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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010380" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Duane Nutley, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine RackSizing up the TargetEnchiridion of Treasures and Objects D’Arts (known henceforth as ETOD) is a 148 page pdf by Spencer “The Sigil” Cooley and is the second of the Enchridion series. Available from www.rpgnow.com for $12.95.First BloodThis is the second Enchiridion written by Spencer Cooley and once again provides information on areas not looked into in much detail in the core rules. In this case creating non-magical items and the prices one pays for them are looked at. ETOD also looks at minor magic items that are affordable by even peasants, ensorcelled items. Slightly different game mechanic used to determine how these are created and how one can make them as well. Before going any further, a brief run down of the chapters and what they contain is provided:Chapter 1 is actually the Introduction to the book and looks at what ETOD will be covering. Chapter 2 is new uses or new techniques for skills already looked at in the PHB. The Craft information forms the basis of how items are made and priced in ETOD. Chapter 3 is about ensorcelling items, ie. Minor magic items that anyone can afford. Chapter 4 is a one page generalisation about what to do with treasure generation, ie if the treasure is from goblins don’t have the majority of the treasure in coins, have it as foodstuffs and items that would be taken from a ransacked trade caravan, etc. Chapter 5 covers Item types for those unfamiliar with them. Chapter 6 is Material families, eg. Metals, gems, etc. Also looks at creating items from different materials. Chapter 7 covers the bulk of the book by detailing different materials used to craft various items. There are 360 different materials covered. Chapter 8 looks at ways items can be individualised by additions to a particular item. Appendix A is a complete item list from A to Z including the DC to create, the material family used and the final weight. Appendix B provides further examples of crafting looking at a base item and then further enhancements that can be made to that item. Appendix C contains 4 new spells useful in a crafting environment. Appendix D are some useful tables all located on one page for easy reference. The final Appendix is the requisite OGL License.Once again artwork is sparse to non-existent in the supplement. However there are pictures to detail how to describe various materials, eg. In Chapter 6 there is about a page in total devoted to gem lustres, metal colours and different furs and skins. As always the amount of art in a product can be a good or bad point depending on the amount, quality and the reader. Personally I liked the fact of little to no artwork in this type of product as it does not detract from what is written.The premise of the book is the creation of non-magical items. The author did not agree with the system outlined under the Craft skill in the core rules, so he came up with his own. The basics are the raw material used and the amount of time used to create the item. Raw material costs are easy to understand and is just the multiplier of the material (provided in chapter 7) multiplied by the item to be constructed (available in Appendix A). The labour cost is counted in drops (an allusion to the amount of sweat required to craft an item). Drops are based on the Base Weight of the item to be created. An example is provided on page 9 with other examples appearing sporadically through the text and further examples provided in Appendix B. The final price can be greater or lower than in the core rules, depending on the length of time taken and chance as always. The mechanic to determine crafting an item has also been modified and looks at the initial roll and the progress checks. A new feat, Power Craftsmanship, is introduced at this point and is very useful for all craftsmen and comes in handy here. The author also looks at a different economic system than the one provided in the core rules. Once again it is due to the fact that the author didn’t agree with these mechanics and was able to come up with one that worked for him. Thus the amount of cash available in any given settlement is different to that provided in the core rules.Ensorcelled items are ones that a spellcaster (usually an adept) can create, even 1st level spellcasters. All materials have inherent magic in them, the essential power, and ensorcelling an item draws out that inherent magic and makes it available to use. The beauty of this mechanic is that low level characters can buy ‘magical’ items that are handy and useful even before they start getting traditional magic items. Ensorcellry can also be applied to traditional magic items or ensorcelled items can later be magiced traditionally and both powers will work.There are 360 different materials to create items from detailed in the sourcebook. Each has their own stat block with pertinent information. The stat block consists of Weight Factor: multiplier and material to determine weight, Cost/pound: actual cost for raw (unworked) material, Hardness: easy to understand, Hp/inch: also self-explanatory, Craft DC: the modifier to make an item from this material, Progress Check: another modifier that is used when making the item. The stat block is complete with a description of the material as well as any essential power. The essential power is important when ensorcelling items and seems to be concurrent with pagan/‘new age’ thought of the inherent properties of certain objects/materials. The majority of materials covered are real actual materials used in our own world, but there are some popular fantastical ones as well. Examples of fantastical materials include: Aeroglass which is normal glass containing small amounts of adamantine, Dragon Hide which has the essential power of making the wearer immune to breath weapon attacks or Owlbear skin. There were a fair number of materials, particularly stones or gems, that I was not aware of. I noticed however that there was no mention of bone. This is a material rarely used, but I thought for completeness sake it should also have been included, especially for bone weapons.58 various additions to items are available and each section includes the required Craft and DC, market value and description about what the addition can do for an item. Examples include Arcane Conductor (originally sourced from Heroes of High Favour: Elves) which reduces the arcane spell failure for armors and shields, Engraved, Enhanced Alloy which is like mithral and adamantine and provides a bonus without being magical and Serrated for getting those evil looking weapons some villains use.If you are a GM who likes control of price factors or who likes to ‘fiddle’ with options and get into the nitty-gritty details of things, then you will like this product. If however you don’t have the time or do not like this sort of thing, this supplement will have little of value for you apart from ensorcelling items and item additions. The materials are interesting to read, but if you are not going to use them with the crafting system, they will not add much value to you.Critical HitsThe alternate game mechanic for crafting items is an excellent bonus. What I like more though were the special components. Finally a GM can say whether a silvered alloyed weapon is available and if so, what the cost and benefit of said item is.Critical MissesAside from a few small spelling or grammar errors, I found little actually wrong with the supplement. Some may see the lack of art as a miss, but I don’t as stated earlier.Coup de GraceEnchiridion of Treasures and Objects d’Arts is a well written, informative supplement providing additional information on a subject not given much attention in the core rules. If you like tinkering with pricing systems and cannot come up with one you like, this Enchiridion is a worthwhile investment.To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=370&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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