Faiths and Pantheons: Forgotten Realms Supplement [ハードカバー]

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 Faern are not.
Sure, full stats for all the many deities of Faern 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.

One of the interesting things about the Realms is that the gods are killable entities, though it would take a godly character (and then some) to take one down. To facilitate this, the deities all have stat blocks, both in their normal planar and avatar forms. Of course, being deities they get some seriously nice perks. For example, greater deities always get the max value on any roll. As is to be expected, the gods have some very nice treasure, and their chosen weapons and equipment are detailed along with their stats.

All of the gods in the FRCS are recapped here, along with a slew of others, including many that you've probably never heard of. Perhaps best of all, many deities of the non-Faerunian pantheons are added, including the Mulhorandi (Egyptian, really), Drow, and Gnomish gods. One notable deity that isn't included is the overdeity Ao, for the simple reason that he doesn't do much of anything. Each section has a short history, description, dogma, and clergy/temples block, and then a big section on the deity's powers and avatar if applicable. Deities are ranked by a numbering system, with a higher number meaning more power, and therefore more worshipers.

Additionally, Faiths and Pantheons boasts a large number of new prestige classes related to particular deities, and aligned accordingly. This provides some great new possibilities for villain NPCs, especially. There is also a section that describes several temples with maps, NPCs, and adventure hooks. A few new feats are added, as well as some creatures and two templates- Chosen of Bane and Zin-carla.

Some downsides to the sourcebook are a few quirks in layout. Many deities that I would have thought to be 'major Faerunian' are instead 'others,' and vice versa. It looks as though the authors were not so sure themselves as to how to organize this book. It would have been easier if they simply grouped them according to pantheon, alignment, simple alphabetical, or even by divine rank. Luckily, there's a table of contents to help you find your religion.

All in all, I would say Faiths and Pantheons is worth having. The prestige classes and adventure hooks make good material for play, and the book's illustrations are great. Additionally, it's interesting to know how your patron stacks up against all the rest of the crowd. Also, knowing about all these lesser deities can be fun for some variety in characterization. Though I would never call this sourcebook essential, it is a nice thing to have.

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.