Customer Reviews

Diablo II: The Awakening (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book contains a multitude of usefull features. It has five kits based off the Diablo 2 classes, Barbarian, Paladin, Necromancer, Sorcereress and amazon. You might be thinking that some of those already are classes/ kits, well these are diffrent, speciffically designed for Diablo. There is a great deal of good art work, and there are over 100's monsters from the diablo world. (caveat: there are 100's monsters, but in actuallity the monsters are grouped together according to type, for example three or four types of skeletons share a page with info on all, like in the Monstrous Manual). You also get stats for old timers like Griswald and Farnham and the other townspeople from the first diablo.

The scorce material is top notch. It fully conforms and follows the story from the origonal Diablo. It has nothing to do with Diablo 2, other than the 5 kits I described above. But I perfer it this way as I don't want the story spoiled.

Overall, this is a great book. However if your AD&D players have played the first diablo, you should not use anything directly out of the book (But what good DM does:) There are a nifty magic item generation charts to get diablo style magic items. All in all I would suggest getting this book. But, do not accidently pick up the other Diablo 2 set. That is for Basic D&D and is intended to be an intoduction to the game. Likewise if you are new to Dungeons and Dragons you should pick up the D&D Diablo 2 intro set. It comes with dice and all the other stuff you need to play.

There's two ways to use this product, both of which I heartily recommend, although "The Awakening" doesn't succeed equally at both.

As a sourcebook, it's terrific: There's five new AD&D kits (Amazon, Barbarian, Paladin, Necromancer and Sorcerer) that can be used to flesh out the standard AD&D characters of the same names (lifting new skills and spells for necromancer specialist mages, for instance) or to replace standard character types with these more colorful archetypes.

There are dozens of new spells, many of them quite good (the "corpse exploder" is a hoot), 100 or so new monsters (in true Diablo-style, though, they're actually variants on 20 or so base new monster types) and, of course, over a million new magic items, using the Diablo system of variable enchantment types piled atop one another (a system so interesting, it's how magic items are going to work in the upcoming 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons).

This is how I'm using the book. I'll be dropping Scavengers and Acid Spitters and Fallen Ones into my dungeons. Maybe my players will recognize them, maybe they won't. An upcoming necromancer archvillain will also have spells the players have never encountered before, drawing on this book, the wonderful-but-impossible-to-find Complete Necromancer's Handbook and the skills in this book. Great stuff all around.

The other way to use the book, though, isn't as successful: The dungeon crawl is fun - and HUGE - but the editing mistakes that were mildly annoying in earlier parts of the book (at least one monster's hit dice is clearly a major typo) become a real problem here, with items listed on the maps that don't show up in the description and vice versa. (The two chest sizes allegedly indicated on the map are actually both shown with an identical image, for instance.) And while Tristram is described - with spoilers, for those who haven't played the original computer game - there's no map, which seems an odd omission.

Having said that, though, this measures up quite well against the classic "Temple of Elemental Evil" module from AD&D's heyday, and I'll likely be using this as a straight forward dungeon crawl on those occasions when my full gaming group can't all get together. But even if you just use the source material that make up the first ¾ of the book, "Diablo II: The Awakening" is a great value and a terrific campaign resource for any DM.

This book is an excellent, excellent accessory to any campaignworld. (though any DM should be judicious when introducing any Diabloelements in their world). The best features of this book are the Amazon kit, the spell list, the magic item tables and the monsters.

The Amazon class is one of the most well-balanced I have seen in any AD&D accessory and it has its own very unique character. Toss the Amazon kit in the Fighter's Handbook immediately. Paladin and Barbarian are interesting. The new mage proficiencies are worth experimenting with. Excellent stuff here.

The spell list is very liberating for any spellcaster PC. Yes, ...its very combat oriented. But, its also very versatile and will drastically increase the survivability of mages in small parties (4 or less) where the fighters usually have their hands too full to protect them. Its not that the spells are overpowering, rather their very versatile. If you've ever had a mage PC complain about not being able to defend himself in an enclosed space (can't cast Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Magic Missile is inadequate) then give him *some* of the spells in this book like Flash (excellent spell), Nova, Charged Bolt (fabulous spell that gives mages who find themselves alone a fighting chance). Some of them are way too powerful (like Hydra, Bone Prison), but then again thats why we let NPC's use them. ;-)

The magic item list is ingenious, even though it could never replace the miscellaneous item list in the Unearthed Arcana. No Bags of Holding or Rings of Shooting Stars in Diablo. BUT, if you've ever wanted your Fighters to lose their addiction to generic long swords and platemail, this is the book to do it. Your Fighters will be using Cutlasses, Great Swords, Claymores, Big Axes, Small Axes, Giant Axes, War Bows, Battle Bows, Gnarled Staves, Short Staves, Long Staves, Battle Staves. They will be using Skullcaps, Chain Boots, Great Helmets, Small Shields, Gothic Shields, Tower Shields, etc.

Some of them will come to rue the day they chose to specialize in Long Sword. ;-)

Get the book. Its worth it.

Cordell and Selinker bring us back to the "glory days" of AD&D when every adventure was a dungeon crawl, clearing out the baddies level by level, upgrading weapons and armor at each step. What better model than the 1997 bestselling computer game that saw you click your mouse a million times before the game was finished?

The title is somewhat of a misnomer: this adventure and sourcebook is based on the first Diablo game, at least in plot and setting. Only the character classes from the second Diablo game are used. There is an enormous table for rolling up magic items--most weapons and armor--that consists of more than a million possibilities. By using the prefixes and suffixes made popular by the Diablo game, you can be sure that your item will not only be unique from your fellow players', but also more interesting than a common "sword+1." The items are mostly combat-oriented, but that fits perfectly within the mold of this game.

There are several pages of monsters, most drawn from the original Diablo game, but there are some newcomers. The authors have decided to skimp on description and history and focus purely on the combat statistics of each monster--after all, who cares what a horned demon eats, if anything? The monsters are just there for the players to hack through. The authors also do a good job on the five character kits. These characters are designed to delve into dungeons and pretty much kill anything in their way. Most of the spells included, also drawn from the game, are combat-oriented.

Role-players looking for character development and interaction should probably pass on this product. While there is room for all of that, there is no question that the focus of the Diablo setting is combat. As such, it is a hack-and-slasher's heaven when all hell breaks loose.

Most of the monsters, items and levels are quite similar to the cd game. However, if you are looking for a role-playing challenge, find a different adventure. This game crams treasure down the party's throats. It is earned, but only because this is just one long hack and slash adventure.

Aside from a few editing errors -- What's the Hit Dice of a Flesh Hunter? Why are all the chests on the maps the same size, even though the text says there's two types? -- this is an excellent supplement.

It works, reasonably well, as a mini-setting and combined with the Diablo II boxed set and the free "Quick Start" Diablo adventure available from the WotC Web site, I could see using this as a way to get new players into AD&D. (An actual map of Tristram, though, would have been nice.)

The extrapolations of Diablo character types in AD&D terms are also nice. I may well have AD&D paladins use the Diablo II paladin spell list in future.

It works even better, though, as a way to shake up your current campaign, with 25 or so new monster types (individual subbreeds pump up the total number of "monsters," in true Diablo style), dozens of new spells, and a magic item table that will make you think twice about giving out another boring Long Sword +2.

I look forward to dropping various monsters, treasures and spells into my ongoing campaign.

A great supplement, and a purchase I'm glad that I made.

If you are expecting a normal AD&D adventure with a Diablo twist, you'll be surprised. It's the reverse: Diablo with an AD&D twist. All of the spells are just different damage ranges; there are almost no non-offensive spells in the book. The "million" magical items are arragned in random tables that have a tendency to produce really stupid items ("holy spear of corruption".... a HOLY spear of CORRUPTION...!), the "100" new monsters are actually about 20 with four or so varieties, with no habitat/society or ecology. They write down intelligence scores, but why bother? The monsters have no use besides hack-n-slash tactics. There is no plot at all. There is no motivation for the players beyond monsters to kill (which apparently is fine for the targetted demographic of this sourcebook). Mike Selinker's foreword made me want to vomit.

Basically, it's a carbon copy of the Diablo video game, only with D&D rules. Get the Diablo computer game instead; it's exactly the same, except that its sheer pointlessness can be forgiven.

This book is a confusing waste of money. For starters, my own mistake was thinking that it was 3.0 3.5, it is 2.0. Second, this book is "DIABLO II" but it is actually just characters from DIABLO II and the STORY line of DIABLO I, which is crappy considering they stole the monsters from DIABLO II also. This book is also ridden with typos and innacuracies. Please save yourself time and money and buy a different book.

The big complaint I have with this particular product is the typos, again, and again, and again mistakes that range from mild (listing a monster by CV on the map but CA in the description, for instance) to annoying (the total absence of a description for major bad guys).

A secondary complaint is the amount of randomness left in the game - I HATE generating random treasure in front of my players, so I spend about an hour to 90 minutes for each level generating items in barrels, chests, sarcophagi, and carried by monsters.

The maps are so tiny that I was compelled to blow them up to double size to use them.

And finally... there is no roleplaying to speak of, not a lot of plot, but a lot of hack-and-slash. By the time you take a party through this game they will be very high level, very powerful characters barely able to walk under the weight of their magic items.

Having said that, the resource is great. There are five new character kits, lots of new monsters (even if, just like the Diablo computer game, they are all just variations on a theme), and great treasure tables. It is so much more fun to hand out a Glowing Short Sword of the Mind than another short sword +1.

This long awaited D&D accessory for the Diablo game is finally here. The book is both an accessory and adventure all rolled into one. The first part of the book list 5 kits based on the Diablo classes, new weapon proficiencies, a plethora of spells, monsters from the Diablo world, new weapons and a ton of magical items! Those familiar with the Diablo game will recoginize this adventure to be the actual game from Diablo I! The Town of Trsitam and all the familiar NPC's are there. The Monestary of the Sightless Eye, where the dungeon hacking takes place is also detailed here along with the many sub-quests given throughout the original game! This is a terrific translation of a PC game, and makes a great stand alone product and can easily be inserted into any campaign world with a few adjustments. This product won't spoil any of the Diablo II surprises at all. The only downside is that this book doesn't list the "Martial Artist" PC kit from the Diablo Expansion.