The Book of the Righteous

[KDLadage]

I purchased this book (I think...) two weeks ago on e-Bay (from Crazy Eddies.... good online store); I received it a little over a week ago, and as of today I have read this thing cover to cover ... twice.

This is quickly becoming my favorite RPG book of all time. Note that I did not say it was becoming my favorite d20 book; I did not say it was becoming my favorite fantasy RPG book -- I said it was quickly becoming my favorite RPG book of all time. Right now it is #2 behind my color hardback copy of Transhuman Space -- Steve Jackson Games; great book.

My hat is off to Aaron Loeb. Wonderful work. Excellent writing. Great ideas. I hope you keep writing, as you now have (at least) one fan that will be buying your material site unseen.



Question, however. Did you noptice the small typo that I noticed on the back cover? It is a small thing, really. On the front cover it has the rather typical "requires the use of..." tag line. On the back cover, however, it states (and I quote):

The Assassin's Handbook requires the Dungeons and Dragons(r) Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast(r) for use. Dungeons and Dragons(r), Wizards of the Coast(r), 'D20 System' and the D20 System logoare Registered TRademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used with Permission.

Anyway, I do not have the Assassin's Handbook -- is it any good?

 

[Crothian]

I'm not a big fan of the Assassin book, I perfer Ambient's one personally. But BotR is one of the single best RPG books I've ever encountered. Glad to see the topic arise again

 

[Iron_Chef]

The Assassin's Handbook is indeed good (though I'm thinking I like other alt.core assassins better, the rest of the book is eminently usable).

Pretty much everything Green Ronin has released has been of good to great quality. Hard to go wrong with the ol' Ronin.

 

[thundershot]

Every so often, I get tempted to buy the book. I haven't done much in-depth stuff on my campaign's pantheon, but I was planning on using a mix of the various pantheons from Deities & Demigods, FRCS, and Greyhawk. Is this book REALLY that good? Will it help me build, even though I want to use other gods (in addition to select ones in BOTR)?

It's on buy.com for 26 bucks... I'm feeling the tempation once again...


Chris

 

[KDLadage]

Well, that is one of the reasons I asked... I have had a mixed bag when it comes to Green Ronin -- no offense intended. I find most of their stuff "above average" but with the sheer number of publishers out there, they were not on my short list of "must keep collecting."

For example, I was not to fond of the Freeport stuff. And I really did not care for Jade Dragons and Hungry Ghosts. So... I was not even intending upon getting the Book of the Righteous until an interesting thread a while ago piqued my interest.

Man, am I glad I got this one.

BotR is, without a doubt, the best d20/D&D book published (that I am aware of) and may overtake Transhuman Space if I read it again...

But, after reading that typo, I am wondering what else GR has that is really worth giving a second look. What else would you all recommend?

 

[KDLadage]

Every so often, I get tempted to buy the book. I haven't done much in-depth stuff on my campaign's pantheon, but I was planning on using a mix of the various pantheons from Deities & Demigods, FRCS, and Greyhawk. Is this book REALLY that good? Will it help me build, even though I want to use other gods (in addition to select ones in BOTR)?

It's on buy.com for 26 bucks... I'm feeling the tempation once again...


Chris

In my opinion? Yes. It will show you the way that a pantheon should be fleshed out, the sorts of details one is apt to forget, but can add such deapth and detail that it brings religion to life.

Is it a required tome? Not by any means. But, in my humble opinion, even if you do not use a single item directly from this book, you ability to create and think in terms of pantheon dynamics and creation will be elevated -- so, it is definately worth the money.

 

[KDLadage]

PS:

I will be writing a full review for the ENWorld site this weekend. In the mean time, check out the ones up there. As of this writing, 8 reviewers all give this one a 5-star rating.

 

[Crothian]

But, after reading that typo, I am wondering what else GR has that is really worth giving a second look. What else would you all recommend?

Well, I'm not GR biggest fan by any means. I have a few of their books, and while good I'm not as convienced they are as great as everyone says.

After BotR I like Army of the Abyss, Legions of Hell, and Hammer and Helm. The first two are monster books featureing demons and devils. Lots of creativeity there, good monsters, fun encounters. Hammer and Helm is a good book on dwarves, the berst one out there imo. It is very thorough and a good read.

 

[thundershot]

Oh, believe me, I've noticed the 5-star reviews up there for quite some time now... which was the last time I almost fell to temptation.

Green Ronin is hit or miss with me as well. Many of the books really didn't "do it for me", but books like Ultramodern Firearms, Hammer & Helm, and Plot & Poison were really nifty. So for the most part, I want to be able to peruse them before buying them (fortuantely, Borders carries them). I have flipped through BotR a few times, but not long enough to get attached. I'm not one of those people who can sit there and read a book in a bookstore...

Anywho, I think my next order will have it (when I get Bastards & Bloodlines!)... My arm feels so weak and twisted.


Thanks
Chris

 

[Samothdm]

I also have really enjoyed BOTR and am using it as a "template" to flesh out the religions IMC.

As far as other GR stuff, I have the Shaman's, Witch's, and Assassin's Handbooks. I really enjoyed the first two quite a bit. The Assassin one was okay, but for some reason didn't really "do it" for me like Shaman's and Witch's. I think part of the reason was that the Assassin book went into a lot of detail (IIRC, over half the book) on two main organizations of Assassins that really don't work in my world. The idea behind them is that as a DM you shouldn't really add Assassins to a world without having an organization for them to belong to. All fine and dandy, but I would've preferred a more modular approach of how to design an assassin organization from the ground up rather than a lot of stuff on two groups that I don't plan to use.

I also have Hammer & Helm (a great book - one of the few race books that I've actually decided to purchase) and Arcana: Societies of Magic, which was one of my first D20 purchases. I think that's a great, and often overlooked, book of Magic-oriented PrCs and secret societies.

Also picked up the "Freeport: City of Adventure" book which is a fun read, although I haven't technically used anything from it IMC yet.

To get back to the subject of BOTR, I asked this in House Rules about two weeks ago and only got one response. Have any of you all created any new Holy Warrior Domains? If so, care to share?

I'd also be interested in a set of guidelines for making new, balanced Holy Warrior domains.