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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009366" data-attributes="member: 18387">This review is for Faiths and Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd and Erik Mona. Published by Wizards of the Coast, this 224-page Forgotten Realms supplement retails for $32.95 and is only available in hardcover. Faiths and Pantheons is a follow-up (of sorts) to Deities and Demigods, although it is not absolutely necessary to own the latter in order to understand the terminology in this book. Using roughly the same format as Deities and Demigods, 119 different deities are laid out (although some are more detailed than others). All of these gods are meant to be specific to the Forgotten Realms setting but some do carry names known beyond that particular world. The section on major deities covers those FR gods who are most familiar to folk such as Azuth, Bane, Helm, Lolth, Mielikki, Mystra, Sune, Tempus, Tymora and so many more. Each of these deities is heavily detailed. Known aliases, symbol, home plane, alignment, portfolio, worshippers, domains and favored weapons are all categorized. What follows is summation and descriptive text about the god including such topics as history/relationships, dogma and details about clergy and temples. Next come the complete game stats of the deity finishing up with a stat block for an avatar. Minor deities follow in the next chapter and contain much of the same information except for the actual game stats for the deity and its avatar. Those are not given. I realize this was probably done in the interests of saving space for other material, but it would have been nice if all of the deities came with stats rather than a select few. Also covered in this chapter are the racial pantheons. The Drow pantheon covers such gods as Ghaunadaur and Vhaeraun. The dwarven pantheon has Clangeddin Silverbeard, Deep Duerra and Dugmaren Brightmantle to name a few (including Moradin). The elven pantheon lists gods like Corellon Larethian, Hanali, Celanil and Sehanine Moonbow. The gnome pantheon features an ecletic collection including Baravar Cloakshadow, Gaerdal Ironhand and Garl Glittergold. The halfling pantheon covers deities like Sheela Peryroyl, Urogalan and Yondalla. The Mulhorandi pantheon consists of the Egyptian style gods such as Geb, Horus-Re, Isis, Osiris, Set and Thoth. The orc pantheon ends the chapter by discussing Gruumsh, Ilneval, Luthic and others. Places of worship is the subject of the next chapter. Three temples are fully detailed and ready to be dropped into a campaign. The first temple, the Abbey of the Sword, is dedicated to Tempus. The history of the temple, the types of followers present, the ceremonies, services, hierarchy, initiation, and common enemies and allies are all covered. The temple itself is completely mapped out and comes with a map key. The second temple, the Darkhouse of Saerloom, is a temple devoted to Shar and hidden within a lighthouse. The last temple, the Wyvernstones of Hullack, is an outdoor area corrupted by worshippers of Malar. Each of these temple settings follows the same general format as the first and has great potential for getting a lot of use out of them. The next chapter, Champions of Faith, covers twenty new prestige classes with each centered on a particular deity or type of religion. The end of the chapter presents a new template, the Chosen of Bane. The prestige classes all are put together well, are balanced, and have some unique flavors. With class names like Domguide, Dreadmaster, Elemental Archon, Heartwarder, Nightcloak, and Stormlord, you get a good feel for the variety of choices. Lastly, the appendix lists deity feats and salient abilities. There are eleven new feats, descriptions of the salient abilities, a new domain (Repose), two new spells, and a section on monster deities all squeezed into a few pages. Overall, Faiths and Pantheons is an excellent resource book if you campaign in the Forgotten Realms. The deity descriptions add flavor to the setting and serve to help flesh out both characters and NPCs. The prestige classes, while tailored for Forgotten Realms, have good potential for use in any campaign with some modifications depending on the class. It’s a good book that complements the other FR sourcebooks very well and comes recommended!To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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