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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009458" data-attributes="member: 18387">Ok since my first attempt at a review got shot down(quite fairly though for being more of a comment), here is version 1.1, ive based my layout on how Psion does his reviews.Death: Guardian of the GateA sourcebook dealing with a goddess of death and her domain. Includes info on the goddess herself, her worshippers, her churches, myths and legends, along with crunchy prestige classes, spells, and other things designed to help you flesh out the shadowy figure of death in your home campaign. You can either use the Lady Pale as she is, or you can borrow ideas to flesh out your own campaigns deities.At a GlanceThe book is a PDF file 72 pages in length and costs $6.95The cover is a beautiful rendition of what you later realise to be The Lady Pale, Goddess of Death, with a raven perched on her hand. It is hard to tell what setting she is in, but one can assume it her library.The pages all have a purple stripe border down the outer edge, with either side of the Holy Symbol appearing to be embossed repeatedly along it. The text is done in black for the major part, with purple being used for headings.Both the cover and interior art is by Gillian Pearce. The interior art is great throughout the book and generally is extremely appropriate in its placement. The black and white nature of the pictures adds to the feel and tone of the book.A More Detailed LookThe first chapter deals mainly with the history of the Lady Pale, including how she came to be the goddess of death. Though before that there is what could almost me considered a journal except from one of her first follower's, detailing how he came to meet the Lady and then serve her.The second chapter delves into the structure of the preisthood, including the general thoughts on topics such as Age, Dress Colours, Family and Family life within the church, and so forth. It ofcourse also details the different rankings within the church itself and how each is reached, not just what they are and what their duties are. The final part of the second chapter is two prestige classes, The Ladies Chosen, and Shade Wardens. Both of these take several pages to detail, what they are and the extra skills they obtain. Included for both are abilities/level tables for quick reference. Though these two prestige classes are seperate from the rest, they fit into the book where they are.The third chapter covers the churchs general feelings towards subjects not covered in the second chapter, as it is called its the mental attitude towards these subjects thats covered. Subjects covered include drugs, art, entertainment and communication, though these arent all. Under the education section, three of the main churches of Pale are described in vivid and sometimes almost awe striking detail.Now onto the more substantial part of the book for some people.Chapter Four, the preisthood, it is here that all the remaining prestige classes are detailed. 16 pages are used to detail the remaining 9 prestige classes, all of which include their abilities/levels tables and the expected explanation of their abilities. All abilities are detailed clearly both when dealing with these prestige classes, and the two earlier in the book. It also covers the placement of each of the prestige classes within the order.Chapter 5 is a wealth of information, dealing with objects of all sorts, from Jewels and Jewellery, to Lost Relics. Each item has a short description, of the item and how it works. Some items even have a history of how they came to be.Now to chapter 6, this chapter brings a depth to the book, and life to the religion. Rituals Myths and Legends, are the focus here. The rituals are not only discussed, but shown, with the words of the rite and everything.  Rituals are the main focus of this chapter, but the myths and legends section reads wonderfully, the Myth of Darius the Swordsman is a wonderful tale.Persona's and Magic, is the topic for chapter 7. It gives details of Pales Breath, Hero's of the religion, and The Book of Names. But the magic is the real strong point of this chapter 13 spells detailed in 4 pages. Ontop of this information the book goes as far as to give descriptions of how each sort of spell is even likely to appear to the casual onlooker/worshipper present at time of casting.Now for the last 4 chaptersFrom here on out the book turns back to substance in the form of several stories and even one of the actual hym's mentioned earlier in the book. But dont take this as an excuse to skip these last chapter's, important information is still held within those pages, it just happens to be presented in the form of a story, which I feel is the only way the information can be presented correctly. Especially when dealing with the Great Library (The goddess's home) and the Book of Days.Final wordsNow to summerise what I have covered, and my opinions of this book. There is very little wronng that I could find with this book, (a few typos and the bookmarks page lis a little awry, but in apperance only. It could be a PDF thing I dont know). I love the writing style, it drew you in like a good novel, when reading the stories and got the information across in a way that someone not all familiar with d20 tabletop could understand. The artwork is wonderful, and the way the text has been wrapped around the pictures is good.The spells and prestige classes could fit into most d20 games. The information of the lady Pale and her church, brings great depth to the religion, making it all that much easier to play without changing, though the objects, and the information present could be easily modified to suit the GM's wishes.I personally look forward for the next book, which FenrisWolf has mentioned is in the works. Though Death: Guardian of the Gate has set a high standard for the rest to follow.</blockquote>

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