GeekDad: Introduce DnD Newbies to Magic Items with ‘Artificers and Alchemy’

 There’s a new addition coming to the Young Adventurer’s Guide series we covered in the fall, this time focusing on artificers, potions, and magical items. Young players needing a more approachable entrance to D&D than the rules-dense and text-dominated core rulebooks can explore some of the most iconic weapons, armor, and characters Dungeons and Dragons has to offer in Artificers and Alchemy. This book will be released on April 16th, but you can pre-order it now.

What’s in Store?

If you have a young adventurer of your own, you’re probably keen to know what this resource has to offer, and I’m here to spill the bolts. Um, beans. The table of contents breaks the book into categories: Enchanted Items, Peculiar Phenomena, Curious Constructs, Artificers, and Designing Your Own Magic Items. Each chapter is filled with illustrations, descriptions, and story hooks designed to help younger adventurers find a place to explore the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons. 

Enchanted Items

The book launches into the exciting world of enchanted items, spending more time on this topic than any other. I have to admit, with a name like Artificers and Alchemy, I expected the book to start with, you know, artificing or alchemy. I can see why the authors went this direction, however, as magic items are the least setting-exclusive of the topics in the book, and certainly the easiest to pull inspiration from for any campaign your adventurer might play in.

The first few pages cover weapons, armor, and a few items that can be used to heal, restore, and even resurrect. Then it moves into the concept of sentient items, introducing readers to three of the most iconic magic items in Dungeons and Dragons: Blackrazor, Orcsplitter, and Snicker-Snack. These three items are presented along with guides on how to use them in gameplay, highlighting some of the strangest fun players can run into when seeking to find, return, or destroy magic items with their own ideas. Other types of magical items are detailed, along with further examples, including potions, prosthetics, instruments, and more.

Peculiar Phenomena

The next section seemed a little out of place, but was still a great read. This chapter covers magical storms, magical locations, and even locations magically altered by great events which transpired nearby. Perhaps most enticing to young players is the introduction to mimics and mimic colonies, up to and including advice on how to obtain a mimic as a pet!

Curious Constructs

This chapter introduces the many diverse and complicated ways constructs show up in a setting. From what to expect (such as immunity to psychic damage) to animated brooms, scaling all the way up to warforged creatures and the legendary Lord of Blades.

Artificers

The penultimate chapter covers the artificer class, current official specializations, infusions, and homunculus servants. There are prompts for an adventurer to consider if they don’t know whether artificing is a good path for them, and an introduction to the planeswalking artificer Vi.

Designing Magic Items

The last chapter discusses the nuances one might approach when creating one’s own magic items. Everything from characters crafting items to DMs designing items, young adventurers can use this chapter to explore the basics of how to make magic items happen in their world.

TL;DR

Overall, I think this is a solid addition to the Young Adventurer’s Guide series. I must admit I was disappointed by the sparse coverage of alchemy. There is a spread covering 4 potions in the first chapter, and a note on crafting potions of healing in the last chapter. That said, potions aren’t really that complicated, and one wouldn’t want to overwhelm a newbie with a bunch of fluff. It was just odd to find that in a book titled Artificers and Alchemy, that alchemy didn’t even have its own chapter. Mostly I mention this as a manage-your-expectations disclaimer, because the book is really solid otherwise. This book will be released on April 16th, but you can pre-order it now.

Disclaimers: A copy of this product was provided for review purposes. This post may contain affiliate links which may support the creation of posts like this one at no additional cost to you.

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