Customer Reviews

Adventurer's Vault 2: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am writing this review as a Dungeon Master first and foremost.

The Adventurer's Vault 2 is a fantastic supplemental addition to 4e.

Not only do the new items add a new dimension of power and gameplay to the PCs, but a lot of the items themselves have a nice little background that would be a great Quest hook for PCs. I was very glad to find that WotC released a lot of cool roleplaying items in this book as well. I look forward to my players being able to enjoy the hard-earned fruits of their labor with the new items offered whether the items found are related to either Combat, Roleplaying, or both.

If I had to find fault with anything in this book, it would not be about the items, but the fact that it is 64 pages less than the original AV. But length aside, it is still a book I would recommend to anyone looking to add more depth to their gaming table!

Cheers! :-)

I think the anticipation was better than the reality with this book. I was hoping it would focus on PHB2 classes, offer different directions for their magic items, fresh approaches to treasure. Instead it's more like AV1: The Extra Bits. Oh, ammunition's new. Tattoos are new. Sets are new. But mostly it just amounts to a new slot or two for characters--something that wasn't exactly needed.

I'd still get the book -- nobody dislikes options, and these Adventurer's Vaults offer a lot of options for a decent price. But more and more I'm finding these 4E supplements to be pretty samey. I came away mostly thinking I'd be better off creating my own magic items--the system's pretty modular, and that way they might have some character to them. But then, I felt that way about MM2, and it didn't exactly stop me from using it. Maybe it's just the grumpy old gamer in me . . .

The Adventurer's Vault 2 has the same set back as all the 2.0 materials. It is about 60 pages shorter in content than the first Adventurers Vault. This would be an okay things if WoTC didn't charge the same price for both editions.

The content that it covers is the same of the other minus mundane weapons. We only have magic items, in this Edition. I would have liked to see some stats on some more exotic weaponry.

The new magic items added to this edition are; tattoos, wondrous lair items, immurements, and item sets.

Tattoos, these are actually covered fairly well. The made a whole lot of them and gave a lot of options.

Wondrous Lair Items, this was also covered fairly well and gives options to all level ranges. Makes a slowly modified and grown guild hall with magical awesomeness in your reach.

Immurements, due to the power of there items I feel that they were fairly well covered. I think it would have been nice if WoTC could have found a way to make at least a few paragon level ones.

Item sets, this is by itself is not a disappointment. There are many different sets covering all levels, from heroic-epic. And each level has three or four different sets. Where my problem began is with the introduction of group sets. I was quite excited by the idea, but I was severely let down due to the fact that there was only 5 sets total introduced here. I would have been fine if WoTC had just left out the Group Sets and given us more regular item sets. But with the introduction of the group set and then not fully covering it I think they made a grave decision that left me wanting instead of being satisfied.

All in all it is a nice addition, but it could use more in general. Add about 4-6 more pages and we'll be gold.

This gives a lot of very cool treasure, but as with the other books.. the little doodads that some of us want aren't really here. And the ones that are, are usually over priced.. as in, you need a daily point to activate them, so it makes them not worth it. Usually when I play, I can't keep track of 8 billion magic items. 4E really took care of some of the magic item bloat, but there are a lot more slots than I can really get a handle on. So when I choose magic items, I want interesting items.. the floating lantern, the never erase chalk, stuff like that. This is really my only complaint about magic items in the game so far... little color.

STILL... this book has some fun stuff in it, and will back up the other Adventurer's Vault just fine.

Very good collection of new items, and a few new item types that effectively add a new item slot (tattoos and ammunition) but what AV2 really brings to the table is Item Sets. These are sets of 4 to 7 items that work together, have a common origin, and can grant a collective synergetic boon for the character. These boons are dependent on how many items a character has from the set with the first boon taking place when the character has collected two items from the set. These boons can be as simple as extra resistances or complected bonuses to class features. The sets are designed to be most useful for a specific race, class, or even a particular build of a class (such as cosmic sorcerer). Still, the items CAN be used by characters from other classes who will usually still find them beneficial. An item set comes with a history of who used to use it (legendary hero, army issued equipment, or a deva's old items from a prior lifetime) which provides lots of material for plot hooks and world enrichment. As a DM I find this aspect most enjoyable.

Another nice trend is the occasional back stories throughout the book. Among the primary list of items (which expectantly takes up most of the book) there are sometimes blurbs about an item's history, how they are made, who makes them, where a character might find them, what monster's might wield them or have them as treasure.

This book gives it's items more depth and character than AV1 and the Item Sets present a new kind of item synergy that depends the item's effect and integration with the character and the story.

Who doesn't love treasure and loot?! This is a good companion book to the other adventurer's vault. There are some items that finally start presenting interesting roleplaying outside of combat, something that I think has been lacking in D&D 4th edition. I'm thinking mainly of the Map of Unseen Lands.

Anyway, this book is not at all critical to your campaign but certainly nice to have, with inspiring art and even a little "fluff" text (of course fluff is very limited, as it is with almost all 4th edition books). Fluff is found in sidebar text boxes.

This book is quite thin in contrast to many other d&d books out there.
It contains a decent amount of armor and weapons but everything else has a small selection.
It retails for 29.95 in stores and I would not recomend that price at all, I infact would be upset if I paid that for something as thin as this. Decent content but very little of it.
If you decide to buy it, buy it on amazon, no more for 10. Picked mine up for 6 + 3.99 s+h.
The prices are constantly changing on d&d books, just be patient and there will be a week when this or another book goes down in price and get your hands on it then.
Definately not essential for any campaign, but if your a collector of 4th edition like me, you gotta get your hands on them all.

average, I didn't expect more than a list of items and their detail. I use it a lot as a noob DM. great tool.

It's great that Amazon offers things at a discount. I am not sure why Wizards is selling thinner books at an increased price. Regardless, it's nice to get the book with free shipping and delve into its pages at a lower cost.

it is nithing but magic items, lots and lots of magic items. Great to have more items to give out while DMing. i would reccomond this product