The Complete Wizard's Handbook, Second Edition (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook Rules Supplement #2115 [Paperback]

Rick Swan (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 1990

A must for any player of the AD&D system! The wizard is the most popular character class in the game, and this new supplement provides a vast array of information such as new magic-user spells and new magical items. SRP: $15.00S. Min.: 1.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; 2 edition (August 4, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880388382
• ISBN-13: 978-0880388382
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good on schools of magic; weak on kits and spells, February 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Wizard's Handbook, Second Edition (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook Rules Supplement #2115 (Paperback)

I've gotta say that the descriptions of the different schools of magic and their practitioners was pretty cool. Good information on how they act in a party, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and what their personalities might be like. Useful for actually role-playing a wizard, rather than just playing them. There were a few other good things as well. Unfortunately, these are mostly wiped out by the weaknesses of the book. One of the other reviews said that this book was a bin for collecting unused AD&D arcana, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. A few semi-useful magic items, a few (mostly low-level) spells of questionable usefulness compared to existing spells, a small sampling of chem lab equipment. The real weaknesses show, however, when they try to round out the book. The kits are pretty pathetic. What's worse are the personality types, overblown and incredibly unrealistic. The suggestions for a magical college were kind of interesting, but they should have taken out some of the other junk and put in, say, a sample school. Or put in a larger selection of spells. There are many better supplements on magic out there.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but not particularly game-enhancing, August 9, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Wizard's Handbook, Second Edition (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook Rules Supplement #2115 (Paperback)

This book contains a large amount of enjoyable information on the various schools of magic and provides a host of kits, but if you have a clear idea of what your character is like, none of it is really going to enhance your enjoyment of the game. The methods for researching new spells given are pointless, you could have invented much better rules yourself. There are also far too few new items (in fact, there are basically NO new items).

Having said that, the new spells are worthwhile, and the afflictions are pretty cool. If you are an avid wizard fan, a good and recommended purchase, but it does not really provide as much "meat" as it should do.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adds new dimensions to one of the most popular classes, May 1, 2000

By 

Kent David Kelly "Author & Anthologist" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Wizard's Handbook, Second Edition (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook Rules Supplement #2115 (Paperback)

This wonderful book will make your wizardly characters come alive - here you'll find endless details on the schools of magic, specialists, spellcasting, wizard kits (subclasses), roleplaying personae, spells in combat, spells above 9th level (!), exhaustive rules on illusions (at last!), spell research, familiars, chaos magic, wizards' towers, and more; this tome is full of amazing ideas that will improve your campaign immensely! One of the best books in the PHBR series.