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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2011847" data-attributes="member: 18387">By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine RackInitiative RoundRelics & Rituals: Olympus is a Dungeons & Dragons supplement from Sword and Sorcery Studios. This is a 208-page black-and-white hardcover by W. Jason Peck, Aaron Rosenberg, and Christina Stiles. The cover art by Eric Polak depicts a warrior mounted on a pegasus facing off against a warrior mounted on a chimera. John Bridges, Talon Dunning, Jeff Holt, Leif Jones, and Alek Sheikman contribute to the interior art. Relics & Rituals: Olympus retails for $34.99.I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my homebrew campaign utilizes ancient cultures, so I’m immensely happy to see products which provide material on said cultures. I was quite impressed by Sword & Sorcery’s treatment of Excalibur, so I naturally expected some great things from them on this topic as well. I only hope that they continue to produce products in this vein, dealing with real-world cultures and myths and legends.Olympus, as you’ve probably guessed, takes your campaign back to the Bronze Age, more specifically to some of the most famous myths of the world. Indeed, there is arguably no ancient myth cycle that has so long persisted in the imaginations of so many. To the ancient Greeks, the world was a place full of magic, where the gods interacted with mortals on a regular basis, and where anything seemed possible. Olympus seeks to capture that feeling.It may surprise the reader that the standard races as described in the Player’s Handbook (more or less) are offered in this setting. Elves, after all, are Norse or Celtic in origin, and half-orcs certainly have no place in Hellenic myth. Or do they? Here, dwarves claim a tie to Hephaestus, which is certainly not too much of a stretch. Similarly, the Selenauos elves (sea elves) consider Poseidon as their patron, while the Therian (wild) elves honor Artemis. Gnomes pay homage to Athena, half-elves are born of elf-human relations, half-orcs are the product of the union of humans and orcs (whose own origins are shrouded in mystery), and halflings claim a connection to the god Hermes. Two new races are also introduced; the faun and the spartes. Fauns are, as you’ve probably guessed, creations of Pan, while spartes are descendents of the original warriors that sprang from the teeth of the dragon sown by a great hero. The races themselves are changed in minor ways that suit the setting. Dwarves, for example, as craftsmen and minions of Hephaestus, gain a resistance to heat.Perhaps even more strangely, all of the base classes have been nicely shoehorned into the setting as well. Even those with obviously foreign origin (such as the monk and the paladin) can find a niche with a few minor adjustments. Even the existing prestige classes fit in, with the exception of the eldritch knight (which simply has no Greek analogous, no matter how you try to twist it). There are no new base classes here, but there are a fair number of new prestige classes. The anointed of Styx describes a familiar figure of Greek myth, the hero who has been exposed to the waters of that river. The blessed of Aeolus are as much elemental as mortal, the feral maenad become as animals by night, and the Hadean strider walks the Underworld realm of Hades, serving as guide between life and death. A herald of the sea is a devoted servant of one of the many gods of the boundless ocean, the master pankratiast is an unarmed combatant par excellence, and the Olympic paragon is the quintessential athlete. Finally, we come upon the Palladian defender (champions of the gods of community), the Promethean magos (the archetypical “hermit of the mountain”), the sacred huntress (devoted of Artemis), and the sun-chosen (a priest empowered with the grace of Apollo).Only a few skills have changed, such as the Craft (playwright) addition, which permits one to turn out engaging stage plays. Charioteer and Prophecy are new skills that would serve every bit as well in a typical D&D setting as much as a Bronze Age milieu. Olympus does offer some new feats, including Olympian feats and Punishment feats. Olympian feats are granted to personal champions of gods and goddesses of the campaign, where Punishment feats can be meted out to those whose displease their divine patron. There are also a few new general feats to help round out your character.Olympus doesn’t offer much in the way of new weapons, but those suitable to the setting have been compiled into a single table for ease of reference. The same applies to armor, including rules for greaves and helmets. The equipment table has been likewise rebuilt. There are, however, a number of new spells, along with eight new domains (archery, artifice, beauty, marriage, moon, music, underworld, and wine). New magic items abound, and the magical item tables have been likewise recompiled to remove inappropriate items and to include new ones.The last chapter in the book is on campaigns, running campaigns in a Hellenic setting. This includes a large variety of good info on everything from city-states to magical items to alternate deities. Cosmology, the Games, and the gods themselves are described, including domains, favored weapons, and granted powers. There are rules for hubris and divine punishment, and a discussion on what common D&D monsters might be found in a Hellenic setting (aside from the obvious). It’s easy enough to simply assume that not all spawn of the monstrous Echidna have been well-documented, but it’s even more fun to elevate certain beasts to legendary status, making them singular horrors to be faced down by heroes. Last, but certainly not least, an optional defense bonus system is offered to make combats a little less deadly in a setting where bronze armor represents the pinnacle of technology. An appendix presents a host of uniquely Grecian monsters to further add to the flavor of the campaign.Critical HitOlympus does an excellent job of capturing the entire flavor of Greek myth without sacrificing any of the variety and playability that makes D&D such a great game. Instead of getting rid of the races and classes that didn’t fit the setting, they just adapted them to be more acceptable. Moreover, they did so in a way that retains the best of both worlds.Critical FumbleThere’s nothing here that I would really consider a critical fumble, though I admit that I think I would like to have seen some stats for the legendary creatures of Greek myth, like the Minotaur, Medusa, and the Cretan bull. Several unique monsters are included, but a few of the better known ones have been missed, and I’d like to have seen Sword & Sorcery’s take on them. A few of the better known Greek heroes wouldn’t have been a bad thing, either.Coup de GraceLike Relics & Rituals: Excalibur, this book takes a mythical setting and adapts the D&D rules to that milieu, making it imminently playable and at the same time, familiar. It does that extremely well, and I highly recommend this work for anyone with an interest in Greek mythology and the possibility of role-playing in such an environment. It’s not slavishly adherent to myth or history, but at the same time, it’s close enough to keep the feel of the setting without sacrificing playability. And from here, it’s easy enough to drop all of the non-human races and simply play it straight, if such is your desire.Most of the book not already covered as Product Identity by the OGC are designated Open Game Content, The exceptions are the names and descriptions of the fauns, the two elven subraces, and the spartes. The artwork is mostly good, though a few pieces really leave a little to be desired. I’m not overly fond of the margins, however. They seem a little larger than standard. I should also point out that a few of the pieces of artwork contain nudity, and this may be offensive to some.Final Grade: B+</blockquote>

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