Is the book of eldritch might any good?

[Braininthejar2]

I found a mention of it while looking for spells for my NPCs.

What is the general opinion? Is it worth a shot?

[Pluto!]

Not really. The first two are pretty bland takes on Complete Arcane.

The first is just just another one of the "Complete X" styled piles of character options like feats, magic items, PrCs, spells, etc. It's fine - if you have it at the table, you might find one reasonable piece of gear to put in a dungeon's loot, and a player might find a spell or two worth learning - but, as usual with Monte Cook, the content is extremely mechanically bland.

The second goes on in the same vein as the first, but this time dedicates a lot of ink to a Bard variant and a Sorcerer nerf. The Bard variant trades out spellcasting for a convoluted song mechanic that, as far as I remember, is still pretty much just spellcasting, but with much weaker effects. The Sorcerer "variant" takes the core Sorc/Wiz spell list, shrinks it slightly, and shifts a bunch of the spells up a level. Then there are the same sorts of random items/spells/PrCs as the first, but again, they're all pretty weak and pretty dull.

I didn't read the third. It looked like it's just a miniature campaign setting/adventure hooks.

[digiman619]

Not really. The first two are pretty bland takes on Complete Arcane.

The first is just just another one of the "Complete X" styled piles of character options like feats, magic items, PrCs, spells, etc. It's fine - if you have it at the table, you might find one reasonable piece of gear to put in a dungeon's loot, and a player might find a spell or two worth learning - but, as usual with Monte Cook, the content is extremely mechanically bland.

The second goes on in the same vein as the first, but this time dedicates a lot of ink to a Bard variant and a Sorcerer nerf. The Bard variant trades out spellcasting for a convoluted song mechanic that, as far as I remember, is still pretty much just spellcasting, but with much weaker effects. The Sorcerer "variant" takes the core Sorc/Wiz spell list, shrinks it slightly, and shifts a bunch of the spells up a level. Then there are the same sorts of random items/spells/PrCs as the first, but again, they're all pretty weak and pretty dull.

I didn't read the third. It looked like it's just a miniature campaign setting/adventure hooks.

Well of course it nerfs the Sorcerer; Monte Cook hates them, as they impugn what was always supposed to be the the most balanced class, the Wizard. Because previous editions were far too limiting on what a Wizard obviously should be able to do.

[Braininthejar2]

So, bland? Nothing particularly interesting but nothing broken overpowered either?

[arclance]

I have a copy of "The Complete Book of Eldritch Might" I got in a very under priced lot of 3.5 books years ago.
The item section is no better and no worse than any 3.5 book, some things are good but a lot of it its not worth spending gold on.
Off hand I remember the Tentacle Blade

The blade of this +1 greatsword is mounted on a long, retractable tendril that fits into the sword’s hilt.
At the wielder’s mental command, this tendril can extend, whiplike, giving the greatsword an additional 5-foot reach.
Cost 2,350 gp
I always kind of wanted to make a Warblade who used one.

Some of the wondrous items are noticeably good.
Amulet of the Arcanist (+2 to save DC of arcane spells you cast), Glass Rose (holder cannot be scried and their thoughts cannot be detected), Mirror of Vanity (Slotless +2, +4, or +6 Enhancement Bonus to CHA), Star of Blood (One use only | Kill another character of the same level as a dead character to cast true resurrection on the dead character | Price: 7,000gp), Wandwrap (wands of spells with no xp cost use charges from the wandwrap if the wandwrap is wrapped around them not from the wand. starts with 50 charges).

Also of note is that there is a Prestige Class literally named Diplomancer.
The prestige class section is full of half casters with "interesting" abilities so it might be of interest if Iron Chef ever finds a need to use third party prestige classes.

There are some good spells there as well like "Window to Elsewhere" which is a one way dimension door like divination spell that targets an area not a person.

If you know you would be allowed to use the content and you get a copy cheap it might be worth reading through it but I would not put much work in seeking it out since a lot of the content is not worth using.

[Nousos]

My comments are based on the Complete Book of Eldritch might, that combines books 1 and 2.

As has been said, the classes are pretty dull. Glancing through it again, I went "Huh that's neat" to a few abilities, but then noticed the rest of the features the class gets can be replicated with the spell levels they lose. If you put all of Monte Cook's books in one campaign and exclusively used them, they might be interesting or worth it.

Feat section has a few gems, the lace spell line grants free metamagic style effects to your spells with limitations; such as the ability to temporarily dispel fire resistance on a target as part of a fireball casting, to note the book's example. Getting 20% more damage on spells against a chosen creature type is nice for blasters.

The new mechanic is something that has to be a large part of your setting if its used, and the spell section is huge, mostly under powered spells, but some useful effects. Skimming through it, I noticed one that can paralyze a target for one round with no save, and there's most likely a few strong similar examples in there.

I usually like his monster sections, and this is no exception. All in all its a mixed bag, mostly things you won't remember but some you will enjoy using if its allowed.