For Duty and Deity (AD&D/Forgotten Realms) [Paperback]

Dale Donovan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: TSR Inc. (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786912340
• ISBN-13: 978-0786912346
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,719,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Worthwhile Forgotten Realms/Planescape Adventure, October 20, 2000

By 

Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine (Fairfax, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Duty and Deity (AD&D/Forgotten Realms) (Paperback)

In For Duty & Deity, an adventure suitable for both Forgotten Realms and Planescape campaigns, characters descend into the Abyss at the behest of the church of the goddess of wealth. While there is the ultimate promise of golden gains, there is also the problem that demons are involved ...

For Duty & Deity is a fast-paced adventure that begins on Toril with the mystery of the missing Faerunian goddess of trade and wealth, Waukeen, whose place has been assumed by the goddess Lliira, acting as "regent" to Waukeen's powers since the Time of Troubles. The Holycoin, high priest of Waukeen, wishes to solve the mystery, calling on your party of adventurers for a quest that will eventually take them to the Abyss itself.

This tale incorporates the concept of the Infinite Staircase through the Planes of existence, linking it to the independent adventure anthology Tales from the Infinite Staircase (Planescape), which may be used along with Duty for either Forgotten Realms or Planescape, or alone in any campaign with a DM wishing to take the good fight out onto the Planes. Detailed notes are provided in each book for weaving either Duty into a Planescape campaign, or any of the eight adventures in Tales into Duty or any Prime Material Plane campaign.

The writing is very clean and concise, with all statistics for creatures and individuals provided nicely and conveniently arranged. Ownership of any of the Planescape products is not necessary, though some DMs may like to have the Planescape Monstrous Appendix I & II books for more creature background. Those curious for more on the Abyss itself may want the Planescape Planes of Chaos boxed set, but there is more than enough here to be able to complete the Duty adventure without it. Rules changes for magic in the Abyss are also included. There are two page numbers omitted in references in our review copy: help is provided above for those with such errors in their copies.

This adventure is intended for a well-balanced party of high level characters of good alignment. The companion volume of Tales from the Infinite Staircase is intended for 3rd to 5th level Planescape characters, but as an inherently planar set of adventures could be easily interwoven into Duty for the same high level party (possible adjustments for difficulty level are included in each book).

A worthwhile journey, For Duty & Deity is a must for any Forgotten Realms campaign.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and exciting, December 26, 2004

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Duty and Deity (AD&D/Forgotten Realms) (Paperback)

For Duty and Deity is an AD&D (2nd edition) Forgotten Realms/Planescape adventure module for six to eight characters of level ten to twelve. That is to say, this module can either begin on Toril, or in Sigil. Anyway, during the Time of Troubles, the goddess Waukeen attempted to return to her plane of origin, but was captured by the Abyssal lord Graz'zt. And now, the temple of Waukeen is looking for a few good adventurers to release her from her imprisonment. But, if you thought that walking into the Abyss and snatching an important prisoner out from under the nose of a major tanar'ri was going to be easy, then you'd better think again!

This is a fun and exciting adventure module that is also a great way to introduce your players to the concept of planar travel. The authors have penned a great adventure, complete with a fascinating setting, and some really wild non-player characters. As an added bonus there is a new priest spell included, and some new monsters.

Yes, my players and I enjoyed this module, finding it to be the most exotic one we've played so far. We highly recommend this product to you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Abyssal Kegger?, June 29, 2000

By 

Craig Stalbaum - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Duty and Deity (AD&D/Forgotten Realms) (Paperback)

All right, let's be honest. Anytime player characters have a change to go and save a deity, there's some serious magic in the air. I don't think it's possible to have that be dull. But it is possible for it to become a combat free-for-all, especially while in the Abyss. With that in its corner, For Duty and Deity does a great job of keeping players on the edges of their seats while at the same time not demeaning the game with pointless combat. When I was DM for this adventure, my players were quite formidable high-level (12th level) planar characters, mainly because we were using many rules from the player's option set. Now, to me the adventure went well but seemed drab, simply because I knew that with their high-stats and weapons mastery not much would be a challenge for them. But just due to the nature of their mission-contesting an Abyssal lord to save a Power-the intensity held for the players regardless. And so that is the adventure's strength: the plot and setting. The weaknesses, however, are few, but notable. First, there are plenty of ways in which the whole party can die. Now while that does make sense realistically, it isn't good for role-playing sakes. Basically, the book tells you that no one can storm the palace of an Abyssal lord and live. Well, obviously, but that doesn't stop players from trying. The book gives the DM no options in how to steer players clear of this or simply how to offer them an escape route if they do enter. I personally don't like my players dying unless they really deserve it, and as far as eliminating the entire party, even if they're foolish? To me that just doesn't have the ingredients for a good campaign. The whole group doesn't have to die to teach the players a lesson. I think the entire book could have been improved with the addition of more detail. The key city's are described fairly well, but only down to the tavern and inn level. I got the feeling that my characters only slept or drank the entire adventure. All in all, though, it is a fun play. With some personal DM tweaking, it's definitely worth checking out. It works well both for Realms and Planescape players. But a word to the writers: stick with normal English. When they tried to write the Plane's cant...well, it just didn't work. :)