Creators of life, forgers of worlds, and rulers of reality—these are the gods and goddesses of the world. They have existed for eons. The countless worlds of the Great Beyond are their playgrounds and battlefields. Yet for all their vast power, it is not the gods of Golarion who shape nations and write history—this task falls instead to their greatest creations: the mortal races of the world. It is through their priests and paladins, their clerics and cultists that the gods make their will known in this world, be it for good or ill.
In Gods and Magic, you will learn not only of the core twenty deities of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but of a multitude of other deities whose flocks, while smaller and more isolated, have just as much potential for greatness. Yet this book isn’t just for clerics—religion and faith are important factors in the lives of many, be they stalwart paladins, brave rangers, mysterious druids, or dedicated monks. Even those whose talents lie beyond the divine, such as the scholarly wizard or the god-fearing barbarian, find that faith has its advantages.
Within this 64-page book you will find:
Detailed descriptions of the core twenty deities of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, complete with symbols and full illustrations
Details on over 40 additional deities, including the gods of dwarves and elves, gnomes and halflings, giants and dragons, and more
Over 20 new spells associated with the most powerful religions, yet usable by both arcane and divine spellcasters
Dozens of new magic items keyed to the world’s religions, ranging from minor trinkets to powerful artifacts
Para jogadores do Pathfinder RPG este é um livro meio ultrapassado embora ainda seja a fonte com melhor custo beneficio sobre informações sobre os deuses de Golarion. Agora que os 20 artigos sobre os deuses serão completados com a quinta aventura de Skulls and Shackles, talvez seja feita uma nova compilação voltada para o Pathfinder RPG. Mas mesmo assim a parte sobre os deuses é muito boa e serve como ótima referencia sobre este novo panteão que embora não tenha uma tradição ou reconhecimento como os dos deuses de Forgotten Realms ou Dragonlance, são muito bem projetados e executados para se tornarem futuros clássicos e merecem uma chance.
I have to be honest, I completely love this book. Without this book, picking deities basically consists of running your finger down the list of gods in the cleric's list, and finding someone who matches your alignment or vague ideals. At best, without this book, you could pick up the Campaign Setting book for $50. Not only does this book save you money, it adds an incredible amount of depth to the character creation process.
For the people who prefer the table approach, the inside cover offers a tabled list of 61 deities, both major and minor. They are laid out in the comprehensive setup we are all used to in the Core Rulebook. There being so many of them, they are really crammed in there, but the text is decently sized and easy to read.
The book itself starts off with a very brief explanation of how the deities got where they are now, and a small setup of the mythology. It also explains how one can become a god, for later reference.
Immediately, on page 4, the author goes into information about the 20 major deities. Rather than a few paragraphs, the book offers two full pages of text, first describing the deity and how they rose to power, then the temples and devotees likely to associate with that particular entity. Festivals, dress, and customs are detailed as well. Included is a fully detailed and beautifully drawn representation of the god or goddess, in their favored form. For each entry, a bonus spell is added for people capable of divine casting.
I cannot overstate how spectacular this section is. Admittedly, I am a deity-heavy player and GM. This book adds a vast wealth of information for both players and GMs, ready for implementation as soon as one opens the book.
The major gods are followed by several pages of minor gods, in case the 20 core are not enough. Many people prefer not to pick the most popular choices, and make a more elaborate and unique character, and this offers choices on doing exactly that. As noted by the author, these are mostly the same as presented in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting book, and only reprinted here for reference in a less expensive book.
After this is a section about magical items, some of which are fairly interesting. An example item is the Robe of the Master of Masters, which changes color according to the will of the wearer. It grants bonuses to Perform (dance), and has a built-in switch which grants Haste for 1 round. It also allows for some minor healing. This sections presents 38 new magical items in total. It also presents 4 artifact items.
What this book is short on, is clearly stated rules. I only add this part because this is almost purely a roleplay book. Many people (read: power gamers) would consider this a "fluff" book, with nothing but a bunch of monotonous writing about all that roleplaying nonsense. For anyone serious about making a character with personality, this book is incredibly essential.
All said, only the back half of the final page is unusable, as it is an advertisement for another book. Typical books cram ads in at the back, but this one forgoes that. Starting from the inside cover, even before the first page, nearly every inch of this book is useful.
This book should be considered mandatory for PFS play, or for anyone who takes their character's spiritual beliefs seriously. I can't imagine making any divine character, or even a pious martial character, without the use of this book. For the $17.99, this book is absolutely worth every penny. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with Gods and Magic.
As was written by others before me, the material itself matches Paizos usual high standards and is without a doubt useful to anyone playing in Golarion.
What stops me from rating 5 stars is two things:
The whole book feels a bit like it is just a bit of a overview on the pantheon and I felt left with a a need for more indepth information (which is often provided in the APs). So, if you use this book just to give new players a glimpse of the pantheon to decide which deity to attach your cleric to, that works, but not much more.
What actually bugs me more is the unusual high rate of mistakes. On the first 2 pages alone there are three mistakes and that is not anything I am used to from Paizo.
A fantastic product overall. Great art, easy layout, and detailed information on all the major deities. Plenty of flavour makes this almost a must-have book for anyone playing a cleric in Golarion.
The only reason I rate this a 4 instead of a 5 is that there could have been just a little bit more content, such as info on the Vudrani pantheon and belief in philosophies instead of particular deities.
Still, only a minor quibble. Definitely worth purchasing.
I've always been a sucker for books covering the deities of gaming worlds, and Paizo hasn't disappointed (yet again).
This book is very well illustrated and contains a lot of solid information to help both GMs and players alike in understanding the Gods of the Pathfinder world. If you're planning on using the core rules and aren't planning on developing your own pantheon, I'd strongly suggest picking this one up. The only sicking point I had for the book was that the less popular deities (specifically racial deities and Besmara) didn't get nearly as many words as they deserved.
The content of this book really is five-star material, but I dropped it to four simply because if you're running homebrew or any of the other major pre-developed worlds out there, the materials contained within won't be a whole lot of extra use to your campaign.
It really is quite phenomenal expansion on the gods of the pathfinder world, though I would not object to further details on the lesser gods and deities. Awesome work by Sean K Reynolds, first class artwork as always.
The simple presence of 'The Ghost of Malthus' in Abadar's entry is enough to win me over for this book; props to Paizo for the inclusion of a not-very-well-known figure from our own recent history, in a role that suits the original Malthus quite well.
The book as a whole is well-organized and concise, and has useful tidbits scattered all through it.
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