Book of the Righteous Dethroned!
- Thread starter JoeGKushner
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CRGreathouse
Community Supporter
Well, that's my review. I'm sorry to disappoint, but after some time I decided I just couldn't let the book stay uncommented, and my comment turned into a review -- so I thought I'd post it.
When I first finished reading it, I was so deeply disappointed that I would have rated it a 1. With time I mellowed, and saw that it did have the occasional good feature, so I gave it a 2. This was purely out of theoretical generosity: I haven't been able to use *any* aspect of the book in my game, nor did I even enjoy reading it.
Frankly, the best part of the book (by far!) is the excellent cover. The rest was useless to me. In fact, if not for the cover, I'd have sold it for $2 + shipping on EBay long ago.
When I first finished reading it, I was so deeply disappointed that I would have rated it a 1. With time I mellowed, and saw that it did have the occasional good feature, so I gave it a 2. This was purely out of theoretical generosity: I haven't been able to use *any* aspect of the book in my game, nor did I even enjoy reading it.
Frankly, the best part of the book (by far!) is the excellent cover. The rest was useless to me. In fact, if not for the cover, I'd have sold it for $2 + shipping on EBay long ago.
the Jester
Legend
IIRC, CRGreathouse posted a thread discussing this a few days ago. He was aware that his review might generate considerable controversy.
It all boils down to different strokes for different folks, I guess- I wouldn't get much use out of it either, from the sounds of his review.
It all boils down to different strokes for different folks, I guess- I wouldn't get much use out of it either, from the sounds of his review.
CRGreathouse
Community Supporter
the Jester said:
Your memory serves admirably. I did post such a thread on Meta, since I suspected it would cause a firestorm. I discussed the review with Crothian (one of the review mods), and even gave him a preview copy.
I'd be happy to answer questions about my review, if anyone's concerned.
Crothian
First Post
Ya, its good to get a negative review of such a popular product. It will hopefully allow people to see all sides of the book and help them make their choice to get it or not. It has been a very popular book, but there has been a few people who were not that happy with the book and its great to get a review from one of them. Thank you!! 
Psion
Adventurer
It's been "dethroned" before -- by ranty non-reviews that didn't fit the guidelines.
Seeing the author, I knew this one would probably stick.
Depending on the way you mean that, that doesn't sound too valid to me. It reminds of when Bramadan panned LoH because it didn't fit his exacting mythology. That's not a value judgement, AFAIAC.
A question I would have is: if you didn't have a pantheon of deities or cosmology, would this book be of use to you? Whether it fits the exact circumstances of your game are sort of secondary and not really making too strong a case that it's a "bad book", per se.
Seeing the author, I knew this one would probably stick.
Depending on the way you mean that, that doesn't sound too valid to me. It reminds of when Bramadan panned LoH because it didn't fit his exacting mythology. That's not a value judgement, AFAIAC.
A question I would have is: if you didn't have a pantheon of deities or cosmology, would this book be of use to you? Whether it fits the exact circumstances of your game are sort of secondary and not really making too strong a case that it's a "bad book", per se.
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CRGreathouse
Community Supporter
Psion said:
At the time I bought the book, I didn't have a set-in-stone pantheon, so I hoped to add many/most of their gods directly into my campaign world. I was told the information on using gods in your world would be useful in designing mine. I thought that the prestige classes could be used (without serial numbers), and that the holy warrior could be used directly.
I thought that the creation mythos would be useful, since at the time I didn't have one. I hoped the section on evil gods and cults would inspire me, giving me plot ideas even if I didn't take anything wholesale.
Generally, I bought this book because I heard good things about it and wanted to buy books that would help me make a pantheon and cosmology. All I can say is that two years later, I haven't used a single class, prestige class, item, backstory, spell, or monster from the BotR. I *almost* used one of their domains -- but ended up doing nothing more than typing it up and finding it didn't fit as closely as I wanted.
CRGreathouse
Community Supporter
As an aside, this isn't the bulk of my argument -- just a stray sentence explaining that I didn't get anything from it. Most of my review focuses on mechanical and descriptive irregularities, not the subjective 'how did I like it'. The purpose of the sentence was to demonstrate that I wasn't giving it a low score needlessly -- it shows in nonsubjective language that it wasn't good for me.
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