Diablo II: Diablerie (A D&D(r) Accessory)

Rating:
Summary: A haphazard conversion from computer to tabletop
Review: "Diablo II: Diablerie" is a Dungeons and Dragons supplement designed to let groups play in the world of the "Diablo II" computer game.

I really wanted to love "Diablerie." I'd bought and enjoyed the AD&D supplement "Diablo II: Awakening" some months before, and if the book didn't accurately portray the games, that was OK: The actual "Diablo II" computer game hadn't made it to stores by the time the game supplement was published, and I could live with the rough approximations of some of the spells and monsters.

More annoying was the bad editing -- one monster's hit dice entirely wrong, information missing and hideously incorrect maps. But, again, I lived with it -- I figured those involved were swamped in the last days before the launch of 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons and I was still able to pull lots of goodies from the book to use in my campaigns, even if I couldn't run it straight as was.

Of course, none of that would happen with "Diablerie," right? After all, this was the third edition version of "Awakening," and since it presumably would just mean updating the previous book for the new edition rules, it would be easy to fix the errors that had come before. Nope.

First off, "Diablerie" isn't a 3E version of "Awakening," although it has a lot in common. The most important difference, bigger than the change in editions, is that "Awakening" provided the setting of Tristram and monastery dungeons from the original "Diablo" game. (It also provided early versions of the "Diablo II" classes and some monsters.) This time around, there's no Tristram, and the notes provided in "Diablerie" make it sound as though that setting won't be in the forthcoming adventure book "Diablo II: Hell and Back" either. So I won't be tossing out "Awakening" and having only one book of this sort on my shelves.

Instead, "Diablerie" is meant to be a player's supplement for the Diablo world. It has the five computer game classes -- Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorceress -- written up as full D&D classes. The abilities one gets to select from in the computer game are done in a similar manner here, with players able to pick from the appropriate set of abilities when their characters go up in levels. The magic-using necromancer and sorceress are similar to the standard D&D sorcerer class, but with unique spells and some different class skills.

There's also new weapons, loads of magic items (created Diablo fashion, with random prefixes and suffixes making for millions of possible magical items), some monsters and a short introductory adventure. Along with a copy of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide (and some dice), everything needed to play is here. Sort of.

"Diablerie" has an extremely thrown-together feel. Monsters from both Diablo computer games are mixed together here, providing neither simply an introductory set or a greatest hits sampling of monsters, but rather a seemingly random selection of them. In addition to magical items from the two Diablo games, a full page of magical items from the "Hellfire" add-on for the original game is included, but the socketed weapons which are so well-known in the new game aren't. We also get reprints of several skills for no apparent reason, along with two pages of what skills and feats are available, although without any information. "Diablerie" apparently isn't sure whether it really needs the Players Handbook or not, since so much of it is duplicated, yet the most important bits (spell descriptions) are sometimes left out.

There's also sloppy editing: After we're told not to use spells from the standard Players Handbook, "Diablerie" repeatedly includes them anyway in isolated cases. (Identify and Greater Magic Weapon from the Players Handbook show up, along with the Flame Wave spell from "Awakening.")

A bigger problem is that the book doesn't really model the game all that well. Sure, it would be a difficult, perhaps impossible task to make Diablo exactly fit D&D, with their very different magic systems and so on. In many cases a very good effort has been made (fatigue and item damage rules are well-done), but in others, some of the most popular elements of the computer game are casually cast aside for no apparent reason: The ubiquitous necromancer's Bone Spear spell, for some reason, is a modified version of the Players Handbook Spiritual Weapon spell, instead of a necromantic version of Lightning Bolt. I'm playing a necromancer in Hell Mode in the computer game, and I can't recall ever seeing a bone spear stabbing a victim over and over and over again.

A final nitpick: The book repeatedly refers to the planet the game is set on as Khanduras. Players of the computer game know that's the country the first game and the first act of the second game are set it. Yes, the planet's real name, Sanctuary, is cheesy as can be, but come on, guys.

When "Awakening" came out, I picked it up as a way to spice up my D&D game in the weeks before the new version of the D&D game came out, and pulled out monsters and magic items that my players had never encountered before. That's probably the best use of "Diablerie," too, but I'm pleased with the new 3rd edition Dungeon Master's Guide, and all the new stuff it offers, so I'm unlikely to use this book in that way, given its eccentricities.

Rating:
Summary: Some good stuff but disappointing
Review: Diablerie is a guide to games in Diablo II world using 3rd edition D& D. Compared to the Diablo II Awakening 2nd edition product this was a very disappointing product.

Diablerie provides 5 Diablo classes, spells for necromancers and sorcerers, tons of magic items, the weapons and armor of Diablo, some monsters and a short adventure.

There is annoying and smarmy commentary in the introduction and at the monster section which should not have been included. There is poor editing, the skill points for classes don't mesh with the starting packages, it says spells that are similar to standard D&D spells are repeated then in the description it simply refers to the players handbook. It says it won't repeat unnecesary information from the PH but it includes charts for every class showing they get the standard feat and ability score progression (which every class gets in 3rd ed.) and the list of normal feats which is in the PH. It says you can't use armor without the minimum strength but no reference to what strength is needed for specific armors. certain explanation information is in wierd places disconnected from the concepts they explain.

It does not include all the monsters from Awakening, in particular horned demons, sucubus, and counselor demons are not done out (among others) and balrogs (now called megademons) are made much weaker offensively, instead of having an area of effect fire attack doing 1d6/hit die they have a breath weapon doing 1d10 to 3d10 usable 1/4 rounds.

No town and incredibly limited setting info.

Much shorter adventure.

No new Diablo feats.

All weapons seem to be either simple or martial weapons now and partial armor is introduced so you can get AC from wearing a cloak, gauntlets or even boots or belts (partial armor not cumulative with other partial armor or full armors). There are new weapons from the Diablo games with 3rd ed. stats but no descriptions, (what does gothic or ancient armor look like, how about crystal swords or giant axe vs. war axe, etc.)

On the plus side tons of logical and cool magic item powers and values (so you can enchant them in 3rd ed.) The monsters that are in there are typed (constructs, undead, outsider etc.) and have 3rd ed stats.

the necromancer and sorcerer are 3rd ed sorcerer variants and there are variant barbarians, paladins and new amazons.

I really like the warrior classes, they have lists of magical or martial class abilities but no spells. as they progress in levels they get choices of which class abilities to take with more powerful ones not available until higher level or with prerequisites. These are sort of super feats (for example, weapon focus with all axes, turn dead opponent into minor heal self potion, etc.) This choice but with class flavor, seems to be closer to what 3rd ed. should have been for many classes.

Some of the class abilities (particularly necromancer and sorcerer ones) could be turned into neat feats but power balance wiht normal feats may be a factor.

Good class, item, magic item and (although limited) monster uses for 3rd ed.

Poor editing and limited content particularly on descriptions, however.

Rating:
Summary: Mmmm, yummy...
Review: I bought this book as a DM so that I could run a 3rd Edition Diablo II campaign with my players, and with this tied in to D&D, we are having no problem. It is a great book, although the included adventure seems more like a few battles to find a unique weapon. There are many, many monsters inside, though only few unique ones. Basically, the unique monsters are broken down into 4 or 5 (or even 6) different types of that monster. My players bought the Diablo II enemy miniatures, and the names are not consistant. For example, Tainted are called Hellhounds. There are over 100 new spells, and most of them are rather nice, though most of the Barbarian skills are a bit too powerful. The Necromancer also has some overly powerful spells. If you've played Diablo II the game, and played D&D using this book, you have to agree that a bit of Diablerie was twisted. For example, a Necromancer can only revive a creature once per week. Aren't Revivals supposed to be their main power? The Barbarian skills are just too much, they make him a macho man. For example, Iron Skin automatically adds a +2 AC, and Natural Resistance makes him much more durable to sorcerers and wizards. Is this guy vunerable to ANYTHING? Overall though, since you can have a few house rules, this book would be a nice supplemant to D&D. I do suggest however, that you buy it straight from a Wizards store, as the cover is very flexible. It will easily get bent in the amazon.com box. The book also features a variation on D&D weapons. The most impressive thing I've found about this book, however, are the unique combinations of magic items. I've found that the new magic items I award my players are always different, and I actually see them trading their imbued equipment!!

If you are looking for a Diablo II campaign, look no farther. Here is your book. If you want some more monsters, spells, and over 1,000,000 magic items, here's your book.

Rating:
Summary: Au contraire!
Review: I quite liked Diablerie, despite the fact that it generally gets no respect: not only do I see it getting slammed by a lot of critics ...Quite simply, it offers a lot of options, and for an RPG, options are good. If a DM will let you get away with it, the book provides interesting new classes, and some wonderful spells. Truly, the spells are what I like about this book. A few of the spells tend to be fairly powerful for their spell level, but my DM takes the attitude "If Wizards of the Coast published it, you can use it." My evoker uses "Fire Bolt" all the time: 1st level Wizard/Sorcerer spell, inflicts 1d6 fire damage per caster level up to 5d6, automatically hits any single target in range, Reflex save to halve damage. And when I get around to DMing, I plan on using some of the monsters from Diablerie, especially some of the undead creatures.

Rating:
Summary: Au contraire!
Review: I quite liked Diablerie, despite the fact that it generally gets no respect: not only do I see it getting slammed by a lot of critics here on Amazon, but also I tend to see it on the "50% off" rack at the game stores. (Then again, because I bought it for half off may be a contributing factor to why I like it so much.) Quite simply, it offers a lot of options, and for an RPG, options are good. If a DM will let you get away with it, the book provides interesting new classes, and some wonderful spells. Truly, the spells are what I like about this book. A few of the spells tend to be fairly powerful for their spell level, but my DM takes the attitude "If Wizards of the Coast published it, you can use it." My spellcasting gnome uses "Fire Bolt" all the time: 1st level Wizard/Sorcerer spell, inflicts 1d6 fire damage per caster level up to 5d6, automatically hits any single target in range, Reflex save to halve damage. And when I get around to DMing, I plan on using some of the monsters from Diablerie, especially some of the undead creatures.

Rating:
Summary: Good One
Review: It's a good book, it isn't very [costly], it gives you a bunch of new monsters (but, the most is only a variation of a principal type, and the description isn't very clear).
It has 10 PAGES OF RANDOM ITEM MAGIC GENERATION and can create more than a million magic items (i'm for real!).
And it has some good alternative core D&D classes (Holy Dark Spider! The Amazon rules!).
Besides that, you will find a rule system for keeping track of item damage (the basic idea is good, but you need to work it out a little so you can really use it in your game).
There's a really stupid adventure in there. For god's sake, dont use it!
Concluding, if you want something to make your random dungeons way better buy this. If you want to roleplay, forget it.

Rating:
Summary: Now this is what I call worthless!
Review: Man, this is some useless stuff. It is alright I guess, but amazingly disappointing. This is the kind of book you should be able to download for free, not pay money for. It is only superficially similar to the game, and doesn't include such things as Oblivion Knights, Mummies & Greater Mummies, and also, the Vampires in this don't have the same powers as in the game. As to the classes, they're similar to in D2. But Necromancer minions are all temporary, unlike in the game in which they are all permanent until destroyed (except Revived). also, it doesn't say how powerful the skeleton minions of a Necromancer are.. just where to look. Basically... if you're looking for something that tries to translate Diablo 2 into DND, look elsewhere. There are 2 good things of the book: one, the humor, and two, the magic item generators. I am working on a conversion from D2 to DND that will be much better and free, EMail me if you are desirous of details at [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A true waste of paper.
Review: We all love Diablo, Diablo II and 3rd edition. Being a GM, Ibought this book hoping to use the monsters and treasure etc toenhance my campaigns. I expected the book to be a supplement to the3rd edition rules and allow for playing 3rd edition within the Diablogame world.

This book is more of a conversion of 3rd edition into ahalf diablo/half 3rd edition game system. The weapons with tweakingcould be used in a 3rd edition campaign, but many of them seem a bitpowerful compared to those in the DMs guide. The monsters are aboutall you can take from this book for a 3rd edition campaign, but eventhat is a bit of a waste of .... Heck I don't even remember seeingstats for Diablo himself? Certainly not his brothers or anyinformation about the NPC's that assist the heroes throughDiablo.

In my opinion, Skip this book and skip it fast. Spend your... on a 2nd edition module and convert it to 3rd edition. You willget more for your money!

Rating:
Summary: A true waste of paper.
Review: We all love Diablo, Diablo II and 3rd edition. Being a GM, Ibought this book hoping to use the monsters and treasure etc toenhance my campaigns. I expected the book to be a supplement to the3rd edition rules and allow for playing 3rd edition within the Diablogame world.

This book is more of a conversion of 3rd edition into ahalf diablo/half 3rd edition game system. The weapons with tweakingcould be used in a 3rd edition campaign, but many of them seem a bitpowerful compared to those in the DMs guide. The monsters are aboutall you can take from this book for a 3rd edition campaign, but eventhat is a bit of a waste of .... Heck I don't even remember seeingstats for Diablo himself? Certainly not his brothers or anyinformation about the NPC's that assist the heroes throughDiablo.

In my opinion, Skip this book and skip it fast. Spend your... on a 2nd edition module and convert it to 3rd edition. You willget more for your money!

Rating:
Summary: D2, 3ed
Review: With the release of the Diablo 2: 2nd ed, I must admit: I was pretty impressed. True, the game wasn't 100% refined, but the concepts that the dnd team had to work with were pretty well done.

That being said, the diablerie supplement was a rather large dissappointment.

Most of the material was simple conversion of the 2nd ed. version into 3ed format. True, the classes were displayed into 3ed, with some interesting improvements, but a lot of the D2 flavour was soured by "game balance" issues, which in my opinion were simply someone's opinion of how the D2 world should work, instead of how it did. A potent example was the extremely limited lifespan of a Necromancer's minions. Another was the fact that, unlike the computer game, a character couldn't master all the features of their class.

The spell conversion format was sadly done. In addition to the forementioned limited duration minions, many spells didn't function anything like their computer counterparts (cf: Bone Spear...). Additionally, while spellcasters were brought in line with the computer game, they were effectively truncated when compared to mainstream dnd.

The expected updates to the magic item system, including a comprehensive discussion of the gems and socketable items, was nonexistent. Likewise, the descriptions of the various items lead to a great deal of confusion over certain game effect issues, such as bonus stackability and over-lapping or contradictory effects.

Additionally, many blatent errors are present throughout the book. For the price you pay, you'd expect the editors to at least catch simple errors, such as table headings. Likewise, items in the equipment table don't quite match those in either the magic item listings or the character descriptions.

Despite all this, a DM willing to wade through a lot of errors can still make good use of this book. I'd suggest a good read-over to decide what revisions you'd like to make before starting play. Likewise, for the serious D2 gamer, a trip to the Chaos Sanctuary (linked through the Blizzard site) can provide a lot of clarifications and inspirations.