Warriors of Heaven (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Accessory)

Rating:
Summary: Far below the standard set by Planescape
Review: "Warriors of Heaven" presents the celestial races in a manner that is both flat and without controversy. One of the highlights of the Planescape setting has always been that no one--particularly not the "authoritative" authors of official products--knows the whole story of the planes--they are simply too vast. As a result, PS products are known to present theories, alternate views, different takes depending on one's standpoint, wild speculations, misinformation, and even downright contradictions. Not here. No, everything here is cut and dried and told to you by a godlike narrator--as opposed to the nine or so different speakers (each with different knowledge, tone, and agenda) that illuminated for us the Faces of Evil.

Well, then, what about the information you do get? It would be useful if you wanted to introduce a few celestial-themed adventures into a non-PS campaign, but as far as those of us who like the planes themselves as a setting, there is really almost nothing new or useful here--unless one is really enamored of tables for game mechanics, and has no interest in the actual characterization of the ways, manners, cultures, and beliefs of the celestials.

Shall I sum it up? Warriors of Heaven has 75 tables and charts of mechanical statitics cluttering its 90 pages. Faces of Evil has none in its 95. If you want a rich, insightful analogue of Faces of Evil, then this is not for you. If you are dying to introduce a 3rd level Deva into your Forgotten Realms campaign, this is probably something worth reading. If there is to be a Faces of Good, apparently someone will have to write it for the internet.

Rating:
Summary: Far below the standard set by Planescape
Review: "Warriors of Heaven" presents the celestial races in a manner that is both flat and without controversy. One of the highlights of the Planescape setting has always been that no one--particularly not the "authoritative" authors of official products--knows the whole story of the planes--they are simply too vast. As a result, PS products are known to present theories, alternate views, different takes depending on one's standpoint, wild speculations, misinformation, and even downright contradictions. Not here. No, everything here is cut and dried and told to you by a godlike narrator--as opposed to the nine or so different speakers (each with different knowledge, tone, and agenda) that illuminated for us the Faces of Evil.

Well, then, what about the information you do get? It would be useful if you wanted to introduce a few celestial-themed adventures into a non-PS campaign, but as far as those of us who like the planes themselves as a setting, there is really almost nothing new or useful here--unless one is really enamored of tables for game mechanics, and has no interest in the actual characterization of the ways, manners, cultures, and beliefs of the celestials.

Shall I sum it up? Warriors of Heaven has 75 tables and charts of mechanical statitics cluttering its 90 pages. Faces of Evil has none in its 95. If you want a rich, insightful analogue of Faces of Evil, then this is not for you. If you are dying to introduce a 3rd level Deva into your Forgotten Realms campaign, this is probably something worth reading. If there is to be a Faces of Good, apparently someone will have to write it for the internet.

Rating:
Summary: Worth looking into for those interested in the Celestials
Review: Although not the best Planescape product I've read, Warriors of Heaven does a decent job of explaining the roles of the Celestials within the planes, and how each of the races interacts with each other. More description could have been included if the book was a bit longer.

Good points include an interesting array of new magical items and spells, as well as the ability to play Celestials as PCs. Each celestial races, from aasimon to archons, to guardinals, to eladrins and asuras are playable as characters. Some are rather powerful, so it's unlikely they'd be included as standard PCs, however, the opportunities to run Celestial based campaigns combatting the fiends are endless. The idea of beginning as a lowly lantern archon and working up through the ranks to a Trumpet Archon, for instance could make a very interesting game, along the lines of Council of Wyrms...

On the downside, efforts to make the Celestials usable as character races have created inconsistencies from established Planescape material. Additionally, the interior art leaves a lot to be desired...this is a far cry from DiTerlizzi...

Rating:
Summary: The Vorpal Chipmunk of Death
Review: Sorely disappointing. Eladrins and Guardinals become mortal, not to mention the Asuras. The impact this has is it takes away a bit of the character of the planeborn. The methods by which PCs can be made from Celestials (most, not all) was also disappointing.If you don't mind a Leonal with a STR-15,DEX-14,CON-13,INT-12,WIS-14,CHR-15 then this is the book for you. If you aren't into seeing the planeborn being reduced to planar elves and rakasta, save your money.Many of the spells were not new either, being only repeats that may be found in other books, hardly unique to Celestials. This book isn't a companion to "Faces of Evil" so be prepared for it to concentrate on giving stats for making weak planeborn PCs (the weak Celestials Lanterns and so forth, were understandable, but not Leonal, Tulani, etc.)and not significantly defining the culture of those creatures. A few decent ideas were presented, but far too few and those few couldn't outweigh the many powerfully horrific ideas that even counters earlier Planescape material without offering any good explanations as to why. Most products of this type usually reintroduce the creature(s) being presented in a manner that makes them more spectacular than ever. This time though, the opposite has occured. I know for one I will be ignoring many of the rules presented in this release from TSR. Do yourself a favor, save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for DM's planning other-planar adventures
Review: This book, originally slated to be released under the planescape logo, does a very good job of making the celestials accessible as player character races. Whether you've always wanted to play an aasimon, an archon, a guardinal, an eladrin, or an aasimar, this book has all the rules you need to create a character worthy of the upper planes. One of the most interesting aspects of these rules is the fact that a first level celestial does not have all the powers normally associated with that type of creature: the character gains powers as he/she gains levels, and with some of the celestials, actually transforms into another type of celestial altogether (such as archons). All in all, this book is perfect for any DM who runs a planescape campaign, but since it has been presented as a 'generic' d&d product, it can easily be used with any other type of campaign. I highly recommend this resource.

Rating:
Summary: Mayfair Games' Sentinels redone...
Review: This is basically a weaker rewrite of Mayfair Games' Sentinels product, which TSR won in their lawsuit against the third-party developer several years back. Forced into the basic AD&D Cosmology, this product still borrows in spirit from the original source. As a fan of MFG's Role-aids product line, I appreciated the effort, but it was not nearly as well done as Shaman, Chronomancer, or the latest, the Guide to Hell. Still, it does introduce some good possibilities for a Planescape game, and as such, a creative DM can use this product as a springboard for greater adventure possibilities later. But still, I'd recommend the old MFG Sentinels and Demons supplements, if you can find them.

Rating:
Summary: Mayfair Games' Sentinels redone...
Review: This is basically a weaker rewrite of Mayfair Games' Sentinels product, which TSR won in their lawsuit against the third-party developer several years back. Forced into the basic AD&D Cosmology, this product still borrows in spirit from the original source. As a fan of MFG's Role-aids product line, I appreciated the effort, but it was not nearly as well done as Shaman, Chronomancer, or the latest, the Guide to Hell. Still, it does introduce some good possibilities for a Planescape game, and as such, a creative DM can use this product as a springboard for greater adventure possibilities later. But still, I'd recommend the old MFG Sentinels and Demons supplements, if you can find them.

Rating:
Summary: Mayfair Games' Sentinels redone...
Review: This is basically a weaker rewrite of Mayfair Games' Sentinels product, which TSR won in their lawsuit against the third-party developer several years back. Forced into the basic AD&D Cosmology, this product still borrows in spirit from the original source. As a fan of MFG's Role-aids product line, I appreciated the effort, but it was not nearly as well done as Shaman, Chronomancer, or the latest, the Guide to Hell. Still, it does introduce some good possibilities for a Planescape game, and as such, a creative DM can use this product as a springboard for greater adventure possibilities later. But still, I'd recommend the old MFG Sentinels and Demons supplements, if you can find them.