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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nail" data-source="post: 2009874" data-attributes="member: 224">review of The Book of the Righteousby Aaron J Loeb, Green Ronin PublishingISBN: 0-971438-06-4MSRP: $39.95hard-cover, 320 pgs, good TOC, good indexWhy'd I buy it?I've been looking for material to spruce up the religious aspect of my campaign.  Clerics and Paladins seems to be rife with role playing opportunity and adventure hooks, and yet the material I've seen so far was lacking (like WotC: <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Nail&product=DefotFai" target="_blank">Defenders of the Faith</a>).  I was especially interested in the "Holy Warrior" new core class and in how a "complete description of each god's church" would look like.  I was not disappointed...in fact, I was very pleasantly surprised.OverviewThis book can be used in many different ways: it's a complete patheon and mythology of gods, it's a "pick-and-choose" box of common gods plus detailed churches, and it's a "do-it-yerself" tool-kit for making the gods of your campaign world relevant to your players.  It succeeds at all of these things...and if you think about it, that's pretty amazing.The book prose is tight and entertaining.  Rule changes are clearly spelled out, and are repeated where relevant.  The game mechanics seem simple and balanced (although I've not yet play-tested it myself).  (And a further note to all of those crunch-lovers out there, like me: There are game mechanics in here where there needs to be.)  Overall, a very well written and insightful book.The Complete Pantheon and MythologyI loved reading this section -- it reminded me of Greek, Norse, and Native American myth.  It's good story, and it tempts me to include it, lock, stock, and barrel, into my home brew campaign.  And it's probably pliable enough for me to tweak it here and there and then do just that.Plug n' Play gods and their churchesWhat I'm more likely to do, however, is take the gods and their churches out and plug them in where they fit into my existing home-brew.  The book gives quite a bit of help for this sort of thing.  The churches are well laid out, and yet they can be self-contained; that is, the churches don't wholy depend on the mythology presented in the book.  Useful, that.Kudos, BTW, on the structure of the book with respect to churches, clerics, "paladins", and new PrC.  It's all wrapped up in a seamless whole, so that the relationships between the clerics, "paladins" (holy warriors, a superior concept, IMO), and the secret orders (PrCs) is believable and very playable.  Makes me (almost!) want to play a goody-two-shoes Holy Warrior.Cosmography Tool-kit (or "how the gods, the universe's creation, and the Planes of Existence fit together")The thing this book is best at, IMO, is how it opens up Myth and the Gods for you to tinker with.  Paired with the excellent WotC offering, Manual of the Planes, I'm not sure there's anything else you need to come up with a compelling and logical cosmography.  How the universe is created => how the gods act => how their churches are structured => how PC clerics et al. act.   It's all there, so that if the PC asks....well, he'll get at least one answer....******************************************Conclusion<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Production: 5 - Excellent.  Fonts, headers, and spacing is very good.  Layout and organization is excellent.  I was very happy with both the table of Contents and the index.  Note to publishers: this is how it should be done for all products! Art:  4 - Good.  The art work quality is good, most of the time, and the art work is very topical to the text on the page. Game Mechanics: 5 - Excellent.  The new core class (Holy Warrior) is expecially good. "Cool" Factor: 5- Excellent.  Even the name is good (shout "Book of the Righteous!" a couple o' times...you'll get what I mean).  The mythology and churches are especially inspiring.</li> </ul>Overall: 5 - Excellent.  If you are a DM with a home-brew world, you're a fool for not having this book.  It's that good.</blockquote>

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