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Complete Mage: A Player's Guide to All Things Arcane (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

Complete Mage: A Player's Guide to All Things Arcane (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

  • Hardcover
  • Author: Ari Marmell, Skip Williams
  • Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
  • Release Date: October 2006
  • ISBN-10: 0786939370
  • ISBN-13: 9780786939374
  • List Price: $29.95

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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon

Summary

Complete Mage™
A Player’s Guide to All Things Arcane


Skip Williams Penny Williams
Ari Marmell Kolja Raven Liquette

Arcane Power at Your Fingertips

Every sentient creature is born with some potential to work magic. However, true mastery of arcane magic requires skill, practice, and power beyond the reach of common folk–specifically, the power to harness raw magic and shape it into a desired effect. You are among those gifted few who have learned to channel arcane magic, shaping it to serve your creative or destructive whims.

This D&D® supplement is intended for players and Dungeon Masters. In addition to providing the definitive treatise on arcane magic, it expands the character options available to users of arcane magic, including bards, sorcerers, wizards, assassins, warlocks, and wu jen. Herein you’ll find never-before-seen prestige classes, spells and invocations, magic items, alchemical items, heritage feats, and reserve feats (a new type of feat that grants special abilities to those who remain charged with magical power). Alternative class features give other character classes–from the barbarian to the rogue–a little taste of what it’s like to be an arcanist without sacrificing their core identities.


For use with these Dungeons & Dragons® core books
Player’s Handbook™ Dungeon Master’s Guide™ Monster Manual™

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: Score = 4.0 Score = 4.0 Score = 4.0 Score = 4.0 Score = 4.0

Abracadabra for 3.5

Rating: Score = 2 Score = 2 Score = 2 Score = 2 Score = 2

$e is coming, so buying this and thinking you are staying current is a lie. Just buy it if you are sticking with 3.5 till the end and better yet get it used. A lot of people are shedding their 3.5 books because 4e is coming.

A good supplement but its still a suplement

Rating: Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4

I use alot of arce casters as villians and also player charcters. I love some of the prestige classes but the spells are a little weak and the feats are very narroly designed. A good book but it isant at all requried or a must have.

Awsome

Rating: Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5

Is really fresh and intresting and the 3 new types of magic are really fun. Indeed a great book, though I still think they should have added rune magic.

Great product

Rating: Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5 Score = 5

This book really enhances the D & D system. It gives the various arcane classes alternatives on how they came into their abilities

Generally ok, with a few very nice additions

Rating: Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4 Score = 4

Reading the first chapter, I was pleasantly surprised to see how the fundamentals are laid down; a quick overview of the differences between arcane magic, divine and innate magic. Then some slightly more in depth than Player's Guide articles on the various spellschools and finally very nice to read the various archetypes. I especially liked the miniguides that accompanied the archetypes, which explain why you should or shouldn't select certain spells or feats. Very nice for me anyway, because I'm not too experienced and the thought processes described really helped me think for myself.

An intriguing chapter 2 'Character Options' has a section 'Alternative Class Features' which describes how you can modify and augment some specific class. For example there's an alternative class feature called 'Spell Sense' for barbarians or rogues that allows you to swap the trap sense class features for an extra dodge bonus to your AC against spells. It adds some more options for you as player.

Then there's a section about a new type of feat: the Reserve Feat. Ofcourse the other types are still described - like heritage and tactical feats - and added feats for, but reserve feats are feats that provide secondary effects for spells you carry. For example "Acidic Splatter" allows you to cast a lower level orb of acid as long as you have an 2nd+ level acidic spell available to cast. There are various kinds of secondary effects for different feats way (including traveling plains at will). In addition to this secondary effect, most reserve feats add an extra competence bonus for castingtype-related spells. The general idea behind reserve feats is to be able to use your innate magical potential in more encounters without using your spell slots with every cast. It's like there suddenly many shades of gray between the extremes 'cast a spell' and 'don't cast a spell'. Also, they can't be countered, fail, ignore spell resistance and don't need any components.

Then there are ofcourse a handful of prestiege classes and a basket full of new spells as well as some items. I won't go into those; you can probably find those reviews anywhere on the Internet already. Plus, I'm not the guy for that anyway.

Finally there's the chapter for DM's that contains a list of hundred arcane based adventure ideas, and describes various arcane related game facets such as magic item shops, mercenary spellcasters, crafting, creature born of magic experiments and whatnot. In addition, there are the 'magical locations' as treasure, which basically states a magical location somehow made available to the player characters that in itself is the treasure because of the specialness and rewards that come from it. There are a number of predescribed magical locations ready for you to use accompanied by some maps.

Conclusion:
All in all, not everything is new and half of the book is the usual fluff. But combined with the various new features and options it makes for a nice book to join your collection. No unusual well writing or rich background history and characterization (though the archetype section does provide some), just straight up information... mostly.