Faiths & Pantheons? WTF?

[ThomasBJJ]

I was really looking foreward to this book. But... All the info on specific deities that is in the FRCS is reprinted word for word. The only good thing is that there are some entries for Gods that didn't fit into the FRCS book.

My biggest dissappointment is that half of the book is devoted to stats for the gods. WHY THE FUDGE do I need the stats of the gods? Are people running around fighting gods? I wanted info I could USE in my FR campaign. God stats are NOT USEABLE IMO.

Not a bad book, but damn, so much more useful info could have been put into this book.

 

[Wolfspirit]

Well, it was supposed to be an update of the 2e Faiths and Avatars, which had stats galore (I'm thinking it was also supposed to be along to line of Dieties and Demigods which was allmost all stats, as well). If you think about it, why even have stats for Elminster, right? Some people like highlevel campaigns, and Forgotten Realms seems to be one of the best places for them

On the other hand, if it's just got text copied out of the FRC gods section, I'll be very dissapointed. One of the coolest thing about the three FR god books was that they had rather in depth analysis of the gods philosophy and teachings (let alone cermemonies and the like). Heck, I tended to pull out the old books over the newer one when thinking about gods because of this.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

wolf, I was expecting a better write up (a la Faiths and Avatars).

Yeah, those books has deity stats as well, but the bulk of the info was on the religion, dogma, and specialty priests with a few deity specific spells thrown in here and there. F&P has exactly 2 spells. and HALF of the space for each deity is devoted to god's stats and special powers. they reprinted some feats from DotF as well, which doesn't bother me, even though I already have that book. In all, I think the info in FRCS is better sounce than this book.

 

[Erik Mona]

None of the gods I wrote up (about a third of them) contain more than a sentence of previous incarnations, except for the paragraph detailing dogma, which we decided should say the same (the prayers of a church aren't going to change just because there's a new book out).

I can't speak for the other gods (I'm still reading the whole book myself), but this criticism is not valid, at least insofar as a third of the book is concerned.

Do you have any examples of this verbatim parroting of old products?

--Erik

 

[Vanye]

Useful for the DM, but not essential for everyone.

On the other hand, if it's just got text copied out of the FRC gods section, I'll be very dissapointed. One of the coolest thing about the three FR god books was that they had rather in depth analysis of the gods philosophy and teachings (let alone cermemonies and the like). Heck, I tended to pull out the old books over the newer one when thinking about gods because of this.

Well, the book is kind of a combination of Deities and Demigods and the FR God Books. It's got information on the dogma and worship times of the various faiths, but it's also got the godly stats and histories. Much of the history information is new, being updates on the god books and brand new information (such as Tyr's arrival in the Realms, Mystra's intentions towards the Shadow Weave, etc). It also contains some prestige classes that are reworks of old 2nd Ed Prestige Classes (Such as Windwalkers, Dweomerkeepers, and Stormlords) and some new ones, such as the Ocular Adept, the Forest Master, adn the Elemental Archon.

It also contains a new domain, REPOSE, intended to replace the Death domain for the various good-oriented deities who's portfolios involve death. The granted power remains the same (after all, they are gods of death) but the spells are different. It is different from the Ravenloft domain of the same name.

All in all, while useful, this book is NOT as essential as the 2nd Ed God books. It's not something that everyone in the gaming group should think about getting...but at least the DM should have it.

 

[Khan the Warlord]

Well, while I'm curious that they did this for F&P and not "core-type" material, WotC has placed an online survey for this product here, so be sure to give your opinions!

 

[Darkness]

Well, while I'm curious that they did this for F&P and not "core-type" material, WotC has placed an online survey for this product here, so be sure to give your opinions!

I saw that survey but didn't take it since I don't have F&P yet, and kinda forgot about it... But you bring up a very good point: Why do they do that for F&P, all of books...?

 

[coyote6]

I saw that survey but didn't take it since I don't have F&P yet, and kinda forgot about it... But you bring up a very good point: Why do they do that for F&P, all of books...?

<shrug> What questions do they ask? Could be they want to know whether people want more -- e.g., stats for the other gods -- or want something different. Who's filled it out?

Note that they did an online survey for the Monster Manual, if I remember right. Maybe other books, too, but that I'm unsure about.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

Erik, I liked the book. I just was trying to say that alot of the material was either reprinted from FRCS, or non-campaign usefull like Deity Stats. (I'm not even mentioning the reprint of Defenders of the Faith Feats, which is no big deal to me even though I already have that book as well).

I bought the book mainly for the writeups of gods not included in FRCS, and hoped for the expanded writeups for the FRCS ones. There was a history section added to each of the FRCS gods, so I guess that the extent of the expansion. (as well as the stats).

I liked the PrC's, I wish there were more. I'm no big fan of PrC's but as specialty priests for different gods, it is usefull.

I would guess that anyone who bought this book already has FRCS, so the reprinting of material is questionable IMO, but I understand the inclusion for the sake of being complete.

 

[shadow]

I like stats for gods!

I'm personally glad that they gave stats for the deities. This is Forgotten Realms where the gods have walked the earth only years earlier. When the Epic Level handbook comes out, I'm looking forward to throwing some gods at the PCs. Before you scream "munchkin" think about the great adventure hooks for epic level character. If you don't like the stats, then don't use them. But for me, I'm planning to use them when the Epic Level Handbook comes out.
Personally I'm glad they didn't include as much info on each god's church and dogma as I had feared. I look for rules in a role-playing book, not sociology information. To me coming up with info on the various churches and such on your own, is one of the fun things about role-playing. After all, it's a lot easier to come up with some idea of a deitie's creed, than it is to write balanced rules for avatar stats. Furthermore, it gets to me when every little thing gets detailed to death (One of the problems of the old Forgotten Realms.)