Like Magic Items III, not really 50 items, but variants. Pricing of items seems too low in a lot of cases. Still a good blend of ideas to add some spice to magical loot. Seems the series is still under 3.0 rules, not 3.5, though not enough of an issue to be a problem.

Justa bunch of items, all of which are basically four or five items with different powers. They could have saved a lot of space by simply saying, "This is abrittle gem and it can hold these spells." <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: it had two or three interesting objects, but that's it. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It had the same object a dozen times, but with different powers. You get what you pay for, I guess. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

As with this all of these I have seen so far, this product is decent with a large volume of "duplicate" items with only slightly varying abilities. It's not strictly true that the product contains 50 new itmes. It's more like 15 - 20 with most of the others being almost identical with slightly different abilities.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A reasonable amount of fresh ideas for $1. At best, the product sparked an idea of my own, at which point I wrote a completely original item based only loosely on the one in the product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Many of the items are weak. Only a handful are truly original. Most of them are basically duplicates with effects differing only on the element of the effect, the type of creature it affects, etc...<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I bought a bunch of these (most if not all) and like them quite a bit. I'm always on the lookout for interesting magic items that are well made. These fit the bill well. Very reasonably priced as well. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Repetition, repetition, repetition. There are really only about 20 items here. Here's an example:

"Brittle-gem (burning hands)

"This gem is made fragile by the mystic power it contains. It allows its owner to cast a burning hands spell (as described in the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook, Third Edition) as though they were a 14th level wizard. The owner simply crushes the gem in their hand to activate the spell. These gems are quite delicate; care must be taken while transporting them in order to insure that they remain intact until they are required."

Okay, not bad. But then there are TEN MORE brittle-gems with the EXACTLY PRECISELY IDENTICAL language, with only the name of the spell changed... enervation, ghoul touch, and so forth. And then multiple other magic items in the same pattern. (Fuse-gem: bow. Fuse-gem: sword. Etcetera. Six different cursed coins, and each one uses identical language to tell us that you know, it's hard to tell one coin from another.

Come on. Aside from being really tedious to read... some of us print .pdfs, you know. Did this tree have to die? <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The Chalk of Distant Viewing. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A buck for a 13 page .pdf sounds pretty good. A buck for a 13 page .pdf that has only four or five pages of new content... less good.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

As with the other Buck-a-Batch files I've purchased, the quality of ideas runs the gamut from boring to original and interesting.

Cons:

1. Lousy game mechanics. Too often there are no DC's given for an item's ability. Most items do not specify the type of action (standard, free) needed to activate them. Caster levels don't match between the item description and the caster level listed in the item creation specs.
2. The pricing seems pretty out-of-whack, with several items actually cheaper than less powerful items in the DMG.
3. 50 items? Only if you count all the repetitive items listed. For instance, Brittle Gems are basically one-use items similar to potions/scrolls. The author lists 12, the only difference among them being what spell is embedded in the item.

Pros:

1. Ideas. The author seems to be very weak on mechanics, but is strong on flavor. There are some very good items in here. Several just cry out to be used by a thieves' guild or wizard guarding his lair.
2. Value. At a dollar, I just can't knock this product too much. If I can work just a half-dozen of the better items into my campaign, I'll have gotten more than my money's worth.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Some of the ideas are original and have good flavor.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Redundant items. Weak game mechanics.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Its was ok. A lot of the items were gems with spells in them not too horribly creative.

Great value for the price. It's nice to not have my players immediately recognize the items they have just found or been awarded. Very clever stuff.

Really liked this booklet. I'm going to get the rest of them.

I'm a bit confused regarding the Brittle Gems. Their caster level is set at 5, but the item description states the spell is cast as a 14th level wizard. The description also states that they are easy to crush and care must be taken in transport, but it gives no idea how likely they are to break with casual handling. Flavor text, I suppose, but it could be clearer.

The screaming coin does not give any rules effets for its screaming (no listen DCs, no concentration DCs), despite the fact that it is described as "distracting" and it is mentioned that it ruins aim.

I especially like the treasure stealing coin, and the idea of the fuse-gems.

The Assessment Glasses give far too much information out too soon, and I'd prefer an action be given for each bit of information the wearer wants to know, or be updated on. The Paranoia Glasses seem too expensive for a character quirk to roleplay, and the "search glasses" referred to in the description aren't in the document (perhaps in the SRD?)

The Heart of the Sea could be clearer on precisely what aquatic dangers the non-water dweller using the item is immune to (certainly includes drowning, but what about pressure or cold?).

A lot of good interesting items.

Lots of good stuff! A good resource for those DMs who need that something different without having to really work at it!

A LOT of great ideas for gaming for the buck! Great addition to any GM's library.