Customer Reviews

Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and TrueName Magic (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)

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Tome of Magic may very well be the most significant supplement to come along for Dungeons & Dragons in many years. This book isn't about just giving gamers new spell-casting classes and spells, this is about a whole new way of looking at magic. Specifically, it introduces three new, and very different forms of magic designed to enhance the fantasy flavor of any campaign.

The first new form of magic introduces pact magic. The power behind pact magic are beings...mortals, demons, angels, and even deities, who have passed on from their native planes and are now existing in a sort of void, where their wills were too strong to move onto their final resting place. The new class called binders can make pacts with these beings to gain powers and abilities, merging their own souls with those of the "vestiges" of these powerful beings. Binders have a D8 for their hit points and can, through experience, make pacts with more than one of these vestiges at a time. Like a magic user, the Binder can change which vestiges they make pacts with on a daily basis, as they see fit and the abilities only last as long as the pact lasts, each time requiring a check to see if the entity can exert their will on the player. Binders do not have to pray for these spells and abilities or memorize them from a book as wizards do...they simply have them once the pact is entered into. Examples of these vestiges include Acerak the lich, whose name long-time players will recall from the module Tomb of Horrors. And then there is Focalor, Prince of Tears who may have been a powerful angel and can grant powers such as an aura of sadness and a lightning strike.

The Binder class includes, as do all of the new magic types, five prestige classes which include the powerful Anima-Mage and the Witch Slayers. In addition the Pact Magic section includes 19 new feats, new magic items, monsters, pact magic organizations, as well as mini-adventures designed for the class that can easily be incorporated into any campaign.

Next up is Shadow magic. Shadow Magic Users call upon and control the magic derived from the elemental plane of shadow, and while the introduction to the class is a bit muddled, this is quite a potent class, made up of primarily humans and half-elves. The class can be any alignment but should typically be evil or neutral with good aligned characters being very rare. These D6 classes learn what is called "mysteries" as opposed to spells but think of them as essentially the same thing. Like wizards, they progress over various levels with the number of new mysteries they can learn and utilize and a table of progression is included. In all, the book includes 68 shadow magic spells/mysteries such as the potent Shadow Surge spell which will kill the target if they fail their saving throw and immediately bring them back to life under the control of the caster for one round per level, at the end of which the target dies for good. It also includes five prestige classes, and again new monsters, magic items, and feats.

Last, and I think most intriguing, is Truename Magic. We've often heard over the years about true names of powerful beings such as Demons and Devils and how learning their truename can give a person control over the being. The book takes this several steps further, offering truename as a sort of quasi-language. Virtually everything has a true name whether it is a living being or an inanimate object. Further more, words and phrases have truenames, things like "sharpen", "Destroy" or "Vanish". Once you learn the truenames you can gain mastery over them and it essentially becomes magic. But this is no easy task. As pointed out in the book, truenames, especially those of powerful creatures like demons, are very long and have their unique inflections in the pronunciation. Only a correctly pronounced truename will work to grant the Truename Mage power. For this reason, he or she spends much time pouring over tomes of lore to research and learn these truenames. Thus, rather than spells they learn "utterances" which are basically vocal only spells. The Tome of magic includes approximately 100 of these utterances/spells. As with the other new classes, this section has five new prestige classes, and also new feats, magic items and monsters. Again, a few short mini-adventures are included. Each section also covers information for both the player and DM about how to play these new classes and how they interact with other classes.

If the book has one minor weakness it is that there are no appendices or even an index in the back to help sort all this new information. It would have been nice to have the experience and spell progression tables all in one section. That said, Tome of Magic is a fantastic new supplement that is sure to impress D & D fans.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Having been inspired by the positive reviews this book received, I ran out to pick one up first chance I got. I spent hours pouring over it, and have come to a few disappointing conclusions.

The three new base classes presented in this book (Binder, Shadowmancer and Truenamer) are lackluster at best.

The Binder seems interesting, but because of his unpredictablity, he can go from overpowered one day to all-but-useless the next, depending on which vestiges he binds himself to. A binder who lucks out on his binding checks (resulting in bad pacts) can find himself being drawn in several different directions in even a mundane situation. Disobeying any of the vestiges' wishes results in a cumulative -1 penalty to all rolls for each vestige offended and each time they are offended.

The Shadowcaster smells like a weak rehash of the Warlock class from Complete Arcane. Much like the Warlock, they gain their "masteries" slowly (1 / level), but unlike a warlock, they do not get unlimited uses of these abilities. In fact, their best abilities they can only use once / day each. Additionally, they lack the Eldretch Blast ability that gave Warlocks an offensive side to their spells, instead getting to choose from buffs, debuffs and a few weak offensive abilities. Keep in mind that these start out only usable once / day, so our first level Shadowmancer can use his only mastery ability once in a day. The use of "Fundamentals" (equivalent to 0th level spells, usable 3 times / day) does not help the situation, as the Shadowmancer starts with only one of those, and gains more of them at the rate of 1 every 4 levels.

Lastly, the Truenamer class is an utter disappointment. Truenames have been mentionned in hushed whispers and vague references for a long time in D&D, and even longer in literature as a whole. When finally we get to see a class that's based off of using Truenames, we find a great disappointment. Every time a Truenamer wishes to use an Utterance (their version of a spell), they must make a Truespeak (new skill) check of DC 15 + (CR x 2) + (2 for each previous time the Truespeaker has used that utterance today). While this seems fine and dandy, remember that when you go up a level, your max ranks in a skill only increases by 1, while the difficulty of uttering a Truename of a like level creature (your ally, for example) increases by 2.

In the end, the Truenamer is fighting a losing battle to be able to use his Utterances as many times a day as he could last level (although each level he gains at least 1 new Utterance). He becomes dependant on his Amulet of the Silver Tongue (a magic item which gives +5 or +10 to his Truespeak checks) to use his Utterances more than a couple times in a day. Additionally, to Utter defensively imposes a penalty on the Truespeak check, rather than requiring a Concentration check. Not only that - it imposes a -5 penalty for EACH creature who is threatening the Truenamer. Put two creatures next to a Truenamer, and his Truespeak DC rises by 10, rendering him effectively useless.

By contrast, the 15 or so spells that arcane or divine spellcasters can use if they take ranks in Truespeak far outstrip the abilities of a Truenamer - someone who has been studying this all his life! Truename Dispel (8th level spell for Wizard/Sorc, Cleric and Druid) allows you to selectively remove any or all magical effects present on a creature by speaking its truename! You are given the name of every effect on them, and asked if you wish to dispel the effect. No saving throw, no caster level check, nothing. Expunge the Supernatural (same level as above) lets you strip a being whose truename you speak of one supernatural ability permanently unless they succeed in a Fortitude save against the effect. You could strip a powerful foe of his damage reduction, or an undead of his energy drain ability. By contrast, no Utterance that a Truenamer learns ever lasts more than 5 rounds (or 10 if he uses Extend Utterance with a +5 to the DC of the Truespeak check), and many only last for one or two rounds.

All in all, I find the information presented in the book to be shoddy and thrown together. Fans have been crying out for the ability to use Truenames for a long time, and if this is the best that Wizards can come up with, I'm sorely disappointed.

The first time someone brought this book to the table, I'll admit that I wasn't immediately impressed by it. However, I thought I saw some potential, so I borrowed it from a friend at work to read over the weekend. I read the whole thing, cover to cover, twice, before Monday.

This book has finally reminded me what it was I loved about D&D when I started playing second edition over a decade ago. Unlike most every other third edition book (and even more so with 3.5), Tome of Magic isn't just a gotta-catch-em-all collection of new feats, spells, magic items, and prestige classes. It is stuffed with truly new, fresh ideas. I had thought that the rules in the Expanded Psionics Handbook were a novel approach to spellcasting in D&D, but the alternate magic systems in Tome of Magic are worlds beyond psionics in scope and style. This book could easily serve as the basis of at least one, if not three or four, whole new campaign settings. Truly different, truly spectacular.

And a special aside for Truename Magic. This system is the way spellcasting in a fantasy setting should be. Lets face it. Spells per day? Choosing spells in the morning when you wake up? Transparently artificial, rediculous, and illogical concepts. Truename magic fixes this and fixes it right, while still being a viable and fun system to use.

Tome of Magic offers you three new styles of magic to incorperate into your game.

The first, Pact Magic, bears a slight resembelence to the "summons" system from Final Fantasy VIII. They don't attack, as such, but instead provide you with interesting abilities. The only major draw back to Pact Magic is the fact that the book seems to set up the Pact users as almost inherently evil. The beings you have to make deals with are not nice in the least, and the complicated system of "I've used this one, so I can't use this one," will be tedious to a beginning player.

The second, Shadow Magic, could easily take the place of the Shadow Weave in a Forgotten Realms setting or be incorperated into basic games as an alternate style to normal magic. Of the three new styles, this one is the most traditional, combining a blend of "domain-like" styles and specalized magics. In addition, their powers eventually become spell-like abilitites. The only real downside of the system is the sheer lack of volume of spells. Even bards get more. What they lack in versatility, though, they more than make up for in power.

Finally, True Name magic feels incredibly similar to the Earth Sea book series, in that you discover more powers and abilitites with more names. The fact that this one is actually based off of a skill, the True Speak ability, makes it even more interesting. The Difficulty Classes on the skill's use are also very well done, ranging from 10 at lower levels, up into the 50's at higher levels. Best of all, the progression into Epic Abilities, though not really spoken of much, could be easily done by simply raising the DCs of things.

A fairly good book, but not for everyone. Each of the new magics is interesting and dynamic, but this book is not for everyone. If you like playing wizards and sorcerers (or maybe even clerics), then this book is for you; however, if hacking and slashing or sneaking and stabbing is your style, let your D.M. pick this one up.

There are a few things wrong with Tome of Magic, but all in all it is an excellent supplement for any D&D enthusiast interested in exploring new magical venues. My small criticisms are such: the book offers no options to make these characters more powerful as they enter epic levels, fairly lame prestige classes all in all, and specifically to the Binder core class I do not believe there to be a sufficient number of vestiges to keep things interesting.

Aside from my criticisms the systems introduced by the book are highly intriguing, the classes are fairly well balanced (The Truenamer possibly slightly underpowered), and the ideas behind the magic are very clearly defined. What this means is that introducing these systems into a campaign is made reletively painless, and creating one's own material to build from the existing material presented in the book is relatively easy.

Binder (the core class for pact magic) is incredibly interesting for a character choice. Essentially it is perfectly customizable. The player can switch from being a melee combatant, to being a stealthy rogue, to healing the party, and even to becoming an arcane energy battery. The various Vestiges bound to the class allow it to access some of the power that being had in its life and provide the Binder with some very unique combinations of abilities.

Shadowcaster (the shadow magic core class) channels spell energy directly from the Plane of Shadow in the form of mysteries. What makes these mysteries different from spells is that over time they become spell-like and even supernatural abilities. The Shadowcaster must follow paths in order to gain higher level mysteries unlike a wizard or sorcerer's ability to learn any spell in their list.

Truenamer (the truename core class) speaks a word of the true language of the universe and changes the world as we know it. Sounds powerful right? Well its difficult to do, and near impossible to master. Every time the truenamer tries to speak the words again it becomes harder to say as the universe keeps a tight rein on this language. My only concern is that the utterances (think of them as spells of a different sort) provided for the truenamer seem somewhat underpowered. The other two core classes have abilities that match the power of some 9th level wizard/sorcerer spells, but the truenamer never seems to reach that level of power.

In my opinion the virtues of the materials and ideas presented in this book outweigh its downfalls and I strongly believe that anyone interested in these new magics would find much enjoyment out of this book. All in all, well done WotC.

In a nutshell: If you liked the Warlock class from Complete Arcane, you'll love this book. 3 new core classes with greatly expanded alternate magic systems, and tons of new feats, prestige classes and such to expand upon them.

If you're anything like me, you're most interested in how the presented magics (pact, shadow and truename) differ from the established magic system (and, of course, eachother). As such, I'll be focusing on that in my review and skipping over most, if not all, of the flavor (which is wonderful, by the way).

First up is the Binder. It's a stretch to call them a caster. Basically, they can summon up 1-4 (based on level; you don't get to summon 2 until 8th level!) vestiges at the beginning of the day in a special ritual. These vestiges grant you special bonuses all day long, essentially letting you change your abilities on a day-by-day basis. The vestiges are ranked by level (I think the max is 8th), and the highest level vestige you can bind is determined by level. Their powers granted are all very different. One might make you a more abled combatant, another might give you illusion powers. When they grant you abilities that emulate spells, their usually usable as many times per day as you like, but limited to only once per 5 rounds.

Next up is the shadow magic class, the Shadowcaster. This is easily the most like traditional D&D magic, and also the one that I've read the least about so far. I'll admit to not bein terribly interested in them when I picked up the book, but reading about the philosophy of their magic has piqued my interest. I believe the general idea is that shadow is a "negative" element (not to be confused with negative energy, of course), which works by sapping one thing to enhance its opposite. For example, turning light to dark. Their spells are called Mysteries, must be learned in a hierarchal order (i.e. to get the second mystery from Path of the Whatever you need its first mystery), and each mystery is usable a certain number of times per day. The uses per day is tied to how easy the spells are to cast. Lower level ones, for example, start out as spells (one use per day), then become spell-like abilities (twice per day) and finally supernatural abilities (3/day).

Finally, we have the truenamer. I was cautiously interested in this class, loving the idea of truenames but fearing they wouldn't do my hopes justice. I'm glad to say my fears have been assuaged. Truenamers are also similar to regular casters, except they can use their "utterances" (their version of spells) as much as they want. The downside, however, is that in order to use an utterance they need to make a Truenames skill check. Each time a particular utterance is successfully used each day, the check for that utterance increases by 2, so eventually it becomes impossible to use any more. If you're curious, the rationale behind it is that the universe just don't take kindly to being repeatedly altered on its fundamental levels in a short time period, so it starts resisting.

Well, that about sums up my review. I hope it was helpful!

I got this book to play a shadowcaster, and I am pleased with the book as a whole. It offers a wealth of back story and lore to be woven into a campaign, especially a magic heavy one.

Be warned, however, that many of these classes are not particularly powerful. The shadowcaster, especially (much to my dismay) is far weaker than was originally hinted at.

But for some one who wants to experiment with alternative character types, or wants to throw in some variety to the by now stale magic types in their campaign, this book is for you.

Binder magic can be good if your world uses the heterodoxy rules (p. 14), but the rules of Pact Augmentation are very unclear. Binders have decent skills and great story line, but their powers are limited and their weapons and armor aren't great. Most of the offensive powers can only be used once every 5 rounds. With only 1 or 2 offensive powers, you better hope battles end quickly. Defensive powers are only helpful to the character himself, so a binder doesn't bring much to a party.

Shadowcasters are ridiculously underpowered. You have very few powers that can be used very few times a day. At least with wizards or sorcerers, you get bonus spells based on Intelligence or Charisma. Shadowcasters bring next to nothing to the party. This chapter does have some good prestige classes though.

Truenamers are hard to play. First, the book does not specify if utterances can be used at will. Even if they can, multiple uses of the same utterance make them harder to cast. Secondly, you have to make REALLY hard, near impossible skill checks, in order to use the utterance, and the targeted creature still gets a saving throw. Not to mention, like a spellcaster, you still have to make concentration checks when threatened. Better to be a warlock that gets abilities at will that you don't have to make skill checks for, or a wizard or sorcerer that gets more spells and items to use.

Overall, these 3 new classes do not bring much to a game besides more rules to memorize. There are no great magical items, very few decent prestige classes, and monsters that follow the same rules as the incompetent spellcasters presented. Tome of Blood is not worth the money.

While many of the reviews here hit upon the favorable aspects of this publication, I have noticed that several reviewers have mentioned that the binder class is weak at low levels. This is far from the truth, and I felt compelled to add my two cents here to show you just what I mean. Compare a 1st level binder and a 1st level wizard or sorcerer (and forget about the fact that the binder has twice as many hit points!). The 1st level wizard or sorcerer has 1 or 2 1st level spells that they can cast A DAY. A 1st level binder who has taken the feat improved binding can bind any 1st or 2d level aspect, giving him powers such as: invisibility for 1 round once every five rounds, sneak attack as a rogue (+1d6 at 1st level), the ability to use poison without chance of injury and the ability to summon a dove or raven that he or she has total command over and can see through its eyes (these are all powers granted by the vestige Malphas, a 2d level vestige, and can be used as many times as desired in a day!). Imagine how useful being able to scout far ahead into a dungeon or forest with a bird could be, without a time limit on how long the ability lasts or a range limit on how far it can travel! Or perhaps the binder has bound Saunok (another 2d level vestige), and can summon a suit of full plate armor at will as a full round action, gaining heavy armor proficiency and damage reduction 1/piercing as well, becoming a capable tank! I will not belabor the point and spell out every 2d level vestige's abilities, but clearly a 1st level binder should be one of if not the most versatile and powerful characters in a party. If the binder in question is human and takes the expel vestige feat as their human bonus feat, they can change vestiges as many times as they want per day (granted, with an increased likely-hood of making a bad pact and exhibiting an aspect of the vestiges personality, but I feel that this is a boon rather than a curse as it will only lead to great roleplaying fun), enabling even more versatility and allowing the binder to fulfill multiple functions in a party. A 3rd level binder with the improved binding feat can summon 3rd level vestiges, and is FAR more powerful than any other 3rd level magic using class. I just wanted to point this out, because I for one am a huge fan of the binder class and find it lends itself to great roleplaying. One more note- a reviewer made the assertion that the binder class more or less forces a player to roleplay an evil character. This is also not true. While a lawful good character would obviously have a problem with the possibility of coming under the influence of a vestige if a bad pact is made, a chaotic good or neutral good character would have no such problem. Regardless, the ways that a vestige makes you act if you fail to make a good pact are never truly detrimental to the PC (with the possible exception of the vestige that makes you always tell the truth), and mostly will just add roleplaying flavor to the game.

Not to insult other popular pencil-and-paper role-playing games of our time, but there's a reason why Dungeons and Dragons is the world's most renowned RPG of them all: Because the men and women who are responsible for its design are practically without peer in terms of sheer creative genius. Sure, I love the traditional themes of arcane and divine magic that almost all fantasy RPGs provide, and psionic powers are nothing to sneeze at, either. However, by delving deep into the esoteric aspects of world history and ideology and coming up with the three new types of magic for gamers and Dungeon Masters alike to add to their most cherished gaming campaigns, Wizards of the Coast has made sure that D&D Version 3.5 is everything they'd planned it'd be: dark, mysterious, inventive, and downright appealing.

Divided into three chapters, the Tome of Magic supplement explains how DMs can incorporate the likes of Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic into the mythical gaming worlds where their players' characters dwell in search of adventure. Players, too, can get an idea of what these more-or-less new forms of ancient power have in store for them and their allies as they sally forth into the depths of their alter egos' home realm. For instance, the chapter on Pact Magic introduces the Binder PC class and explains how participants in this occult and hence widely despised profession share their souls with a wide variety of Vestiges--beings whose existences in the world ended so tragically that their names have forever been carved into the stone tablet of history as their spirits transcended all reality into utter nothingness. Successful bondage to a Vestige grants a Binder that Vestige's powers and a physical trait that symbolizes the Binder's pact with his/her new patron. A failed pact grants the Binder the Vestige's powers as well as a successful one does, but the latter persona manifests himself/herself so heavily upon the former being that the Binder's behavior is warped by the spirit's own mentality, making the mortal perform eccentrically and--more times than not--downright irrationally.

Similarly, Shadow Casters, who participate in Shadow Magic, draw their powers form the Plane of Shadow--a literally dark and spooky reflection of the campaign's real world. It is by unlocking the mysteries of this twisted alternate reality and harnessing its nearly limitless gloom that these mages learn not only how to utilize this most umbral of all elements as the base of their spells, but also how to merge their own mortal existences with the Plane of Shadow to perform feats that no other being of their realm can, such as surviving for days without food or sleep and resisting the effects of poison and disease.

Finally, the Truenamer PC class is a student of the true universal language of all creation (called Truespeech) and as such learns the fundamentals of the third form of ages-lost mysticism, Truename Magic. By studying the fundamentals of this ancient tongue, a Truenamer can harness control over various objects and subjects, forcing them unto his/her will at the mere mentioning of their "true names"--namely, the names of their creation. To tell you the truth, the Truenamer PC class is a pretty fun one to play in a standard D&D gaming session--even more fun, in my opinion, than the standard Wizard or Sorcerer.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, Tome of Magic has quite a few adventures in store for Dungeon Masters to put to use in their next gaming sessions--not to mention fifteen total Prestige Classes for PCs and DMs alike to try our (five for each of the three basic Character Classes presented in this book). The monsters are pretty impressive, too, and not just because they're illustrated so well by the most talented artists in the gaming industry, either. Then again, players who are satisfied with playing one of the more established Character Classes from previous releases of the D&D 3rd Edition and Version 3.5 gaming manuals and supplements will still want to check out the new spells and feats presented in ToM, if for nothing else other than to add even more variety to their PCs.

All in all, Tome of Magic is no disappointment in its quest to bring something new to the gaming table. I was definitely impressed, and I believe other Dungeons and Dragons fans will feel the same way I do. If you can find it in your local hobby shop or bookstore, then by all means, snag it! It's a definite keeper.