I've got the D&D Spell Compendium- Any questions?

[Gothmog]

Hi all, my FLGS owner went to a con recently and came back with a complimentary copy of the D&D Spell Compendium. Since he doesn't game much anymore, and I spend a metric crapload of money over there, and he can't sell any before the street date, he gave it to me as a birthday present. So does anybody have questions about it?

Just a few details- its 288 pp (last 3 pages are ads), and jumps right into spell listings on p 6. Its simply impractical to list all the spells (600+), but they are taken from a number of WotC sources, including:

The whole Complete series
Draconomicon
Libris Mortis
Magic of Faerun
Manual of the Planes
Miniatures Handbook
Planar Handbook
Players Guide to Faerun
Savage Species
Underdark

A number of WotC web articles:
Barb of the Mind
Codicil of the White
Earthmother's Weapons
Foundations of Stone
Lesser Testament of Vraer
The Lost Coast
Magic of Delight and Despair
Master Tactician
Obsul Ssussun
Sand and Sun
Snow and Ice
Spellbook Archive
Spells of the Deep Underdark
Spells of the Ruins
Tar'Ael Veluuthra
Toxic Paradise

And some Dragon magazine articles:

Rays of Light- Annual #5
Alister's Augmentations- #275
Abuse your Illusions- #291
Rune Skulls of Abbor Alz- #292
Blessings of War- #299
A Clutch of Cantrips- #302
Prayers of the Frostmaiden- #312
Elder Serpents of Set- #313
Brotherhood of the Burning Heart- #314
Dust to Dust- #314
Guardians of the Deepest Seas- #314
Masters of the Four Winds- #314
The Blood Swords- #315
Sin Eaters of Elistraee- #315
Holy Strategists of the Red Knight- #317
Children of Ka- #318
Under Commans- Forms of Legend- #320
Patterns of Shadow and Light- #322
Force Spells- #323
Seven Deadly Domains- #323
The Hidden Book- #324
Myths of the Shadow- #325
Tvash-Prull's Symphone- #328

 

[I'm A Banana]

So is it just a collection of spells from previous sources? Or is there any fresh hot beef injections in the book?

 

[Crothian]

Are the spell lists for just the PHB and DMG classes or does it include spell lists for the Warlock and other new classes and prestige classes?

 

[Jdvn1]

I suppose it's premature to ask how useful the book is, but I expect it's very useful to casters.

Does it also include Psionic Powers?
What about Wu Jen spells (and spells for the other oriental classes)?

 

[MerricB]

What changes were made to the Orb spells (Orb of Force, Orb of Acid, etc.) from Complete Arcane?

FYI: Orb of Force: Conjuration; 1d6 per level (max 10d6), Range: Medium; SR: No; ranged touch.

From devinmdp on the Wizards boards:

In that itself, it has enough new spells so that even though I have all of the official sources, it is a good buy for me.

In addition, it updates many spells from 3.0 to 3.5. Especially some found in magic of Faerun.

Many domain lists and domain powers are collected from many sources

Finally, it corrects many spells, in terms of level, school, and the operation.

Example:

Briar Web is fixed

Miasma has the errata

Heart Ripper is now worthy of being a 4th level assassin spell instead of a piece of doo doo

Summon Undead is fixed from certain broketitude to a usable spell. I haven't compared the summon lists with those from Heroes of Horror, though I suspect they are different, which is amazingly sucky considering the two products were released within 2 months of each other.

I'd say this....if you don't have the Forgotten Realms sourcebooks, then there will be a LOT of new spells in here. A whole lot!


I maintain my own master spell lists, so I am going through every spell in the Compendium class by class. So far, having done Assassin spells and the first level of bard spells, it seems that every single spell on those class lists attributed to the above sources is represented in the Compendium. That'd make the Compendium a complete replacement, spell-wise, for all of the above books.

However, I am skeptical that this will continue to hold true for the other classes.

I should note that there are widespread changes to spells. I've noticed spells with altered types and subtypes (e.g. Heart Ripper now gains the Death subtype). Spell levels have also been changed around (e.g. some bard and assassin spells changed levels). Also, spell descriptions have been changed (e.g. Heart Ripper now affects anyone with HD below the caster as opposed to before, when it only worked on anyone with 5 HD or less).

I have noted changes to Briar Web and Miasma as well, and I am sure there are many more I haven't gotten to yet.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=7828521

Cheers!

 

[Omand]

Hello,

If it is not too much trouble, how about these questions:

1) How many Domains are listed in the book?

2) Which domains (if you have the time to type out the list, not the contents).

Thanks,

Cheers

 

[Gothmog]

So is it just a collection of spells from previous sources? Or is there any fresh hot beef injections in the book?

From what I can tell, it looks like all reprint material, compiled and updated for 3.5.

 

[Gothmog]

Are the spell lists for just the PHB and DMG classes or does it include spell lists for the Warlock and other new classes and prestige classes?

Spells lists in the book:

Assassin
Bard
Blackguard
Cleric
Druid
Paladin
Ranger
Sorcerer/Wizard

So it sticks to the core rules, without adding in things like Shugenja, etc.

 

[MerricB]

From what I can tell, it looks like all reprint material, compiled and updated for 3.5.

That goes with what Andy Collins has said previously. 1,000 spells, from existing 3e sources (including the website and Dragon magazine).

Cheers!

 

[Gothmog]

I suppose it's premature to ask how useful the book is, but I expect it's very useful to casters.

Does it also include Psionic Powers?
What about Wu Jen spells (and spells for the other oriental classes)?

Nope, no psionic powers at all. The Wu Jen spells are in there, but not labeled as such (instead as sorc/wiz). The oriental classes are not referenced at all.