Customer Reviews

Powers & Pantheons (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms, Campaign Expansion/9563)

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

 

 

Looks like the others who wrote reviews here don't uderstand the point of Powers and Pantheons. It's supposed to be part of a trilogy of books that detail the Forgotten Realms pantheon, the third book being Demihuman Deities. If your characters run all over the Realms, then the whole series is recommended. If not, Faith and Avatars, and (probably) Demihuman Deities will be more than enough.

My one gripe with the whole series is I don't think the specialty priests were playtested, or playtested enough. Some of them are overly powerful and can run roughshod over a campaign. To all DM's I caution, look carefully at the description of a particular specialty priest before allowing them to be PC's.

This book isn't on the same level as the Faiths and Avatars, but it is still excellent. If you like being or running campaigns that deal with a lot of differing beliefs (Think Avatar Triology) then this is a must have. The priests' abilities are a little more balanced than F&A. Also if you are in a campaign where a complaint is a cleric is only a cleric there are enough different shades of clerics to have fun. If your setting is in the jungles or Chult or outlands of Thay, or you would like them to be, this book details all of the religions of that region. But if you only want to buy one book on Forgotten Realms religions, buy Faiths and Avatars first.

This book should not be used on it's own, unless you want up to date stuff on AD&D Egypt gods. It is more like a another half of the "Faiths and Avatars" book. This one details the Faerun demi-gods, the gods of the Jungles of Chult, and the gods of the old empires. The problem with this book is you need "Faiths and Avatars" for this book to work. The art is almost not existant. And the added stuff besides gods just does not compare to what was found in "Faiths and Avatars." Basically they give you 5 major temples to 5 gods in Faerun, one temple worships a dead god, but the others are alright. A must have for any Forgotten Realms DM, as long as you have "Faiths and Avatars."

I found this book REALLY helpful in fleshing out the culture of some of the more non-European sections of the Realms. The details on the history of the various areas was VERY useful when I was creating my own campaign world, and if I have a complaint, it is that the book wasn;t longer...

Also, if you need a super-monster, this book comes with three of 'em. Always a pleasure, if you need a quick "Godzilla" to run at your party.

Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities make up for one of the BEST Forgotten Realms accessories (they are in trilogy form) ever made. The Trilogy sheds light on exactly what the title says: Gods-and there sure is lots of them! The books, which are very well written and very well presented, also focus on other areas such as each church's distinct culture, tradition, and history. As a result, they will win you over for sure!

Eric Boyd does a FANTASTIC job of presenting the different pantheons, ranging from background history, to rank descriptions, to their respective magic, thus allowing for the creation of important people and characters, to adventure hooks and encounter tables, to magical items and artifacts, to new spells and treasures. This accessory has it all and more!
Each god has his own supplementary text information, clerics' and worshippers' alignments, Specialty Priest class and their alignments, church symbols, specific spells, special abilities, dress garb, even information relating to actual temples.

For other FR references/adventures, I STRONGLY recommend: the Old Empires accessory on Chessenta, Mulhorand, and Unther, Dreams of Red Wizards on Thay, Dwarves Deep, Draconomicon, the Jungles of Chult and Moonsea accessories, the Shadowdale, Tantras, and Waterdeep adventures, the Ruins of Myth Drannor (Elven pantheon) and the Ruins of Zhentil Keep Box Sets for Bane vs Cyric material (they are Second Edition AD&D, out of print and it will take a bit of searching, but it's well worth it). For updated editions of events in the Realms, see the Third Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which even though is quite expensive, is still very useful to all FR fans.

Moreover, for those interested in the gods, the Forgotten Realms novels to read are: The Avatar Trilogy- Shadowdale, Tantras, and Waterdeep, the Prince of Lies, and Crucible: the Trial of Cyric the Mad. In addition, the Ring of Winter is relevant to the Chultan pantheon and specifically to Ubtao, as it is the only novel set in the Jungles of Chult.

Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities along with the Forgotten Realms Adventures accessory, and the three Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings (one for each edition) are a "must!" They all compliment each other.
Whether you are playing in the Forgotten Realms or in the Planes, this trilogy of books will be of tremendous help in collecting all the information you'll ever need.

Powers and Pantheons is a great book!, but I would buy the Faiths and Avatars book first. Powers and Pantheons is like a continued version of Faiths and Avatars, and it basicaly gives the information that Faiths and Avatars left out. So I suggest you get BOTH!!

Decently written text using the now standard deity format. Pictures are few, but the color plates of the priest's wardrobes are ok. The section on temples was nice. The maps very fun, and the detailing provides examples for one's own flushed out temples

I've always been a big fan of the Forgotten Realms' selection of godly powers with a nice eclectic mix of characters from our own mythology and some generally solid creations of the authors' own. Powers and Pantheons is a good collection that expands on an already voluminous selection of deities within the Faerun, and gives the player a very wide choice of gods to choose from, be they good, evil, or indifferent. My only major gripes are some of the special abilities the priests get are sometimes too overpowering. Mostly, though it is the absurdity at the temple of Selune in Waterdeep. Apparently the goddess gifts her faithful with great big gobs of glowing white goo that resembles something that Cthulhu my blow out of his nose. I have visions of this naughty tentacle monster chasing squealing Selunites around the temple like some goofy Urutskodoji monster. Second is the moronic assertion that a lich is anything but EVIL! And so ALSO at the temple of Selune with the glowing goo is an arch lich...who is chaotic good...who sustains her appearance by life leeching evil creatures...and this is OKAY with people? Come on, creatures are CONSIDERED TO BE EVIL because they life leech other creatures, and a supposedly good aligned creature doing it to evil creature DOES NOT make it okay. Other than that, this is a solid work and a good addition for any DM who wants to add more religions to his or her campaign and maybe give players some new choices for faiths. Well worth a look.

A second rate FAITHS & AVATARS. It was well written and just as detailed as F&A, but there is WAY to much attention paid to the gods of distant lands. It felt like they wrote everything about the Faerunian deities and had 65 pages left that had to be filled.