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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2008592" data-attributes="member: 172">Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a hardbound monster resource for the D20 system from Fast Forward Entertainment. Fast Forward Entertainment is a relatively new D20 system publisher, but some of its authors are old hands. Jim Ward, Lester Smith, and Timothy Brown had been making products for the D&D game for some time. Jim Ward's influence on Dungeons & Dragons dates back to the old Gods, Demigods, and Heroes book, and later contributed to the Deities & Demigods sourcebook for 1st edition AD&D. Fast Forward Entertainment was already producing hobby games when the D20 system made it possible to throw their hats back in ring, and they were more than happy to expand the scope of their business to do so. The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a monster book for the D20 system featuring malevolent spirits for the myth and folklore of a variety of cultures. A First Look The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a 224-page hardbound book priced at $29.95 US. The cover has a red background, with an image of a honed skull on the front. The interior is black-and-white. Each creature in the book has an illustration. The illustrations vary in quality. Some are passable, but a great many (too many) are rather unappealing. In some cases, the illustration seems to be done in a classical style representative of the culture that the creature was drawn from rather than mimicking the style common in gaming books. In other cases, the artwork is simply unprofessional looking and unsightly. The font used is somewhat on the large side. However, the margins and column spacing is slender. This gives it a decent text density. Further, the book is arranged so that each entry begins on a new page, and tries to fill in the excess space However, the book is a little pricey for the size. The cost is slightly above average for a hardbound book of this size. It has the same price and page count as WotC's Manual of the Planes, which is a full color book with a higher text density. It is costlier that the Sword & Sorcery Studios harbound books, but still has a better cost per page than products like Atlas Games' Touched by the Gods. A Deeper Look The Encyclopedia of Demons & Devils is a monster resource that presents many malign creatures from folklore and mythology in D20 system format. The book lists them alphabetically by the creature name in a format similar to books like the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition Monster Manual. The book's creature are all classified as evil outsiders under the D20 system rules. It attempts to further classify them as demons (the name used in the D20 system used to refer to certain chaotic evil outsiders) or devils (the name use for certain lawful evil outsiders). Further still, it classifies them according to the more specific categories of Tanar'ri and Baatezu, and even goes so far as to mention the "blood war" background that was created for these creatures in the AD&D 2nd edition (2e) game. While normally, I am the first person to defend the continued use of the terms introduced in 2e, in this case I am not so sure it is appropriate. Many of these creatures don't comfortably fit these categories, and it seems somewhat inconsistent to try to attain a degree a modicum of historical accuracy and then turn around to try to fit them into the background set out for them in older editions of the game. Sticking with the "demon" and "devil" type might have been fine. Better yet, many evil outsiders in the D20 system rules are not part of either category and perhaps the authors should have followed suit. There is one convention that the authors broke with that I did appreciate, however. Some of the creatures presented herein are unique. A subset of those are treated as deities per the D20 system cleric rules, and have domains described for clerics that follow them. Though some of the creatures seem a little weak for what most D20 players expect for deities, in some campaigns this power level might be appropriate, or the GM may decide that the stats in the book are only for a minor avatar or aspect of the creature. The description section of each creature appears to be well researched and well written. They include a taste of the original folklore, often including such details of what malevolence they were attributed with and folk remedies that would supposedly repel them. This seems like it would be convenient to work such creatures into cultures in the GM's campaign, and makes a nice baseline for the creature's abilities. The breadth of folklore from which these creatures are drawn is apparent, and possibly a great boon for the campaign. If you have a group of gamers jaded by typical fantasy gaming takes on fiends, some of these creatures may catch them off guard with their unusual natures and motivations. Some creatures that are already have established statistics have different takes here. For example, the veteran players used to the pleasant nature of the djinni as they exist in the D20 system rules may be in for a rude surprise when they encounter the chaotic evil demonic version of the djinni. A cursory look at the stat blocks reveals that in the case of basic attributes like BAB and saving throw modifiers, the designers do seem to stick by the book. However, a look at some of the other statistics reveal problems. Many creatures have CRs that seem to be off-target at best. Many creatures also seem to have arbitrary skill levels, including skill ranks beyond what a creature of their HD normally has access to and no mention of racial skill bonuses. I also caught some apparent inconsistencies in alignment designations. For example, the unique devil Agares - lawful evil in alignment - rides a mount that boosts the morale of chaotic evil creatures. That sounds like a liability to me, especially if you use the blood war as described! Similarly, Ahriman is described as a lawful evil devil in the monster description, but its deity description pegs it as a chaotic evil deity. I felt that some of the creatures were ill fits described as demons or devils - or even outsiders. Many creatures like the gwyllion might better be described as fey. Perhaps in their attempt to fill the book, the designers were a little liberal in their determination of what should be included as a demon or devils. Perhaps they would have been better backing off from the original concept and calling it an "Encyclopedia of Evil Spirits." In addition to the impressive array of evil creatures provided by the book, the book has a chapter on ways that such creatures may accidentally or intentionally be drawn into the material plane and enticed into service. The accidental summoning rules provide a chance for a variety of different circumstances drawing a demon to the area. The chanced provided seem a bit high to me. For example, a gory battle will automatically draw a demon to the realms of man. Under rules like these, it seems like any major war would start a demonic invasion. The intentional summoning rules are a little better conceived than the accidental ones. They provide the campaign trappings and game mechanics for spells involved when a character wants to attract a fiend to their service. I personally prefer the rules presented in the D20 system rules if you want to keep it simple and Mongoose Publishing's Demonology: The Dark Road if you prefer more detailed treatment, but if you are not fond of prestige classes or the random nature of Mongoose's rules, these rules may fill the bill for you. Conclusion I think that if you have a penchant for using demons & devils as foes in the game that are inspired by real world myths, this will be a somewhat attractive volume. Chances are you will be able to find some interesting concepts to catch your players off guard or to interject some creatures with an authentic mythological feel to them. However, many of these creatures will need some work. The rules for basic creature statistics are well defined, yet I am continually amazed by how many D20 system publishers flub up the basic plug-and-chug calculations. In this case, the problem seems to be confined to skills, save DCs, and CRs, but I still think if you expect to compete selling creatures for the D20 system, it is not a step you can afford to miss. That may be enough to make this book less useful than it could have been.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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