[RPG]: Deities & Demigods, reviewed by Lev Lafayette (5/1)

2nd Level RPGnetter · #1 03-26-2007, 01:00 AM

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12867.phtml

Lev Lafayette's Summary:

An inspirational work to that attempts to combine historical polytheistic faiths and literary sources to the AD&D world, but is riddled in errors and presents the gods as combat stat-blocs.

Go to the full review for more information.

Bill_Coffin · #2 03-26-2007, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Deities & Demigods is a source of joy and frustration...If the purpose is combative challenges for a party of characters from levels 25 or higher with a religious flavour (and a cavalier disregard for history) then the book is extremely useful...In terms of the actual execution the work simply does not deliver by any stretch of the imagination. For its stated purpose Dieties & Demigods is, at best, an amazingly inspirational work to encourage readers to take an interest and learn about other history, cultures and religions - but not to be used as it as written.

Lev, You say "gods as stat blocks" like that's a bad thing!

The book may have been a waste of your money, but it certainly was not a waste of mine. I am one of those who use this book as a monster manual for high-level characters, and to that end, this book is indeed a gold mine.

As for mythological accuracy, meh. I want that, I'll go read Bulfinch's or something.

Mirkady · #3 03-26-2007, 08:53 AM

I'm not quite sure why you'd want a book that has an inaccurate guide to a god though. Surely the reason why someone would be interested in a D&D version of a god (along with stat-block) is because it represents the original - otherwise why bother?

dogmeathorse · #4 03-26-2007, 10:53 AM

I have this book in my bathroom. I think that is really the best place to read it.

There are actually a few magic items in it that are cool. I agree it is pretty useless. IT is really fun to read though.

Bill_Coffin · #5 03-26-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mirkady

I'm not quite sure why you'd want a book that has an inaccurate guide to a god though. Surely the reason why someone would be interested in a D&D version of a god (along with stat-block) is because it represents the original - otherwise why bother?

I got this book when it first came out, and at that age, I knew very little about any of these gods. So it wasn't like I had a burning need to see the D&D incarnation of Babylonia gods I already knew much about. To me it was all about seeing the uppermost spectrum of what the game had to offer in terms of opponents. Dieties and Demigods has easily been one of my most-perused, yet least-used books in my AD&D collection. It's got all sorts of flaws, sure, but that doesn't make me love it any less. AD&D's kind of like that.

Erik Sieurin · #6 03-26-2007, 11:54 AM

Baldr being the son of Odin is not mentioned and it erroneously suggests that he is the father of Forseti, the Lawgiver, who is one of the oldest of the Norse deities.
Actually, he *is* claimed to be the father of Forseti in various late sources - and popular mythology often is based on those. Treated as literary, not historical-anthropological, truth, it is OK with me.

Erik

Old Geezer · #7 03-26-2007, 12:02 PM

So when are you going to review this volume's precursor, the booklet "Gods, Demi-gods, and Heroes"?

Which was so bad we called it "Clods, Dummy-clods, and Typos".

skisko · #8 03-26-2007, 12:45 PM

The Hulk can probably better reviews than this garbage:

"Hulllk smasshh!! GGHHRRR! D&D bad, Runquest good!!! GGRRGRHH!"

And more honest..

owe for the flesh · #9 03-26-2007, 12:52 PM

To be fair to the book, it's not as though most mythology can really be represented as a coherent block. Many gods have had their portfolios and cultural importance change with time.

More specificly, the book does state that the version of the Indian gods portrayed is based on the Vedas, which is why Indra is listed as the head of the pantheon. Similarly, Vishnu & Shiva's importance arose later. Brahma doesn't seem to have ever been worshiped directly, I mention this only because you questioned the inclusion of one of the other gods over this issue.

I agree with most of your points on the book itself, incidentally. This was a book my gaming groups only used when playing exceptionally munchkin "god-killer" games. More often we just ogled the nekkid pics in our pre-adolescent way.

owe for the flesh · #10 03-26-2007, 12:55 PM

I forgot, some of the non-combat details included for the gods were unintentionally hilarious. The one that sticks with me is (paraphrased) "Marduk's battles with Tiamat are well-known." Well, I guess that's one way to put it.