#30 Magic Tools (PFRPG) PDF

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The Rite Tool for the Rite Job!

Within #30 Magic Tools are little pieces of magic to make your job as an adventurer a bit easier.

These magical and masterwork tools will help keep you in the saddle, frighten foes, or keep people from noticing you as you walk through a crowd. 

Brought to you by the same designer who brough you #30 Mercenary Companies and #30 Portable Rooms. #30 Magic Tools has everything you need to get the job done.

Pages: 8
Author: Liz Smith
Cover Artist: Arthur Rackham

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Average product rating:

5.00/5 (based on 3 ratings)

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Not quite what I expected, but it's probably a better product for it.

5/5

Purchased from OBS stores.

Why did I buy this? What did I actually get?
I've always found a disconnect in the default High Fantasy Pathfinder playstyle where magic is commonplace, but magic items that are a practical price for low-level characters is non-existant. Having enjoyed the Loot-4-Less series by (then) Super Genius Games, I was imagining this product to be along a similar line. Surprisingly, there is number of high price point items in here as well.

Have I used this, or will I use this?
I bought this around the time of it's release, and have yet to incorporate these items into a game. However, I would like to believe that they will see some use in a future game; neither of the characters I play, nor the campaign I presently run, have an obvious place for anything.

How is the fluff?
The fluff is a blast to read, following the tale of Mellan the bard, creator of the items herein. Learning the history of the items have DCs as well, making sure the fluff not only keeps from interfering with game mechanics, but actively complements them. This is something Rite Publishing always does well.

How are the mechanics?
In a word, fun! These items cover a lot of bases, from commonsense items in a magical world (a spoon that can detect and then purify poison) to iconic (Lightfoot Shoon allow you to double jump, while the Mantle of Unremarked Passage is a perception filter a la Doctor Who).

How’s readability?
Probably the only item I take issue with is the Arcane Anthology, as it seems to refer both to a specific book and a general type of enchanted book at the same time. It works in either sense, but I found it a little obtuse. Otherwise, editing is good, and font and layout render the PDF readable.

Was the price fair?
Absolutely.

Favorite part?
Gauntlets that protect you from the heat of forging weapons - they fall not only it the "duh" category, but they're perfect for baking, too!

Least favorite part?
Since I'm making myself pick, we'll say the bridle that prevents the rider from falling out of the saddle. Nothing wrong if it's your jam, but it tastes a touch too cheesy/exploitable for me.

5/5 - not quite what I expected, but it's probably a better product for it.


An Endzeitgeist.com review

5/5

This pdf clocks in at 13 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, leaving us with 8 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?

So, know what pretty much I don't get? In all those high magic magocracies and settings, why are there no actual tools, you know, everyday-useful magic items to make life more convenient? I mean, literature is full of wizards using convenient items to render life more comfortable for themselves and in a setting where the crafting of deadly, costly magical weapons, it is only sensible that some of the funds circulated would be used to actually improve the tools used to generate the respective tools, right?

Right - so here we are, new magic tools. All of them are masterwork per default, as the pdf notices and framed by an aptly-written, short piece of IC-prose, we dive right in: The Arcane Anthology, for example, opens itself on the correct page and politely positions itself in front of the reader, levitating and leaving his or her hands free. If that is not inspiring to you in and of itself, then the short piece of history provided for each item should exactly help in that regard. Now this is pretty much awesome, though, alas, not all items herein reach this level of coolness - take the Brass of Binding: It prevents the rider from being dismounted "no matter what happens." No matter how good the CMB, no matter the circumstance - unless the points of the maple-leaf brass are tapped. Alas, this does not specify what type of action tapping the maple leaf's points is. Oh, and cost: 1000 GP. For never being dismounted, ever. WUT? This sounds like it needs a hard whack with the nerf-bat or rather, a tighter wording: It is clear this should only prevent dismounting due to the rider's own failed checks - and yes, I am very much aware that this is supposed to be a tool for the Ride-skill only, but as written, it does look like it can be used otherwise AND it still fails to mention the action required for (de-)activation, alas a glitch I noticed a couple of times when the item's text (à la mental command) etc. provides no clear means of determining the activation action, though I do assume the standard action default for wondrous items. But I'm rambling about a nitpick, so onwards!

A spoon that can purify any poison from food 3/day and detect it 3/day as well is a cool item, though personally, I think I'd prefer the detecting and purification to be based on poison DCs, but I am aware that this is just a personal preference and won't hold it against the pdf. There also would be an enchanted chisel that can carve into wood on its own. A compass that can lead you to food, animals or locations pictured in your mind is nice, as are gloves that turn held items invisible. The Flawpicker item needs a scaling mechanism - picking out flaws from gems is fine with me - eliminating curses from cursed items, on the other hand, imho should have a scaling rate of success chances. I do like the sight-enhancing magical kohl. Mantles that help you avoid detection are nice, but what about shoons that 1/day create a platform mid-flight to push off, adding +10 ft. height and length to a jump? Yeah, awesome. Pins to improvise opening locks and helping with escaping manacles et al. also are a-ok with me. What about a patch that allows for quicker application of liquids?

There also would be slippers that allow caught thieves to generate an illusion of an animal darting away, providing an excuse for any noises created? Using a needle to animate cloths and the like to entangle foes? Cool! What about a babelfish-like translating butterfly? Nice!

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect -I noticed a couple of typos, italicization glitches and the like. Layout adheres to Rite Publishing's two-column full-color standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience. Artworks consist of thematically-fitting stock art.

Liz Smith's items are glorious on the one hand - they make sense and in many, many cases, they can be considered awesome in their flair - breathing the spirit of fairy-tales and feeling like actual MAGIC instead of an accumulation of numerical bonuses, the tools herein may not be 100% perfect, but they have more soul than many magic item books I've read. Yes, there are some minor ambiguities and yes, I pretty much prefer Scaling options over those that work as a default - but in the end, most of the gripes I could field apply mainly to my personal preference, which has never been a sufficient reason for me to rate a pdf down, leaving as valid gripes only the glitches and non-preference hiccups, which ultimately are offset by the sheer imaginative potential herein. It should be noted that the items herein fit perfectly as rare items in a low magic game, so yeah, versatility is accounted for.

Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 4. 5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.


Magic Item Innovation

5/5

Players and DMs that want new and innovative magic items should get a hold of this.

There are plenty of magic swords and staves in other books, but here they are more normal everyday items with magical abilities. Two examples I will discuss are the compass of desires and the fading gloves. The compass will lead the adventurer to one of their desires once per day. This would be extremely useful for adventurers hunting specific monsters or items.

The gloves are arguably better, and are an improved version of gloves of storing. They make what you hold invisible, and only that. Perfect for weapons, keeping stolen good in the hand but hidden, holding potions or crossbows or the like. An excellent idea, and the fading gloves aren't the only excellent items. Some like the heatsink gauntlets are even made to counter specific classes - like druids.

Items also come with a little background information and their past uses. All items are created by Mellan (who really has a Lann the clever vibe), a crafter who came into magic late in life. Mellan is clearly a bit of a scoundrel as well as an inventor.

One of the last things I wanted to say, is that the art is gorgeous. It appears to be from an excellent fairy tale book. There is a high attention to detail in the pictures, and they really work for Mellan's creations, giving a sense of a mischievous world that the players can enter.

I am running a low magic game, and these are ALL going in because of how useful they are, and because of the unusual special abilities and effects of the items. So I say get it, see what it has got and throw them into your games to really add more fun via these unusual magic items.


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Thank you for getting this up McNinja Courts.


Here is the free preview PDF


Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it.


Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.


Thank you. I'm glad you liked it, and I appreciate the time you put in.


Thanks for the review B S 207. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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