Rating: 
Summary: Really Strong Monsters
Review: The usefulness of this latest expansion book to 3rd edition D&D is limited, at best. Veterans of 2nd edition will notice many changes, of course, but its differences from 2nd edition deity/religion resources are of trivial importance. What one might rightly expect from this resource is to have a new avenue down which to travel in the hopes of expanding one's Dungeons & Dragon's campaign by adding the intrigue of various religious groups and the intervention of meddling deities. What you will get, though, is very different. The text detailing a deity's dogma, religion, and personality is painfully brief, and adds little to no insight into how to work the god's followers into your campaign. Having your players face off against fanatic worshipers of Vecna does sound like a fun idea, but after reading Vecna's entry, you will be left with no more information or insight on how to do this than after reading his brief description in the Player's Handbook. Most of the content consits of very long descriptions of what any given deity can do in combat, and since deities are meant to be unchallengeable and immortal forces, it is most unlikely that you will ever have a need for this specific information. Sadly, despite many peoples' personal hopes, Deities and Demigods is also all but devoid of any new prestige classes, spells, and monsters, and is literally devoid of new feats (except for those allowed only to gods and goddesses). Further, both of the prestige classes offered, rather than give clerics something to aspire to, are very frivilous and useless in most specialized campaigns (for example, one set in the Forgotten Realms setting, or any setting the DM has devised him/herself). The spell list is also very short and mostly consists only of domain spells, and the monster list is but two entries long. The book's merits are not plentiful, but not entirely lacking. It does provide a collection of new domains the DM can use to make new deities, suggestions for how divinity can be obtained and lost, and four different pantheons to use, based on the Player's Handbook gods, the ancient Egyptian gods, the ancient Greek gods, and the ancient Nordic gods. There are also some tips for novice DMs on how to create your own pantheon. All things considered, though, the gods have truly just become really strong monsters with the addition of Deities and Demigods. Unfortunately, any experienced DM will know that the gods virtually never have any business fighting with or against the players, and any creative DM can make up his own pantheons without the minimal aid provided by this book. Unless your intent is on owning every D&D book around, this one is tragically not vital to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: deity statistics
Review: This book did not present the pantheons in a very loving fashion, but instead used most of the pages for the pantheon presentation for statistics for deities. Most people would never use these statistics in their games. You will not get a good feel for the pantheons in this book. Steer clear. look into "Faiths and Avatars" and "Book of the Righteous" instead.
Rating:
Summary: deity statistics
Review: This book did not present the pantheons in a very loving fashion, but instead used most of the pages for the pantheon presentation for statistics for deities. Most people would never use these statistics in their games. You will not get a good feel for the pantheons in this book. Steer clear. look into "Faiths and Avatars" and "Book of the Righteous" instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: This book had alot of props to it. And I really looked forward to its release. 1st off lets start off with the Pros of this book.
For people like me and alot of players I know its a great thing to have stats on your Deity. It also makes it rather simple (about as simple as something like this coul be really) on makeing your own deity. Which I really like, it gives you alot of options for a champain in which a Deity plays such a big part. Now for the Cons. Some people might not care how many spells Boccob can cast in a day or how strong Kord really is. So the stats is really a double-edge sword. Plus I dont really like how they kinda just dabbeled into the Epic portion of the game. Which if you have the Epic Level Handbook its great. But without it your missing out on some things that would make your Deity an ultimate power. So there you have it. Overall this is a pretty good book for a D&D fan who is looking for "Epic" battles and alot of high powered and important NPCs. Ohh yeah and its also a 4 out of 5
Rating:
Summary: Not essential, but nice to have
Review: This book is not essential to your campaign by any means. If you want to add a little more flavor to your campaign, though, the historical pantheons can be fun, and the rules in this book make creating your own pantheon a little easier.
Rating:
Summary: Not essential, but nice to have
Review: This book is not essential to your campaign by any means. If you want to add a little more flavor to your campaign, though, the historical pantheons can be fun, and the rules in this book make creating your own pantheon a little easier.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done!
Review: This book is very well done. I was at first worried because of the small number of pantheons listed, but each of the pantheons has a GREAT deal of information. Particularly, the Norse Pantheon is well done.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and a great addition to AD&D
Review: This edition of "Deities and Demigods" is a very good addition to the realms of AD&D books. It's well written - and more importantly well edited. There's a great deal of information on Gods and how they interact with the game and how they should impact your campaign. On the plus side, they have given much more detail to all levels of the pantheons and further defined divine abilities. Virtually all the characterizations, abilities and politics are spelled out for you in the books. All a dungeon master has to do is read the book and plug the his chosen pantheon into his campaign. It's a great help for a large number of dungeon masters. The artwork is also superb. Now for the downside - such as it is. While they did an incredible job at bringing so much more detail to life, they only included three pantheons from world mythology. The Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythologies are great but it would have been nice to see something from Asia or Africa. There are so many more mythologies out there. The other, very minor, downside is the incredible level of detail (that is also a plus). They've take all the mystery out of everything divine. There isn't any level of divine mystery to shroud the inner workings of the Gods. Personally, I like that level of mystery so the players (who can read the book) never get too firm a handle on divine motivations. Overall though the book is definitely worth getting for all the information it offers. The best advice I could offer with the book is to use the book as a general guideline and if your players read it - keep the level of mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and a great addition to AD&D
Review: This edition of "Deities and Demigods" is a very good addition to the realms of AD&D books. It's well written - and more importantly well edited. There's a great deal of information on Gods and how they interact with the game and how they should impact your campaign. On the plus side, they have given much more detail to all levels of the pantheons and further defined divine abilities. Virtually all the characterizations, abilities and politics are spelled out for you in the books. All a dungeon master has to do is read the book and plug the his chosen pantheon into his campaign. It's a great help for a large number of dungeon masters. The artwork is also superb. Now for the downside - such as it is. While they did an incredible job at bringing so much more detail to life, they only included three pantheons from world mythology. The Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythologies are great but it would have been nice to see something from Asia or Africa. There are so many more mythologies out there. The other, very minor, downside is the incredible level of detail (that is also a plus). They've take all the mystery out of everything divine. There isn't any level of divine mystery to shroud the inner workings of the Gods. Personally, I like that level of mystery so the players (who can read the book) never get too firm a handle on divine motivations. Overall though the book is definitely worth getting for all the information it offers. The best advice I could offer with the book is to use the book as a general guideline and if your players read it - keep the level of mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Rich and Detailed for Roleplaying Ease
Review: This is a grand piece for the 3E set. The book is both illustrious in it's presentation and informative in it's content. Those running in the Greyhawk world like our group will find it a much sought after piece. The book not only gives you alot of serious data on the pantheons of fantasy realms but also gives you information on how they interact. A section is devoted to creating your own devine rulers as well. Definately packed with things the munchkins want too like new spells and magic items. Definately worth the price.
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