" The only reason to give stats to gods is so power gamers can kill them…and that's just plain silly. "

      Title: Deities and Demigods for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Ed. by Wizards of the Coast

      Format: Official 3rd Ed. Supplement

      Reviewing Monkey: Mojo Jojo

      The Hype: One of the great staples of D&D is back for 3rd edition. It's all you could possibly need to know about the major pantheons for your polytheistic gaming experience.

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Layout and Presentation: Man, you have to hand it to Wizards…They sure are doing this whole 3rd edition thing right. Gorgeous full color art, dramatic presentation, great tables of content, logical presentation, and a great overall feel mean that Deities and Demigods will be among the most appeal books in your collection. I don't really know what more to say than that- except I hope some of the pictures inside become posters I can hang on my uber geeky walls. Yup, that about sums it up. 5 out of 5

      Playability: Much more about background and information than playability, this book provides you with facts for all of the major gods whose followers you will encounter. Really, the only odd part (and every Deities and Demigods book has had this) is stats for the gods included. Not that it isn't fun to wage war with a god, but inevitably what happens is that gamers run around chocking up kills vs. Odin, Osiris, Ares, etc. Not really Wizards' fault as much as their power gamer audience, it still seems to me that giving gods reasonable stats is just tossing out a license for geeks to screw up gaming theology. I'd have been much happier if they'd just filled that extra space with that much more background. 3 out of 5

      Desired Content: The focus of the book, without question, is the inclusion of the 5 major pantheons that most D&D gamers use: The proprietary D&D gods, Greeks, Egyptian, Norse, and a subset of gods that have hung around through the years. All in all, the lists are inclusive, entertaining, and useful. In general you'll find everything you need on them here. Much more interesting, in my opinion, is the additional info they've provided on implementing and using gods in your campaigns. Definitions of nature and behavior, guidelines on prayer, meetings, and interference, examples of temples, and instructions on building your own pantheons all make this book golden for the serious gamer. It's more information than you need, which means it's exactly what you want for your group. 5 out of 5

      The Verdict:

All in all, I seriously dug this book. Granted, a lot of people question its usefulness, but I think that it's a great resource for those serious about adding ambience and depth for their games.

      The Good: Lots of info, backgrounds, and extras.

      The Bad: The only reason to give stats to gods is so power gamers can kill them…and that's just plain silly.

      The Overall Ugly: A good addition to your D&D library.

      What it's Worth: Market.