I haven't started this book before now because it is a pretty intimidating book; it is 256 pages long. I have great expectations for this book and I hope that is doesn't let me down.

The Alchemist is for those of you who love playing a wizard but wanted an easier way to create, develop, and deploy your spells. For example, the spell Fireball : an Alchemist would find some chemicals that he could section off inside a coconut. Then this could be launched at the enemies, doing Fireball damage. They can get as creative as designing a pill that, when taken orally, would transform you into another player character. The best thing about these alchemist skills is that they aren't magic and can't be dismissed using anti-magic fields and such. They also ignore SR.

Some negatives : I have found one place where they forget a section of text that explains an ability. Also the pictures in the book range from really good stuff to some that look like little kids' drawings. Also, the pictures aren't labeled, making them hard to match up with the text.

I went to the publisher's web site (http://www.alderac.com/d20/products.html) - they have an update booklet for Mercenaries, but the only update is on the Tattoo Mage class.

They have some really cool feats. For instance, Dislocation gives you the ability to make your enemies' limbs go dead. Also, feats that let you cast an extra spell per day... With 70 feats you are bond to find some that get you all hot and bothered inside...

This book seems to have its act together. It has a chart that tells you how much available gold there is to trade in certain sized towns^[1]. So, in a village, there is only 200 gold. I think that this is a great idea, just one of the many little twists that they have placed in this book. Plus, they also have exchange rates. This book is all about the GOLD...

They also have every thief's dream: a small weapon that does 1D8 damage. Mounts that can fly, prices for buying whole towns, buying hirelings, buying ships, and getting tattoos. Clerics can pick from a wide range of domains, from fear to domination.

Now, never having been a mercenary, I can tell you that this book is well on its way to helping me develop some great character concepts. There a whole chapter on getting merc jobs, and how to negotiate them. And guess what, they have charts for morale save bonuses and penalties.

One of the highlights of the book is a random merc creation chart. It gives you alignment, skills, negative traits, armor, triggers, and physical traits. Imagine 100 different adventure ideas^[2], well this book has it. It is also equipped with ready to use NPCs that are fleshed out nicely. Now, don't go thinking that these are free, they come with a fee just like everything else. This book is also filled with plenty of prestige classes.

The Glass Dagger... This is a weapon after a DM's own heart. It does normal damage when it hits, but once it hits it disappears into the ethereal plane. It can't even be wished out. The only way would be to dispel it, but then it breaks, unleashing a deadly poison that kills the victim. Did I forget to mention that the wound it inflicts is still there, and it bleeds, and you can't be healed from it?

Well, this book at first held nothing special for me, but the more I got into it the better it became. I really like this book, and I can't wait to play it. I'm definitely going to use this book to give my own characters a great edge. I think that my initial thoughts were wrong. I should have put more faith into it... I really like the fact that this book makes it all about the gold.

Kender
"Gold is OK, marbles are better!"

Editor's Notes
^[1] Similar information is provided in the Dungeon Master's Guide, v3.5.
^[2] A chart of 100 adventure ideas is also presented in the Dungeon Master's Guide, v3.5.