Other D&D Variant Castles&Crusades: Codex Exaltum and Codex Infernum

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I have been going through Troll Lords' latest releases for their Castles&Crusades game, the Codex Exaltum and the Codex Infernum, and I think they are great! I remember angelic/celestial beings back in the 2e days when I was a kid, but we never did much with them at the table. Devils and demons were endemic. In Dragon Magazine #75, from 1983, there was an article called "The Nine Hells Part I"that has stayed with me over the decades. Written by Ed Greenwood, it was my first entrance to the horrors of the Hells, and to this day it sparks my imagination. While these new books are definitely written for C&C, there is a great deal of system-neutral information about things like possession, the hierarchies of angels, and how to use these powers and principalities (to quote a book...) at your table. The art work is fabulous: really evocative stuff about how freaking strange angels are, and how horrifying the infernals are. Highly recommended!

(I've uploaded three pictures from my laptop. I am hoping (?) seeing them isn't a problem since I gather it can be hard for people in the UK to view certain kinds of media on these forums?)

...i've been chewing on the prospect of these books for a few weeks (have all the fifth-edition airdhe books in my library) but unlike the codex of airdhe expansions, in the end i couldn't quite convince myself that they were sufficiently system neutral, so last night i ordered green ronin's book of the righteous + book of fiends instead...

 

[nevin]

Yes, but are they good? The introduction to the Codex seems to take a very hard-edged and cynical view of Celestials.

Black and White is a hard place to walk for a mortal. Also think of it like this. Are you going to call the police and admit your accidental crimes to get some help for the mess you got in? Every mortal has sinned at some point. Many of those sins the mortal probably refuses to believe are sins. Then you call an Angel and ask for help. It's a lot like calling the Police and admitting your crimes. Hope the one who shows up is a nice guy and willing to work with you for the greater good. But it could just turn out he decides to judge you and make sure you understand your sins.