Faiths & Pantheons
Things I liked:
* From the full length descriptions of the major deities I have gained a better understanding of how these deities would likely act.
* Lots of information that one can use to flesh out the deities Wizards chose not to flesh out.
* Some very nifty prestige classes I will most likely use in the future with NPCs
Things I didn't like:
* Inconsistant artwork styles, some of which make the deity in question look... less than divine.
* No mention of divine rank for the deities who did not receive a full length treatment.
* The supplimental information for the 'other deities' seems a rehash of the accessory PDF for the campaign sourcebook, with little new information. Almost all of the PCs in my games have these deities as their patrons and I was looking forward to more information about them.
* I would have preferred to see guidelines for devising a 'Chosen of *' template in place of the single template they gave for a Chosen of Bane.
Overall, this is a good buy for those who run/play in games set in Forgotten Realms. I was disappointed on some counts, but others may not feel the same way (especially if they use the major deities more than my groups do). I'm glad to have the book, and I'll use it quite a bit in the future.
* From the full length descriptions of the major deities I have gained a better understanding of how these deities would likely act.
* Lots of information that one can use to flesh out the deities Wizards chose not to flesh out.
* Some very nifty prestige classes I will most likely use in the future with NPCs
Things I didn't like:
* Inconsistant artwork styles, some of which make the deity in question look... less than divine.
* No mention of divine rank for the deities who did not receive a full length treatment.
* The supplimental information for the 'other deities' seems a rehash of the accessory PDF for the campaign sourcebook, with little new information. Almost all of the PCs in my games have these deities as their patrons and I was looking forward to more information about them.
* I would have preferred to see guidelines for devising a 'Chosen of *' template in place of the single template they gave for a Chosen of Bane.
Overall, this is a good buy for those who run/play in games set in Forgotten Realms. I was disappointed on some counts, but others may not feel the same way (especially if they use the major deities more than my groups do). I'm glad to have the book, and I'll use it quite a bit in the future.
Arnwyn
First Post
If you're looking for more info on the "other deities" and most of the PCs in your games have those deities as patrons, why not just get the book 'Powers & Pantheons'? All the information is covered more than enough in that book... It's good that WotC is avoiding the regurgitation of info. (I agree it's a shame that no divine rank is listed for the "other deities". That made me raise an eyebrow when going through it.)
Messageboard Golem
First Post
This is the kind of deities book all campaign settings need. This is darn near everything you need to play a faithful priest of a deity, or make a devout follower. For those who play in truly high-powered campaigns, there's even some deity stats to play with. This book has four chapters, an introduction, and an appendix.
Introduction:
This gives you the definitions of the deities (native and interlopers), explains pantheons, dead gods, and faiths. Then it gives you a run-down of ranks of divine power and diety entries. Essentially it's a mini Deities and Demigods. Useful for statting out the deities that didn't get an expanded write-up.
Chapter 1: Major Deities of Faerun
This is simply an expanded write-up of all the deities that were given a write-up in the campaign sourcebook. Each deity gets a stat-out, and most get avatar write-ups as well. What I particularly liked was how they detailed when the clerics pray for their spells, how they do it, what garments they wear, and other little details. Things like this are important for fleshing out a cleric, and give non-clerical worshiper a place to start. Also included are general temple appearances (if any) and holy days and festivals. This is so comprehensive that one could write out a whole Faerunian calendar and keep track of each holy day if you were so inclined.
Also it gives a section in each write-up about the history and relationships between the dieties. It's a good yardstick for determining which churches are likely to be allied or opposed.
In several places appropriate unique magical items, or oft-used weapon special abilities (not included in the DMG) are included in sidebars.
The majority of the art is quite good. A few (including Lockwood's Sune) are amazing. Another few (inlcuding Chauntea and Silvanus) range from the bad to the mildly disturbing.
Chapter 2: Other Deities of Faerun
These are all the deities that didn't get a write-up in the campaign sourcebook. Now after wondering who the heck is the Red Knight, or wanting to give your non-human deities a little more flair and distinctiveness, you can learn everything you wanted to know.
There's over two dozen lesser-known Faerunian deities, along with the pantheons for the drow, dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, orcs, and the Mulhorandi pantheon. Again, I found these informative and interesting. No stat-outs for these deities, but with a little work with the information supplied in the introduction, you could have one in short order.
However, the art in this chapter is mostly a step down. Very few of the deities have individual pictures. Those that do have individual ones have fairly good pictures (Beshaba's in particular is striking). However, the majority of the pictures are these "group shots". The art ranges from bad to worse. Several pictures are vague and indistinct, looking as if someone smeared the picture or rubbed it with dirt before putting it into the book. Others make the gods look laughable (elven pantheon in particular). The dwarven pantheon is the least offensive of the lot, but that's not saying much.
However, I tend to weigh the book for for the value of it's written content rather than the art. The bad drawings are distracting, but the writing is quite good.
Chapter 3: Places of Worship
This chapter provides three fully fleshed out holy places to drop into any campaign; The Abbey of the Sword (Tempus), the Darkhouse of Saerloon (Shar), and The Wyvernstones of Hullack (Malar). Each write-up includes the history and background of the temple, ceremonies, services, heirarchy (with stat-blocked NPCS), initiation, allies and enemies, a map and descriptions of the rooms, breaking in (either literally or figuratively), adapting the temple, and several plot hooks to get the players involved. A web enhancement on the Wizards website provides for a fourth, The Leaves of Learning (Oghma).
These places are well planned, with a great deal of adventure potential packed into each one. The Abbey, for example, guards several magical portals in the Underdark. The Wyvernstones used to be sacred to Eldath, but are now corrupted by the People of the Black Blood.
Chapter 4: Champions of Faith
Here are 20 prestige classes, each one (aside from the Wearers of Purple) devoted to a particular deity. They are, in a way, specific divine desciples. Putting a cleric with levels of one of the appropriate prestige classes as the main villain of a plot could be quite an eye-opener for the PCs! Particular favorites included the techsmith (Gond) that gives the PC a special contruct under their control, a strange combination of familiar and shield guardian, and the waveservent (Umberlee) that gives the PC the physical characteristics of aquatic creatures.
Also included in this chapter is the template for a Chosen of Bane. Much has been made of the fact that there was no general template for a Chosen. However, each Chosen is so different that making a universal template would be difficult, if not impossible. If you feel the need to have Chosen of a dozen different dieties running around your Realms campaign, go ahead and make them, using the current Chosen templates as a yardstick.
Appendix:
The appendix includes the definition of the divine feats and divine salient abilities. Also included is the Repose domain (for good-aligned death deities), and two new spells (both in the Repose domain). The last couple pages is the table that gives a quick run-down of a deity's name, porfolio, granted domains, etc. Finally, a similar table covers monster deities as well.
(As another useful aside, there's a second web enhancement on the Wizards website that gives some deity dos and donts, along with a table about typical deity manifestations. Very useful, I'd recommend giving it a look.)
Overall this is a well-done book chock-full of information for all your divine needs. A few art gaffs can be forgiven for such fine material.
Introduction:
This gives you the definitions of the deities (native and interlopers), explains pantheons, dead gods, and faiths. Then it gives you a run-down of ranks of divine power and diety entries. Essentially it's a mini Deities and Demigods. Useful for statting out the deities that didn't get an expanded write-up.
Chapter 1: Major Deities of Faerun
This is simply an expanded write-up of all the deities that were given a write-up in the campaign sourcebook. Each deity gets a stat-out, and most get avatar write-ups as well. What I particularly liked was how they detailed when the clerics pray for their spells, how they do it, what garments they wear, and other little details. Things like this are important for fleshing out a cleric, and give non-clerical worshiper a place to start. Also included are general temple appearances (if any) and holy days and festivals. This is so comprehensive that one could write out a whole Faerunian calendar and keep track of each holy day if you were so inclined.
Also it gives a section in each write-up about the history and relationships between the dieties. It's a good yardstick for determining which churches are likely to be allied or opposed.
In several places appropriate unique magical items, or oft-used weapon special abilities (not included in the DMG) are included in sidebars.
The majority of the art is quite good. A few (including Lockwood's Sune) are amazing. Another few (inlcuding Chauntea and Silvanus) range from the bad to the mildly disturbing.
Chapter 2: Other Deities of Faerun
These are all the deities that didn't get a write-up in the campaign sourcebook. Now after wondering who the heck is the Red Knight, or wanting to give your non-human deities a little more flair and distinctiveness, you can learn everything you wanted to know.
There's over two dozen lesser-known Faerunian deities, along with the pantheons for the drow, dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, orcs, and the Mulhorandi pantheon. Again, I found these informative and interesting. No stat-outs for these deities, but with a little work with the information supplied in the introduction, you could have one in short order.
However, the art in this chapter is mostly a step down. Very few of the deities have individual pictures. Those that do have individual ones have fairly good pictures (Beshaba's in particular is striking). However, the majority of the pictures are these "group shots". The art ranges from bad to worse. Several pictures are vague and indistinct, looking as if someone smeared the picture or rubbed it with dirt before putting it into the book. Others make the gods look laughable (elven pantheon in particular). The dwarven pantheon is the least offensive of the lot, but that's not saying much.
However, I tend to weigh the book for for the value of it's written content rather than the art. The bad drawings are distracting, but the writing is quite good.
Chapter 3: Places of Worship
This chapter provides three fully fleshed out holy places to drop into any campaign; The Abbey of the Sword (Tempus), the Darkhouse of Saerloon (Shar), and The Wyvernstones of Hullack (Malar). Each write-up includes the history and background of the temple, ceremonies, services, heirarchy (with stat-blocked NPCS), initiation, allies and enemies, a map and descriptions of the rooms, breaking in (either literally or figuratively), adapting the temple, and several plot hooks to get the players involved. A web enhancement on the Wizards website provides for a fourth, The Leaves of Learning (Oghma).
These places are well planned, with a great deal of adventure potential packed into each one. The Abbey, for example, guards several magical portals in the Underdark. The Wyvernstones used to be sacred to Eldath, but are now corrupted by the People of the Black Blood.
Chapter 4: Champions of Faith
Here are 20 prestige classes, each one (aside from the Wearers of Purple) devoted to a particular deity. They are, in a way, specific divine desciples. Putting a cleric with levels of one of the appropriate prestige classes as the main villain of a plot could be quite an eye-opener for the PCs! Particular favorites included the techsmith (Gond) that gives the PC a special contruct under their control, a strange combination of familiar and shield guardian, and the waveservent (Umberlee) that gives the PC the physical characteristics of aquatic creatures.
Also included in this chapter is the template for a Chosen of Bane. Much has been made of the fact that there was no general template for a Chosen. However, each Chosen is so different that making a universal template would be difficult, if not impossible. If you feel the need to have Chosen of a dozen different dieties running around your Realms campaign, go ahead and make them, using the current Chosen templates as a yardstick.
Appendix:
The appendix includes the definition of the divine feats and divine salient abilities. Also included is the Repose domain (for good-aligned death deities), and two new spells (both in the Repose domain). The last couple pages is the table that gives a quick run-down of a deity's name, porfolio, granted domains, etc. Finally, a similar table covers monster deities as well.
(As another useful aside, there's a second web enhancement on the Wizards website that gives some deity dos and donts, along with a table about typical deity manifestations. Very useful, I'd recommend giving it a look.)
Overall this is a well-done book chock-full of information for all your divine needs. A few art gaffs can be forgiven for such fine material.
Messageboard Golem
First Post
This review is for Faiths and Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd and Erik Mona. Published by Wizards of the Coast, this 224-page Forgotten Realms supplement retails for $32.95 and is only available in hardcover.
Faiths and Pantheons is a follow-up (of sorts) to Deities and Demigods, although it is not absolutely necessary to own the latter in order to understand the terminology in this book. Using roughly the same format as Deities and Demigods, 119 different deities are laid out (although some are more detailed than others). All of these gods are meant to be specific to the Forgotten Realms setting but some do carry names known beyond that particular world.
The section on major deities covers those FR gods who are most familiar to folk such as Azuth, Bane, Helm, Lolth, Mielikki, Mystra, Sune, Tempus, Tymora and so many more. Each of these deities is heavily detailed. Known aliases, symbol, home plane, alignment, portfolio, worshippers, domains and favored weapons are all categorized. What follows is summation and descriptive text about the god including such topics as history/relationships, dogma and details about clergy and temples. Next come the complete game stats of the deity finishing up with a stat block for an avatar.
Minor deities follow in the next chapter and contain much of the same information except for the actual game stats for the deity and its avatar. Those are not given. I realize this was probably done in the interests of saving space for other material, but it would have been nice if all of the deities came with stats rather than a select few. Also covered in this chapter are the racial pantheons. The Drow pantheon covers such gods as Ghaunadaur and Vhaeraun. The dwarven pantheon has Clangeddin Silverbeard, Deep Duerra and Dugmaren Brightmantle to name a few (including Moradin). The elven pantheon lists gods like Corellon Larethian, Hanali, Celanil and Sehanine Moonbow. The gnome pantheon features an ecletic collection including Baravar Cloakshadow, Gaerdal Ironhand and Garl Glittergold. The halfling pantheon covers deities like Sheela Peryroyl, Urogalan and Yondalla. The Mulhorandi pantheon consists of the Egyptian style gods such as Geb, Horus-Re, Isis, Osiris, Set and Thoth. The orc pantheon ends the chapter by discussing Gruumsh, Ilneval, Luthic and others.
Places of worship is the subject of the next chapter. Three temples are fully detailed and ready to be dropped into a campaign. The first temple, the Abbey of the Sword, is dedicated to Tempus. The history of the temple, the types of followers present, the ceremonies, services, hierarchy, initiation, and common enemies and allies are all covered. The temple itself is completely mapped out and comes with a map key. The second temple, the Darkhouse of Saerloom, is a temple devoted to Shar and hidden within a lighthouse. The last temple, the Wyvernstones of Hullack, is an outdoor area corrupted by worshippers of Malar. Each of these temple settings follows the same general format as the first and has great potential for getting a lot of use out of them.
The next chapter, Champions of Faith, covers twenty new prestige classes with each centered on a particular deity or type of religion. The end of the chapter presents a new template, the Chosen of Bane. The prestige classes all are put together well, are balanced, and have some unique flavors. With class names like Domguide, Dreadmaster, Elemental Archon, Heartwarder, Nightcloak, and Stormlord, you get a good feel for the variety of choices.
Lastly, the appendix lists deity feats and salient abilities. There are eleven new feats, descriptions of the salient abilities, a new domain (Repose), two new spells, and a section on monster deities all squeezed into a few pages.
Overall, Faiths and Pantheons is an excellent resource book if you campaign in the Forgotten Realms. The deity descriptions add flavor to the setting and serve to help flesh out both characters and NPCs. The prestige classes, while tailored for Forgotten Realms, have good potential for use in any campaign with some modifications depending on the class. It’s a good book that complements the other FR sourcebooks very well and comes recommended!
To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.
Faiths and Pantheons is a follow-up (of sorts) to Deities and Demigods, although it is not absolutely necessary to own the latter in order to understand the terminology in this book. Using roughly the same format as Deities and Demigods, 119 different deities are laid out (although some are more detailed than others). All of these gods are meant to be specific to the Forgotten Realms setting but some do carry names known beyond that particular world.
The section on major deities covers those FR gods who are most familiar to folk such as Azuth, Bane, Helm, Lolth, Mielikki, Mystra, Sune, Tempus, Tymora and so many more. Each of these deities is heavily detailed. Known aliases, symbol, home plane, alignment, portfolio, worshippers, domains and favored weapons are all categorized. What follows is summation and descriptive text about the god including such topics as history/relationships, dogma and details about clergy and temples. Next come the complete game stats of the deity finishing up with a stat block for an avatar.
Minor deities follow in the next chapter and contain much of the same information except for the actual game stats for the deity and its avatar. Those are not given. I realize this was probably done in the interests of saving space for other material, but it would have been nice if all of the deities came with stats rather than a select few. Also covered in this chapter are the racial pantheons. The Drow pantheon covers such gods as Ghaunadaur and Vhaeraun. The dwarven pantheon has Clangeddin Silverbeard, Deep Duerra and Dugmaren Brightmantle to name a few (including Moradin). The elven pantheon lists gods like Corellon Larethian, Hanali, Celanil and Sehanine Moonbow. The gnome pantheon features an ecletic collection including Baravar Cloakshadow, Gaerdal Ironhand and Garl Glittergold. The halfling pantheon covers deities like Sheela Peryroyl, Urogalan and Yondalla. The Mulhorandi pantheon consists of the Egyptian style gods such as Geb, Horus-Re, Isis, Osiris, Set and Thoth. The orc pantheon ends the chapter by discussing Gruumsh, Ilneval, Luthic and others.
Places of worship is the subject of the next chapter. Three temples are fully detailed and ready to be dropped into a campaign. The first temple, the Abbey of the Sword, is dedicated to Tempus. The history of the temple, the types of followers present, the ceremonies, services, hierarchy, initiation, and common enemies and allies are all covered. The temple itself is completely mapped out and comes with a map key. The second temple, the Darkhouse of Saerloom, is a temple devoted to Shar and hidden within a lighthouse. The last temple, the Wyvernstones of Hullack, is an outdoor area corrupted by worshippers of Malar. Each of these temple settings follows the same general format as the first and has great potential for getting a lot of use out of them.
The next chapter, Champions of Faith, covers twenty new prestige classes with each centered on a particular deity or type of religion. The end of the chapter presents a new template, the Chosen of Bane. The prestige classes all are put together well, are balanced, and have some unique flavors. With class names like Domguide, Dreadmaster, Elemental Archon, Heartwarder, Nightcloak, and Stormlord, you get a good feel for the variety of choices.
Lastly, the appendix lists deity feats and salient abilities. There are eleven new feats, descriptions of the salient abilities, a new domain (Repose), two new spells, and a section on monster deities all squeezed into a few pages.
Overall, Faiths and Pantheons is an excellent resource book if you campaign in the Forgotten Realms. The deity descriptions add flavor to the setting and serve to help flesh out both characters and NPCs. The prestige classes, while tailored for Forgotten Realms, have good potential for use in any campaign with some modifications depending on the class. It’s a good book that complements the other FR sourcebooks very well and comes recommended!
To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.
jollyninja
First Post
faiths and pantheons is a hardcover 223 page forgotten realms suppliment published by wizards of the coast. it retails for $32.95 american. the art inside is colored ranging from good to very good.
the book opens with an introductory chapter covering the basics of understanding the rest of the book. defining new terms thst are prevailant throughout the text and giving some background context to the dieties described. this section basically tells you what you need to know for this book to be of any use to you.
chapter one: Major dieties of faerun, lists and describes the dieties of faerun that are thought to be most integral to the campaign world of faerun in alphabetical order. 30 dieties are given the full treatment in this section which gives the reader a fair description of each faith and gives the stats of each diety with it's full capabilities stated out for use. i would estimate the content being 60% diety stats and 40% details of the faiths that have formed around them.
chapter two: other dieties of faerun describes the other religions out there in faerun. these gods get less description and are not statted. they are not given some of the stats nessisary for you to guage their power in relation to the major players (such as a divine rank). this section also describes the drow, dwarven, elven, gnome, halfling, mulhorandi, and orc pantheons giving the names, portfolios, domains and favored weapons along with a primer for designing a complete religion based on the dieties place within his pantheon. in all this section makes over 90 dieties usable within the forgoten realms.
chapter three: places of worship details a few places on the continent of faerun that serve as "places of worship" to the faithful. some of the religious services that take place within the walls of these temples are described with adventure ideas thrown into the mix along with ways to break into the temples. three such entries are included.
chapter four: champions of the faith is a list of 20 prestige classes involving specific faiths within the pantheon and one template. the appendix follows this chapter details all of the new feats, salient abilities, domains and spells used in the book. a few monster dieties get a small treatment as well.
the book can not help but be useful to anyone running a forgotten realms campaign that does not own some of it's 2e counterparts, even if you do, it does detail some new dieties. others can still find use within the monster and non-human races pantheons. my overall reaction to this book was a positive one as it does go into some territory not reached previously but i felt that it did not give me as much background information on the major dieties as i wanted. it does little to expand on the information in the forgotten reaalms campaign setting and even uses some of the exact same text within the major dieties entries in the first chapter. the focus on dieties as opponents in battle, while not to my taste was well done for it's purpose. in all i found the book to be better then average based on appearance more then content as the symbols representing the faerunian dieties are done with greater detail then ever before and the pictures of the dieties themselves do a great job of representing the dieties. the higher production value of this product made it easyer to read then many titles. as a stand alone book this title has little to offer. if i were to run a forgotten realms campaign, this book would see more use then any but the campaign setting itself. i give it a solid 4 out of 5 because it does exactly what it set out to do and does it in an above average fasion.
the book opens with an introductory chapter covering the basics of understanding the rest of the book. defining new terms thst are prevailant throughout the text and giving some background context to the dieties described. this section basically tells you what you need to know for this book to be of any use to you.
chapter one: Major dieties of faerun, lists and describes the dieties of faerun that are thought to be most integral to the campaign world of faerun in alphabetical order. 30 dieties are given the full treatment in this section which gives the reader a fair description of each faith and gives the stats of each diety with it's full capabilities stated out for use. i would estimate the content being 60% diety stats and 40% details of the faiths that have formed around them.
chapter two: other dieties of faerun describes the other religions out there in faerun. these gods get less description and are not statted. they are not given some of the stats nessisary for you to guage their power in relation to the major players (such as a divine rank). this section also describes the drow, dwarven, elven, gnome, halfling, mulhorandi, and orc pantheons giving the names, portfolios, domains and favored weapons along with a primer for designing a complete religion based on the dieties place within his pantheon. in all this section makes over 90 dieties usable within the forgoten realms.
chapter three: places of worship details a few places on the continent of faerun that serve as "places of worship" to the faithful. some of the religious services that take place within the walls of these temples are described with adventure ideas thrown into the mix along with ways to break into the temples. three such entries are included.
chapter four: champions of the faith is a list of 20 prestige classes involving specific faiths within the pantheon and one template. the appendix follows this chapter details all of the new feats, salient abilities, domains and spells used in the book. a few monster dieties get a small treatment as well.
the book can not help but be useful to anyone running a forgotten realms campaign that does not own some of it's 2e counterparts, even if you do, it does detail some new dieties. others can still find use within the monster and non-human races pantheons. my overall reaction to this book was a positive one as it does go into some territory not reached previously but i felt that it did not give me as much background information on the major dieties as i wanted. it does little to expand on the information in the forgotten reaalms campaign setting and even uses some of the exact same text within the major dieties entries in the first chapter. the focus on dieties as opponents in battle, while not to my taste was well done for it's purpose. in all i found the book to be better then average based on appearance more then content as the symbols representing the faerunian dieties are done with greater detail then ever before and the pictures of the dieties themselves do a great job of representing the dieties. the higher production value of this product made it easyer to read then many titles. as a stand alone book this title has little to offer. if i were to run a forgotten realms campaign, this book would see more use then any but the campaign setting itself. i give it a solid 4 out of 5 because it does exactly what it set out to do and does it in an above average fasion.
negativtoo
First Post
ahem, I think Gen-Lang ist refering to those gods specific to the Faerunian setting, and which are exclusively featured in this setting (and threfore not in Deities and Demigods - guess that is the book you meant as an alternate source ) - starting on page 90 of the book and featuring some old staples like Auril the frostmaiden, Deneir Eldath, Finder Wyvernspur, Hoar, Loviatar, the Red knight and others, many old GM and player favourites. Seems like an astounding oversicht to me, but I could care less - gods being gods, and not entities i would have slogging things out in WWF or "Hercules"-like style.
Messageboard Golem
First Post
Faiths & Pantheons would be a waste of money for most people. Almost all of the important information about human deities has been extensively presented in the Second Edition softcover perfect-bound books, Powers & Pantheons and Faiths & Avatars, with information on non-human deities available in the Second Edition Deities & Demigods (a.k.a. Legends and Lore). Adapting the abilities of the deities to Dungeons & Dragons 3.$ edition stats is fine for those people who run games in which the player characters interact with divine avatars on a regular basis, but for those who leave the gods in their heavens (or home planes), that information is of only incidental importance.
The Second Edition books may all be purchased on Amazon or eBay for a COMBINED price less than the $33 pricetag of this book.
Something which every potential purchaser should be warned of is that the book CLAIMS that it and another previously published book list ALL of the deities of Abeir-Toril (the world of the D & D Forgotten Realms campaign setting). That's a bold-faced lie. The publishers, Wizards of the Coast, have just come out with a new book listing a bunch of new non-human deities, and they are in the process of re-engineering the Forgotten Realms to drastically alter Lolth, the famous spider-queen demon/goddess. This $33 book is ALREADY obsolete in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
There are a few new magical spells and gew-gaws in here and some new prestige classes (which are easy to write and take up lots of space as filler material), but there's not enough of that to justify the exhorbitant price. There are some divine feats and abilities listed, too, but much of the "original" material there is already available in the D & D 3.$ book, Deities and Demigods.
Unless someone is running a Forgotten Realms D &D campaign in which the gods or their avatars are very active participants, a book-buyer's money would be much better spent buying the three second edition books I mentioned and just doing a few mental calculations to adjust the deities for Third Edition. Those three together cost less than this book alone, and provide twice as much information, nearly all of it still relevant to the Forgotten Realms.
The book has almost no use to non-Forgotten Realms D & D campaigns except as a sourcebook from which to derive divine characters for other campaigns.
The art of the book is nice. The overall "look" is nice." The lay-out is comprehensible. Nevertheless, the total of all its virtues is worth far less than its listed price. As a fifteen dollar perfect-bound softcover Faiths & Pantheons would be a good deal. As a $33 hardback it is for die-hards only.
The Second Edition books may all be purchased on Amazon or eBay for a COMBINED price less than the $33 pricetag of this book.
Something which every potential purchaser should be warned of is that the book CLAIMS that it and another previously published book list ALL of the deities of Abeir-Toril (the world of the D & D Forgotten Realms campaign setting). That's a bold-faced lie. The publishers, Wizards of the Coast, have just come out with a new book listing a bunch of new non-human deities, and they are in the process of re-engineering the Forgotten Realms to drastically alter Lolth, the famous spider-queen demon/goddess. This $33 book is ALREADY obsolete in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
There are a few new magical spells and gew-gaws in here and some new prestige classes (which are easy to write and take up lots of space as filler material), but there's not enough of that to justify the exhorbitant price. There are some divine feats and abilities listed, too, but much of the "original" material there is already available in the D & D 3.$ book, Deities and Demigods.
Unless someone is running a Forgotten Realms D &D campaign in which the gods or their avatars are very active participants, a book-buyer's money would be much better spent buying the three second edition books I mentioned and just doing a few mental calculations to adjust the deities for Third Edition. Those three together cost less than this book alone, and provide twice as much information, nearly all of it still relevant to the Forgotten Realms.
The book has almost no use to non-Forgotten Realms D & D campaigns except as a sourcebook from which to derive divine characters for other campaigns.
The art of the book is nice. The overall "look" is nice." The lay-out is comprehensible. Nevertheless, the total of all its virtues is worth far less than its listed price. As a fifteen dollar perfect-bound softcover Faiths & Pantheons would be a good deal. As a $33 hardback it is for die-hards only.
GlassJaw
Hero
I don't think this is a very good review at all. I also hesitate to call it a review. This seems to be more of a rant against WotC, as indicated by comments such as "3.$", "bold-faced lie", and "exhorbitant price". i agree that price one factor in determining the value of a book but F&P is similar to most hardcover books out there.
"This $33 book is ALREADY obsolete in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting."
Considering that F&P came out some time ago before th recent Spider Queen developments, I don't think this is a fair assessment.
"There are a few new magical spells and gew-gaws in here and some new prestige classes (which are easy to write and take up lots of space as filler material)"
Easy to write and filler material? Hmm. I found the PrC's very creative and unique and almost of all them useful as either PC's or NPC's. I'm a big fan of deity-specific PrC's and almost all of the delivered. The Auspician PrC, which is based on fate and luck, is a personal favorite. The PrC's are also easily adapatable to non-FR worlds as well.
I will agree that the book is less useful to non-FR players. As an FR player and DM, I find F&P to invaluable. It one of the most common books I grab when I'm working on material for my campaign. It's equally useful for a player in the Realms as well. I would rate it at least a 4 for FR players and maybe a 3 or 3.5 for non.
"This $33 book is ALREADY obsolete in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting."
Considering that F&P came out some time ago before th recent Spider Queen developments, I don't think this is a fair assessment.
"There are a few new magical spells and gew-gaws in here and some new prestige classes (which are easy to write and take up lots of space as filler material)"
Easy to write and filler material? Hmm. I found the PrC's very creative and unique and almost of all them useful as either PC's or NPC's. I'm a big fan of deity-specific PrC's and almost all of the delivered. The Auspician PrC, which is based on fate and luck, is a personal favorite. The PrC's are also easily adapatable to non-FR worlds as well.
I will agree that the book is less useful to non-FR players. As an FR player and DM, I find F&P to invaluable. It one of the most common books I grab when I'm working on material for my campaign. It's equally useful for a player in the Realms as well. I would rate it at least a 4 for FR players and maybe a 3 or 3.5 for non.
Psion
Adventurer
First off, I don't agree in hitting a campaign specific book for it's utility to people who don't play the campaign.
Second, while you have some worthwhile comparisons, I do agree that the emotive language makes it seem rather trollish and it has to go. To wit:
- "3.$"
- "Bold faced lie"
- "Waste of money"
This is not a forum post; if you can't post an even handed review without emoting, I would rather you not post at all. Please edit your review to take your trollish jabs out or I will be forced to remove the review.
-Psion, reviews moderator
Second, while you have some worthwhile comparisons, I do agree that the emotive language makes it seem rather trollish and it has to go. To wit:
- "3.$"
- "Bold faced lie"
- "Waste of money"
This is not a forum post; if you can't post an even handed review without emoting, I would rather you not post at all. Please edit your review to take your trollish jabs out or I will be forced to remove the review.
-Psion, reviews moderator
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