I'm not looking for validation from anyone, or an argument; I just have to say that I have zero interest in this book.
As a DM and a player, I have plenty of item options. If I need something that isn't in one of the two dozen books that I own, I'm perfectly confident in my ability to create it myself.
I read the blurb on wizards.com about the crystals that you can transplant from one item to another with a move action, and I am not impressed. As a player, I'd love to be able to carry a few around so that I'd be covered for every conceivable encounter. As a DM, I don't want my players prepared for every possible eventuality. If I go to the trouble of creating an aquatic encounter, it's because I want it to be different and more scary than a standard encounter. All that goes down the drain once the players can pick up a crystal of aqautic action at the local swamptown.
I may end up loving this book sometime in the future, but right now I just can't imagine it's purpose in my game.
I hear you. I have been very hesitant to get any books for a long time. My thinking was, I could do anything that I wanted to within the core books (or some of the other books I have) just as well anyway. I am especially wary of books that repeat material. The special gems and stuff remind me of playing Diablo 2 which is a favorite really. I have to admit though, I am looking forward to this book more than I have any other in a while. Part of me is really hoping for a bunch of new item properties that I haven't seen before. Part of me is excited about the gems. I am not going to buy it without looking through it for a bit, but I am kind of considering it.
I am looking forward to the book (and have in fact ordered it online already).
I'm not a fan of the crystal theory for much the same reason noted above, but I am really happy to have consolidated lists of the magic items from many books in one place. I love to use them. I own the books. Unfortunately they are in so many places that I often give up and place something 'stock' in the hoard. This is not how I would have done things in the past, but prep time is now very short.
Life would be so much easier if work didn't keep interrupting. :)
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I am interested in the compendiums because I don't have the luxury of running the game at my place every time we play. It's easier to carry around one consolidated book rather than carry around all the Complete series. And since I don't get Dragon magazine, I do actually get some items I've never seen before.
I wish they were cheaper though rather than $40 for what is essentially reprinted material.
I think WoTC tries to appeal to two very different demographic groups of customers: those who have played D&D for many years and own a lot of rule books, and those who are new to the game and own only the core rulebooks.
A book like the Spell Compendium, or the Magic Item Compendium, appeals much more to this later group, because the alternative is for them to buy, for example, all the Race series books, all the Complete ___ series books, all the Environment series books, etc. just to get the same spells, feats, skills, items, etc.
But for people in the former group, who already own all of these, there is obviously a great deal of redundancy.
Retaining existing players requires a huge amount of effort. Most people lose interest as they get older. Even people who would *like* to keep playing often get forced into "retirement" as responsibilities to employers, spouses, and children increase.
On the other hand, continually attracting new players to the game is also extremely important, else the game will eventually die out. Think about it for a minute: if you are 12 years old, and someone at school tells you about D&D, and you think you might be interested in giving it a try, you go to the book store and see: twenty or thirty rule books, at $20-30 each?! It's got to be pretty intimidating. You've got to be pretty knowledgable just to know where to start. Any product that helps make that "initiation" easier on new players is, in the long run, a good thing, even if more experienced players look down their noses at it (for example, the new 'basic' boxed set.)
I think the point is that not all products are targeted at all people. Of course, there is another group (obsessed fans?) that buy every book they put out, regardless. I'm sure the business executives at WoTC wish we were all in this group!
As a DM, I don't want my players prepared for every possible eventuality. If I go to the trouble of creating an aquatic encounter, it's because I want it to be different and more scary than a standard encounter. All that goes down the drain once the players can pick up a crystal of aqautic action at the local swamptown.
100% agreement here. I get a very definite twinge of unease every time I see a new feature in a book that blows away a previous basic restriction on what is possible in the game and the way the mechanics play out. I keep thinking that the core books were written as they were for a reason, and if there is a glaring inability to make a certain build, such as a monk/barbarian, it was put there for a reason. Maybe it's just for style and "flavor," but that actually builds a little uniqueness into the game that makes D&D stand out from everyone else in the market.
There's no elemental acid enhancement in the DMG. Don't you think someone would have noticed that? Well, in the DMG2, they added one, "corrosive." Not a big deal overall, but it goes back to that same idea.
If every possible element of the game can be combined in any way any player ever wants, with no restrictions or structures, it just seems really... bland. Not like "D&D" at all.
I'm starting to rant. Back to the socketed item thing, if it truly is as described above, it rubs me the wrong way. I think players should have to make a little more commitment to what is and isn't on their "ability list." But, I haven't read the book.
If it is largely just a restatement of a lot of magical items and enchantments, then it will be outdated one book at a time as they continue to come out and release new item after item. If they truly wish to make a compendium, they should do it online, in a list that can be updated as need warrants. Not in a book that will be outdated in a year.
Well, it's nice to know other folks lack my interest in this book. To all the rest, I hope it works out for you; I don't hope that I end up wanting this book because that'll be another addition to my list of temptations.
Now that Dithering Fool reminded me, I haven't played D2 in quite a while...
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April of last year this was a thread I started, about socketed weapons using gems, which was based off of a Dungeon article: LOOK AT ME!!
I am actually a bit dissappointed at the thought that the Magic Item Compendium is gonna have something along the lines of my idea.
I will still get it, but I wish they hadn't done it.
FH
...If they truly wish to make a compendium, they should do it online, in a list that can be updated as need warrants. Not in a book that will be outdated in a year.
Hear, hear.
While they are at it they can move the whole friggen game online and save us from having to try and search through dozens of suppliment vainly trying to find that item, spell, class, peice of equipment that we are sure is in one of these books somewhere.
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...If they truly wish to make a compendium, they should do it online, in a list that can be updated as need warrants. Not in a book that will be outdated in a year.Hear, hear.
While they are at it they can move the whole friggen game online and save us from having to try and search through dozens of suppliment vainly trying to find that item, spell, class, peice of equipment that we are sure is in one of these books somewhere.
And thus begins the era of "pay to play" D&D. I don't want to pay $20 a month to access a site that may be down for maintanence or overwhelmed by traffic. I would love it if you could order the books as files for download or a CD that came with the physical books. I don't want a computer at my D&D table. I like books.
WOTC would love to make EVERYONE who plays D&D pay a monthly fee for whatever untested, unbalanced content they decide to scrape together.FH
Well, then, they could just make a listing online, where one could search for an entry and find the exact book and page number, and keep that up to date. Such a thing should be free.
Also, reconsidering my rant up above and the general idea of socketed items- I don't mind the concept so much as the thought that I fear the Magic Item Compendium will follow the recent trend of making such things extremely minor, commonplace magic items that are no problem at all to aquire and remove a lot of the thrill and challenge from the game. If it avoided that formula, then it's actually pretty interesting.
EDIT- Good thing I added this addendum, because on reviewing the older thread, I halfway contradicted myself! :)
Saern the Inconstant
I've been waiting forever for a Magic Item Compendium type book forever now. It's something, finally, I can really use. The bane of D&D is that the cool stuff comes in fits and spurts, one or two per major book. The magic items list in the DMG is fine, but it suffers for lack of page count, swallowed up by all kinds of other things (like a multipage listing of monster manual 1 monsters appropriateness per dungeon level from 1-20, bleh) most of which I would cut if I could to make room. Too many books feel like junk drawers. Not enough focus on any one thing.
Magic items are something I've wanted to get a nice, focused treatment for a long time. I'm tragically disappointed that there's no more wonderous items or not Greyhawk-exclusive artifacts (that one's a bummer--every artifact in the DMG seems tied to either a god or major event from Greyhawk.) Seems instead like its pretty much weapons and armor--which actually are the two things that got trimmed hardest in the DMG so actually I don't mind so much as long as they have more flavor than what's already out there.
I guess my big problem with magic items as is, based on the DMG tables, is they FEEL like they were created off a table, and as such have a lot less flavor and freedom to do interesting and unusual things than the old 2nd edition stuff did. Hopefully this book can add more of the good stuff.
Now can I tell you how bent outta' shape I was that a third of the book totally ISN'T magic items? It's the role of magic items in a game, how and where to place magic items, and a bunch of other stuff that will suprize the heck outta' me if it isn't just filler stating the obvious for those who don't understand that magic items are -treasure-, and that PCs and DMs can use them to circumnavigate unusual obsticles and defeat enemies in novel ways. I'm glad the D&D guys have decided to wax more thespian, and address issues of drama and story--but its been a while (since the PHBII) since I've really been impressed by ANY of it.
As a DM, I don't want my players prepared for every possible eventuality. If I go to the trouble of creating an aquatic encounter, it's because I want it to be different and more scary than a standard encounter. All that goes down the drain once the players can pick up a crystal of aqautic action at the local swamptown.100% agreement here. I get a very definite twinge of unease every time I see a new feature in a book that blows away a previous basic restriction on what is possible in the game and the way the mechanics play out. I keep thinking that the core books were written as they were for a reason, and if there is a glaring inability to make a certain build, such as a monk/barbarian, it was put there for a reason. Maybe it's just for style and "flavor," but that actually builds a little uniqueness into the game that makes D&D stand out from everyone else in the market.
More agreement. I own a lot of the books, so I do want to use them, but have basically decided that everything in the 3 core books is what is common. If you want something out of the other books, you have to convince me that it would be common (which I will probably generally do, if not abused) or you go on an a quest to acquire it. This includes everything not just magic items, but mundane items, spells, etc.
I'm looking forward to it. As a DM, I can decide how common something is, and as a player, I only can have what the DM allows. I don't know that having more choice is a bad thing, and I know that a lot of times the designers come up with some interesting ideas that have never occured to me.
Not particularly interested.
Spell Compendium I got because I don't have all those Complete books and everything and there are some good spells there...but magic items? There are already plenty of those and the need to look up things is not as strong as with spells...
Now, if there were some rulebooks giving flavor to item creation, I would be interested.
I had 2-3 books from 2nd ed that had EVERYTHING in them. Got them as gifts, and they turned out to be pretty worthless, except for the random results charts and such. Do we really need 16 different named glaives? 26 cloaks? It was overkill. Spell compendium is kind of the same way, but I like to use it to keep my players on thier toes.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I, too, have no interest in this particular book. I don't think I've even LOOKED at a magical item listed in a book other than the DMG in over a year. I've always been a fan of making up my own stuff. I'm the kind of person who prefers magical items to be unique and specials. Obviously, simple things like +1 longswords and rings of protection +1 are not going to be so extraordinary, but when my players discover a solid adamantine band with swirling colors in it that glows faintly in the dark, they have NO IDEA what it might be because they won't find it in any sourcebook.
I understand where the people who aren't interested in this book are coming from, but I'm interested in it. I like having information at my fingertips, whether it be in computer or book form. Players are savvy bastards, and I'm not going to sleep on them for a second. It doesn't matter whether or not its been printed in a book, there are always going to be players who want something that breaks a game.
I have a different opinion from a lot of you I guess, because I'm anticipating this book a lot.
Gems, sets are all good ideas in my mind.
Magical sets of great power have always been a favorite of mine and I always wondered why D&D never had any.
I guess I will work the gems a bit...something along the line of creating sockets in the item, having to destroy the gem to replace it, longer change time, etc.
I don't care about the fact that maybe some items in the DMG become obsolete...some were obsolete the day they were written down! I can think of dozens of items than have never, and will never be used...They just plain suck...no two way around it.
So if the Magic Item Conpendium delivers new, fun and balanced items and game mechanics that so that my players actually want something else than a resistance item , an ability-booster or a enhanced weapon...I don't care how it looks.
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I feel like i am in the minority here but i am all for compendiums of any kind. Just to make a 9th level character for a one shot, i had 6 books out on the table. G D ridiculous. I think they could have a race compendium, class, prestige class, etc. Maybe my bookshelf wouldnt sag like my garndmother if everything was compiled into 5 or 6 tomes.