Official(!?) Magical Code of Regulation

Recently, in a random search on Amazon, I stumbled over this rather hefty book. The hardcover version totals about 500 pages and it is massive.

This tome is the product of the fevered imagination of a retired Internal Revenue Service auditor, who decided to compose a rule book regulating the magical arts in a fantasy world. The author is Charles Frigo, the title is "The Magical Code of Regulation".

This book is intended for the bureaucrat who plays D&D and who enjoys inflicting numerous regulatory reprimands on spell casters whose aim is often off target (a wizard who drops a Fireball in a 10 foot by 10 foot space to kill four stirges, for example). This book is also for the rules lawyer who needs yet another set of rules and codes to lecture others about the "correct" use of a specific spell.

As a retired bureaucrat myself, I found this book to be rather ludicrous, it is almost in the same category of satirical wit as "Gulliver's Travels".

This tome is definitely NOT for everyone. It is a a work of satirical wit that demonstrates just about how far a bureaucrat will go, and can go, to regulate even a fantasy topic to death. (Also, wear steel toe boots if you decide to read this tome while standing up; if this tome slips from your hands, it could fracture your toe bones).

Sounds like you should also wear a back support and lift with your knees.

And use caution before inflicting it on a group of unsuspecting gamers lest they decide to throw the book at you.

That sounds awesome! Ed Greenwood put out a Realms Lote Newsletter about magic regulation within the Realms. He made it more of a city by city thing but I could see, based on his Newsletter, guilds hiring bureaucrats to regulate magic outside of civilization proper or to hunt down, fine or even apprehend errant casters.

Got a link to the book?