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Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry
Credits
Written by Gary Gygax & Brian Blume
Illustrations by Dave Sutherland, Tracy Lesch, & Gary Kwapisz; Cover by Deborah Larson
Version
This PDF is from the original edition premium reprint. As such, it is titled “Book VI” instead of Supplement III. The PDF has bookmarks.
History and Trivia
Eldritch Wizardry was originally released in April, 1976. The original cover art was a bit risqué, depicting a nude woman about to be sacrificed.
Is it Pretty?
The cover is new for the premium reprint. Unlike the covers of the core set booklets and Supplements I and II, which are homages to the original cover artworks, this one is a fairly generic wizard. As noted above, the original art was controversial so I imagine Wizards of the Coast wanted to play it safe with the reprint.
The interior art is a bit hit and miss with some being good and some cartoony, particularly the various demons. The succubus and the Type V demon (what would later be known as a Marilith) are portrayed nude, which is not terribly surprising for these particular creatures. Still, it follows the trend in the early D&D products to be a bit on the racy side in their depictions of female creatures.
½ star.
Is it Professional?
As with the first two supplements, this one is divided into three sections corresponding to the booklets in the core set – Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. There are very few glaring typos and the layout is passable.
One star.
Is it Useful?
One of the major new elements in this book is psionics. Psionics definitely adds to the science-fantasy flavor the game has flirted with throughout the core set and the first two supplements. Psionic characters sacrifice some element of their class or even ability scores in order to develop their psionic abilities. Determination of psionic abilities is random and, at least for me, a bit difficult to wrap my head around. The percentage chances of having psionics or when and how powers are acquired are an arcane mess.
We also have druids, which are a sub-class of clerics. They have a few special abilities, most notably shapeshifting, which makes them a bit unbalanced compared to other classes. They have a level cap as a balancing factor but that becomes irrelevant in campaigns that never reach high levels.
There’s a new tweak to combat regarding movement, spell casting, and missile fire that is completely indecipherable. I have no idea what they were trying to achieve with this.
Psionic combat is even worse. Complicated, math heavy, and not something I could even attempt to understand or use in play. Psionics would be improved (and easier to understand) in later editions so I don’t feel too bad about saying this version is utterly unusable as written.
The psionic abilities themselves mostly replicate the effects of spells with only a few exceptions. As such, they seem like an unnecessary and overly complicated addition to the game.
The monsters section introduces several types of demons and a variety of psionic monsters, as well as adding psionics to a few monsters from the core set and the previous two supplements. There’s also some clarifications about how certain monsters interact with ethereal and astral creatures and characters.
The demon princes Orcus and Demogorgon are also introduced. These two powerful entities would go on to have long histories in the D&D game.
The treasure section is all about artifacts. Unfortunately, the DM has to determine the powers of these powerful items, which means it’s a bit of work to get them ready to use in a campaign.
The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures section simply contains new and updated encounter tables.
Overall, Eldritch Wizardry is a disappointment. Only the druid has any real use and that isn’t enough to redeem the head-scratchingly obtuse psionics rules and the incomplete artifacts.
Zero stars.
Is it Affordable?
The PDF is $4.99 which is pretty darn cheap. There’s also a print-on-demand option for $14.99 ($16.99 for both PDF and POD) which is a bit pricey compared to other POD products with similar page counts. Still, compared to the second-hand market prices for original printings, its pretty good, though not as good as it probably should be.
½ star.
Is it Fun?
While the druid would be fun to play and some of the new monsters are intriguing, the psionics system is far too complicated and confusing to be any fun. The artifacts could potentially add interesting elements to a campaign, but the DM is going to have to put in some work before they can be used.
Zero stars.
Where to find it
The PDF and POD for this book can be found on drivethrurpg listed as OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (0e). Original printings and the premium reprint can be found on ebay and other second-hand sites.
Conclusion
This product is definitely the low point for the original D&D line. An unwieldy psionics system and DIY artifacts make Eldritch Wizardry a book really only of use or interest to collectors and historians. Three stars out of five.
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