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Review of Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium by WotC
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<blockquote data-quote="Neuroglyph" data-source="post: 7647583" data-attributes="member: 85633"><p><span style="font-size: 12px">“<em>… take what you learn here, and put it to sensible use.</em>” ~ Mordenkainen, from the introduction of the <em>Magnificent Emporium</em></span></p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px">For D&D gamers “of a certain age”, or at least well-versed in previous editions, Mordenkainen is THE ARCHMAGE, the pinnacle of the magical arts, and all-around bad-ass spell-slinger you don’t want to cross. Created by Gary Gygax himself as his player-character alter-ego, Mordenkainen came to be around the time the first <strong><em>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</em></strong> books were being published, and became a major motivational force in the <strong><em>Greyhawk Campaign Setting</em></strong> as the leader of the Circle of Eight. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal…</span></p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px">[align=right]http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mme-cover.jpg[/align]</span><span style="font-size: 12px">So it’s intriguing to find his name tied to the new D&D 4E magic item book, a book of a quite different scope from the previous <strong><em>Adventurer’s Vault</em></strong> and <strong><em>Adventurer’s Vault 2</em></strong>. For in <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong>, we find the <strong>Wizards of the Coast</strong> developers taking a new tact into magic item design, to their role and value in the game, and in some cases, a change in the potency of magic items which are one of the great “rewards” for all the “risk” of all dungeon-delving, monster-slaying heroes. </span><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><u>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</u></strong></span></p><p> </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Designers: Jeremy Crawford, Stephen Schubert, Matt Sernett</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Cover: William O’Connor</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Publisher: Wizards of the Coast</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Year: 2011</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Media: Hardbound (160 pages)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">Cost: $29.95 (available only from your local gaming stores)</span></li> </ul><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> is a role-playing game supplement which introduces a wide range of new mundane, superior, and magical items of all kinds for use with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. In addition to items, <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> provides new artifacts, new rules for handling cursed items, as well as adventuring gear, hirelings and henchmen, and more.</span></p><p> </p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><u>Production Quality</u></strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> is an amazing book, both visually stunning and a pleasure to read. Readers will find that the “fluff” as well as the “crunch” of the new gear and rules are well-written, and presented in a logical format that uses the established item templates recognizable to any 4E gamer.</span></p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px">One of the best features about the book is an appendix of all magic items introduced in <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong>, listed by level, and providing a page number reference for ease finding the specific entry. </span><span style="font-size: 12px">[align=left]http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mordenkainen.jpg[/align]</span><span style="font-size: 12px">The items are broken down by type and rarity within each level as well, so for instance, finding a <em>7th Level Uncommon Wondrous Item</em> can be located quite quickly in the supplement from this appendix.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">The artwork in <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> is very well done, and shows items both as static objects and used in action scenes. However, I was a bit disappointed at the sparseness of the illustrations, and many items are simply left un-envisioned by the artists. I recall from the previous edition a certain <strong><em>Magic Item Compendium</em></strong> being lavishly illustrated, with nearly every item rendered in some fashion, even if it was as a single work showing multiple items lying jumbled on a table for comparison.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><u>The Magnificent Emporium: What’s Old is New Again!</u></strong></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">When reading through <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong>, it did not take long to begin to encounter items from the “old days” of D&D – in fact, around page 8. New armor, shields, and weapon types, which had previously been a part of older D&D editions, but not 4E, were now making their debut – but updated with 4E style rules and embellishments. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Oldies but goodies such as <em>ring mail</em>, <em>splint mail</em>, <em>studded leather</em>, and <em>full plate</em> are suddenly back in D&D 4E, and with new properties to make them different than previous armor types. These properties include <em>tough</em> (resist the first critical hit of an encounter), <em>durable</em> (damage resistance of 2-3 on the first hit in an encounter), and <em>barbed</em> (causes damage when you escape a grab or when a creature escapes your grab). New feats are included to allow characters to qualify to use these “new” armor types.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">There are “new” weapons coming into 4E play from the previous editions, such as the <em>light mace</em>, <em>pike</em>, and <em>lance</em>. In addition, some weapons have been slightly altered by the <em>small</em> property, allowing small creatures to use them as easily as medium-sized ones – the <em>light war pick</em>, <em>serrated pick</em>, and <em>war pick</em> are some examples of these changes. In addition, there are new feats for <em>Expertise</em> with flails, picks, and polearms, and a new type of feat category of <em>Strike Specialization</em>, which benefits characters with the <em>power strike</em> power. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Introduced for the Essentials fighters in the <strong>HotF</strong> books, this encounter power can now be paired with a feat in order to produce unique effects based upon the weapon type being used. </span><span style="font-size: 12px">For instance, the <em>Heavy Blade Strike</em> feat allows a for an extra melee basic attack against an additional foe if the attack using power strike drops the initial target to 0 hit points – sort of an old school <em>cleave</em> ability.</span> </p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px">But the real nostalgia for old school D&D gamers is going to hit when they start perusing the actual magic item lists themselves. In his Legends & Lore articles, Mike Mearls mentioned getting back to the core basics of what made D&D, well, D&D - and reading through the magic item lists was like grabbing the old AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide and leafing through the magic item sections all over again.</span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">If you’ve been pining away for your character to have the old <em>Flame Tongue</em>, <em>Frost Brand</em>, <em>Mace of Disruption</em>, <em>Maul of the Titans</em>, or <em>Mighty Dwarven Thrower</em> like your favorite old edition character had – well get ready to do a jig of glee, because they are back in 4E. Your cleric feeling lonely without his <em>Necklace of Prayer Beads</em>, <em>Candle of Invocation</em>, or <em>Phylactery of Faithfulness</em>… no worries, they’re back! How about <em>Rods of Absorption</em>, <em>Death</em>, <em>Beguiling</em>, and <em>Smiting</em>? Check, it’s in there. And those kick-butt wondrous items of yore (yore = earlier editions) like the <em>Helm of Brilliance</em>, <em>Helm of Teleportation</em>, <em>Ioun Stones</em>, <em>Amulet of Life Protection</em>, <em>Ring of X-Ray Vision</em>, <em>Belt of Dwarvenkind</em>, and <em>Daern’s Instant Fortress</em>?! You don’t have to hold your breath any longer, because they have all been upgraded to D&D 4E. Without actually counting, my impression is that about half the items in <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> are older edition magic items given new stats for D&D 4E gaming.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">Of course most of the oldies-but-goodies are Uncommon and Rare items, which are now considered “black box tech”, and cannot be made anymore by modern enchanters of magic items. They must be found or quested after – only Common Items can be re-created or bought at Ye Local Magick Shoppe.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">However, the author’s did a fairly awesome job of recreating the power structure of the old items under D&D rules, and many have Properties and Encounter powers as opposed to just a Daily power. In addition, each item comes with a paragraph or two of introduction, detailing the history and origin of the item, to add a role-playing depth to magical gear. And I should mention that consumable items were also given some boosters from the old editions, including a “new” line of healing potions with the familiar monikers of <em>Cure Light Wounds</em>, <em>Cure Serious Wounds</em>, <em>Cure Critical Wounds</em>, and <em>Heal</em>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">There are also six new Artifacts in the game, and again are throwbacks to the “old school” D&D days. The <em>Book of Infinite Spells</em>, <em>Codex of Infinite Planes</em>, <em>Hammer of Thunderbolts</em> (go Thor!), and the <em>Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty</em> are resurfacing in 4E, and ready to blow the minds of Paragon and Epic Tier characters when they stumble upon them. But also there are now <strong>Cursed Items</strong> in the game again, but the mechanic is not as bad as it was in the old days. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Under the new rules, a cursed magic item is still a magic item, and the curse is sort of an overlay effect which is triggered. For instance, the Necklace of Strangulation can be dropped onto any neck slot item, which operates normally until the curse is triggered – in this case when the owner becomes bloodied and is affected by ongoing damage. At that point, the item starts doing additional ongoing damage to the character, as well as making them vulnerable to ongoing damage attacks, and causes a penalty to saves. Fun! But the authors created rules by which the curse can be permanently lifted, using Arcana skill checks, and returning the item to its normal functions. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> also includes more than just standard magic items and artifacts. The authors also include a section on Story Items, which are special items used in the midst of the story arc of a quest in order to accomplish the end goal. An example of a story item might be the magic beans in “Jack and the Beanstalk”, and the authors expand upon this theme offering over a score of these plot devices to use when making quests and adventures.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">There is an entire chapter devoted to <strong>Adventuring Gear</strong>, which includes minor mundane items which grant skill bonuses, such as <em>Camouflaged Clothing</em>, <em>Footpads</em>, and <em>Investigation Gear</em>. Personally, I don’t think the game needs more skill bonuses, as we are already seeing “bonus creep” make skill challenges a joke, but perhaps it might help untrained members of the party be better at certain skill sets. There is also a list of buildings an adventurer can buy, ranging from your average cottage (400 gp) to a castle with a dungeon (1,000,000 gp). And there are new Alchemical items available, which include the famous <em>Oils of Etherealness</em> and <em>Slipperiness</em> from yester-year</span>.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Finally, <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> rounds out with a series of appendices, including the aforementioned item list by level and rarity, but also includes a section on <em>Hirelings and Henchmen</em> for use by player-characters. Personally, the latter was a bit of a disappointment, given that previous editions made it a fairly big deal of the way that henchmen were gathered, requiring a Leadership feat, and offering tables for determining the type and variety and number of followers which could be had. Here the authors did not bother with looking to the old school, and the system for attracting and maintaining henchmen is fairly blasé, and takes up a whole three pages, and another 3 with examples of already made up NPCs which any good DM can make for themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Overall Score</strong>: 3.75 <strong>out of</strong> 5.0</span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">For the most part, I really enjoyed <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong>, and found myself grinning at many of the entries which were the 4E interpretations of items from older editions of D&D. This book has a high nostalgia factor, and the re-inventions of “old school” armor, gear, and magic items into 4E statistics were pretty darned good, and I’ll be excited to use them in my campaigns. The new design paradigm of creating interesting stories behind the magic items is definitely good for role-playing - and I forgot to mention that Mordenkainen has many sidebar comments to augment the lore on the items, which could be used as a jumpstart for adventures to locate and retrieve the Uncommon and Rare magical goodies found in this book.</span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px">My biggest complaint was the fact that I had to drive all the way out to my “local” gaming store in order to buy the book at full retail price, plus tax, because <strong><em>Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium</em></strong> is not available from the big online mail-order bookstores. Given that my “local” gaming store is a 45 minute drive each way from my house made purchasing this book feel less like fun, and more like overpaying, once you add in the price of gas. I understand the desire to support the brick-and-mortar stores, but making the consumer inconvenienced for a game supplement is not going to make me treasure it more, so much as make me feel like the publisher is really pushing my limits of “brand loyalty”.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><em>So until next review… I wish you Happy Gaming!</em></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><u>Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)</u></strong></span></p><p> </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Presentation</strong>: 4.0</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">- Design: 4.5 (Excellent design; a great read)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">- Illustrations: 3.5 (Nice, but needed to have more)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Content</strong>: 4.25</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">- Crunch: 4.5 (Good interpretations of old school magic items)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px">- Fluff: 4.0 (Decent fluff; makes magic items more interesting)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Value</strong>: 2.5 (Highest priced 160-page supplement WotC has published for 4e.)</span></li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Neuroglyph, post: 7647583, member: 85633"] [SIZE=3]“[I]… take what you learn here, and put it to sensible use.[/I]” ~ Mordenkainen, from the introduction of the [I]Magnificent Emporium[/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=3]For D&D gamers “of a certain age”, or at least well-versed in previous editions, Mordenkainen is THE ARCHMAGE, the pinnacle of the magical arts, and all-around bad-ass spell-slinger you don’t want to cross. Created by Gary Gygax himself as his player-character alter-ego, Mordenkainen came to be around the time the first [B][I]Advanced Dungeons & Dragons[/I][/B] books were being published, and became a major motivational force in the [B][I]Greyhawk Campaign Setting[/I][/B] as the leader of the Circle of Eight. [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal…[/SIZE] [SIZE=3][align=right]http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mme-cover.jpg[/align][/SIZE][SIZE=3]So it’s intriguing to find his name tied to the new D&D 4E magic item book, a book of a quite different scope from the previous [B][I]Adventurer’s Vault[/I][/B] and [B][I]Adventurer’s Vault 2[/I][/B]. For in [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B], we find the [B]Wizards of the Coast[/B] developers taking a new tact into magic item design, to their role and value in the game, and in some cases, a change in the potency of magic items which are one of the great “rewards” for all the “risk” of all dungeon-delving, monster-slaying heroes. [/SIZE][SIZE=3] [/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][U]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/U][/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][SIZE=3]Designers: Jeremy Crawford, Stephen Schubert, Matt Sernett[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]Cover: William O’Connor[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]Publisher: Wizards of the Coast[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]Year: 2011[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]Media: Hardbound (160 pages)[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]Cost: $29.95 (available only from your local gaming stores)[/SIZE] [/LIST] [SIZE=3][B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] is a role-playing game supplement which introduces a wide range of new mundane, superior, and magical items of all kinds for use with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. In addition to items, [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] provides new artifacts, new rules for handling cursed items, as well as adventuring gear, hirelings and henchmen, and more.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][U]Production Quality[/U][/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] is an amazing book, both visually stunning and a pleasure to read. Readers will find that the “fluff” as well as the “crunch” of the new gear and rules are well-written, and presented in a logical format that uses the established item templates recognizable to any 4E gamer.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]One of the best features about the book is an appendix of all magic items introduced in [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B], listed by level, and providing a page number reference for ease finding the specific entry. [/SIZE][SIZE=3][align=left]http://www.neuroglyphgames.com/rpgblogs/home/neurogly/public_html/rpgblogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mordenkainen.jpg[/align][/SIZE][SIZE=3]The items are broken down by type and rarity within each level as well, so for instance, finding a [I]7th Level Uncommon Wondrous Item[/I] can be located quite quickly in the supplement from this appendix.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]The artwork in [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] is very well done, and shows items both as static objects and used in action scenes. However, I was a bit disappointed at the sparseness of the illustrations, and many items are simply left un-envisioned by the artists. I recall from the previous edition a certain [B][I]Magic Item Compendium[/I][/B] being lavishly illustrated, with nearly every item rendered in some fashion, even if it was as a single work showing multiple items lying jumbled on a table for comparison.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][U]The Magnificent Emporium: What’s Old is New Again![/U][/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]When reading through [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B], it did not take long to begin to encounter items from the “old days” of D&D – in fact, around page 8. New armor, shields, and weapon types, which had previously been a part of older D&D editions, but not 4E, were now making their debut – but updated with 4E style rules and embellishments. [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Oldies but goodies such as [I]ring mail[/I], [I]splint mail[/I], [I]studded leather[/I], and [I]full plate[/I] are suddenly back in D&D 4E, and with new properties to make them different than previous armor types. These properties include [I]tough[/I] (resist the first critical hit of an encounter), [I]durable[/I] (damage resistance of 2-3 on the first hit in an encounter), and [I]barbed[/I] (causes damage when you escape a grab or when a creature escapes your grab). New feats are included to allow characters to qualify to use these “new” armor types.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]There are “new” weapons coming into 4E play from the previous editions, such as the [I]light mace[/I], [I]pike[/I], and [I]lance[/I]. In addition, some weapons have been slightly altered by the [I]small[/I] property, allowing small creatures to use them as easily as medium-sized ones – the [I]light war pick[/I], [I]serrated pick[/I], and [I]war pick[/I] are some examples of these changes. In addition, there are new feats for [I]Expertise[/I] with flails, picks, and polearms, and a new type of feat category of [I]Strike Specialization[/I], which benefits characters with the [I]power strike[/I] power. Introduced for the Essentials fighters in the [B]HotF[/B] books, this encounter power can now be paired with a feat in order to produce unique effects based upon the weapon type being used. [/SIZE][SIZE=3]For instance, the [I]Heavy Blade Strike[/I] feat allows a for an extra melee basic attack against an additional foe if the attack using power strike drops the initial target to 0 hit points – sort of an old school [I]cleave[/I] ability.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]But the real nostalgia for old school D&D gamers is going to hit when they start perusing the actual magic item lists themselves. In his Legends & Lore articles, Mike Mearls mentioned getting back to the core basics of what made D&D, well, D&D - and reading through the magic item lists was like grabbing the old AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide and leafing through the magic item sections all over again.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]If you’ve been pining away for your character to have the old [I]Flame Tongue[/I], [I]Frost Brand[/I], [I]Mace of Disruption[/I], [I]Maul of the Titans[/I], or [I]Mighty Dwarven Thrower[/I] like your favorite old edition character had – well get ready to do a jig of glee, because they are back in 4E. Your cleric feeling lonely without his [I]Necklace of Prayer Beads[/I], [I]Candle of Invocation[/I], or [I]Phylactery of Faithfulness[/I]… no worries, they’re back! How about [I]Rods of Absorption[/I], [I]Death[/I], [I]Beguiling[/I], and [I]Smiting[/I]? Check, it’s in there. And those kick-butt wondrous items of yore (yore = earlier editions) like the [I]Helm of Brilliance[/I], [I]Helm of Teleportation[/I], [I]Ioun Stones[/I], [I]Amulet of Life Protection[/I], [I]Ring of X-Ray Vision[/I], [I]Belt of Dwarvenkind[/I], and [I]Daern’s Instant Fortress[/I]?! You don’t have to hold your breath any longer, because they have all been upgraded to D&D 4E. Without actually counting, my impression is that about half the items in [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] are older edition magic items given new stats for D&D 4E gaming.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]Of course most of the oldies-but-goodies are Uncommon and Rare items, which are now considered “black box tech”, and cannot be made anymore by modern enchanters of magic items. They must be found or quested after – only Common Items can be re-created or bought at Ye Local Magick Shoppe.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]However, the author’s did a fairly awesome job of recreating the power structure of the old items under D&D rules, and many have Properties and Encounter powers as opposed to just a Daily power. In addition, each item comes with a paragraph or two of introduction, detailing the history and origin of the item, to add a role-playing depth to magical gear. And I should mention that consumable items were also given some boosters from the old editions, including a “new” line of healing potions with the familiar monikers of [I]Cure Light Wounds[/I], [I]Cure Serious Wounds[/I], [I]Cure Critical Wounds[/I], and [I]Heal[/I]. [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]There are also six new Artifacts in the game, and again are throwbacks to the “old school” D&D days. The [I]Book of Infinite Spells[/I], [I]Codex of Infinite Planes[/I], [I]Hammer of Thunderbolts[/I] (go Thor!), and the [I]Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty[/I] are resurfacing in 4E, and ready to blow the minds of Paragon and Epic Tier characters when they stumble upon them. But also there are now [B]Cursed Items[/B] in the game again, but the mechanic is not as bad as it was in the old days. [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Under the new rules, a cursed magic item is still a magic item, and the curse is sort of an overlay effect which is triggered. For instance, the Necklace of Strangulation can be dropped onto any neck slot item, which operates normally until the curse is triggered – in this case when the owner becomes bloodied and is affected by ongoing damage. At that point, the item starts doing additional ongoing damage to the character, as well as making them vulnerable to ongoing damage attacks, and causes a penalty to saves. Fun! But the authors created rules by which the curse can be permanently lifted, using Arcana skill checks, and returning the item to its normal functions. [/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] also includes more than just standard magic items and artifacts. The authors also include a section on Story Items, which are special items used in the midst of the story arc of a quest in order to accomplish the end goal. An example of a story item might be the magic beans in “Jack and the Beanstalk”, and the authors expand upon this theme offering over a score of these plot devices to use when making quests and adventures.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]There is an entire chapter devoted to [B]Adventuring Gear[/B], which includes minor mundane items which grant skill bonuses, such as [I]Camouflaged Clothing[/I], [I]Footpads[/I], and [I]Investigation Gear[/I]. Personally, I don’t think the game needs more skill bonuses, as we are already seeing “bonus creep” make skill challenges a joke, but perhaps it might help untrained members of the party be better at certain skill sets. There is also a list of buildings an adventurer can buy, ranging from your average cottage (400 gp) to a castle with a dungeon (1,000,000 gp). And there are new Alchemical items available, which include the famous [I]Oils of Etherealness[/I] and [I]Slipperiness[/I] from yester-year[/SIZE]. [SIZE=3]Finally, [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] rounds out with a series of appendices, including the aforementioned item list by level and rarity, but also includes a section on [I]Hirelings and Henchmen[/I] for use by player-characters. Personally, the latter was a bit of a disappointment, given that previous editions made it a fairly big deal of the way that henchmen were gathered, requiring a Leadership feat, and offering tables for determining the type and variety and number of followers which could be had. Here the authors did not bother with looking to the old school, and the system for attracting and maintaining henchmen is fairly blasé, and takes up a whole three pages, and another 3 with examples of already made up NPCs which any good DM can make for themselves.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B]Overall Score[/B]: 3.75 [B]out of[/B] 5.0[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]For the most part, I really enjoyed [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B], and found myself grinning at many of the entries which were the 4E interpretations of items from older editions of D&D. This book has a high nostalgia factor, and the re-inventions of “old school” armor, gear, and magic items into 4E statistics were pretty darned good, and I’ll be excited to use them in my campaigns. The new design paradigm of creating interesting stories behind the magic items is definitely good for role-playing - and I forgot to mention that Mordenkainen has many sidebar comments to augment the lore on the items, which could be used as a jumpstart for adventures to locate and retrieve the Uncommon and Rare magical goodies found in this book.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]My biggest complaint was the fact that I had to drive all the way out to my “local” gaming store in order to buy the book at full retail price, plus tax, because [B][I]Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium[/I][/B] is not available from the big online mail-order bookstores. Given that my “local” gaming store is a 45 minute drive each way from my house made purchasing this book feel less like fun, and more like overpaying, once you add in the price of gas. I understand the desire to support the brick-and-mortar stores, but making the consumer inconvenienced for a game supplement is not going to make me treasure it more, so much as make me feel like the publisher is really pushing my limits of “brand loyalty”.[/SIZE] [SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3][I]So until next review… I wish you Happy Gaming![/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][B][U]Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)[/U][/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][SIZE=3][B]Presentation[/B]: 4.0[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]- Design: 4.5 (Excellent design; a great read)[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]- Illustrations: 3.5 (Nice, but needed to have more)[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3][B]Content[/B]: 4.25[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]- Crunch: 4.5 (Good interpretations of old school magic items)[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3]- Fluff: 4.0 (Decent fluff; makes magic items more interesting)[/SIZE] [*][SIZE=3][B]Value[/B]: 2.5 (Highest priced 160-page supplement WotC has published for 4e.)[/SIZE] [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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