A neat and atmospheric in-character letter opens this work, from the librarian Pers Veilborn to a friend, talking about the results of his enquiries about a certain magic item the friend had asked him to investigate. Apparently he'd heard a whole collection of tales about a bunch of items and - librarian to the core - decided to write them down for posterity. Here are the results of his labours, some 30 intelligent magic items to spice up your game.

Then the introduction explains how intellient magic items are handled in Pathfinder, being some 1% of all magic items found. Elegantly, suggestions are made about ways in which the character in possession of a given item can become involved in the emergence of its intelligence, by the simple device of saying that many items have the potential to develop intelligence but few actually do. Certain factors predispose an item to have this potential, which then may develop based on the alignment and actions of the character wielding the item. They can be researched, either by characters who have found an item, or if they have heard about an item and are thinking of mounting a quest to find it.

A diverse range of items are then presented, each with a backstory - along with a note suggesting that you customise each item's history to fit into your campaign world - and all necessary game mechanics governing its operation, along with details of each item's personality to facilitate role-playing. Just reading through them spawns ideas: a chance discovery or the focal point of an adventure or even a whole campaign.

Select the item you want to use with care. All are powerful, potentially game-changing in scope... and full of fascinating twists that will make for a memorable - even legendary game. A fine collection and well worth investigating and using.

Return to 30 Intelligent Magic Items page.

Reviewed: 13 September 2012