Diablo II: Diablerie

[IronWolf]

updated on 22-NOV-02

I like it. It is some very good material, but it bothers me on a certain level as well. For example, the core classes from the DIABLO game are all faithfully translated into the d20/D&D rules -- except for the fact that they have 25 levels of normal advancement (5 more than any other class, and 5 more than the rules state you can have before diving into the epic levels.

On the other hand, since the first Diablo, I have always loved the magic item generation system they have. And it is faithfully reproduced here. Need a million or so different and cool magic items? Here they all are in fully glory and splendor...

With the exception of the magic item generation tables, the rest of this book is getting less and less use from me. The monsters are not balanced with anything other than the vastly overpowered character classes presented in the book and so its usefulness outside of the setting is very limited. Thus, I am (in retrospect) dropping it to a 2. The biggest problem is that it is simply not as portable as it certainly should have been. You really cannot expect to use this material -- at all -- outside of the setting provided. This cuts against the grain of the Open Gaming revolution...

 

[trancejeremy]

First off, let me say that I actually can't stand the Diablo computer games. Way too much mouse clicking. On the other hand, I do somewhat like Diablo's ancestors - the Rogue like game. (Rogue being one of, if not the first, computer RPG, although it's not really an RPG so much as a hack and slash type game).

This product is something of a mixed bag, but is pretty useful. It's very useful if you're a hack & slash style gamer, but even if not, it will still be of some use.

First off, it provides a teeny tiny overview of the Diablo world and plot line. But if you blink you'll miss it.

There are 5 new character classes. Or rather, 5 character classes from Diablo 2, some of which are of the same name as D&D classes. The Amazon, The Barbarian, the Paladin, the Necromancer, and the Sorcercess.

Classes are basicially of 2 types - those that cast spells, and those that are warriors. The warrior classes are all somewhat the same, they get a special magic ability every level or so (3 every 4 levels)

The Amazon is a female warrior (warioress) who specializes in the use of missile weapons, bows & javelins. Her abilities tend to revolve around making specially enchanted weapons (much like the Arcane Archer from the DMG). The Barbarian's magic abilites are more suited towards melee combat. The Paladin's are more suited towards defense (though he has a couple offensive powers).

Both the Sorceress and the Necromancer have a similar spell progression, but only have 6 spell levels, total. However, their 6th level spells are quite powerful, perhaps the equivalent of 8th level spells in regular D&D 3e. The Sorceress' spells tend to be elemental ranged attacks, while the Necromancer's tend to revolve around manipulating the undead (duh, I know) and can be a bit gruesome (ex, Corpse Explosion). They also get a d6 for hit points.

The next useful part is a magic item generator. Basically, it's a series of tables that let you generate very complex (and often powerful) magic items, using a series of suffixes and prefixes. For example, a Jade Cloak of the Wolf, or Tireless Longsword of the Sentinel.

The last major part is monsters. Lots of them. They tend to be rather nasty, gruesome, monstous monsters (usually several subtypes per group or type) . They include such things as Megademons (including a Balrog), Skeletons, Goatmen, Fallen Ones.

There's also an included adventure, which quite honestly isn't all that great, and is very hard to read.

On the down side, the book is written poorly, and in a very patronizing tone. It seems to be geared at incredibly stupid 6-7 year olds, and features simple words and very large print. Physically, it's 96 pages, and the margins are not big, but as I said, the type is large. The cover art is nice, but the rest is of varying quality, with the interior pieces being quite blurry and composed of shades of red and black. The map for the included adventure is extremely blurry, being almost impossible to read.

So, all in all, a good book, but lousy production values. Perhaps not quite balanced with regular D&D classes, it still gives you a lot of variety in classes, monsters, and magic items.

 

[Hardhead]

Shudder.

This book is terrible.

Really, really bad. I'm a big D2 fan. I'm a big D&D fan. This book is an abomination to both. Classs with 25 levels, with powers that only roughly corespond to D2. A horrible monster section. And the text density! Argh! There's white space everywhere, especially in the monser section.

And hardly any information on Sanctuary to role-play by. None, actually. I mean, of all the stuff from D2, that's what I'd need the most to run a campaign there. But guess what, you won't get it here. It's just bad.

Diablo II: Diablerie may be some of our generation's most convincing evidence that there is no God. That's an exageration, obviously, but I think you get the idea on my opinions of this book. Avoid it at all costs.


- Z a c h