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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Jeff" data-source="post: 2008572" data-attributes="member: 3687">Demonologyby Matthew SprangeCover art by Anne Stokes$14.95 64-page d20 sourcebook for DM`s and players alike.Demonology is a big, meaty sourcebook on the most vilest of fantasy character delving: summoning and controlling demons!Demonology: The Dark Road is the first in Mongoose Publishing`s “Encyclopedia Arcane” series. Taking a break from the Slayer`s Guides (see archive link above) they have taken their first step into a larger world. To begin, while the Slayers Guides broke new ground, this pretty much blows you away. An initial read-through immediately reveals the true usefulness of the work, as every campaign I`ve run has involved summoned infernals somewhere in the story. Yes, infernals, as in even though it`s called Demonology, it involves summoning, controlling and dealing with all evil denizens of the lower planes.First, the layout is typical of Mongoose Publishing`s professional-looking style. Artwork continues to be excellent, Anne Stokes as the cover artist has joined Brian Wilson of Privateer Press as one of my new favorites. Infernal fans will find beautiful, awesome renditions of our favorite fiends from various Mongoose artists within, covering all in the Monster Manual from WotC.This book is truly a sourcebook in all ways, and best, it`s for both players and DM`s truly and all the way through. This overjoyed my wife (who plays in my campaign) who immediately dug into it and was quite impressed.As a quick overview, this manual contains essays and rules, yes full cool d20 rules for dealing with infernals. In keeping with the d20 system theories, the rules are elegant, easy to grasp and intuitive. They also managed to cram a lot of modifiers into the rules involving all the popular knowledge and lore of demon summoning into modifiers to the rolls but this system is quick and easy while allowing a lot of DM input and flavor.First, we get a look into the unique approach Mongoose took in the subject. The Dark Path isn`t just also a tagline for the book, it`s a philosophy that`s hinted at heavily in the overall tone: Demonology is not in and of itself evil! How more evil is in than a mighty broadsword? Can`t that sword be used by the valiant village champion defending the weak as sure as the troll raider who comes to pillage? Demonology is a tool, but one with a much higher price than a broadsword! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" /> You see, it`s seductive, one might even say `easy` at first and when dealing with the likes of imps and other lowly outsiders. To begin, we`re introduced to demonology, and then there are three very well put together d20 Prestige Classes concerning the dark art. For those noting a general lack of numbers in the Slayer`s Guides, you`ll be happy to see that Mongoose has great attention to detail and respect for the system they are writing for. These classes are the Summoner (one who calls demons to do specific requests), the Binder (an arcane caster who binds infernals INTO magic items, creating items with new, unique and powerful abilities above the norm) and the Possessed (who calls forth demons into his own body, enhancing his own abilities to superhuman levels). Only this last one actually has “any non-good” as an alignment requirement. Speaking of requirements, it`s possible for an arcane caster to achieve the Summoner prestige class at second level!Important side track here: a reader may get the impression this is all a bunch of high-level toys to spoil his carefully balanced game. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I`ll tell you about one of the last chapters in the book, “Help for the DM” which give firm control over to the DM and the impact the rules have on their campaign. In essence, it`s how far are your players willing to push their luck? The temptation to summon greater and greater infernals as your levels and abilities increase is great, but there is ALWAYS a chance of failure, and that failure can be catastrophic. The process and rules can briefly summed up as follows: First, a demonologist must find lore concerning the type of infernal he wishes to deal with (right there putting that in the DM`s corner). Second, using a new skill (Knowledge: Demon Lore) the PC must research the information. Second comes preparation. You see, the pentagrams and rituals vary from demon to demon, and then between subtypes, named demons, etc. These are all well discussed in the text, even exacting information for the typical infernals of the D&D game. Next comes the summoning, an incredibly simple yet wonderfully diverse mechanic revolving around a DC of 10 plus the infernal creature`s Challenge Rating! This not only shows elegance of design, but allows all other creatures from the any other d20 publisher with infernal Open Game Content (*cough*, Green Ronin, Sword & Sorcery, *cough*) to be added to the mixture and rule system with ease. Last comes controlling your summoned beast. A DC of 10 plus twice the CR of the creature, allowing you to issue a 9-word command. Added to this system are dozens of awesome roleplaying modifiers. You can take your time, do extra research, use abilities gained from being one of the demonologist prestige classes, and other demon lore as game mechanic modifiers to the summoning and controlling rolls. Special heads up goes to Alexander Fennell, probably one of the best editors of any d20 product, as he keeps all this straight with accurate page cross-referencing and good examples of the rules in action throughout making it a friendly book all around!In between all this we get excellent essays and studies of Demonological magic, some great mood-enhancing pieces written from the point of view of aspiring demonologists, and a discussion on demonology magic in the different intelligent fantasy races (this is an excellent plot-building piece). New demonology feats allow for longer summoning, more exacting or longer-phrased commands, and a host of other cool abilities, no fluff! In addition to all this is a large collection of new magic and demon-enhanced magic items, all with full well-researched d20 stats: prices, requirements, etc.Mongoose`s next book in this series in Necromancy, and it too takes a unique spin on the idea of negative energy surrounding the recently deceased and the Necromancer`s ability to bend that to his will. Mongoose has published a solid, excellent fully-integrated product for all fantasy d20 games in Demonology, and I expect this trend to continue. As it`s OGL material I would love to see other publishers use this work in their manuals for D&D. An invaluable resource that deserves a spot on any serious gamer`s shelf. -Jeff Ibach</blockquote>

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