Publication date 1995 Originally published 1995 Genre Role-playing game | ISBN 0-7869-0183-7 Publisher TSR | |
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Role-playing game books | ||
Pages from the Mages is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995.
Contents
Contents
Pages from the Mages features incantations for the Forgotten Realms campaign. The book's general format consists of describing a number of spell books currently in existence in the campaign world. Pages from the Mages gives brief histories of each of these books, along with the backgrounds behind their creators and hints as to where the books may now be found. While most of these books also contain commonly known spells, those spells detailed here are for the most part unique, with many of them bearing their inventor's names. Many of these tomes have been highly sought after and contested for some time. Also in the book are a few priest spells; instructions for creating a handful of magic items; and details of new monsters.
Publication history
Pages from the Mages was a soft-bound volume published by TSR. It was designed by Ed Greenwood and Tim Beach, and was published in 1995. The cover design was by Renee Ciske, black and white art by Valerie Valusek and interior four color art by Ned Dameron and Erik Olson.
Reception
Cliff Ramshaw reviewed Pages from the Mages for Arcane magazine, rating it a 6 out of 10 overall. He felt that there is "no reason why, in most cases, you can't adapt the new spells it provides to suit your own campaign, but much of the background material - and in many case this is the best stuff - will of course have to be changed". He cautions, after explaining about the background information on the books and their creators: "If you needed further convincing that the life of a wizard is a dangerous one, liable to be terminated quickly and violently, then you'll find it here." He suggests that tracking down one of these spell books "should involve a fair amount of adventuring by the players", and that a character using spells from these books "is bound to create a stir". Ramshaw concludes the review: "Some spells are more useful than others [...] and some can most kindly be described as space-fillers. [...] Not as inspiring as most releases, Pages from the Mages can only be recommended to those who've thoroughly exhausted the existing spell lists."