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I've been giving the The Book of the Righteous from Green Ronin Publishing a deep re-reading, and have come to the conclusion that is, by far, the best supplement for any D&D game you can ask for. Here's why.
Let's talk about religion for a moment. If I asked you to describe the biggest factors in shaping human civilization over the millennia, I think we'd agree that religion has been an important factor. Hell, the history of the west for the past 2,000 years has been dominated by the spread and influence of the three Abrahamic religions. The power of the Roman Catholic Church over secular lords, the split between Catholic and Orthodox that doomed the Eastern Roman Empire, the rise of Islam as a unifying force. . . religion shapes our world.
And it does this based only on faith. Miracles are claimed but rarely seen. The promise of Heaven, the threat of Hell, the hope that prayers will be answered, religions dominate our cultures without any evidence. I'm not overlooking their role as moral leaders or charitable acts, but for the purposes of this essay, I'm looking at the promise of faith.
No think of the typical D&D world. The Gods are very real, as are the Demons and Devils. Gods grant amazing powers to their chosen vessels. Prayers are answered. If Uncle Uthrect slices his leg open harvesting wheat, the village priest can heal the wound with a short prayer of healing. In this sort of milieu, religion will be even more important, even with the usual concession that the gods cannot directly intervene in the material world.
Yet for a very long time, religion was the most neglected aspect of the game. Oh, we got lists of gods (sometimes with stat blocks like common monsters!) but rarely an actual structure of faith. You might play a cleric of Thor, but that meant nothing. Temples were more magical hos[pitals than places of worship. A vital element was missing.
This is where The Book of the Righteous comes in. It is a complete pantheon and mythological structure. There is a creation story, tales of the early gods, the creation of evil, how more gods were born, and the coming of the mortal races. Each deity gets a detailed write-up, including their nature, a tale or two about them, and a detailed look at their rites and holy orders. The best part is this is mostly game neutral. Aside from suggesting classes and clerical Domains for the gods and their followers, this is all prose.
We also get the evil gods, led by Asmodeus, who was the first god created by the Nameless One, the creator-figure, who fell to pride and evil and now rules in Hell. There are heretical sects, a secret about one of the good churches, and my favorite part, The Great Church. This is a "catholic" church in the sense that embraces the worship of the pantheon as a whole. I love the concept as it is far more political than the other churches, and presents a threat to some of them. This adds a layer to and game world.
After some D&D-specific rules, we get into detailed discussions of alignment that are better than any I've seen elsewhere. Also, there is a discussion of why there are no racial gods, evil races, and ways to modify the contents of the book to fit your campaign. All very good stuff.
I tend to judge a gaming supplement by how much it inspires me to create, and The Book of the Righteous hits it out of the ballpark. I found myself thinking how the orcish god Gruumish is simply an aspect of Canarak, the god of slaughter. One of my favorite monsters has always been the gnolls, given new depth in Yolo's Guide to Monsters. In this book, gnolls are recast as the children of the demon lord Yeenoghu. How to slot this into the religious structure of the book? Well, Thellos is the neutral evil god of greed, gluttony, and desire. Let's write a myth!
Yeenoghu was once a servitor of Thellos. A banquet had been prepared for the Feasting Maw, but Yeenoghu arrived early and couldn't stop himself from devouring the entire feast. Furious, Thellos cursed Yeenoghu with an endless, insatiable hunger and banished him to the Abyss. Yeenoghu passed this endless hunger onto his children. There, we've added to the structure of the book without changing things. But what of Yeenoghu? Does the Beast of Butchery desire revenge on The Hungry Brother? So much you can add to the campaign even in the background!
I've saved the best for last. You can use this book in any campaign setting. A mythic Earth, Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, anywhere. I've already decided that the seat of the Great Church has to be in Rome, naturally. But Venice is home to one of the greatest Basins of Shalimyr, the Waters of the World. Indeed, every year the Doge marries Shalimyr's daughter, Ocean, in a religious ritual of great power.
See? Great ideas just pour from this book. If you are a Dungeon Master or world-builder, buy this.
Let's talk about religion for a moment. If I asked you to describe the biggest factors in shaping human civilization over the millennia, I think we'd agree that religion has been an important factor. Hell, the history of the west for the past 2,000 years has been dominated by the spread and influence of the three Abrahamic religions. The power of the Roman Catholic Church over secular lords, the split between Catholic and Orthodox that doomed the Eastern Roman Empire, the rise of Islam as a unifying force. . . religion shapes our world.
And it does this based only on faith. Miracles are claimed but rarely seen. The promise of Heaven, the threat of Hell, the hope that prayers will be answered, religions dominate our cultures without any evidence. I'm not overlooking their role as moral leaders or charitable acts, but for the purposes of this essay, I'm looking at the promise of faith.
No think of the typical D&D world. The Gods are very real, as are the Demons and Devils. Gods grant amazing powers to their chosen vessels. Prayers are answered. If Uncle Uthrect slices his leg open harvesting wheat, the village priest can heal the wound with a short prayer of healing. In this sort of milieu, religion will be even more important, even with the usual concession that the gods cannot directly intervene in the material world.
Yet for a very long time, religion was the most neglected aspect of the game. Oh, we got lists of gods (sometimes with stat blocks like common monsters!) but rarely an actual structure of faith. You might play a cleric of Thor, but that meant nothing. Temples were more magical hos[pitals than places of worship. A vital element was missing.
This is where The Book of the Righteous comes in. It is a complete pantheon and mythological structure. There is a creation story, tales of the early gods, the creation of evil, how more gods were born, and the coming of the mortal races. Each deity gets a detailed write-up, including their nature, a tale or two about them, and a detailed look at their rites and holy orders. The best part is this is mostly game neutral. Aside from suggesting classes and clerical Domains for the gods and their followers, this is all prose.
We also get the evil gods, led by Asmodeus, who was the first god created by the Nameless One, the creator-figure, who fell to pride and evil and now rules in Hell. There are heretical sects, a secret about one of the good churches, and my favorite part, The Great Church. This is a "catholic" church in the sense that embraces the worship of the pantheon as a whole. I love the concept as it is far more political than the other churches, and presents a threat to some of them. This adds a layer to and game world.
After some D&D-specific rules, we get into detailed discussions of alignment that are better than any I've seen elsewhere. Also, there is a discussion of why there are no racial gods, evil races, and ways to modify the contents of the book to fit your campaign. All very good stuff.
I tend to judge a gaming supplement by how much it inspires me to create, and The Book of the Righteous hits it out of the ballpark. I found myself thinking how the orcish god Gruumish is simply an aspect of Canarak, the god of slaughter. One of my favorite monsters has always been the gnolls, given new depth in Yolo's Guide to Monsters. In this book, gnolls are recast as the children of the demon lord Yeenoghu. How to slot this into the religious structure of the book? Well, Thellos is the neutral evil god of greed, gluttony, and desire. Let's write a myth!
Yeenoghu was once a servitor of Thellos. A banquet had been prepared for the Feasting Maw, but Yeenoghu arrived early and couldn't stop himself from devouring the entire feast. Furious, Thellos cursed Yeenoghu with an endless, insatiable hunger and banished him to the Abyss. Yeenoghu passed this endless hunger onto his children. There, we've added to the structure of the book without changing things. But what of Yeenoghu? Does the Beast of Butchery desire revenge on The Hungry Brother? So much you can add to the campaign even in the background!
I've saved the best for last. You can use this book in any campaign setting. A mythic Earth, Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, anywhere. I've already decided that the seat of the Great Church has to be in Rome, naturally. But Venice is home to one of the greatest Basins of Shalimyr, the Waters of the World. Indeed, every year the Doge marries Shalimyr's daughter, Ocean, in a religious ritual of great power.
See? Great ideas just pour from this book. If you are a Dungeon Master or world-builder, buy this.
