Magic of Faerun: Forgotten Realms Accessory (Paperback)

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.

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.