A must for budding Gandalfs (Player's Handbook 4 Complete Wizards Handbook)

Member Name: John Rickard

Product:	Player's Handbook 4 Complete Wizards Handbook
Date:	25/06/00 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good resource for wizards

Disadvantages: Not much good for anyone else

I must declare a bias here - Wizards have always been my favourite class, and I have most of the AD&D books relating to them. Even so, this is one of the best. In nine chapters, it adds a depth to the wizard class that the masses of spells didn't give it, and I will look at each chapter in turn

1) Schools of Magic - Here, the existing schools are given more detailed right-ups, with notes on spell lists and a couple of extra powers at high level. Interesting, but not brilliant

2) Creating New Schools - now things get more interesting. Here are guildlines for creating your own schools of magic, including spell lists and new spells. Great fun, but quite hard work

3) Wizard Kits - These are fun - some are very entertaining - I like the Academician, while others are more interesting for villains - the militant wizard as an example.

4) Role Playing - not so usefull - this chapter treats personality as a form of character kit, and this is really down to the player

5) Combat and the Wizard - all of three pages long, this doesn't say anything new

6) Casting Spells in Unusual conditions - this is the most rules heavy part of the book - underwater spells, outer planes and physical impairment are detailed here - usefull but not entertaining

7) Advanced Procedures - This has three main parts - spell commentaries by level, which help some obscure spells and sort out some badly written spells. More on illusions - a better attempt at illusions that the main books, but still not perfect, and spell research, a very good set of guidelines on spell research, both in design and in the rules.

8) New Spells - yet more spells, some of which are good, some of which are too powerfull.

9) Wizardly Lists - something of a miscelleny, but the most fun part of the book - 25 familiers, 5 wizardly illnesses, rules for magical academy's and wizardly organizations can be found here, and have inspired severa
l adventures.

This is, like most of the class guides, patchy, but still worth buying if you like wizards

Summary: