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That's the blurb on the back of the book, and it is truth in advertising. Adventurer's Vault is the first in a series of annual books written by Wizards of the Coast that features magic items. It is a spiritual successor to 3rd Edition's Magic Item Compendium, which was choked-full of seven years worth of previously released items. Adventurer's Vault, however, contains all-new items of every kind and variety, probably more than you could ever use.
Readers of the first Player's Handbook might have felt shortchanged when they read the magic item section. Beyond the iconic +1 magic weapon or armour, most items were only useful for a few classes. A long-term campaign might mean your character received a higher-level version of a wand you used back at level 4, at level 26. There's nothing wrong with that, but variety is the spice of life.
Perhaps a larger concern is the game's rules for Magic item powers. Magic item Daily powers can only be used once in Heroic tier, twice in Paragon tier, and thrice in Epic tier. Sadly, the great majority of the PHB's magic items have Daily powers as their main appeal. Heroic level heroes who own multiple magic items must either choose between powers, or fight through milestones to be allowed to use more than one Magic item Daily a day.
Adventurer's Vault solves both of these concerns by a wide breadth of items, including a great many with Encounter powers, At-will powers, and static powers. "Bracers of Mental Might" can, once an encounter, allow you to replace a Strength roll for a mental stat roll. A "Throwing Shield" can be used as a weapon at-will. "Hat of Disguise" makes all your attempts at disguise better, all day long. Fans of previous editions who enjoyed magical items that were more open-ended in their uses will find more to like.
The sheer amount of items in this book is quite giddying. There are 103 different kinds of armour and 119 kinds of weapons. Each implement from the PHB has at least 25 different varieties. Considering that each low-level magic item has several higher-level versions of it, the usefulness of this book becomes apparent.
Of course, not every magic item is useful for every character. "Staff of Architects" is useful for implement users who create walls. Each Warlock Pact has a Rod that specifically works best for it. However, each class and variation of class has something for it.
If you've played extensively in previous editions, you'll enjoy finding old magic items reappear in this book. There are four "Ioun Stones" in the Head Slot Items section that are both epic and appropriate to what Ioun Stones used to do. "Mummified Hand" does what it did before: giving you an extra ring slot. When reading these entries, I got the feeling that the designers respected the history of these items and wanted them to function as closely to tradition as possible.
There are also some very specific magic items that will only be useful in certain campaigns, or very rarely. "Cold Iron Bracers" work best when being attacked by Fey, something your DM might not be using. "Mithral Shield" deals radiant damage to foes that dealt radiant damage to you. It's very rare that something that attacks with radiant damage is not resistant to it.
Dividing this huge breadth of magic items are themes amongst similar items.
Holy Symbols of specific gods. For example, the "Cog of Erathis" can only be used by a worshipper of the god Erathis, but it can be touched by a non-worshipper without penalties. It and others Holy Symbols of the Core Deities are only slightly better than the average Holy Symbol. I like this group for its flavour: each holy symbol feels like something the god would endorse more than the other gods would.
Master's Wand of X. Each wand grants the wielder the ability to cast an arcane at-will power once an encounter. Plus, it augments that power whenever it is cast. It's a great item for both regular users of that at-will, as well as classes that only need it once an encounter.
Solitaires. You can't use a power from any solitaire more than once an encounter, but it's worth it. These crystals work great with characters that crit a lot, from a free saving throw at Heroic to a free action point at Epic.
Figurines of Wondrous Power. Once a day, you can turn your figurine into a magical animate, be it an Ebony Fly or a Jade Lion. Each Figurine has a simple statblock of its own. Its controller can control it with a minor action, although it can only make one standard action a turn.
Bag of Tricks. Similar rules to the Figurines, though less powerful. Once a day, you get a random minion monster, from a Cat or Rat in Heroic to a Wyvern or Basilisk in epic. The item's table has a standard statblock that is slightly modified by what monster you rolled. Not as wacky as the Bag of Tricks in earlier editions.
Battle Standards. A low point in the book. Very flavourful rendition of how a magical flag might enhance a group. Sadly, each requires a Standard action to activate, can be negated by knocking it down, and has a minimal effect on play.
Potions (and consumable items). Something that was severly lacking in PHBI has been greatly expanded. Potions (to grant powers, grant resistance, or better your skills), Whetstones (to temporarily better your weapons), Reagents (flowers and leaves that enhance certain kinds of powers) and other consumables (most noticeably food such as Astral Mead) provide PCs with more options for a few gold or platinum.
What's my opinion of the magic items in this book? I've used a few of them, and I've been pleased. My fellow players have gravitated to certain items ("Sacrifical Weapon" is a must for one player). I've heard on the Internet that the "Bloodclaw Weapon" is strictly better than other melee weapons. I have not played with every single magic item, but from using the book as intended (a resource that you may use at best only half of the items), it has been worthwhile. Magic items that are stinkers, or are just wrong for your character, are readily apparent to be so.
Adventurer's Vault has more than just magic items to it, and I think it's these features that really make it worthwhile to purchase. There's also Equipment: items that are not magical, or at least aren't magic items as 4th Edition treats them. We have Masterwork Armour, Weapons, Mounts, Vehicles, and Alchemy.
PHBI had forms of Masterwork Armour in it, but this book has 27 new forms, and more of it at low levels. A +2 Chainmail can be enhanced to "Finemail", giving it an extra +1 to AC. Given how much lower the masterwork armour appears in this book, some DMs might consider this power-creep. I feel that this was intended to be part of PHBI, but was reduced for space. There's some nice fluff in the book on which races designed which kinds of masterwork armour.
There are some excellent weapons available in this book, many of which require only Military Melee training. The slight differences between these weapons and those in the PHBI offers more customization for weapon users. This book introduces two new keywords for weapons: Defensive and Brutal X. A Defensive weapon gives a bonus to AC provided you are wielding another weapon. Brutal X (either 1 or 2) allows you to reroll damage dice that come up as this number or lower. Most brutal weapons have a lower proficiency bonus or damage dice than non-Brutal equivalents, so it's a give and take when choosing between them.
The Mounts section starts off with a list of all the creatures in the Monster Manual I that are mountable, as well as some new ones introduced here. Relevant information (speed, carrying capacity) is given for each, as well as simple stats for mounts as varied as Camels, Giant Ants, and Riding Sharks. In the Magic items sections, there's a section for Mount Slot items that can protect or enhance them. This section has been well-used by my party when faced with a long trek.
The Vehicles section is the most rules-heavy section. How you ride and maneuver vehicles is explained here. I'd say it's as complicated as riding a flying mount, but it's straight-forward and makes sense the more you use it. The amount of vehicles are small, but it includes both the Wagon, the "Apparatus of Kwalish", and the Airship, so land, sea, and air travel is covered.
Alchemical items is a variant of Rituals. The book has a feat much like Ritual Training where you can take it and learn to make alchemical items such as a "Thunderstone". Most of these items are combat related, usually dealing damage alongside penalities or conditions to those hit. However, there are some other uses. Both "Sovereign Glue" and "Universal Solvent" have returned as Alchemical formulas, and can create interesting social situations. The Alchemical system is a good way for players to increase their combat options at a low level. It's also possible to replace Ritual Training with Alchemist, which is nice for PCs who want to blow stuff up instead of divining knowledge.
Near the end of the book, the book gives some advice to DMs on how to make magical items more meaningful. With the game's core assumptions, magical items get picked up, then sold or melted into residuum. But it gives advice for
- Making a background for a significant magic item
- Making an item work better (or only) for PCs who complete certain tasks or devote themselves to certain ideals
- Ways to deal with magic items that are too high a level for your PCs without simply removing it.
- Ways to level up a pre-existing item into a higher-level version of itself through "Empowering events"
There's also a new Ritual that can transfer the magical powers of one item to another item (magical or not). Overall, it's some good advice for DMs that don't know how to deal with magic item problems.
If I could complain about one thing, it's the presentation of this book. As a collection of a wide variety of different items, it's not easy to find something to fit your character concept. "Belt of the Brawler", when used by a Ruthless Ruffian Rogue from Martial Power, can use his fists to deliver his powers, essentially becoming a monk. There is no way for a player of that character to find out about this useful item unless he stumbles across it.
Worse, the last part of the book is compiled with a list of every magic items available at each level. This list is reminiscent of the old "Random Tables" that DMs used to determine what players got. Unfortunately, there are no percentiles next to the items, or any easy way to know what the items on the list do. I've found it easier just to look through each section for something appropriate to the level, instead of looking at these tables.
If the back of the book had a section dedicated to specific requests, I would rate this book 5/5. For example, a table that said "If you are looking for magic items useful against immortal creatures, see "Symbol of Mortality", Holy Symbol on pg. 89. Etc.
Despite the layout issues, the visual look to this book rocks. The front cover makes it absolutely clear what this book is about. The art is varied and enjoyable. The 4ed format for Magic items are as utilitarian as before.
So, should you buy Adventurer's Vault, even though Adventurer's Vault II and III are sure to be released eventually? That depends. Adventurer's Vault II will surely have magic items that will work specifically for PHBII classes, so someone who doesn't own PHBII might not get full use out of AVII. If you plan to only use the PHBI for character creation, this book has only 6 items you can't use (Companion items designed for use with the Ranger Beastmaster from Martial Power). Plus, most classes from other books can still use most of the items available here. So yes, I highly recommend each D&D group owns this book.
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