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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crothian" data-source="post: 2009925" data-attributes="member: 232">Review of Death: Guardian at the Gate by Dark Quest Games/Natural 20 Press    This is from a review copy.    Death: Guardian at the Gate is a book all about a Death Goddess, her priest, and their priesthood.  It is a 72-page pdf filled with rich detail.  Gillian Pearce did all the art and it’s nice and seems to work for the book.  The text is well organized, easy to read with fine margins and decent density.  The Death Goddess herself is Neutral Good, so this is a different approach to a death god then is usually seen.      The first chapter deals with a new death goddess named Lady Pale.  It is written as a story describing who she is and it really gives the reader great description into her and her personality.  She would be really easy to use as an NPC in anyone’s game.  I really like that they made her a mortal raised to godhood as I think that gives her a level of humanity that really flows off the words.    The second chapter goes into the priesthood.  The priesthood is very well written and described giving all the details and more anyone could need.  It talks about the faith, the clothes, the food, the structure, as well as many other subjects concerning it.  The level of detail is rich, easy to use, and adaptable to any setting.  It also lists two prestige classes the Lady Chosen and Shade Warden.  The Lady Chosen are people chosen by the Pale Lady to further fight undead.  It’s an interesting class, but I feel it’s on the strong side getting all the benefits of a cleric with many additional abilities.  Shade Wardens cause death and further that end of the Pale Lady’s business.  The class actually seems a little weak.  In the description it says one only needs a single level of cleric with access to the Death domain, but under prerequisites one has to be able to cast Slay Living which one has to be a 9th level cleric to do.  So, this class is not as wide open as they suggest.    Chapter three is about the mental attitudes of the priests.  It discusses their views on art, music, drugs, education and a few other topics.  Again, I really like the detail that is presented.   It is well thought out and easy to use.      The fourth chapter deals even more with the priesthood as a whole.  It has some prestige classes like the Harrowed.  They are responsible for funeral rights.  While the class is interesting it can be qualified for at first level and that seems really easy for a prestige class.  There are many prestige classes here that are relatively easy to qualify for.  The classes are well described but I feel that there isn’t enough given up or tough choices for them.     Objects of a magical nature are the subjects of the fifth chapter.  Each is well presented and tells one a little about the object, its use, and its powers.  It has jewelry and other items of a less conspicuous nature.  Many of the items are able to made with the craft items feats.  There are also lost relics detailed in the same level of detail towards the end of the chapter.  The items all seem well thought out and nicely done.       The sixth chapter is on rituals, myths, and legends.  Chapter seven gets into the spells, and then the last few chapters have a hymn, a nice little story, info on the great library, and a final revelation about death and life and everything.    The level of detail in this book is incredible.  It takes a single goddess and fully defines her, her priests, the priesthood, everything.  My biggest concern is the level of detail; I think there actually might be too much of it.  Seventy-two pages is a lot for the working of one god.  Unless the Pale Lady is going to be a major focus in a campaign I feel that many of the details will be wasted and become not important.  The book is a good read and could serve to really flesh out PCs and NPCs alike.  The death goddess is a unique take and offers many ideas of how to use her and her priests.   If we get a full pantheon developed like this then I think it will be an amazing thing.</blockquote>

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