Well, here it is, DEITIES & DEMIGODS, the latest addition to the series of ADVANCED D&D volumes.
But what exactly is it?
Let's see, it has a nice cover <link> -- open it up. <link:toc>
inside there are lots of pictures next to sets of stacked statistics. . . it must be just like the MONSTER MANUAL!
There, that was easy.
Now that we know what it is.
We know what to do with it.
Right?

Wrong.

DDG (for Short) may resemble MONSTER MANUAL,
and in fact does include some monsters.
However the purpose of this book is not to provide adversaries for players' characters,
the information listed herein is primarily for the Dungeon Master's use in creating, intensifying or <>
expanding his or her campaign.
No fantasy world is complete without the gods,
mighty deities⁸ who influence the fates of men and move mortals about like chesspieces in their obscure<badfont> games of power. <notation:tooscientific>
Such figures can be perfect embodiments of the DM's control of the game.
They are one of the Dungeon Master's most important tools in his or her shaping of events.

The gods serve an important purpose for the players as well.
Serving a deity is a significant part of AD&D,
and all player characters should have a patron god.
Alignment assumes its full importance when tied to the worship of a deity.
The possibility of the invocation of divme wrath, should the player make a serious misstep,
makes alignment conduct a much more vital concern.

Of course, serving a deity is of greatest importance to clercs.
This book should help that sometimes-neglected class come into its own.
Players whose characters are clerics will find much more range and many more possibilities in their roles when the information herein is used to flesh
them out completely.
Clerics can and should have a great influence on the course of an AD&D campaign.
They are prominent members of society
(much more so than the common fighters or the recluswe magic-users and thieves):
they often have a close relationship with the populace and are usually well-acquainted with local leaders.
They are looked up to as masters of ritual and keepers of knowledge.
In addition to thls special relationship with men, a cleric has a special relationship with his or her deity, an affinity usually denied to other mortals.
This makes clerics a special class indeed, a class with a lot of room for creative innovation on the part of experienced players.

At first glance, DMs may well find the profusion of gods and goddesses in this work confusing.
The DM will have to consider with care before choosing which pantheon or pantheons to use in his or her campaign.
The DM should consider the flavor of the campaign:
    is it medieval, ancient. oriental<font:bonzai, etc.whatev works best> or different from all of these?
Which pantheons will be most appropriate to the milleu?
(It is possible to imagine a campaign where all the gods in this book -- and perhaps more -- are co-existent.
This would require a truly vast world.
one large enough to contain all of the worshipers necessary to sustain such a multlplicity of gods! <FR>
Perhaps, as in the ancient world, such different pantheons are worshiped in dilferent regions.)  <FR>

The most important thing to remember about this book is that, unlike the other AD&D volumes,
everything contained withln this book is guidelines,
not rules.

DDG is an aid for the DM, not restrictions.
We would not presume to tell a DM how to set up his or her campaign's religious system.
Probably no facet of AD&D varies more from campaign to campaign than this, and that's the way it should be.
Many DMs will choose to use pantheons or systems other than the ones included herein,
or will alter the information presented.
Feel free.

In our research and compilation of this book,
we ourselves have altered many facts,
either for reasons of game balance and consistency or because sources conflict.
DEITIES & DEMIGODS is not a scholarly work or reference --
    it is a game accessory.
After choosing which pantheon(s) to use,
the best thing you can do as Dungeon Master is to take a trip to the library <d%sys>
or bookstore and read upon the background of the chosen mythos. <scholarly:complete listing of primary(ie. non-English) sources?>
There you will discover the fascinating stories behind these immortal characters,
and get a really solid feel for how to play them.

The other 1/2 of Heroic Fantasy is Mythology.
With DEITIES & DEMIGODS as an introduction, <translation:intro>
you can open up whole new realms of wonder.
As someone else has said, the possibilities are limitless!.

                                                                                                            LJS
 
 

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[parapsy]
    [the limits of human vocabulari ... an education in the infinite ... is immortality ...]
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