Only a couple weeks ago, Wizards of the Coast released another addition to their growing line of older D&D edition products reprinted anew in premium formats. The Premium Magic Item Compendium is the most recent product in this line of Dungeons & Dragons source books, recreating the 3.5 Edition version from 2007.
I must admit that I am of mixed feelings toward reviewing this particular source book, as I
was not too fond of the original release. As a D&D 3.5 Dungeon Master, having the Magic Item Compendium dropped into an already existing campaign - which I had been running for 4 years - was like dropping a boulder into a kiddie pool: it definitely made some waves!
But putting past history aside for the moment, there is the potential for something very exciting to 3.5 fans and D&D book collectors alike to having a new release of the Premium Magic Item Compendium. But the question still remains as to whether this re-release of a D&D 3.5 book published only 6 years ago is worth the premium price…
Premium Magic Item Compendium
The Premium Magic Item Compendium is a special reprinting of the D&D 3.5 Magic Item Compendium, for the premium books line of old edition Dungeons & Dragons products. The new premium version has all the information and contents of the original 2007 release, and also features a brand new high-quality book cover.
Product Quality
The production quality of the Premium Magic Item Compendium is superb, with stunning cover art, and all the amazing writing and magic item design of the original work. The magic items in the book are listed in D&D 3.5 stat blocks, and complete rules for how the items function in the game.
But while I appreciate the amazing writing of the original book, I was very disappointed to find that the designers of this new Premium release never took the time to fix the errors in the original text. The Magic Item Compendium had one of the longest lists of errata of any D&D 3.5 release, with seven pages of additions and corrections totaling well over 150 fixes to various items and rules. As nearly all of the corrections in the errata actually change how the item functions in game terms, omitting this information when reprinting a Premium version of the Magic Item Compendium seems grossly negligent. (The errata for the Compendium can be found at the Official WotC D&D site.)
Like the original, the Premium Magic Item Compendium has a very limited table of contents, but a logical arrangement for the presentation of magic items by type, and then by alphabetical order. There is no index in the book, but the arrangement of the items, alphabetically by type, would render an index as a fairly superfluous addition.
The new cover, like the other books in this line that I have reviewed, captures the “tome” effect that many D&D 3.5 books originally displayed. To further enhance the effect, some of the decorations are depressed into the cover, giving the book a tactile feel.
And the cover art is excellent in itself, with the draconic Celtic-knot work-like decorations, and the nearly 3-D effect of a golden dragon figurine clasping a potion bottle. My only complaint with the cover was the ashen gray background “leather” which washes out the faux gold-leaf effects. I think a deeper gray or even black would have made a better color for the background “leather”, and would have made the cover art more vibrant.
While all the interior art remains the same as the original 2007 release, I would be remiss in not complimenting the artists who contributed to the Magic Item Compendium. Had I been a reviewer in 2007, I would have raved about how fantastic it was to see so many fantasy magic items – from armor to cloaks to weapons and more – illustrated in wondrous detail. I think that having a visual image of so many magic items was one of the best features of this book, making it possible for Dungeon Masters and Players to describe how NPCs and PCs are appareled.
Sure, it’s all-powerful… but is it fashion-forward?
The (Premium) Magic Item Compendium is composed of six chapters and two appendices, breaking down the massive list of magic items contained within its pages by type, and then alphabetically within each chapter. There are more than 1000 magic items in the Compendium, drawn from a range of 3rd Edition and 3.5 Ed. Dungeons & Dragons sources such as the Player's Handbook (PH), Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and Monster Manual (MM) – and more:
As previously mentioned, many of the items in the Compendium have full- color illustrations, and despite being pulled from so many sources. The collection of artists gathered for this book did a stupendous job, and underscored the concept that magic items are not merely functional, but also have a fashion element to bring into the game. The overall effect can often be a sense of awe when seeing a magic item appear in a campaign for the first time, and will often change how the player-character or NPC will look to others around them.
In the first two chapters of the book, an assortment of Armor and Weapons are revealed, including a massive list of properties which can be incorporated into the gear. A list of augment crystals for armor and weapons is also in those chapters. This enchantment item was new for many players and DMs, allowing some effects to be added “as needed” to armor and weapons.
In the third chapter of the Compendium, clothing items of all kinds are presented, including amulets, boots, rings, cloaks, gloves, and more. And I believe that it was in this book, the back slot was refined into two slots - the torso and shoulder- which are distinct from the body where armor was placed. I thought that the addition of magical shirts and tabards for the torso slot was a rather interesting concept overall.
I think that creating an entire chapter for Tools was a smart move in the Compendium, setting aside wondrous magic items which are not typically worn, but carried and used for a variety of purposes. But out of this chapter also came a very potent magic items group called runestaffs, and I think they were a very innovative new magic item type. Under a Vancian Magic System, having an item which could cast a few spells by using a spell from a “slot” offered casters a nice level of versatility, without being too overpowered.
As a Dungeon Master, I found the Magic Item Sets in the fifth chapter to be a rather bothersome addition to D&D 3.5. I found that dropping one piece of a magic item set into a campaign tended to derail its arc, as one member of the adventuring group obsessed about finding all the other pieces. Worse still, the designers seemed to suggest that relic-like armor set and other accoutrement could be “made” using the item creation process, which I thought removed the specialness of locating a full set. I have a feeling I was not the only DM to wish item sets were never printed in the Compendium.
One of the benefits of introducing items from so many sources, the (Premium) Magic Item Compendium offered a chance for Wizards of the Coast to clean up and organize how items are used in D&D 3.5. Chapter 6 in the book discusses identifying magic items, providing some clear rules on the matter, as well as the body slots where items can be placed.
This chapter also delved into rules governing the aforementioned new magic items – augment crystals and runestaffs – in order to clarify their use in the game. Rules for crafting magic items were an absolute necessity, given the number of new items introduced and their recipes.
The end appendices provided a listing of magic Items by price, and another listing for creating random treasure, was a very handy addition to help incorporate the items listed in the book into existing campaigns. While I tend to be the type of DM that places specific treasures in an adventure or delve, having those appendices was still a great boon for those nights when the players took their characters someplace unexpected, and I needed to “wing it”.
Overall Score: 3.6 out of 5.0
Final Conclusions
I find it hard for me to recommend buying the Premium Magic Item Compendium for a few good reasons. The first of which is that the book is only six-ish years old, and most decent “brick & mortar” hobby stores have gently used copies of the original book for sale - and I’ve even seen some mint copies now and then at smaller conventions over in the dealers’ room. Failing finding it at a shop, one could also buy a copy, new or used, on Ebay, and probably for less than the premium edition price.
Secondly, the failure to add the errata from the original Magic Item Compendium into the text of the Premium edition was a terrible loss for 3.5 fans. It’s likely that many D&D gamers who still use the Compendium in their campaigns would have considered throwing some bucks out to get a new version of the book with complete errata included. But alas, this Premium version is nothing more than a new pretty cover.
And as I previously mentioned in my introduction, I had some mixed feelings toward the Magic Item Compendium, as well as its new Premium version. Putting so many magic items in one easy-to-peruse source offered a great temptation for players to engage in min/maxing, even if they didn’t realize they were doing it at the time. It was easy to fall into the munchkin trap by making items too easy to create, and then easily synergized into a character’s abilities. In this Reviewer’s opinion, the Compendium was a siren’s song, luring good role-players into bad roll-playing habits.
Author’s Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary copy of the product from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)
I must admit that I am of mixed feelings toward reviewing this particular source book, as I
was not too fond of the original release. As a D&D 3.5 Dungeon Master, having the Magic Item Compendium dropped into an already existing campaign - which I had been running for 4 years - was like dropping a boulder into a kiddie pool: it definitely made some waves!
But putting past history aside for the moment, there is the potential for something very exciting to 3.5 fans and D&D book collectors alike to having a new release of the Premium Magic Item Compendium. But the question still remains as to whether this re-release of a D&D 3.5 book published only 6 years ago is worth the premium price…
Premium Magic Item Compendium
- Authors: Andy Collins (Lead), Eytan Bernstein,
- Frank Brunner, Owen K.C. Stephens, John Snead
- Illustrations: Matt “Czarofhappiness” Smith (cover); (interior art) Steven Belledin, Ed Cox, Carl Critchlow, Eric Deschamps, Steve Ellis, Wayne England, Matt Faulkner, Emily Fiegenschuh, Randy Gallegos, David Griffith, Brian Hagan, Ralph Hoksley, Heather Hudson, Doug Kovacs, Chuck Lukacs, David Martin, Mark Poole, Steve Prescott, Wayne Reynolds, Ron Spencer, Anne Stokes, Arnie Swekel, Steven Tappin, Joel Thomas, Beth Trott, Franz Vohwinkel, Eva Widermann, James Zhang
- Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
- Year: 2013
- Media: Hardbound (290 pages)
- Price: $49.95(now $33.41 from Amazon.com!)
The Premium Magic Item Compendium is a special reprinting of the D&D 3.5 Magic Item Compendium, for the premium books line of old edition Dungeons & Dragons products. The new premium version has all the information and contents of the original 2007 release, and also features a brand new high-quality book cover.
Product Quality
The production quality of the Premium Magic Item Compendium is superb, with stunning cover art, and all the amazing writing and magic item design of the original work. The magic items in the book are listed in D&D 3.5 stat blocks, and complete rules for how the items function in the game.
But while I appreciate the amazing writing of the original book, I was very disappointed to find that the designers of this new Premium release never took the time to fix the errors in the original text. The Magic Item Compendium had one of the longest lists of errata of any D&D 3.5 release, with seven pages of additions and corrections totaling well over 150 fixes to various items and rules. As nearly all of the corrections in the errata actually change how the item functions in game terms, omitting this information when reprinting a Premium version of the Magic Item Compendium seems grossly negligent. (The errata for the Compendium can be found at the Official WotC D&D site.)
Like the original, the Premium Magic Item Compendium has a very limited table of contents, but a logical arrangement for the presentation of magic items by type, and then by alphabetical order. There is no index in the book, but the arrangement of the items, alphabetically by type, would render an index as a fairly superfluous addition.
The new cover, like the other books in this line that I have reviewed, captures the “tome” effect that many D&D 3.5 books originally displayed. To further enhance the effect, some of the decorations are depressed into the cover, giving the book a tactile feel.
And the cover art is excellent in itself, with the draconic Celtic-knot work-like decorations, and the nearly 3-D effect of a golden dragon figurine clasping a potion bottle. My only complaint with the cover was the ashen gray background “leather” which washes out the faux gold-leaf effects. I think a deeper gray or even black would have made a better color for the background “leather”, and would have made the cover art more vibrant.
While all the interior art remains the same as the original 2007 release, I would be remiss in not complimenting the artists who contributed to the Magic Item Compendium. Had I been a reviewer in 2007, I would have raved about how fantastic it was to see so many fantasy magic items – from armor to cloaks to weapons and more – illustrated in wondrous detail. I think that having a visual image of so many magic items was one of the best features of this book, making it possible for Dungeon Masters and Players to describe how NPCs and PCs are appareled.
Sure, it’s all-powerful… but is it fashion-forward?
The (Premium) Magic Item Compendium is composed of six chapters and two appendices, breaking down the massive list of magic items contained within its pages by type, and then alphabetically within each chapter. There are more than 1000 magic items in the Compendium, drawn from a range of 3rd Edition and 3.5 Ed. Dungeons & Dragons sources such as the Player's Handbook (PH), Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and Monster Manual (MM) – and more:
As previously mentioned, many of the items in the Compendium have full- color illustrations, and despite being pulled from so many sources. The collection of artists gathered for this book did a stupendous job, and underscored the concept that magic items are not merely functional, but also have a fashion element to bring into the game. The overall effect can often be a sense of awe when seeing a magic item appear in a campaign for the first time, and will often change how the player-character or NPC will look to others around them.
In the first two chapters of the book, an assortment of Armor and Weapons are revealed, including a massive list of properties which can be incorporated into the gear. A list of augment crystals for armor and weapons is also in those chapters. This enchantment item was new for many players and DMs, allowing some effects to be added “as needed” to armor and weapons.
In the third chapter of the Compendium, clothing items of all kinds are presented, including amulets, boots, rings, cloaks, gloves, and more. And I believe that it was in this book, the back slot was refined into two slots - the torso and shoulder- which are distinct from the body where armor was placed. I thought that the addition of magical shirts and tabards for the torso slot was a rather interesting concept overall.
I think that creating an entire chapter for Tools was a smart move in the Compendium, setting aside wondrous magic items which are not typically worn, but carried and used for a variety of purposes. But out of this chapter also came a very potent magic items group called runestaffs, and I think they were a very innovative new magic item type. Under a Vancian Magic System, having an item which could cast a few spells by using a spell from a “slot” offered casters a nice level of versatility, without being too overpowered.
As a Dungeon Master, I found the Magic Item Sets in the fifth chapter to be a rather bothersome addition to D&D 3.5. I found that dropping one piece of a magic item set into a campaign tended to derail its arc, as one member of the adventuring group obsessed about finding all the other pieces. Worse still, the designers seemed to suggest that relic-like armor set and other accoutrement could be “made” using the item creation process, which I thought removed the specialness of locating a full set. I have a feeling I was not the only DM to wish item sets were never printed in the Compendium.
One of the benefits of introducing items from so many sources, the (Premium) Magic Item Compendium offered a chance for Wizards of the Coast to clean up and organize how items are used in D&D 3.5. Chapter 6 in the book discusses identifying magic items, providing some clear rules on the matter, as well as the body slots where items can be placed.
This chapter also delved into rules governing the aforementioned new magic items – augment crystals and runestaffs – in order to clarify their use in the game. Rules for crafting magic items were an absolute necessity, given the number of new items introduced and their recipes.
The end appendices provided a listing of magic Items by price, and another listing for creating random treasure, was a very handy addition to help incorporate the items listed in the book into existing campaigns. While I tend to be the type of DM that places specific treasures in an adventure or delve, having those appendices was still a great boon for those nights when the players took their characters someplace unexpected, and I needed to “wing it”.
Overall Score: 3.6 out of 5.0
Final Conclusions
I find it hard for me to recommend buying the Premium Magic Item Compendium for a few good reasons. The first of which is that the book is only six-ish years old, and most decent “brick & mortar” hobby stores have gently used copies of the original book for sale - and I’ve even seen some mint copies now and then at smaller conventions over in the dealers’ room. Failing finding it at a shop, one could also buy a copy, new or used, on Ebay, and probably for less than the premium edition price.
Secondly, the failure to add the errata from the original Magic Item Compendium into the text of the Premium edition was a terrible loss for 3.5 fans. It’s likely that many D&D gamers who still use the Compendium in their campaigns would have considered throwing some bucks out to get a new version of the book with complete errata included. But alas, this Premium version is nothing more than a new pretty cover.
And as I previously mentioned in my introduction, I had some mixed feelings toward the Magic Item Compendium, as well as its new Premium version. Putting so many magic items in one easy-to-peruse source offered a great temptation for players to engage in min/maxing, even if they didn’t realize they were doing it at the time. It was easy to fall into the munchkin trap by making items too easy to create, and then easily synergized into a character’s abilities. In this Reviewer’s opinion, the Compendium was a siren’s song, luring good role-players into bad roll-playing habits.
Author’s Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary copy of the product from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)
- Presentation: 3.75
- - Design: 3.0 (Well-designed; solid writing; failure to include errata when reprinting is very disappointing)
- - Illustrations: 4.5 (Great art depicting a wide range of magic items; beautiful new cover art)
- Content: 3.5
- - Crunch: 3.0 (Lots of cool magic items of all types; many items have errors unless errata is available)
- - Fluff: 4.0 (Decent flavor text; several items have interesting facts and backgrounds)
- Value: 3.5 (Decent price but this new Compendium does not feel all that premium.)
