Magic Books of Faerûn

By Sean K Reynolds

Welcome to Magic Books of Faerûn!

In this series, we'll look at some of the more interesting and unusual magical books of Faerûn, describe what magic they contain, and see who currently bears them. Some of these books are revealed for the first time, while others are a revisitation of tomes presented in older products like Pages from the Mages and Prayers from the Faithful.

Most of these books are spellbooks of some sort, whether containing arcane writings for mages, prayers for divine spellcasters, or collections of songs suitable for bards. Dungeon Masters can use these books to make new spells available to player characters. For example, if you haven't introduced spells from Unapproachable East to your campaign, presenting a book with such spells gives an in-game explanation for why your players would suddenly have access to spells they hadn't heard of before and whether the spells in question are actually new or were just missing for centuries.

The format of the book entries are as follows.

Book Title and Subtitle

Read-aloud description.

Last Record: The last person or creature known to have the book, and the place and (if known) date of the book's most recent appearance.

Description: A more detailed description of the book's physical appearance.

History: A short history of the book.

Contents: The contents of the book, including spells, other magical effects, and guardian magic or traps placed upon it.

Price: The market price of the book, as well as information on certain buyers who may be willing to pay more for it. The normal market price listed assumes the buyer can use the magic in the book or can easily sell it to someone who can. (A wizard, for example, is unlikely to pay full price for a magic book useable only by druids unless he knows of a druid who could pay full price for the item.)

Last Known Bearer: Information on the last known bearer of the book, including game statistics.

02/17/2004:A Harper's Companion, Volume III: A Collection of Bard Songs, with a Touch of Magic for Ease in Use
03/17/2004: Barb of the Mind: Destructive Enchantment Spells
04/21/2004: Lesser Testament of Vraer
05/27/2004: Tar'Ael Veluuthra (Whetstone of the Blade)
06/24/2004: The Codicil of White (Cold Spells for Auril's Wizards)
07/28/2004: Earthmother's Weapons(Druid Spells from the Moonshaes)

About the Author

Sean K Reynolds lives in Encinitas, California, and works for a video game company. His D&D credits include the Monster Manual, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and Savage Species. He'd like to thank Brian Cortijo for his advice in this article series.