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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 2009766" data-attributes="member: 3586">Tome and Blood is the third of the class books series produced by Wizards of the Coast for the Dungeons and Dragons 3e game. It expands upon the role of Wizards and Sorcerers in the game, with advice for playing such characters as well as new feats, prestige classes, spells, magic items and world-building advice. The book is a 96 page softcover with an attractive appearance; the layout of the information within is very clear. The book is divided into five chapters as follows: Arcane Lore (33 pages) deals with a variety of material to help wizards and sorcerers. It begins with a discussion of creating effective spell casters, dealing with feat, ability score and spell selection as well as other matters of the like that will be useful to novice players. Nine pages are devoted to a discussion of familiars, including a few new familiars as well as some special familiars available only to those who take the Improved Familiar feat (the feat is described in the next chapter). The chapter ends with ideas for wizard organisations, and the sample home of a pair of arcane spellcasters. There's a lot to like about this chapter. The advice for novice players should prove extremely useful, as the wizard is generally the hardest character to play. The notes on familiars are extensive, and the possibility of having Improved Familiars is an excellent addition to the game. Who wouldn't want a pseudodragon or an imp as a familiar? The mechanics of gaining such a familiar are very nicely balanced as well. The organisations are, as one might expect, a mixed bunch. Groups such as the League of Diviners or the Spellswords may have no place in your game, but then again you might find them inspiring. Personally, I feel that there's much to like about those that are described. The description of the Mages' Abode is more problematical. It takes up eight pages, a sizable portion of the book, and it didn't seem that useful to me. Feats (6 pages) describes 24 new feats, although new is a relative term, as some first appeared in the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting. The chapter also clarifies a slightly obscure rule: you are able to treat types of spells as weapons for the purpose of feats like Weapon Focus. Thus it is possible to take Weapon Focus in Ray, Energy Missile or Touch spells. This is a welcome clarification. The feats are excellent in the main. There are a couple, such as Arcane Defense, that I can't see much use for, but feats such as Extra Slot, Improved Familiar, Greater Spell Penetration and Eschew Materials are likely to see a great deal of use. Innate Spell is one I particularly like: by sacrificing a spell slot eight levels higher than a particular spell, you may make that spell an innate power, usable at will as a spell-like ability. Powerful? Somewhat, but a lot of fun and only really available to very high level casters. The fact that certain feats have been reprinted from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is something that I consider absolutely excellent - as I'm not a FR player, I don't have that book, and I'd far rather have access to them than not. About half the feats are metamagic feats, the others are general feats; almost all are useful and should provide great distinction between various spell casters. Prestige Classes (28 pages) describes 15 new prestige classes, as follows: [*]Acolyte of the Skin - a mage who binds the skin of a fiend to himself to gain powers [*]Alienist - a student of unearthly powers [*]Arcane Trickster - a rogue/mage [*]Bladesinger - an elven fighter/mage [*]Blood Magus - an unusual mage with powers derived from their own blood [*]Candle Caster - a creator of magical candles [*]Dragon Disciple - latent dragon blood becomes active, providing a gradual transformation into a half-dragon [*]Elemental Savant - a specialist in one form of elemental magic [*]Fatespinner - a manipulator of chance and probability [*]Mage of the Arcane Order - a member of an arcane guild with special spell-sharing abilities [*]Mindbender - a mind-control specialist [*]Pale Master - a necromancer who binds an undead limb to himself to gain more powers [*]Spellsword - a fighter/mage trained in casting arcane spells in armour [*]True Necromancer - a cleric/mage with special necromantic powers [*]Wayfarer Guide - an unique 3-level prestige class, giving additional powers of teleportation Perhaps it's just because my favourite class is the Wizard, but I find these prestige classes to be inspirational and exciting. Two players in my campaigns have taken the Dragon Disciple prestige class, just because it's so wonderful an idea! The prestige classes seem fairly balanced, if occasionally powerful. The Arcane Trickster is interesting, as the character gains spell casting abilities every level, along with normal Sneak Attack progression, good skill choices and additional abilities. Why would you ever be a straight Rogue/Wizard, then? I'm sure this is because multi-classed spellcasters in this edition are so underpowered compared to a multi-classed non-spellcaster. The loss of spell casting levels is extremely annoying. Thus, the Arcane Trickster, who gains both Rogue abilities and Spellcasting ability. However, as it needs four levels of Rogue and five levels of Wizard to qualify for, it's not something you can take until later. The fact that you'll only have 16th level spell-use also balances it against other characters. Versatile, yes, but not overpowered, in my opinion. A couple of editorial problems sneaked into this chapter - the Bladesinger printed is the wrong version - however, to their credit, the correct version is available as a free download from Wizards' website: www.wizards.com/dnd Several of the prestige classes have an apotheosis at the end of their progressions: the Acolyte of the Skin, the Alienist, the Dragon Disciple, the Elemental Savant, the Fate Spinner, and the Pale Master all basically change their creature type by the 10th level, generally to Outsider. The Dragon Disciple becomes a half-dragon; so type Dragon. Whilst the Pale Master doesn't actually change type, it has become almost undead and thus immune to critical hits. I really like this idea - it makes these classes really special. Tools of the Trade (8 pages) deals with new mundane and magical items as well as expanding the item creation rules from the DMG. This chapter is excellent. The idea of metamagic rods is introduced: rods that allow you to cast a certain number of spells per day as if they had a metamagic feat such as Quicken Spell or Maximise Spell applied. The Golem Manual also caught my eye, and the discussion of determining prices for magic items is very useful indeed. The final chapter, Spells (18 pages) gives a group of new spells, discussion of special tricks with certain spells, and most importantly of all, guidelines for researching your own spells. There aren't actually that many new spells, but a fair number of them are such that you really wonder why they weren't in the Player's Handbook - spells such as Eagle's Splendor, Fox's Cunning and Owl's Wisdom, which are the mental counterparts of Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace and Endurance. Mass Darkvision, Mass Fly and Mass Teleport are also given, as well as some familiar-enhancing spells. The spells are all pretty useful. The guidelines for new spells are likewise useful without being too restrictive or formulaic. A few benchmark spells are given, which show you the maximum limits of spells of certain levels - very useful information. Tome and Blood is possibly the best of the class books, although it may be my prediliction for playing wizards that is showing here. Regardless, the book has seen much use in play since I bought it over a year ago, and I greatly recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing an arcane spellcaster.</blockquote>

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