#30 Manuals of Improvement by Mike Welham is a role playing game supplement published by Rite Publishing for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a 15-page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $2.95 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Open Game License and two pages are ads.
The supplement starts with a few brief, in-character paragraphs about how there are powerful magical books that improve base attributes (this would be such as the manual of bodily health, a staple for years) and that there are other manuals that are less powerful, but still useful, as they improve trained skills, increase aptitudes and grant special abilities. A sidebar explains that each book is single use.
This is followed by the 30 manuals in alphabetical order. Only, there are actually 90 of them. The titles of the manuals are often more descriptive than perfectly serious. Each manual follows a standard wondrous item layout for their value, creating them etc. There is an introductory paragraph describing each book, then every single one comes in three versions, Elementary, Advanced and Expert. Each version is a different book with a different, increasing, cost and has different effects.
The manuals cover a wide range of class abilities, classes, skills and feats; not every class is covered but many of them are, plus there are all the manuals that will cover a range of classes. The manuals have differing study times and different requirements to actually be able to use them; the more valuable the manual, the longer the study time and the more stringent the basic requirements.
#30 Manuals of Improvement in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, but the manuals are not individually linked, only ranges of the alphabet. Still, for a short supplement, navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and appeared to be free of error. There are a number of black and white illustrations, either stock or public domain. Presentation is okay.
The supplement does have a nice range of manuals on a wide range of topics in it. Sure, there could be more classes covered (which might be why a sequel was made) but getting 90 books for the price of 30 is still a good deal. The differing levels for the manuals might be related, but the effects can also be noticeably different. #30 Manuals of Improvement is a nice collection of manuals to add to a game and it can be found by clicking here.
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