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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009899" data-attributes="member: 18387">Forged In MagicParadigm ConceptsAuthor: VariousCover art: Carrie Hall$19.99 128-page d20 sourcebookISBN: 1-931374-06-6Upside: A wealth of information, applied in an easy to use format. Role-playing elements are heavily featured, but never as a substitute or barrier to the rules.Downside: Some editing errors. The same issue where an underscore appears in several items seems to happen in the same context, so it may be a font problem with the printer.The Book: This is a 128 page resource on magic items. In all there are 375 distinct magic items, 71 weapon and armor qualities and disadvantages and there are 10 spells. The book rounds out with a prestige class and some feats. The layout is clear and easy to read and there is no whitespace.Organization: The book is laid out in a logical manner. Every item has its space and there is an exhaustive table of contents that easily serves the purpose of an index. Paradigm also went to the effort of creating random generation charts for the items for those that like to roll stuff up.Rules: I duplicated several of the magic items in the book using the creation system from the DMG and they all stacked up. Many of the items are very powerful, but the charts that Paradigm created account for minor, medium and major awards. The new disadvantage system is thin and could use some development, but is an interesting idea. The feats and prestige class appear to be suited for use as NPCs more than as PC options. The Spells may have been created just to make some of the magic items as I have found them in the creation information of some of the objects.Flavor: Each magic item came with a history related to Paradigm’s Arcanis: the World of Shattered Empires campaign setting. It appears that this book will also serve as a sourcebook for the Living Arcanis RPGA campaign. The introduction of the book explains Paradigm’s thoughts on item creation and based upon what I have seen of Arcanis, their thoughts on D&D in general. The items typically have very good names. There is a psionic defense item called the Talisman of Unassailable Intellect and a sword named the Drusus of the Indomitable Gladiator. Most items have histories that can serve as adventure seeds. The book provides perhaps 300 solid adventure seeds.Appearance: I have never heard of Carrie Hall before, but the cover is very attractive and I wonder why more products don’t have her work on them. It depicts a well-muscled man (a master smith perhaps?) stirring a cauldron and a beautiful woman in a breastplate and chainmail casting magic (perhaps a cleric). The interior art ranges from average to outstanding with a trend towards the higher quality. The layout is clear and crisp with little wasted space and the font is large enough to be easily read but not so large as to be wasteful of space.Value for the Dollar: At $20US, this book is less than most 128-page titles nowadays and is packed with relevant information. There is no fluff; almost every word applies for use in your game. I would have preferred if the book were hardbound as I will make extensive use of it and the spine may crack over time.Conclusion: If you run a D&D game that uses magic items and you don’t insist upon creating every item yourself, then this book is a wise investment. You could likely base entire campaigns upon the history of some of the juicier items and that alone is worth the investment. Highly recommended.</blockquote>

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