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

• A Mediocre Tome of Treasures...

  
  By A28PIYT01I5SOC on 2008-09-24
  ...but it depends on what you're looking for. As a DM, i found this book mostly just a huge list of charts for magic items (or pseudo-magic items, the alchemical stuff), most of them recreating the combat conditions we're all familiar with from the PHB: i.e. ongoing fire, acid, thunder, cold damage, Stun, Immobilize, Daze, Save Ends, etc etc.
  
  There is almost no interesting descriptions, unless you consider the above list interesting. Many people do, in fact.
  
  If you loved the magic item listing in the PHB, and the way magic items were handled in general, you will love the Adventurer's Vault. If you thought that 4e magic items were bland, repetitive, and not as good as the fascinating items that permeated 3rd edition (and earlier) then you won't like this book either. For instance, i'm pretty sure there is no Deck of Many Things in the Adventurers Vault; it's way outside of the point of giving you an advantage in a fight, which is almost solely the focus of magic now.
  
  Nor does it even touch on the topic of Cursed Items, but maybe that is something waiting for the DMG 2.
  
  For me, i'm going to take a few ideas from this book and just make my own magic items for the players, ones that have more varied abilities. Such as a Wand of Magic Missiles with charges that DOESN'T miss and inflicts 1d4+1 points of damage per charge expended, as well as adding a permanent +1 bonus to the wizard's normal "roll to hit" magic missile. He misses half the time anyway.
  
  Or a Rod of Atrocity for the warlock.
  
  See, the 4e magic items just add some fancy descriptive name to a magic item, then slaps on acid damage, or fire damage, push one square or daze until the end of the next turn, and pretend that it's something special. It's not. It's just the same old effect that can be accomplished hundreds of other ways from spells, powers, exploits, and other magic items.
  
  This is not a bad book and has its uses, but know what you're buying before you purchase it.
  
  

• More things than you can shake a stick at

  
  By A61VICZMFN9RU on 2008-09-23
  In a first for D&D, the equipment book is actually the first non-setting supplement released; this is unusual, as the Arms & Equipment Guide for 2e and 3e were released in the middle of each edition's product cycle.
  
  In this not-terribly-thick book, you'll find exactly two chapters: Gear, and Magic Items. Production values are pretty high, and the artwork is mostly all-new; I don't recall any recycled art. Some pictures are captioned, others are not, which is irritating.
  
  Gear is non-magic items...new weapons, new armor, mounts, vehicles, alchemical items, etc. The weapons are the most detailed, filling weapon group/type combinations left open from the PHB, along with new properties, like Brutal (reroll any weapon damage dice of n value or lower). The armor isn't too different from that released in PHB, but seems better, I haven't quite figured out if they pay for the improvements some other way. The mounts are kind of a mixed bag, they're nice and fantastic, but their carrying capacity is rather limited. Vehicles I haven't looked at too much, and alchemical items seem useful.
  
  Most of the rest of the book deals with magic items, of all the varying types, from the plussed (weapons, armor, amulets, implements) to the random, including more potions. There are a great many of each type, including a boatload of magic weapons. Many old standbys made it in, from the sunblade to the decanter of endless water to the various bags of tricks.
  
  It's nice to have this out so early, when it's most useful. The one main flaw is also a virtue, in that the magic item properties really aren't excessively useful in most cases; many properties are once/day powers that are nice, but limited in utility. On the other hand, this means there aren't going to be One Best Item of each type for a given level, and even if you get kind of a weird item, at the very least you're getting the base enhancement bonus your rolls or values.
  
  One useful inclusion is a "move the magic" ritual, that allows you to move an enchantment from one weapon to another, so if that +2 Sunblade drops on a scimitar, but you want it on a khopesh, you're good to go. There are suggestions on making unique magic items, but nothing specifically crunchy about that, and, of course, there are no new artifacts.
  
  On the whole, a pretty good book. While not absolutely perfect in every way, it's definitely a worthwhile buy for any 4e player or DM.
  
  

• Wonderous Diversity

  
  By ARC46HO9JXD5I on 2008-09-18
  It's nice now to have a very big list of new options for both mundane and magic items. However, I am even more pleased to see the return of mount-items such as horseshoes of speed. I find the vehicle rules to also be very interesting, and a nice addition. And getting alchemy as an option, potentially instead of ritual casting, is also very nice.
  
  As I expected, the longer 4e is going, the more diverse options they are getting a chance to put in. The corebooks might have seemed a bit limiting at times, but they are the core books only. Can't really compare that to the expanse of info from 3.x or earlier editions. Looking forward to seeing what books like Martial Power bring as well.
  
  

• Dictionary yes, guide no

  
  By A2YX2FU0I7DY72 on 2008-09-20
  Adventurer's Vault is a major disappointment with almost exclusively table after table of arms, equipments, and their costs and almost no discussion of anything related to arms and equipment.
  
  The section on "Weapons" has three paragraphs and then a gazillion pages of weapons and how much they cost. Looks like one person at Wizards threw this thing together in a couple of weeks.
  
  This is more like a dictionary listing of arms and equipment with one exception -- there's no index !!!
  
  (Sorry Amazon) I recommend that you find this book and flip through it. You will quickly see what I mean. Ready, find "Shield of Blocking"...go...times passes...times passes...you're in a maze of twisty passages...you're in a maze of twisty passages...you're dead.
  
  It's a shame there is so little discussion of arms, armor, and strategy and tactics associated with each. I expect so much more from Wizards.
  
  
  

• Very "slick!" (almost)

  
  By A3KX4D3ZD2UGJN on 2008-09-18
  There are many things I like about this book, and a few things that bug me (hence the 4 stars instead of 5).
  
  What they did right:
  They added alchemy, and made it much like rituals. This gives much more diversity to the character builds. I love that. Alchemy is a more 'mundane' way of adding cool elements to the game. Rituals (although can be performed by anyone) makes much more sense in the hands of wizards, clerics, warlocks, and such. And Alchemy makes more sense for rogues, and the martial classes... since it deals with potions and poisons.
  
  They added a ritual that allows the transfer of magic from one item to another. If someone finds really cool large armor, but the little halfling wants to use it, well now she can. This is not a wow, because as a DM I already made something like that up... but still, now its in writing.
  
  There are many very cool magic items, vehicles, weapons, armor... you name it, it's here.
  
  Ok, why the loss of a star? I was looking for level 2 armor (this was my first look into the book) and I found that "SLICK" armor is listed in the list of magic armor as category "chain, scale, plate." So I read the description and find that it gives a bonus to acrobatics checks for escape actions... I'm thinking 'chain, plate, and scale armor for acrobatics checks?' Then I see that it should have REALLY been classified under 'cloth, leather, and hide.' THAT makes more sense. So it was correct in the description, but not in the table. I don't know how many mistakes this book has, but it was the first item I looked for and it had a mistakes.
  EDIT: I didn't mention that there are several mistakes like this. I wouldn't downgrade a review for just one.
  
  Anyway, the book is by-and-large awesome...but has a few mistakes.
  
  
• Does Exactly What it Says it Does
  By A2T3W2C4UI6UIA on 2008-09-17
  To the readers:
  
  This is a book chock full of new items, all of them made for 4th edition. There really weren't enough items in the Player's Handbook, and this book makes up for it in full.
  
  I'll just put it this way: any book that makes double weapons look good is a good book. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
  
  
• Good overall.
  By AMFFZTF756GCE on 2008-09-18
  Adventurer's Vault really addresses the gripes my PCs have about 4e so far. Magic items from just the PHB is just too limited and most of my PCs have no interest in most of them.
  
  Though it doesn't fix everything they complain about in 4e, it certainly fixes one of the problems. With more books on the way, 4e should be up to par with 3.x in no time.
  
  
• WOW a must have
  By A1PHGQCIANBPLS on 2008-09-19
  Very nice the new weapons make this book by itself well worth it.
  
  At least there is a potion of lvl 4. Now just need to get a potion that is 1st level so you can actually use Brew Potion ritual.
  
  The magic items are again very stellar and the new armors give a nice twist on an old feel.
  
  I would loved to give this 6 stars but 5 is my max.
  
  
• dungeons and dragons
  By A3ET3PVJY73QVH on 2008-09-23
  a great addition to all our other d&d and we spend hours and days at a time playing.All 6 of us are adults and have played for years.
  
  
• Alchemy, Mounts and Enchanting Transfers
  By A8EGH8C5OL1GO on 2008-10-22
  How can a DM NOT buy a book chock-full of new magic items and options he can plug into his game, especially at this early stage in the new edition? Well, I figured I had to give it a try, so I did. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, this book has become my number one source for magic items and other PC rewards. But this is not just a book that pumps your players full of super-powerful magics; this book also includes rules for relatively mundane and simple character options that help the game develop a unique flavor and context of its own.
  
  Mounts are given the attention they deserve. New options for mounts are provided including some very mundane choices (camels, etc.) and some fantastic ones skeletal horses, dire sharks or triceratopses anyone?). Rules for vehicles are present and whether those are longships or airships, they really give you a good idea not only of how these can be useful in your game, but how they can add a distinct flavor to your combat encounters.
  
  Alchemy, in my mind, is the knock-down, drag-out winner of the "best bit of rules crunch introduced in this book" award. Finally! Something other than rituals for my wizard and cleric to excel at! (Actually, in my game, it will likely be one of the two rangers who picks this one up.) Whether it's poisons, traps, grenades (Alchemist's Fire, anyone?) or potions, Alchemy has a lot to offer. I really hope they continue to expand alchemical options in the next volume of Adventurer's Vault.
  
  As for the magic items, yeah, they're great. And you'll find a lot of neat stuff in here, including some things you might not have thought you'd see, Including: magic items for your animal companion or mount, magic item mounts (figurines of wonderous power) that never have to feed or sleep (but have very, very low hp to offset their obvious usefulness), new potions that don't use up healing surges (but most still do), whetstones (providing a temporary encounter bonus to a weapon's usefulness), reagents (I really thought they'd be done with these after 3.5e's Unearthed Arcana) and other one-use magic items (an easy way for a DM to round-out a treasure hoard with something that will be of limited use to his PCs).
  
  The section on making and improving magic items in Appendix 1 is super-useful, too. It contains a ritual that vied closely with Alchemy for that "most useful..." award I mentioned earlier: Transfer Enchantment. Ever find the right enchantment on the wrong armor? Maybe you wanted blackiron plate but only got blackiron scale? Now, a short ritual can move that enchantment from one item to another of the same type. Wow.
  
  In short, great book. I'd really like to see more books like this.
  
  My only gripe is that the editing is not what it could have been. I keep catching typos (like "telepot;" look for it, it's in there) and things that vary from their description on the list of magic items to the actual write-up of the item. Use common sense here: give "telepot" back its "r" and use the stats as they appear in the stat block, not in the list.
  
  
• A must have
  By A1TE63UDN44JZ on 2008-10-12
  This is a must have for any 4th ed players out there. For DM's and Players alike this will complete your games. It will give your pages and pages of just the list of one type of magic item. There are 6 pages of just the list of magical armors...thats not even the actual descriptions either. Honestly, if you haven't already clicked add to cart by the time I'm done...well...
  
  
• Yay! More Toys!
  By A2WKPH1WUQX7UB on 2008-10-15
  This book is the perfect source for any DM in trying to select treasure for your campaign. Lets face it, the treasure in the Player's Handbook was pretty lame. Plus, there isn't nearly enough to choose from. In the Adventure's Vault, you have more treasure options than you'll ever need. Plus you will find stuff to fit every type of character. I couldn't be more pleased. There are also charts and tables, which allow you to quickly find any item you are looking for. What's that? You need a level 3 armor? Well, it shows right here that you have 14 to choose from. Have fun.
  
  
• Great book!
  By A1ZZYA1YE2VNUC on 2008-10-22
  This book is a great addition to any DnD campaign. With the newly released 4.0 rules this book adds a ton of new items to any great campaign.. a must for any group that wants to expand their options for taking down all those monsters the DM has in store.
  
  
• Still the same problems but a helpful book
  By A16LBGD84U0S4P on 2008-10-09
  I'm starting to wonder if WotC even has an editor. It took me only until page 4 to find a glaring typo. And when I mean glaring I mean that it is one you find without having to actually search for it. I found these very same typos in the DMG. Come on Wizards, if you're going to prevent piracy of your books, you're going to actually need to perfect them before you sell them!
  
  Another problem I found with the book is that once again they do not price any of the special armor. There is even a statement that says that the table will list the price in gp, but when you look at said table, every single price just reads "special". And when you try and figure out what special means, it never really says. Why would I ever buy a Scalemail if I can get Wyrmscale armor for the exact same price as you list in your rules?
  
  Anyway, excluding chapter 1 the rest of the book tells me exactly what I expected and wanted it to. It is a large list of magical items to use in my game. I also love the ritual at the end of the book that moves around enchantments. That right there is proof that 4th edition is trying to be more of a "yes you can" version and I think that makes it so much more fun.
  
  
• A good resource for players
  By A23JIDHJ82BUN2 on 2008-10-09
  Overall a very good book. If you like what you've seen in 4E so far, you'll like it. If you hate 4E, this won't change your mind. For those still on the fence, I think it shows the depth of the new system and that flexibility hasn't disappeared in 4E.
  
  This is definitely a player resource and not a DM one. DMs may want to have it for reference, but with the way 4E handles treasure and wish lists and all, any DM expecting to get a ton of use out of this is going to be disappointed. That's not a bad thing in my opinion though as the AV puts items control more into the players hands and at the same time gives the DM a comfort level that they aren't going to have to look over every thing their players are interested in to make sure it's not a broken trick.
  
  Sure, there are some strong combos and possibly some unbalanced ones, but overall items will be there to sweeten and customize what the characters do, not their primary source of power.
  
  The AV adds a new feat and alchemical items. These items are now balanced so that you can make and buy better versions at higher levels - making alchemist's fire useful at all levels, not just the early ones.
  
  The magic item section has tons of new items and options - gone are the days of formulaic rules and al a carte construction. While at first it might seem odd that some weapons can have certain properties and others not, I found in most cases allowing the missing weapon creates a broken combo (so the ommission is intentional). For example, there are several polearm enchantments that affect how far you push or slide someone. It may seem odd that it does not work for spears also until you realize that it intentionally precludes you from using a shield and taking advantage of an at-will like tide of iron.
  
  On one hand, it will feel like a step back in the uniqueness of items since the 3E formula system provided almost infinite combos, but on the other hand, we're not even 6 months into 4E and already we have a wealth of item options - it only feels like your options are limited if you compare it to 3E. Someone who never played 3E would probably never think that weapons and armor can't be unique enough with all of these options.
  
  Overall I wholeheartedly recommend it.
  
  
• Adventurer's Vault: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement
  By A1NDZET5FINPFV on 2008-10-13
  Very useful. A much needed expansion on the short list of magic items in the Player's Handbook.
  
  
• Adventurer's Vault: Worth Every Penny and then some
  By AXLZ8VLH09VAP on 2008-10-13
  Adventurer's Vault: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement
  
  This is by par the best equipment book Wizard of the Coast has released for any version of Dungeons & Dragons. This book gave my gaming group pretty much everything it needed for magical equipment, mounts, new weapons and the ability to make alchemy items. A must have for any 4E D&D game!
  
  
• overwhelming # of items
  By AK4D5SSFHGH32 on 2008-10-13
  huge amount of items without a lot of fluff taking up space; it's a winner.
  
  
• Good resource, no surprises.
  By A3KTXISRHAR4GF on 2008-10-14
  My only real hope with the Vault was that it would have some added resources for mundane stuff as well as the obvious magical information. Just recently we were thinking about why there's no pricing on mules, pets, etc. This is the kind of thing that would have also been nice to have in this manual.
  
  That said though, the information is clear and well thought out for the most part. The book is what was expected: it includes a LOT of new magical items and enchantments to work with, and also has some added mount types and so on. All in all a good product for a DM to have on hand, though in any group there's no real reason for everyone to go out and get this.
  
  
• Magic Items
  By AM8575P2B80FH on 2008-10-26
  Basically its a giant list of magic items and what they do. Very helpful for running a campaign, but there is little else of merit in the book.
  
  

• Forgotten Realms Player's Guide: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (Forgotten Realms Supplement)
• Martial Power: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (D&D Rules Expansion)
• Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition
• Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Screen
• Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set, 4th Edition