None So Vile: Disciples of Darkness I - The Ravenous of Agramogg

[SkeletonKey Ed]

Behold the Beast that Devours!

Disciples of Darkness is the first series from Blackdirge Publishing’s None so Vile line, detailing four terrifying devotees of dark and vile deities. Disciples of Darkness kicks off with the ineffable evil of the Ravenous of Agramogg, a horrifying cult devoted to the god of gluttony and cannibalism. This ten level prestige class is guaranteed to please DM’s looking to provide their players with a truly memorable villain, as those blessed by Agramogg slowly transform into a bloated, flesh-gulping monstrosity, hungry for the flesh of sentient creatures.

None so Vile – Disciples of Darkness I: The Ravenous of Agramogg is intended for mature audiences, and features the following.

• A fully detailed write-up of the Ravenous of Agramogg prestige class, including information on their religious practices, motivations, minions, and much more!
• A full stat block and write-up of the dreaded Isked Doomtongue, the most powerful of the ravenous and the high priest of Agramogg’s only temple.
• A detailed write-up of the vile Agramogg himself, including his domains, divine history and dogma.
• All the blasphemous evil you’ve been looking for!

 

[Graywolf-ELM]

Title: None So Vile: Disciples of Darkness I - The Ravenous of Agramogg
Author(s): Aeryn Rudel aka Blackdirge
ISBN: .pdf, no ISBN
Publishers: SkeletonKey games / Blackdirge Publishing

Genre: D&D Fantasy, (Dark Material)
Class: 3rd Edition , OGL, Listed as d20 on rpgnow
Orientation: DM vs Player 95%/5% This product is weighed heavily toward DM use
Length: 13 pages of content, out of 16
Cost: $3.75 at rpgnow for download

Creative Concept: 4.7
The first of what looks to be a 4-part series of Disciples of Darkness PDF documents. Let's hope that they are all as well thought out as this one. A new Diety, Prestige Class, and religion to work into the pantheon of any almost any gaming world. I've seen Blackdirge's work in his thread's on Enworld, and his Articles, you may have as well. There he largely uses templates to match his creative creature backgrounds. Here, that translates to a prestige class that is vile, and disgusting, with background, and a personal touch of creativity. Compare this to Temple of the Troll God, by Fast Forward Entertainment. A little older d20 product which I would consider average. The troll god is a demon, posing as a god. The priests are Trolls with cleric levels, with little additional background to the worship of the god there, nor reason for the trolls to worship. With Agramogg as a Demon/demi-god, there is an evil purpose behind him, and that worship is universally reviled: Cannibalism. There is a similar creature equivalent in MM II, or MM III, fat, with a terrible bite, but it is undead.

Veracity: 4.8
I won't quote the publisher provided description here but I agree with almost everything that is stated. Vile material a la "The Book of Vile Darkness" that appeals to those running a darker campaign, or who want to include something more evil than Hextor, however, maybe not to everyone's gaming style.

Liking/Lacking: 5

- Liked the nearly equal combination of background, and game information versus statistics and game mechanic information. (some would say fluff vs crunch)

- Lacking very little in my estimation. I would have like to have seen a map of the "Citadel of Consumption." The only real church to Agramogg. Not enough to take points away however. When you see good material, you always want more.

Readability: 4.8
The document starts out with a narrative story to introduce a feeling for the material, Followed by a description and statistics for the prestige class. Pages are then devoted to using the prestige class in a game, describing inner workings of the associated cult, the leader of the cult, motivations, and finishing up with the focus of worship. The art work by Erik Nowak is excellent in my opinion, and reflects the flavor of the document very well. The information did not jump around, like say, Mongoose Publishing's "Shaman's The call of the wild" where you have to look multiple places for information on the Spirit Guardians(yeah I'll be reviewing that one).

Fun Factor: 4.7
I've never run or played a Vile, Dark, or horror focused game, but I can find a place for this cult of cannibalism in my gaming world. As a DM, I'd look forward to a story arc completing with a major battle with the head ravenous of Agramogg. As a player, meeting up with one of these horrific favored servants would charge me up to bring about the death of this thing and the whole religion if I could muster the strength. Playing a character with this prestige class could be possible, but wouldn't make sense in anything other than a specialized game.

Overall: 5
If you are looking for something creepy, to have your players wondering what you will come up with next, this is a product for your game. No feats or special abilities from books outside of the core are needed to use this game enhancement. If you play a more wholesome game, where good and evil have their place, and they stay in it, you might want to pass this one by. Additionally, I would happily have paid the list price for this product, and consider it a good value.

Reviewer: Graywolf
PlayTested: No
Obtained: Copy Free to Review

Note: Please bear with me while I settle upon a standard style, this is my first review, and I will be posting my thoughts on many more products. I know... a high rating for my first review, but this sets the standard that I'll hold the rest up to.