Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A solid sourcebook, January 11, 2003
"Games of Divinity" takes the reader through the many and varied spirit courts of Creation, from the manipulations of the Little Gods, to the fierce and untamed elemental courts, to the very bowels of Malfeas. Along the way, the reader is treated to a panoply of sample spirits of nearly every kind of temper and form, from the benign to the malevolent. In addition, there are a handful of spirit-centered sorceries and several new spirit Charms.I enjoyed nearly everything about the book: the art is for the most part very sharp and always appropriate, and the description of the Yozis-how they came to be, how they reproduce, and the organization of Malfean society-is a pleasant change from the tired old fantasy demonic hierarchy. However, if one styles oneself a grammarian, an editor, or an English major, prepare for a certain amount of wincing and cringing. Nearly every page bears some small but (from an editor's point of view) significant typo. My theory is that in an effort to bring material to press with a modicum of speed, the editors are substituting a spell-check program for real editing (and wee awl no what happen's then). The pernicious poor editing is all that keeps me from giving "Games of Divinity" a higher rating.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite Exalted supplement, December 16, 2004
Whenever anyone asks me what my favourite "Exalted" supplement is, I always say "Games of Divinity", which covers the demons, elementals and spirits of the world. The book has its flaws, of course, among them the flaws common to every White Wolf book (incredibly bad editing, inconsistency between writers, etc). The only problem really relevant to this book specifically, though, is the way that the Exalted writers have chosen to treat Charms and other magics for spirits, elementals and demons. They've put practically no effort into it, providing an incredibly limited selection of extremely generic powers (although it should be noted that they do tell us to try to make these Charms manifest in a different and interesting way for every spirit; they just never bother trying to do so themselves).
It should also be noted that you don't need to buy the book to get access to canonical spirit / demon / elemental Charms; there's a free download of all such Charms available on the White Wolf website, called "Games of Divinity Appendix".
I also have a small personal problem with the extent to which the writers have chosen to underpower their gods, demons, etc in order to cater to the "But my |337 Dawn Caste with all his kewl p0w3rz should be able to take down the God of War, wahh!" crowd. However, as the authors themselves have pointed out multiple times, it's not that hard to power up the gods and demons if you feel it necessary.
The real point of a supplement like "Games of Divinity" is great concepts, and it provides those in abundance. The book is full of interesting spirits and elementals, with notes on their personalities, tendencies, affinities, and all that good stuff. It also has some great information on spirit / elemental origins, courts, and so on (although much of this information, specifically about spirits and elementals, is reprinted or retconned in "Exalted: the Sidereals").
Best of all, Rebecca Borgstrom's section on demons and the demon city is quite possibly the best piece of RPG writing I've ever read. Really. I couldn't possibly compliment it enough, so I'm not going to try. Read it. Love it. Cherish it.
Unfortunately for everyone, this book is out of print, and last I checked it was going for prices like $120 or more. So you may have to be a little creative about how you get access to it. Fortunately, as I already noted, the best part of this book is the concepts; it's easy enough to stat out Shalrina, the goddess of identity, on your own time once you've glanced over her writeup, and you'll probably do a better job at balancing her than the writers did anyway. What I recommend is that you beg, borrow and / or steal to manage to read over this book, but don't worry too much about owning it. (Of course, if you really get desperate, I might be willing to sell you my copy, but it'll probably cost about one soul, and your firstborn child to boot.)
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3.0 out of 5 stars
wierd and wondering, August 6, 2007
This book.... well the first part is boring as hell. greek mythology is a hell of a lot more inventive and intresting, and the heavenly realm itself, leaves one willing to spend etirnety in the underworld, happily.the gods seem very boring and not very imagitive, and thier political structure and stratagies, is enough to put one in a comma. However the section on Malfeas is absolutly stunning with its demented art work,exquisite practices, and political structures the book picks up there. that section alone is worth 5 stars, especially with the female lesser demons in saqdomasachistic leather garbing, might leave you on a journey to the nearest restroom, with a bottle of jurgens lotion and a box of tissue. i give the book an overall 3, because the first chapters really drag it through the mud. i say save your money for the next volume of the books of sorcery that delves into the gods and demons. they may have made changes to really step it up.
any ways have fun and happy shoppen.
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by Justin Achilli
by Grabowski
by John Snead
by Kraig Blackwelde
by White Wolf Publishing
