It took a long time for me to warm up to Tome of Magic because, well, we’ve all known players that can sour you on something through their proximity to it. I’ve since changed my tune on the book, which I now see as an intriguing tune-up of 2E’s magic system.

There’s a lot of stuff great stuff here. Most obvious is the huge number of new spells – 86 for mages and an astounding 170 for priests – as well as a truckload of new magic items, including some personal favorites like the bag of bones, the wand of misplaced object, the gem of retaliation and the warp marble. Metamagic also debuts in Tomes, allowing wizards to alter the effects of their magic – something that got much more attention in 3E.

The most interesting stuff is the new rules for spellcasters. Priests get cooperative magic and quest spells, which are massively powerful and require, well, a quest, as directed by the priest’s patron deity. Tome introduces both wild magic and the elemental specialization (which is probably pretty self-explanatory) for mages. Wild magic is cool and brings a refreshing sense of uncertainty to wizards. Sometimes a wild surge will be a boon, others a disaster. It’s always interesting, though. Especially for the dungeon master.

2E was rife with questionable rules supplements, but Tome of Magic is one of the few that works well, expanding and tweaking existing systems without mucking them up (like, say, the Complete Fighter’s Handbook).

Some great art too! Stephen Fabian and Brom are always welcome around here.