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In Short

The Good: The book delivers on exactly what it promises, with a huge selection of items.

The Bad: Some readers may feel like more of these items should have been included with the core books. It's not a very readable book, and the items are little more than stat blocks. Certain Superior weapons are quite powerful, and those concerned with power creep (more powerful alternatives introduced in supplements) will want to be careful about allowing some options from Adventurer's Vault.

The Physical Thing

Under the Cover

The new weapons cover some missed classics, such as the Spiked Gauntlet and the Trident, but most folk are going to be more interested in the exceptionally strong Superior Weapons presented here. The Execution Axe offers +2/d12 Brutal 2 High Crit. Brutal means that if the weapon die rolls the Brutal value or lower, reroll that die. In terms of numbers, this does more than just change the minimum rolled damage since it triggers a complete reroll. This axe has been a favorite at my gaming table, and once 3[W] attacks start flying this axe decimates whatever is in its path.

The Mordenkrad is also quite nice, offering +2/2d6 Brutal 1 as a two handed hammer. Brutal on d6s is very strong, and the Warlock in my current game is laying waste with this one. A variety of other worthwhile weapons, such as the Craghammer +2/d10 Brutal 2 versatile, also offer optimized builds plenty of options. Defensive, another new property, offers characters a +1 to Armor for wielding the weapon. For those more interested in concept than optimization, the other weapons have perfectly appropriate stats and are welcome additions to the game.

A large number of mounts and vehicles, with appropriate stats, are also included. This is a fine addition for those that want clear rules with mounts, especially where overland travel times are being checked. Do be aware that the list is very fantastical. Riding sharks, giant ants, and skeletal horses are just a few of the many creatures included.

Alchemical items are introduced here along with the Alchemist Feat which allows for their crafting. The alchemical items are actually quite nice and well worth having along, especially to deal with monsters that may have particular weaknesses. Some take the form of attacks while others serve a defensive or utility function, such as Antivenom which provides a save bonus vs poison effects. I'm quite pleased with the twelve pages of alchemical items included here, and while I've not made heavy use of them in my games to date I hope to incorporate more of them into the Heroic tier of the next game I'm a part of.

With all of that out of the way, what remains are the magical items. An astonishing array of items are included here, with both old favorites and completely new items being presented. Old favorites include strange Wondrous Items like the bags of tricks (summon small animals) and the animal figurines (turn into larger servient animals). New ideas include such nice weapon enchantments as Voidcrystal (remove enemy from play for 1 turn) and Pinning (enemy immobilized until no longer adjacent). On the whole there are plenty of nods back to previous editions of D&D, but 4E maintains a focus on items and modifiers that work well within the existing rules set.

The dazzling mix of items here is easily enough for a lifetime of campaigns, and even with frequent treasure drops a reader will not exhaust the content of this book. In play I've found the book to be incredibly useful as a DM, offering me many options and making it easy to customize level appropriate items to the adventuring party. Magical items are on the same power scale as those included in other products, and the variety of Daily and Encounter powers presented really helps to make them feel unique.

The magic items cover every item slot introduced into the game. Weapons and armor are common, of course, but even items for mounts and animal companions are included. I'm particularly pleased with a much larger selection of magical rings, of which there were very few in the PHB. The number of options has worked particularly well in my games where I've wanted to make certain that everyone can fill a particular item slot with something generally useful to their character build.

In terms of balance, do be aware that some of these items are a little bit stronger than what appears in the PHB. I think that's more a function of sheer volume of item/build combinations, rather than specific intent (except for new Superior Weapons). Still, with so many to choose from it's ultimately up to the DM to determine what is and is not appropriate in a given game and Adventurer's Vault provides plenty of opportunities to make that determination.

My Take

You may also be wondering whether Adventurer's Vault is worth having if you already have access to the D&D Insider. Since it receives so little direct use at the table, and since there is almost no fluff, I have to say that it isn't. My group has DDI access and we find it spectacularly useful, and while I still like using the book to prep rather than my DDI account I have to say that this book is the book I could most live without considering that I do have DDI access. Without that access, however, I would consider Adventurer's Vault to be one of the most essential 4E books I own.

Ultimately, this is a good book that should be in any DM's 4E library. Be aware that some of the options are quite strong and that, as with so many games, the DM is probably best off not blindly offering every piece of content to players. With so few magical items in the PHB it's hard to imagine playing through the Paragon tier without this resource, and I've found the diversity and wonder of magic items in my game has increased since I gained access to this material. If you need more magical items for your D&D game then Adventurer's Vault delivers.

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