Tome of Magic: A Godsend!

[Elven Doritos]

This book is simply amazing.

Clocking in at 285 Pages,Ã, the Tome of Magic is among the largest booksÃ, that has been publishedÃ, byÃ, Wizards recently, and comes with a correspondingÃ, 40 dollar price tag. It's worth every penny, too.

Appearance: Before we get to the nitty-gritty, this really is a beautiful book. Although it doesn't have art by many of the typical artists within D&D products (Reynolds, Lockwood, etc.), the art is both quality and very fitting for each topic. As mentioned in the first WotC preview, each section also has a different layout-- different enough to make each section distinct, but close enough to have a unified feel to the book.

Pages 4-5 are theÃ, Introduction, providing an above-average sampling of the topics contained within Tome of Magic.Ã, If you don't know them by now, they are Pact Magic (the art of binding a wayward soul, called a vestige, to yourself), Shadow Magic (the ability to manipulate abilities similar to spells called "mysteries" that rely on the power of shadow), and Truename magic (the power to shape reality in intriguing ways by using a language called Truespeech).

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Pages 6-107: Pact Magic.Ã, 
The first third of the book is the system ofÃ, Pact Magic. UtilizingÃ, a system of summoning and binding theÃ, outcast and forgotten souls of the multiverse, the section providesÃ, samplings of many classicÃ, D&D beingsÃ, (Tenebrous being the mostÃ, outstanding example)Ã, while remaining open and customizable enough toÃ, workÃ, into nearly any campaign.Ã, Several of theÃ, vestiges are new beings altogether, and haveÃ, the right mixture of flavor and mechanics to make them customizable and adaptable. (A recent issue of Dragon,Ã, on newsstands now, actually has aÃ, fewÃ, sample vestiges not within the book- Kas comes to mind).

The benefits granted by binding a vestige are present for as long as theÃ, character and the soul are bound.Ã, At higher levels, binders can have more powerful vestiges, and can also have multiple vestiges bound at once. To bind aÃ, vestige, the character enters aÃ, "battle of wills" of some sort--Ã, most often through an intense roleplaying exchange. There is a 24 hour waiting period before the vestige's abilities kick in, and after that period, any resistance that vestige had to the binder's will (i.e., if it had one the aforementioned battle)Ã, melts away.
Ã, Ã, 
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Pages 108-189: Shadow Magic.

The Plane of Shadow is a source of darkness, unlife, and eternal gloom. The Shadow Magic system allows a character to harnass these in new ways; although the Shadow Weave and similar abilities are similar to Shadow Magic, they are but pale imitations to the true might of the Plane of Shadow.

The system itself operates similar to spellcasting, though "fundamentals" and "mysteries" replace "cantrips" and "spells." To say that they are completely analogous is somewhat misleading, though, for Funadmentals more closely resemble 1st level spells or low-level Warlock invocations than the weaker cantrips. Also, theÃ, shadowcaster is more limited in the number of mysteries he gains than a spellcaster is to his spell, and the shadowcaster's abilities are based upon the "paths" he chooses-- In effect, he advances his knowledge of a certain type of mystery, and cannot access higher level mysteries of that path until he has learned the more elementary ones. A shadowcaster can start as many paths as he wishes, though diversifying too much might make him unable to gain access to higher-level mysteries of a specific path. A shadowcaster can actually re-learn a mystery, gaining more uses per day for it: the mystery per day limit is not based on an overall number of slots, but a number of uses per mystery.

The shadowcaster uses his mysteries, at first, virtually identically as spells (though they are considered more complex and alien). After he passes from the first degree of mysteries (called Apprentice mysteries), they work as spell-like abilities, and his new mysteries (Initiate mysteries) are treated as spells. When he gains Master-level mysteries, he uses his Apprentice mysteries as supernatural abilities, his Initiates as spell-like abilities, and his Masters work as spells. Although complex, the system makes it so that even low-level abilities are still of use at higher levels.
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Pages 190-285: Truename magic.
Although it has had a long tradition within D&D, Truespeech has often been a minor topic that was never developed in great detail. That changes in Tome of Magic, and a new skill-- usable by classes other than the new truenamer-- allows characters to speak truenames. It doesn't grant the knowledge of them, just the ability to speak them.

The truenaming system resembles traditional magic less than either of the previous two. As a truenamer progresses in level, his knowledge of truename powers and his ability to research individual truenames increases. Without going into too much detail, it suffices to say that individual powers are granted by various truenames that resemble spells somewhat. However, a truename doesn't take any sort of slot: the truenamer simply rolls a skill check to determine his ability to speak the truename. However, this does not mean that the truenamer has an unlimited number of uses per day: for each successful check for a single truename during a 24 hour period, the DC for that truename increses by 2.
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[Elven Doritos]

I'll take any questions anyone has, but I doubt I'll go into too much detail: I don't want to ruin too many of the surprises for people (it's a good read), and I also don't want to overstep the legal boundaries of reviewing a product.

-Elven Doritos
Master Binder

[daggerhart]

i think that looks incredible!   and i believe you still have ample legal room for review.  but, ianal. (you gotta love obscure web abbrevs.)

[topic]  Isn't odd how far we take theoretical things?
This book sounds really awesome, to the extent that i may actually buy it.    But I find it incredibly interesting how we (humanity) has taken some things of myth and story, and developed it into almost believable 'tomes', able to describe in great detail the working of the most obscure forms of 'magic'.

Really, i guess its just fiction based on fiction.  
-nm

[Elven Doritos]

That's all very true, but I don't question it. After all, I play make-believe once a week while rolling dice and doing math.

-Elven Doritos
Dun dun dun!

[Numinous]

Do you think it's worth getting for just shadow magic?

[Elven Doritos]

If you don't intend on using the other two systems, I'd recommend taking a closer look at the one you do want. My opinion? All three are great. But if you're looking at just shadow magic...

Shadow magic was good. If I had to rank it with the other two, it would be #2 (For me, Pact was worth the number one, and despite my love for Truename, it took a close third). But if you plan on using it, then I would say go ahead-- the system is detailed and the art is beautiful. Who knows, you may end up liking the other two!

-Elven Doritos
Summoner

[Numinous]

Indeed, I worry about Pact magic, despite everyone's enthusiasm.  Sadly, this book is low on my buy list as of now...

[Ishmayl-Retired]

It sounds good, and that's a well-written review, by the way.. You should submit it to enworld.

[Elven Doritos]

I would submit it to EN World, but they have so many good reviewers over there. A cursory glance brought me to this: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2983250 , which is much more in-depth than I tried or wanted to go. *shrug*

I'll stick to these forums. (I registered at EN, but I've never posted.)

-Elven Doritos
Less Elven Doritos

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Yeah, well, it's a good job anyway... maybe I'll eventually put up a reviews section; when we get a few more campaigns going in greater detail over here, that may actually be a necessity.

[CYMRO]

Ã,  (I registered at EN, but I've never posted.)

Ditto.

Your enthusiasm for this book may have swayed me into a bit of conumerism.

[Raelifin]

You'll never take my money! Never! *twitch*

[CYMRO]

You'll never take my money! Never! *twitch*

Give in to the dark side!!!

[Xathan]

So I finally got my greasy palms on TOM, and I went into multiple dorkgasms while reading it. The book is beautiful, a work of art. I love the cover text, the pages, the pictures....fantastic! I think this is probably my favorite DnD book that I own. Going to work on my setting, for incorporating these magic systems. :)

[Raelifin]

So... hard... to... resist!

Aw heck, I don't have the money for it anyway. I'll probably just drop down to Borders and read it in the store until they yell at me.