User:MisterSinister/TOToM (3.5e Sourcebook)/Introduction

Why Should I Bother with this Sourcebook?
Not all spells, magic items, or even spell-using classes, are born equal. Some spells, most of them in fact, are placed on weird non-linear, non-logical scales which puts a spell like fireball at the same level as stinking cloud, despite them not being even close to each other in power. A lot of other spells are needlessly repeated, such as the cure and inflict lines of spells, and many others are horrendously unclear or very strange in their effects. Magic items, on the other hand, range from incredibly vital to totally useless, and with standard Wealth By Level being incredibly favourable to some classes and not others. Additionally, the charging of gold for them makes strip-mining the setting a good thing, and large dragon hoards a bad one. As for spell-using classes, just compare the warmage to the cleric. 'Nuff said, methinks.

This is clearly not something anybody wanted or intended, but unfortunately, it has ended up this way. This is where this supplement comes in. It's aim is to make magic less weird, easier to use, more balanced overall, and more workable and clear. Additionally, it aims to make magic items something interesting and special again, and makes sure nobody gets left out.

Integration with other Tomes
This sourcebook is designed to work together with the Tome of Prowess, and those who do not want to use the Tome of Prowess skill rules are directed to Chapter 5: Variants and Variations. Additionally, the rules here are suitable for use in games using the Frank and K Tomes, but some classes may need adjusting to take these changes into account.

Credit where Credit's Due
Firstly, credit needs to go to Frank Trollman and K. Without their work, this would never have even gotten started.

Secondly, all of the people who worked on the Spell Relevelling Project, which eventually grew into The Other Tome of Magic need thanking too. These include, but are not limited to, ubernoob/Archerpwr, Tshern and veekie. Let me know if I missed you out!

Lastly, all of the folks on this wiki - thank you!

A Note on Notation
Whenever this sourcebook uses $\|brown text\|$, it is referring to rules material. This is done to make everything easier to parse, and allows for faster reading of the content if rules, rather than the explanations behind them, are required.