Rating: 
Summary: Ignore zagyg review
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The dynasty continues...
Review: 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 Faerûn are not.
Sure, full stats for all the many deities of Faerûn 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Forgotten Realms bites and this is no exception
Review: The Forgotten Realms product line by WOTC has been and will continue to be a waste of good money. Take my advice, spend your money elsewhere. You'll get more for your money with Greyhawk products.
Rating:
Summary: Forgotten Realms bites and this is no exception
Review: The Forgotten Realms product line by WOTC has been and will continue to be a waste of good money. Take my advice, spend your money elsewhere. You'll get more for your money with Greyhawk products.
Rating:
Summary: Has its uses for Fans
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good.....
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Bend over and take it!
Review: This book would be a waste of money for most people. Almost all of the important information about human deities has been extensively presented in the Second Edition softcover perfect-bound books, "Powers & Pantheons" and "Faiths & Avatars," with information on non-human deities available in the Second Edition "Deities & Demigods" (a.k.a. "Legends and Lore"). Adapting the abilities of the deities to Dungeons & Dragons 3.$ edition stats is fine for those people who run games in which the player characters interact with divine avatars on a regular basis, but for those who leave the gods in their heavens (or home planes), that information is of only incidental importance.
The Second Edition books may all be purchased on Amazon or eBay for a COMBINED price less than the $33 pricetag of this edition.
Something which every potential purchaser should be warned of is that the book CLAIMS that it and another previously published book list ALL of the deities of Abeir-Toril (the world of the D & D Forgotten Realms campaign setting). That's a bold-faced lie. The publishers, Wizards of the Coast, have just come out with a new book listing a bunch of new non-human deities, and they are in the process of re-engineering the Forgotten Realms to drastically alter Lolth, the famous spider-queen demon/goddess. This $33 book is ALREADY obsolete in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
There are a few new magical spells and gew-gaws in here and some new prestige classes (which are easy to write and take up lots of space as filler material), but there's not enough of that to justify the exhorbitant price. There are some divine feats and abilities listed, too, but much of the "original" material there is already available in the D & D Third Edition book, "Deities and Demigods."
Unless someone is running a Forgotten Realms D &D campaign in which the gods or their avatars are very active participants, a book-buyer's money would be much better spent buying the three second edition books I mentioned and just doing a few mental calculations to adjust the deities for Third Edition. Those three together cost less than this book alone, and provide twice as much information, nearly all of it still relevant to the Forgotten Realms.
The book has almost no use to non-Forgotten Realms D & D campaigns except as a sourcebook from which to derive divine characters for other campaigns.
The art of the book is nice. The overall "look" is nice." The lay-out is comprehensible. Nevertheless, the total of all its virtues is worth far less than its listed price. As a fifteen dollar softcover this would be a good deal. As a $33 hardback it is for die-hards only.
Rating:
Summary: A very well done book worthy of the realms
Review: This is an excellent supplement to the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting. The first 150 pages or so is all about the deities, deity stats, areas of worship, etc... the rest of the book talks about sample places of worship and prestige classes. The artwork in the book is very well done and on par with the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting hardcover book. If you already have a lot of 2nd Edition realms stuff this book might not be as beneficial to those who don't have it (I had always avoided the Forgotten realms in 1st and 2nd edition AD&D so this book is a treat) There's nothing to dislike here, I highly recommend it to any D&D fan, especially to those who like the Forgotten Realms.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly rehash and incomplete
Review: This is by far the worst FR supplement to date. It basically repackages information previously contained in 2nd ed. supplements Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities with very little new or additional information. In addition, the demihuman pantheons that are included are dealt with in only a cursory manner. Even worse, many demihuman/monster pantheons are not dealt with at all. ...
Rating:
Summary: I am in AWE!!!!
Review: Wizards of the Coast have brought the gods of the realms to life in this versitile suppliment. This book not only lets DMs and players a like find out more about there god to play there characters better, but is even more highly important for the cleric PC who will find the dogmas and so forth invaluble to no end. For DMs this is the meat and potatoes of churches and gods ifor your campaigns and so forth...the price means nothing when it comes to this book...its a must for any Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
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