics & Rituals, but the items feel less kit-built and stale than many I have seen.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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