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Deities and Demigods
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<blockquote data-quote="Listlurker" data-source="post: 2009380" data-attributes="member: 9943"><p>Unfortunately, the new "Deities and Demigods" isn't all that good, and I really can't recommend it. Well, rather, I can only recommend it if you have a very specific kind of role for deities in you campaign world.</p><p></p><p>Basically, "Deities and Demigods" takes a very first-edition approach to fantasy gods -- the deities are presented as mega-characters, all statted out with skills, feats, abilities, and powers. They're basically 20HD Outsiders with umpty-ump levels of "divine rank" tacked on thereafter. This works if you view D&D deities as simply "mega-monsters" to be met, interacted with, and perhaps (temporarily) slain once your PCs are of high enough level to accomplish such things. Me, I don't see it this way. I think that the "detailed stats" approach to in-game deities makes them mundane somehow, and that it takes away from the *story* function of deities in a fantasy tale. I don't see game deities as merely mega-NPCs, I see them as *functions of the game world*, and of the players' epic story.</p><p></p><p>There's very little in this book about what it *means* for a character to follow a specific, listed deity in-game; likewise, except for a few maps and some notes, there's very little here about temples, or about the nature of these specific fantasy religions, beyond what can already be found in the Player's Handbook. The whole thing comes across, to me, as some kind of bizarre Epic-Level "monster book", instead of as a guide to these fantasy deities for players and DMs alike. I really do think that WotC dropped the ball on this one.</p><p></p><p>Besides the contestable interpretation of D&D game gods as Epic NPCs, I feel that the "Deities and Demigods" book suffers in other ways. The major pantheon featured herein is 3E's default Greyhawk pantheon -- but as I said above, beyond huge stat-blocks for these gods, there's not much useful detail listed -- especially for people who want to play clerics, or for DMs who want to flesh out these religions in their fantasy world. In addition, the 3E deities listed are nearly exclusively only the major human ones, except for the obvious non-human "stars" like Corellon Larethian, Moradin, Gruumsh, or Lolth.</p><p></p><p>If you want more of the non-human folks, you're better off buying the "Faiths & Pantheons" softcover for the Forgotten Realms. Also, make sure you download the "Faiths and Pantheons" free Web Enhancement from the WotC website -- you'll find that many of the "other or minor gods" from D&D are cited in this PDF, listed with basic 3E details such as Domains.</p><p></p><p>Beyond the featured Greyhawk gods, "Deities and Demigods" also includes writeups for the historically-based Olympian (Greek), Pharaonic (Egyptian), and Asgardian (Norse) pantheons -- but again, each of these entries seems like only a brief, incomplete summarization (probably because the detailed stat-blocks take up so much room in the book), and while there are a couple of new additions and interpretive twists on the mythic gods here, there's still nothing much offered to assist world-detailing DMs or would-be cleric characters.</p><p></p><p>The book ends with examples of original deities created using the "deity and pantheon" creation rules from the front of the text. Yes, these rules provide details on godly abilities, powers, feats, and skills in the D&D game, but once again, all this is only useful if you *want* your fantasy gods to be statted out like some elaborate high-level NPC or monster. You have to decide whether, beyond details of Domains and dogma, you want the deities in your campaign to be so minutely mapped out -- and constrained -- by the information presented here. After all, Chapter 2 is titled "Deities Defined", and while the feats and powers and so forth listed in this chapter *are* interesting, do you really prefer your game's deities to be as precisely mapped as PC wizard's spell slots? I say no, but I do realize that this is ultimately a question of how a particular DM sees the role and the function of deities in his or her fantasy game.</p><p></p><p>On the upside, I can say that "Deities and Demigods" has some really nice artwork in places (W. Reynolds is very talented), and that there are guidelines for the apotheosis (divine ascension) of PCs, which are useful.</p><p></p><p>Overall, however, I feel that the newest edition of "Deities & Demigods" is a weak, incomplete book, and not terribly useful unless a DM wants his or her game gods as stat-blocked, Epic NPCs.</p><p></p><p>For those of you who want a more character-focussed, campaign-driven take on fantasy deities, I would suggest that you take a look at "The Book of the Righteous" from Green Ronin Publishing, and leave "Deities and Demigods" on the shelf.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Listlurker, post: 2009380, member: 9943"] Unfortunately, the new "Deities and Demigods" isn't all that good, and I really can't recommend it. Well, rather, I can only recommend it if you have a very specific kind of role for deities in you campaign world. Basically, "Deities and Demigods" takes a very first-edition approach to fantasy gods -- the deities are presented as mega-characters, all statted out with skills, feats, abilities, and powers. They're basically 20HD Outsiders with umpty-ump levels of "divine rank" tacked on thereafter. This works if you view D&D deities as simply "mega-monsters" to be met, interacted with, and perhaps (temporarily) slain once your PCs are of high enough level to accomplish such things. Me, I don't see it this way. I think that the "detailed stats" approach to in-game deities makes them mundane somehow, and that it takes away from the *story* function of deities in a fantasy tale. I don't see game deities as merely mega-NPCs, I see them as *functions of the game world*, and of the players' epic story. There's very little in this book about what it *means* for a character to follow a specific, listed deity in-game; likewise, except for a few maps and some notes, there's very little here about temples, or about the nature of these specific fantasy religions, beyond what can already be found in the Player's Handbook. The whole thing comes across, to me, as some kind of bizarre Epic-Level "monster book", instead of as a guide to these fantasy deities for players and DMs alike. I really do think that WotC dropped the ball on this one. Besides the contestable interpretation of D&D game gods as Epic NPCs, I feel that the "Deities and Demigods" book suffers in other ways. The major pantheon featured herein is 3E's default Greyhawk pantheon -- but as I said above, beyond huge stat-blocks for these gods, there's not much useful detail listed -- especially for people who want to play clerics, or for DMs who want to flesh out these religions in their fantasy world. In addition, the 3E deities listed are nearly exclusively only the major human ones, except for the obvious non-human "stars" like Corellon Larethian, Moradin, Gruumsh, or Lolth. If you want more of the non-human folks, you're better off buying the "Faiths & Pantheons" softcover for the Forgotten Realms. Also, make sure you download the "Faiths and Pantheons" free Web Enhancement from the WotC website -- you'll find that many of the "other or minor gods" from D&D are cited in this PDF, listed with basic 3E details such as Domains. Beyond the featured Greyhawk gods, "Deities and Demigods" also includes writeups for the historically-based Olympian (Greek), Pharaonic (Egyptian), and Asgardian (Norse) pantheons -- but again, each of these entries seems like only a brief, incomplete summarization (probably because the detailed stat-blocks take up so much room in the book), and while there are a couple of new additions and interpretive twists on the mythic gods here, there's still nothing much offered to assist world-detailing DMs or would-be cleric characters. The book ends with examples of original deities created using the "deity and pantheon" creation rules from the front of the text. Yes, these rules provide details on godly abilities, powers, feats, and skills in the D&D game, but once again, all this is only useful if you *want* your fantasy gods to be statted out like some elaborate high-level NPC or monster. You have to decide whether, beyond details of Domains and dogma, you want the deities in your campaign to be so minutely mapped out -- and constrained -- by the information presented here. After all, Chapter 2 is titled "Deities Defined", and while the feats and powers and so forth listed in this chapter *are* interesting, do you really prefer your game's deities to be as precisely mapped as PC wizard's spell slots? I say no, but I do realize that this is ultimately a question of how a particular DM sees the role and the function of deities in his or her fantasy game. On the upside, I can say that "Deities and Demigods" has some really nice artwork in places (W. Reynolds is very talented), and that there are guidelines for the apotheosis (divine ascension) of PCs, which are useful. Overall, however, I feel that the newest edition of "Deities & Demigods" is a weak, incomplete book, and not terribly useful unless a DM wants his or her game gods as stat-blocked, Epic NPCs. For those of you who want a more character-focussed, campaign-driven take on fantasy deities, I would suggest that you take a look at "The Book of the Righteous" from Green Ronin Publishing, and leave "Deities and Demigods" on the shelf. [/QUOTE]
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