Customer Reviews

Faiths and Pantheons (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's gotten to the point that now when I see a new product for Forgotten Realms, my reaction is summed up in one word:

Gimme.

The Forgotten Realms products are the most consistently well-done supplements third edition D&D has to offer. Gorgeous artwork and ever-expanding detail have made a believer out of me.

That said, this product is a product with a very narrow focus - and if Faiths and Pantheon's focus falls outside of your gaming style, you should save your money for other supplements.

The real core of this product is the full descriptions and stats for the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting. The descriptions are in the standard format outlined in the Deities and Demigods supplement. The artwork is inspired (with the possible exception of the non-human pantheon artwork), and the overall feel of the Realms is maintained throughout. The pantheons are described in detail and the stat blocks for any of the divine powers will make 20th level characters look downright milquetoasty.

It's worth stressing one thing about the deities: These folks are dangerous. This is why this book is not for every campaign. One harsh encounter with the divine can destroy all your players and/or their respect for the Dungeon Master. Many DMs will find their Forgotten Realms pantheon to be little more than trophy-NPCs that are kept on the bookshelf. That being the case, I'd make sure you want to use these NPCs before you buy this book.

The extras in this book are nice as well: Twenty prestige classes that are tied to the various religions. Some of these classes have additional minions that are described complete with stat blocks.
Three sample temples are mapped out and described with NPCs, and there are numerous sidebars placed in the book offering extra detail on the surrounding material.

To be fair, many of the sidebars are material found in other books, but the FR crew can be forgiven for duplicating them in the name of easy reference.

My biggest quibble with this product is that while the thirty main deities of the realms are given full stat blocks and avatar descriptions (and stats, where necessary) - the lesser deities of Faerūn are not.
Sure, full stats for all the many deities of Faerūn would take up a lot of space, but so does reprinting summaries of deities already described in Deities and Demigods (Like Tiamat or Loth, for example: Each gets a "Realms-specific" write up in Faiths and Pantheons - but the stats for each are only in Deities and Demigods). DMs looking for stats for Realms-only deities like Lovitar will NOT find them in this book (Lovitar's entry, like all the entries under "Other Deities," contains her Bio, History/Relationships, and Dogma.)

All in all, however - this book provides what it sets out to: provide a detailed and working pantheon to add to a Realms campaign. The descriptions are rich, the artwork is inspiring and the continuity of the setting is maintained while being enhanced. This is not a book for you if you don't use divine NPCs in your worlds, but if you do - this book will be essential.

The Fr line has put out another top notch book, hardback even. Instead of saying first what DID work, i want to point out some shortcoming to prospective buyers. This book assumes that you really need stats for the dieties, all the way down to their SKILLS and FEATS. I personally thought that was going too far, and was a major waste of space. But, the way the folks at Wizards have set things up, you could easily run a campaign with the PC's playing dieties, and you could have Helm clash with Umberlee and actually know exactly what they could or could not do in combat. Beyond that, the roleplaying aspects of controlling a diety take the game to new realms.

Anyway, a lot of the info is stuff old FR players have seen before. The 2nd edition Faiths and Avatars actually had tons of info that this book does not (and consequently print small enough to make your eyes bleed). If you have the old Faiths and Avatars, i suggest using it along with the Faiths and Pantheons to get the maximum impact (the older book had incredible detail about the clergy; the newer is scimpier in that regard).

The prestige classes are interesting, and the art in the book is overall very good, as other reviewers have noted. I like the Realms, but in my personal opinion there are too many dieties, and most of the information in these books i will never use, sad to say.

Overall, there isn't much bad about the book, assuming that you like the Realms in the first place. It is all the dieties you could ever want, or need, or use, but at least DM's and players have a lot of room to work with.

I was distracted by this book's seeming split personality. It appears to me that the writers were attempting to satisfy 2 groups of gamers, but did't quite make it with either.

The bulk of this book is descriptions of the gods of the FR setting. I mean that literally- Hit points, class levels, spells per day, AC, etc. Very similar to the old 1st Ed. Dietys & Demigods book. This appeals to the power-oriented game, in which players can expect to eventually say "I rolled a 50 on attack roll- Did that hit Cyric?" However, the gods are presented as so powerful, that I don't see how even an out of control power game can make a battle with one of them make sense.

I have nothing against power gaming, mind you. I personally find a more 'realistic' (if you'll pardon my using that word in a FRPG review) game more enjoyable. In my games, gods are gods and you are not going to be beating one up with a sword. I would have liked more detail on the role of the power in the world, the nature of the priesthood and church, and samples of power centers for the church.

I think this would have been a better product if it had focused on making the gods less powerful, so that PCs can hope to compete with them, or ultra-pwerful so that the stats were uneeded and the space could be used with more setting oriented info.

The book is still useful (hence the third star). Some of the lesser powers not covered in detail in the main FR book are described. There are a few prestige classes, although they are very much faith specific. I just wish it would commit to one style or the other.

This book explores the pantheons of Toril in far greater detail than in the FRCS. The "big 30" deities in the FRCS are given the Deities & Demigods treatment with expanded info while the other gods that weren't even touched in the FRCS are given adequate and informative write-ups (sans stats).
The art in this book is good over-all (every important deity of every pantheon is pictured), but I have an issue with the way some of the gods were made to look. When you look at Mystra, then you'll have a good idea why Cyric calls her the "harlot" and the "whore". I'm sorry, but she does indeed look like one, with her black leather jacket, mis-matched vinyl gloves, and her skirt is in disarray. Same with Azuth, he looks like a perfumed dandy who's had a bit too much to drink. Selune was well-done; she was elegant, graceful, and mystical, but that face just has to go. It's not the fair and lovely Selune we all know and love.
The book has a bunch of crunchy new prestige classes (the Dweomerkeeper, the Ocular Adept, and the Techsmith, to name a few), and reprinted feats, domains, and spells. It also has a small section on what monster gods, demon princes, and devil lords are worshipped in FR and their basics: race, alignment, portfolio, domains, favored weapon (just the vitals necessary to have a cleric of that deity show up in a campaign). It also lays out once and for all what deities and are not worshipped in FR.
All in all, this book is well-worth the price and it should be a definite addition to every FR fan's gaming library.

For all those who must know just what Lurue or another minor deity looks like, and similar details, this book will answer all your questions about Forgotten Realms deities. The artwork, in most cases, is excellent. Most interesting to me were the descriptions of the major deities' churches and clerics. Holy days can be a very nice focus for adventures, and a reminder to PC clerics of their duties beyond hacking, slashing, and looting. This detail to worldly aspects of worship is what puts Faiths and Pantheons far above Deities and Demigods, though that is also a nice resource. Once again, the cover and page edges tie in this book with other Forgotten Realms sourcebooks. The prestige class section, which at least one was seen in Dragon magazine, has some quality ideas for villains and PCs alike. In conclusion, Faiths and Pantheons makes very clear why religion is such an important part of life in this campaign world.

First off, this book lists all of the major dieties of the Forgotton realms, it gives stats and powers, and explains how the gods work. Anyone who actually reads this book instead of looking at the stats for the gods will find it to be incredibly useful. It explains how everything about the gods and their power should be used, it gives history of their church, and it's central dogma, and in many cases their ascension. The Prestige classes are faith specific for a reason, so if you're bitching about that, shut up. The race specific pantheons are in less detail because they are used less, and the book would have easily cost $ if the writers had gone into full detail about EVERY god in the FR, let's face it, there are a lot of them.

Ignore zagyg review, he is still hurt by the fact of the success of the Forgotten Realms setting. Greyhawk has it's bright spots also, so I don't want to start a Greyhawk vs FR argument. There was no reason for the 1 star rating. This book has been an excellent source on how to use and not use the FR gods in your campaign. In order to fit in the FR setting, the gods had to be assigned HP and such. For the history of the gods in FR is very war like. This book is far better than Deities and Demigods. I would give this book four stars, but to counter act the obvious bad review of 1 star by zagyg, I gave it five. zagyg shouldn't be writing a review if he doesn't own the book.

first i'd like to say that i find this book fascinating. the level of detail thats put into everything forgotten realms related has always awed me, and this book is no different. the amount of information on each deity is astounding and has stat blocks down to stats and feats and personality quirks. HOWEVER
i cant imagine being in a campaign where 1% of this information would come into play. if you're running a forgotten realms campaign its a good (though not necessary)accessory, otherwise its useless. thats my rationalization for my mediocre rating, being that i run a campaign that exists in a different world, i never have reason to pick it up, and even for a campaign in faerun its not required.

I got this book for more information for my fan fiction. So far I've got about 39 pages in, and I'm very happy. I see pleanty of information I can use for varise situations. While I use the books for mainly fanfic and to have something interesting to read. Most have at least a few nice storys in them. I think at a cheap price this could be easly used for a DM. Granted there are a few things missing, as far as information dealing with avators and hp. But a DM with some sense can work out something they can easly use in a campain. So what if you have to make your own rules with it. Your the DM. Your job is to create workable adventures. As the DM handbooks say regaurdless of "cannon" or what ever else. You have final say in as to if your Adventures have a chance to slay a god, goddess or exteremly powerful Acrhfiend. The whole point is to give them something a great pay off. for all the work they have put into there avators. Remeber this is about using your free time for fun. As we all know free time is much like xp. We want it and it should be used wisely. Have fun with this book.

This is my absolute favorite Forgotten Realms companion. If you or anyone in your group have any interest in knowing more about your FR deities, you won't regret picking this one up. It's full of plenty of great detail on all their pantheons, dogmas, histories and even personalities. I am always finding new reasons to pick it up and thumb through it.