John Cooper
Explorer
DIVINE FORCES: BENTEN, THE GOLDEN GODDESS OF GOOD FORTUNE
By Steve Miller
Interactive Design Adventures product number IDA 60003
16-page PDF, $3.50
Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune is the first entry in the new Divine Forces line of PDFs from Interactive Design Adventures, each detailing a deity for use in a d20 Fantasy campaign. This first one details a somewhat genericized version of the Japanese goddess Benten, one of the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven Gods of Good Fortune.
The cover features a black-and-white illustration of Benten by Anthony Carpenter, with the "DIVINE FORCES" logo above it in purple. The depiction of Benten is very well done, perfectly matching her written description - or one of them, anyway, as Benten often changes her shape to look like the ideal of feminine beauty in whatever culture she's visiting. Here, she's depicted as a light-skinned woman with dark black hair, wearing little more than a bikini top, lower wrap, lots of jewelry, and her signature headdress, with her magic dagger strapped to one thigh and a stringed instrument on her lap. She's sitting on a rock by the seaside, and Anthony does a very good job with the textures and shadows of the sea, rocks, and Benten herself. The cover artwork is blown up to full-page size on what would be page 14 if any of the pages were numbered. (And, I must admit, I was really surprised to see that there were no page numbers anywhere in this work - surely that's not considered optional even in a PDF, is it?)
Both Anthony Carpenter and Jeff Ward are credited with the interior illustrations, but I'm not sure if Anthony did anything beyond the cover reprint on page 14, and some of the black-and-white artwork looks to be stock art from historical sources, like the Japanese drawing of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune on page 11. In any case, the artwork is pretty good, using a variety of sources (the priestess of Benten and Jurojin - another of the Seven Gods - on page 12 looks like a sample of artwork from India, for example).
According to the Introduction, each Divine Forces volume will describe a god and typical followers, stats for an avatar (if appropriate), a prestige class related to the god's church or followers, some artifacts and magic items, and possibly additional new rules, spells, and spell domains. In Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune, we get everything listed above except for the new rules and spells.
So, who is this Benten? She's the only goddess among the Seven Gods of Good Fortune (the other six are males), and she holds luck, love, music, material wealth, and the sea in her portfolio. She's also the exemplar of feminine virtues and quite the seductress, and can be a bit bawdy to boot. In fact, she's also the daughter of a powerful evil god, and the sister to one of the Nine Kings of Hell - not your average good-aligned goddess, huh? (Based on her avatar's alignment, Benten is chaotic good.) All in all, she's a very interesting deity, and should be a bit of a change in most fantasy campaigns.
The magic items/artifacts consist of her +5 dagger (which can also cast heal up to 5 times per day, with each use temporarily draining it of one "plus" to attack and damage) and Benten's headdress of stealthiness, which alters shape at the wearer's whim, protects the wearer from all but the most powerful divination magic, enhances her Sleight of Hand and Move Silently skills, and can turn her invisible at will. These are nicely tied into Benten's background, and seem like accurate "translations" of Benten's folkloric magic items into d20 game terms.
The 10-level "priest of Benten" prestige class is logical and the powers are nicely tied into Benten's interests. I was a little surprised not to see a sample NPC with some levels in the prestige class, though - it would have made for a handy "off the shelf" NPC for any DM purchasing the PDF, and would have showcased some of the class abilities somewhat.
Speaking of stats, though, the two stats in Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune both need quite a bit of work. Let's get them fixed up, shall we? Here are the changes I recommend:
Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune finishes up with three new cleric domains (Charm, Community, and Seduction) and a 3-page appendix giving an overview of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune as a whole. (And they're a pretty interesting bunch, too, spending their days traveling in a treasure-laden boat to different lands, and only one of them - Bishamon - having any sort of martial experience. I hope future volumes explore a few more of these Shichi Fukujin.)
Despite its editorial gaffes, Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune is a handy little PDF detailing an interesting deity who stands out somewhat from the norm. The PDF was an entertaining read, and the Divine Forces line looks to be very interesting. I'm wavering between a high "3 (Average)" and a low "4 (Good)" with this one; I think in the end I'll go with the "3" and just close by stating that I look forward to future volumes in the series, even though deities tend to not play a very active part in my own campaigns.
By Steve Miller
Interactive Design Adventures product number IDA 60003
16-page PDF, $3.50
Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune is the first entry in the new Divine Forces line of PDFs from Interactive Design Adventures, each detailing a deity for use in a d20 Fantasy campaign. This first one details a somewhat genericized version of the Japanese goddess Benten, one of the Shichi Fukujin, the Seven Gods of Good Fortune.
The cover features a black-and-white illustration of Benten by Anthony Carpenter, with the "DIVINE FORCES" logo above it in purple. The depiction of Benten is very well done, perfectly matching her written description - or one of them, anyway, as Benten often changes her shape to look like the ideal of feminine beauty in whatever culture she's visiting. Here, she's depicted as a light-skinned woman with dark black hair, wearing little more than a bikini top, lower wrap, lots of jewelry, and her signature headdress, with her magic dagger strapped to one thigh and a stringed instrument on her lap. She's sitting on a rock by the seaside, and Anthony does a very good job with the textures and shadows of the sea, rocks, and Benten herself. The cover artwork is blown up to full-page size on what would be page 14 if any of the pages were numbered. (And, I must admit, I was really surprised to see that there were no page numbers anywhere in this work - surely that's not considered optional even in a PDF, is it?)
Both Anthony Carpenter and Jeff Ward are credited with the interior illustrations, but I'm not sure if Anthony did anything beyond the cover reprint on page 14, and some of the black-and-white artwork looks to be stock art from historical sources, like the Japanese drawing of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune on page 11. In any case, the artwork is pretty good, using a variety of sources (the priestess of Benten and Jurojin - another of the Seven Gods - on page 12 looks like a sample of artwork from India, for example).
According to the Introduction, each Divine Forces volume will describe a god and typical followers, stats for an avatar (if appropriate), a prestige class related to the god's church or followers, some artifacts and magic items, and possibly additional new rules, spells, and spell domains. In Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune, we get everything listed above except for the new rules and spells.
So, who is this Benten? She's the only goddess among the Seven Gods of Good Fortune (the other six are males), and she holds luck, love, music, material wealth, and the sea in her portfolio. She's also the exemplar of feminine virtues and quite the seductress, and can be a bit bawdy to boot. In fact, she's also the daughter of a powerful evil god, and the sister to one of the Nine Kings of Hell - not your average good-aligned goddess, huh? (Based on her avatar's alignment, Benten is chaotic good.) All in all, she's a very interesting deity, and should be a bit of a change in most fantasy campaigns.
The magic items/artifacts consist of her +5 dagger (which can also cast heal up to 5 times per day, with each use temporarily draining it of one "plus" to attack and damage) and Benten's headdress of stealthiness, which alters shape at the wearer's whim, protects the wearer from all but the most powerful divination magic, enhances her Sleight of Hand and Move Silently skills, and can turn her invisible at will. These are nicely tied into Benten's background, and seem like accurate "translations" of Benten's folkloric magic items into d20 game terms.
The 10-level "priest of Benten" prestige class is logical and the powers are nicely tied into Benten's interests. I was a little surprised not to see a sample NPC with some levels in the prestige class, though - it would have made for a handy "off the shelf" NPC for any DM purchasing the PDF, and would have showcased some of the class abilities somewhat.
Speaking of stats, though, the two stats in Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune both need quite a bit of work. Let's get them fixed up, shall we? Here are the changes I recommend:
- p. 5, Avatar of Benten, Female Human Bard 8/Rogue 8/Horizon Walker 4: Flat-footed AC should be 14, not 10 (due to uncanny dodge). Full Attack should be "+22/+17/+12/+7 melee (1d4+6, +5 dagger) or +25 ranged (1d4+6, +5 dagger)," not just "+16/+11/+6/+1" as listed. Under Special Qualities, "Bardic music 8/day" should include "inspire confidence." The "trap sense" entry should indicate "+2." Skills are not alphabetized (the two Performs are out of sequence). Skills should include Disguise +5 (+7 acting) [0 ranks, +5 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Bluff], Survival +4 (+6 on other planes or to avoid hazards or getting lost) [0 ranks, +4 Wis, +2 synergy bonuses from Knowledge (the planes) and Knowledge (geography)], and Use Rope +4 (+6 bindings) [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +2 synergy bonus from Escape Artist]. "Use Magic Device +19" should include "(+21 scrolls)" as a result of a +2 synergy bonus from Spellcraft. She should have 8 feats, not 7 (7 as a 20th-level character, and 1 human bonus feat). Bard spells/day should be 3/5/4/2, not 7/5/5/4 (3/3/3/1 as a Brd 8, +0/2/1/1 for 20 Cha). "Damage reduction 10/+1" was abolished in 3.5; it should read "Damage reduction 10/magic."
- p. 9, Sea Serpent: HD should be 20d8+120, not 20d12 (animals have d8s for their Hit Dice, and Steve forgot to factor in the creature's +6 Con bonus). As a result, average hp should be 210, not 140. No touch/flat-footed AC values given; they should be touch 5, flat-footed 25. No Base Attack/Grapple values given; they should be Base Attack +15, Grapple +41 (+15 BAB, +12 size, +14 Str). Bite attacks should be at +25 melee, not +30 (+15 BAB, -4 size, +14 Str). Bite damage should be 2d8+21, not 2d8+20 (1.5 times the +14 Str bonus for being its sole attack = +21). No Space/Reach values given; presumably, they should be 20 ft./15 ft. for a Gargantuan creature. The "Lunge" Special Ability is not explained. Ref should be +11, not +5 (+12 as a 20-HD animal, -1 Dex), and Will should be +6, not +12 (+6 as a 20-HD animal, +0 Wis), although it's possible that these were intentional and not oversights. (Animals usually have good Fortitude and Reflex saves, but exceptions are possible.) Spent 37 of 69 skill points; I recommend spending 23 points each in Listen, Search, and Spot, which gives it "Listen +25 [23 ranks, +0 Wis, +2 Alertness], Search +24 [23 ranks, +1 Int], Spot +25 [23 ranks, +0 Wis, +2 Alertness], Survival +0 (+2 following tracks) [0 ranks, +0 Wis, +2 synergy bonus from Search]" - although given its aquatic nature, I think we could be forgiven if we drop the Survival entry. With 20 HD, it should have 7 feats, not 4.
Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune finishes up with three new cleric domains (Charm, Community, and Seduction) and a 3-page appendix giving an overview of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune as a whole. (And they're a pretty interesting bunch, too, spending their days traveling in a treasure-laden boat to different lands, and only one of them - Bishamon - having any sort of martial experience. I hope future volumes explore a few more of these Shichi Fukujin.)
Despite its editorial gaffes, Benten, the Golden Goddess of Good Fortune is a handy little PDF detailing an interesting deity who stands out somewhat from the norm. The PDF was an entertaining read, and the Divine Forces line looks to be very interesting. I'm wavering between a high "3 (Average)" and a low "4 (Good)" with this one; I think in the end I'll go with the "3" and just close by stating that I look forward to future volumes in the series, even though deities tend to not play a very active part in my own campaigns.
