At first glance I assumed this book would be just a list of magical items for a D&D campaign, and I was actually correct. However, there is more to Weapons of Legacy than that--the magical items contained within this book aren't like the ones listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide or the Magic Item Compendium, they're more like campaign ideas. These items are the type of legendary weapons meant to be used as the center of a campaign, each with its own backstory and list of powers that grows as a character levels up or completes certain tasks. It is this reason that I have a slight problem with this book. It's nice to have such cool weapons with an air of mystery and power to them, but they're a bit *too* special to be all that practical, if you catch my drift. For instance, it may be a stretch to have more than one legendary weapon in a campaign, making those who didn't get one feel somewhat left out; or they may resent the fact that the campaign is suddenly centered around whoever picked up the magical katana. Conversely, it may detract from the game on account of the fact that these weapons are meant to be used by the character for the entire duration of the campaign, meaning whoever gets one would miss out on getting exciting new weapons because they have a sword that gets stronger when they level up. That being said, there are still plenty of good ideas in this book. The weapons listed all have one or two pages of descriptions, each has a list of powers and rituals needed to unlock them (most include something like "Gain knowledge(religion) 8 ranks" or "Travel to this temple and defeat the guardian"). Each weapon also has a backstory, most of which tend to be pretty interesting. All in all, this book is well-polished and well-done, but it has limitations on its usage. I was hoping for another Magic Item Compendium with lots of really powerful weapons, but it was kind of disappointing to find that most of their powers weren't readily available when you found the weapon--they have to be unlocked first. I mean, you could always screw the rules and toss a fully loaded legacy weapon into a campaign, but that would feel wrong or unbalancing. It seems that this book's most powerful application is when you're saying to yourself, "Okay, I have this really cool campaign all set up, and now all I need is a really unique and powerful weapon to be the center of it." If you're looking for stuff to use as random treasure, this book doesn't have it.Read full review
Fills in the gaps and provides excellent ideas for powerful but not game altering items. Some very clever items included. Just as useful as the Magic Item Compendium and maybe more so.
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