49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A little MORE chaos and evil please...., July 3, 2006
This review is from: Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (pt. 1) (Hardcover)
Demons has always been one of the more popular and fascinating foes in the Dungeons & Dragon games. First edition modules and adventures introduce us to the terrors that are Orcus, Lolth, Zuggtmoy and Ilsidhaur. Then came the dark days of second edition where the demons (and their hated lawful compatriots the devils and the neutral evil daemons) were erased from existance.
I still remember the now infamous letter by James Ward about placating mad moms, and the feeble reply by Dragon magazine (oh, you can still use the fiends from 1e if you want to!) to explain this away, one angry player (and I believe it was a woman) shot back in a letter: Why don't you guys just admit you sold out!
So third edition came along and the staff at WOTC was emboldened to go ahead with re-instating the fiends (not before second edition did a hatchet job in re-introducing them and subsequent writers of the game have a heck of a time trying to create a credible continuity between all three editions).
Other companies, especially Green Ronin, publishes their own treatise on the fiends, and it wasn't until now that WOTC published a book solely dedicated on the most popular fiends of all, the demons. One can point to second edition books such as "Hellbound" and "Faces of Evil: The Fiends" and other assorted Planescape accessories... but they deserved to be thrown in the the Wells of Darkness and tastefully forgetten.
The closest book that resemble Horde of the Abyss was the Book of Vile Darkness, and as reviewer Mike Schell said, Hordes of the Abyss came across as a rehash of BOVD and roughly a third of the book is repeated information under the guise of updating the material from 3rd edition to 3.5. Also, add another one quarter (if not more) of the book as being compiled from Dragon Magazine's "Demonomicon of Iggwilv" articles.
Repeated material includes possessions, spells, some feats, clerical domains, and updated versions of demons such as the goristro, armanite (yes, their spark bolt ability is back!), and bar-lgura.
New stuff includes new demons such as the lilitu, the molydeus making its 3rd edition debut, two new subraces are introduced: the incorporeal loumara and the precursor race the obyriths. Given that Erik Mona, who also wrote "Armies of the Abyss" for Green Ronin, had a hand in this, it is obvious that the Lovecraftian obyriths are thinly disguised qlipppoths.
The Black Cult of Ahm is also introduced, a organziation dedicated on the study of demons and a host of artifacts and magic items are connected to them.
14 demon lords are featured and many people complained that they have been "powered down". There is a small section that explain how you can beef up the demon lords and I for one think that help maintain their mystique. You just don't know which version you might be coming up against. Besides it is easier to power up a monster and to lower its CR. Besides the classics such as Demogorgon, Orcus, and Zuggtmoy, the new ones are Malcanthet, Pale Night, Obox-ob and the oft-mentioned Dagon. Kostchtchie finally gets his third edition debut.
There is also section on the layers of the Abyss detailing among others, Lolth's Demonweb, Demogorgon's Gaping Maw, Yeenoghu's realm, Orcus' Thanatos, Zuggtmoy's Shedaklah, and my favorite, the Wells of Darkness where many demon lords and worst things are imprisoned.
There are three appendixes in the back of the book. The first one, "Ruler of the Abyss" gives some interesting glimpses and hints to who and what those demon lords mentioned in the first edition Monster Manual 2 were, althought I do take exception that Baltazo is a fat green skinned dude wearing a military uniform (!) and the storm demon Aldinach is now "Lady of Change" with wooden mahagony skin and needles jutting from her fingertips.
The second appendix is "Layers of the Abyss" (and strangely, Malcanthet and her layer were both left on on both appendices).
The third appendix detailed demons published by WOTC's hardcover (but did not list Dragon magazine's entries such as the cataboligne, the orlath, etc) books.
Finally, there is a list of demons by CR, which strangely included the deathdrinker (which I found out much later is in the upcoming Monster Manual 4), the water demon (but not the other 5 elemental demons from Dragon magazine) and the skurchur (also from Dragon).
What the book do not have are demon-specific prestige classes and feats, which allows you to customize and advance them in unique ways. But it does have the Abyssal heritor feats which gives you more bonus the more such feats you obtain.
Overall I was disappointed about this book because it is really more of a compilation of previously published materials than anything else, and doesn't give you too much of any new. Given that this is but the first Fiendish Codex, there will probably a follow-up volumne.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PURE CHAOS!, June 29, 2006
This review is from: Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (pt. 1) (Hardcover)
Ever since Dungeons & Dragons made its debut in the 70's, demons have been one of the most popular foes for players. Demons can run the range of first level foes all the way to ultra-high level with their enormous diversity. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss presents these creatures in their full glory, literally containing everything you ever wanted to know about these champions of chaotic evil.
The book starts with the basics including the origin of demons, spawned from the chaotic abyss itself. We learn about demonic physiology. Demons don't NEED to eat, although some do for pleasure, they don't require sleep, and while some demons can reproduce for purposes of creating half-demon spawn, they don't need to do that either since they are produced by the Abyss itself. Demons, of course, cannot be killed permanently unless killed within the Abyss. The book provides a handy table of Death Throes so you can have them die in more interesting fashion rather than just disappearing.
Many years ago Dragon Magazine presented an article about demonic possession that was never really incorporated into the rules...until now. Hordes of the Abyss provides the rules and types of demonic possession, even covering demonically possessed items.
Chapter Two covers some, but not all, of the different demonic types and sub-types. Everything from the Mane, the lowliest of demon types at a mere 6 hp, to the massive engines of destructions called the Goristro at 300hp, some of which have approached 200 feet in height. One of the most ghastly featured looks like something straight out of a Lovecraft story...the dreaded Sibriex. This demon is a giant, bloated, rotting head with a body consisting only of spindly stalks which spews bile at its opponents and can cause madness.
Chapter Three introduces players to many of the more well-known demon lords of the Abyss. Some originally appeared in the "Book of Vile Darkness" but have been updated for this book. Baphomet, Dagon, Demogorgon, Orcus...yes all the old favorites are included. I particularly like Malcanthet, the Queen of the Succubi. She appears as a beautiful horned woman with large, bat-like wings. Amonger her powers are Profane Beauty which corrupts those who try and attack her and Seductive Gaze which can cause negative penalties on attack rolls.
Included in chapter four are dozens of new feats, prestige classes and spells. Chapter four also includes information on the Black Cult of Ahm, and how to traffic with demons. Finally, chapter five details the Abyss itself including information on some of the more notable of the 666 layers and how to travel there and move about. Pure chaos is on full display in the Infinite Staircase and the Pits of Pazunia, both vehicles for traveling the Abyss...should one be inclined to be so foolhardy.
The layers featured include which number it is, who controls it, the native denizens, notable locations and several adventure hooks. For example there is layer number 66, the Demonweb, ruled by the Spider Queen Lolth and populated by her Drow servants. Layer number 600 is known as the Endless Maze and is ruled by Baphomet. This layer literally is one endless labyrinth, filled with minotaurs and creatures far more dangerous.
Hordes of the Abyss is a fantastic supplement that includes a lot of great new information but still embraces its roots in the original Monster Manual. Great Stuff!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
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32 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An appendix to the Book of Vile Darkness, June 22, 2006
This review is from: Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (pt. 1) (Hardcover)
I must start off saying I am partially disappointed in this book. Artwork is rather tremendous, but I knew that from the Art Gallery that was posted on the WotC website. But while good art is important the information is even better. Some, maybe a quarter of the material is rehashed from Book of Vile Darkness. Demon lords are updated and I think a couple new ones were added. What disappointed me is what the book lacked. The feats were for those that openly dealt with demons as business partners in a given campaign world. Most of the spells were along the same lines. Virtually nothing was given to beef up those that might hunt demons. No special feats, no references on the standard and optional classes, no prestige classes that would opposed the hordes of the abyss. Now normally I am not in favor of more prestige classes to add to the glut there is already. But come on WotC give us ranger players a friggin bone and gives us something to take on. Not all those that oppose the Hordes of the Abyss wear Full Plate and wield Holy Avengers. In some ways a ranger can be a more effective demon hunter than a paladin. But in this book they get no support. Bottom line is that this is a good book but there is not enough here for the price. If you already have Book of Vile Darkness, this will enhance that book. Otherwise this is a DM book only unless you really want to run an Evil campaign in which case this will help you. If you really want a good book for demons, devils and daemons, get Book of Fiends from Green Ronin, it's a much better book.
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