Magic pervades Faerun. This guide explores the hidden lore and secrets of magic in the Forgotten Realms game setting. From the history of magic to magical variants (including gem magic, spellfire, and the mageduel), magical creatures, locations of power, and advanced options for creating magic items, this book covers what a Dungeon Master or the player of a spellcaster in the Forgotten Realms setting needs to know.
* More than 200 new spells * Almost 200 new magic items * 11 new prestige classes
To use this accessroy, you also need the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Very useful. This was actually the very first FR book I bought featuring the new d20 ruleset and my collection has grown from there.
While 'Magic of Faerun' contains alot of useful information it also contains, like alot of the WOTC product, alot of unnecessary fluff. So what are the actual contents?
Chapter 1: Understanding Magic - This chapter covers the primary deities who have magic as one of their portfolio's. There is also a couple of pages devoted to discussion on the various types of magic (i.e. Dead, Wild, Shadow).
Chapter 2: Magic Variants - This chapter delves into some of the more obscure matters related to magic - such as Elemental magic, Elven magic, Gem magic. There is also a lengthy discussion on Mageduel's. Then there is a brief discussion of Rune magic and Spellfire. The chapter ends with a small section on the concept of 'Spellpools' (an excellent concept - but not as detailed as they could have made it - making it a missed opportunity).
Chapter 3: Practitioners of Magic - This chapter is devoted to those d20 staples 'Feats' and 'Prestige Classes'. When I first bought the book I thought "Great!"; but having seen how bloated the gameline has become with 'Feats' and 'Prestige Classes' I now look at them as mostly unnecessary. Whereas once upon a time, being a War Wizard of Cormyr or a member of the Guild of Magists in Waterdeep would have been a character concept, they have codified them (and many others) into the ruleset which IMHO detracts considerably.
Chapter 4: Places of Power - This chapter's name says everything really. The chapter details such things as 'Mystic Maelstroms', 'Sparks' and 'Fey Mounds'. It also discusses at length topics such as how Nature is venerated, and Places of Prayer, Bastions of the Arcane and the silly concept of MageFairs (what's the point of adventuring if you can buy your magic items? Like I said, S - I - L - L - Y).
Chapter 5: Spells - This chapter deals with the real crunchy stuff, spells. Eight pages of new spells (in list form), broken down by character type (i.e. Assassin, Bard, Blackguard, etc). To my way of thinking there are already hundreds of spells avaliable and so the inclusion or exclusion of these few is not going to affect the average campaign. However, what I used these spells for was for a mystery factor. I didn't let my spellcasting PC's know about thses spells and only unleashed them in very select circumstances...like the excellent 'Gutsnake'! or in a different campaign I used them as 'undiscovered' spells - when a spellcasting PC wanted to create a new and unique spell I would use this list (once s/he had outlined their general thinking) to suggest some.
Chapter 6: Magic Items - This chapter deals with the second favourite PC topic. This is an excellent chapter that features hundreds of new items, from swords through to rings and potions to artifacts. In addition to some really excellent and well-thought out items, there are lots of plain silly and overpowered items - but there is certainly enough to keep any player (or GM) very happy.
Chapter 7: Creatures - This chapter details three new creatures and three new creature templates. Nothing really WOW in this chapter, although the 'Crossroads Guardian' is an interesting creature as is the 'Magister' template (templates being much more role-playing orientated rather than 'Prestige Classes').
Overall, a very useful book, packed full of ideas, seeds and general information. Probably the best part is that this book could be used in just about any fantasy setting, for example, I'm using the 'Spellpools' concept - although I've expanded it considerably - in a new 'Birthright' campaign.
Enjoy.
Very good source book, but lacking in some areas. Overall i think this book did a pretty good job of introducing Faerunian magic and a brief background. There were interesting prestige classes, feats, skills, and other extras that i felt were a very good addition. The only real problem, and i think it's a big one, is the fact that after having initially bough the Faerun World book, and THEN the Magic of Faerun, there were many spells in the first book that were NOT in the Mag. of Faerun!! I felt like the writers should have placed all magic spells from the Faerun World book into the Magic of Faerun spell list. It only makes sense. Had i known this i might not have bought it. It pisses me off that much.
Mmm...useful magic... You know, I didn't really mind paying for this. Sure, it's overpriced, but it's darn useful.
This book is, rather obviously, intended primarily for Forgotten Realms. I still think that the setting is on the rather obnoxiously silly side, but the material is more or less first-rate, and thus easily stealable for better d20 settings.
The meat of this book is the massive number of new spells, a great number of which are useful. There's Speed Swim (1st-level spell, gives a Swim speed of 30), Hunter's Mercy (ranger spell, 4th-level, if the arrow hits, it crits), and the utterly awesome Wieldskill (1st-level spell for clerics of Gond, gives +10 competence bonus to ANY skill, or a half rank in one skill you don't have, *or* any feat). All classes get good spells, and some are multi-use; Mace of Odo, for example, can be used for damage or to block incoming spells.
You'll also find a good chunk of the book devoted to the various methods and practices of magic in Faerun, including sample temples, mage guilds, mage fairs, and odd schools of magic. These are okay, but not particularly great.
There are also nifty prestige magic-based prestige classes, like the mystic wanderer, mage-killer, and the Harper Mage and Harper Priest. There are mostly okay, though some are too dependant on the setting to be useful elsewhere. The Guild Mage of Waterdeep is an almost exact copy of the Mage of the Arcane Order from Tome & Blood.
Magic items and stuff are also well-represented. There are a great many new weapons and armor enchantments, as well as specific varieties of items. Some aren't particularly useful; the Rod of Cats springs to mind as one of the more pointless items (yes, darkvision is nice, but there are easier/cheaper ways of doing that...). The magical materials available are greatly expanded, including special weapon/armor materials and gems that enhance spells. Last, but not least, you'll find a selection of monsters and templates that appear in the setting.
All in all, this is a pretty decent book. The production value is very high, and they obviously put a lot of effort into it. If I liked Forgotten Realms at all, it'd get 5 stars.
Superior Realmsian Flavor This simply is more meat, more flavor, for the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting - and of exceptional quality.
MOF knows the importance of discussing the more aesthetic points of magic in the Realms, shows many intriguiging prestige classes like the Master Alchemist and Mage-Killer. It also has many spells and magic items that contribute to a true Realms feel, using the names and based on the history of powerful characters or events of that world. For example, powerful magic rings created for the great military commanders and soldiers of Cormyr, and new magical enchantments for weapons and armor such as Impact - a version of Keen that exists especially for increasing the critical damage potential of bludeoning weapons - and Magic Eating.
Highly recommended supplement to the FRCS that will see a lot of utility by both players and DMs who enjoy the high-magic world of the Realms.
Darn Good! Meaty and Filling! MoF is excellent. I've played D&D through its various incarnations since 1977, and the Forgotten Realms since the early 80's. The price tag was a bit high, so I took a peek at a friend's copy first. What I saw convinced me to buy it.
The spells and cleric domains add a lot of dimension and color to D&D3e. I was expecially interested in the new prestige classes. A couple of them seem better suited to NPCs, such as the Master Alchemist and the Mage-Killer, but the write-ups are balanced and well thought out.
The magic items chapter is quite good, too. There is a lot of flavor added to the list, and not simply more powerful items, or more ways to cheat the rules. Too many past supplements from the previous versions of AD&D have introduced items and spells far too powerful for most campaigns. This supplement is very well balanced.
The feats are good, too, Spell Thematics especially (but get the errata download from WoC!).
My only disappointment was there weren't very many monsters, but that wasn't the thrust of this supplement, so my disappointment is very minor.
Overall, this book is worth the price, and very handy for both players and DM's who want a better understanding of the magic of Forgotten Realms.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
