I was highly disappointed with this book - the 3.5e WotC Fiendish Codices 1-2 are MUCH MUCH BETTER.
The authors of both Volume 1 and 2 made a good effort, with an obvious desire to show off their vast vocabulary or thesaurus skills (some of their word choices were bizarre, I mean seriously, I don't want to pick up a dictionary on every page). I get it - you guys like big words. Exciting details of the realms governed by the Lords were poor to say the least, no maps are provided, and the excerpts from the Book of the Damned uses a font extremely difficult to read.
Volume 1 made no mention of this but Volume 2 states that statistics for the Lords are not needed as they would completely destroy any heroes (other than Epic) that dared to challenge them. This was disappointing and one of the few running complaints I have had with the Pathfinder books as a whole, including stats for the Gods.
The artwork is for the most part very good. Graz'zt and other of my favorites were not carried over for IP/proprietary reasons I assume.
Having played D&D for ~ 31 years now...I'm hypercritical of course, but Paizo/Pathfinder has saved D&D for me. WOTC's 4e was the last straw. With that being said, these two books were my first two disappointments in the Pathfinder texts.
The 1e Manual of the Planes about the Infernal Realms was riveting, I read those sections over and over. I have always wanted to run an Infernal campaign "Paladin in Hell" etc. but these books don't provide enough detail to significantly help this project - if anything is emphasized, it's the politics of the Infernal Realms. The Blood War is hardly touched upon either.
The books are short, also disappointing.
This is basically the same review I posted for Volume 2.
I hope in the future these are redesigned, reworked, expanded with numerous maps and statistics, and re-released using new authors.
I was highly disappointed with this book - the 3.5e WotC Fiendish Codices 1-2 are MUCH MUCH BETTER.
The authors of both Volume 1 and 2 made a good effort, with an obvious desire to show off their vast vocabulary or thesaurus skills (some of their word choices were bizarre, I mean seriously, I don't want to pick up a dictionary on every page). I get it - you guys like big words. Exciting details of the realms governed by the Lords were poor to say the least, no maps are provided, and the excerpts from the Book of the Damned uses a font extremely difficult to read.
Volume 1 made no mention of this but Volume 2 states that statistics for the Lords are not needed as they would completely destroy any heroes (other than Epic) that dared to challenge them. This was disappointing and one of the few running complaints I have had with the Pathfinder books as a whole, including stats for the Gods.
The artwork is for the most part very good, the balor especially. If you're looking for Orcus' portrait, don't bother, it's not there. Demogorgon's not listed as a Demon Lord but his name is peculiarly listed at the beginning as a Demon Lord's name.
Playing D&D for ~ 31 years now...I'm hypercritical of course. Paizo/Pathfinder has saved D&D for me. WOTC's 4e was the last straw. With that being said, these two books were my first two disappointments in the Pathfinder texts. The 1e Manual of the Planes about the Infernal Realms was fascinating, I read those sections over and over. I have always wanted to run an Infernal campaign "Paladin in Hell" etc. but these books don't provide enough detail to significantly help this project. The books are short, also disappointing. Many of my personal favorites were not carried over from D&D 3.5e, legal/IP/proprietary reasons most likely, Malcanthet, Graz'zt especially.
This is basically the same review I posted for Volume 2.
I hope in the future these are redesigned, reworked, and re-released using new authors.
I got my copy of the Dragon Compendium Vol 1 the other and after looking it over I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED.
When I heard of the "Dragon Compendium" I was expecting primarily material from classical issues from Dragon Magazine way back in the day and updated for the current 3.5e system. Instead, I get another huge list of races, feats, prestige classes, etc. that we get ALL THE TIME. I mean, do the editors (or whomever put this together) realize how many feats and prestige classes are already out there in the recent 3.5e literature. We have been bombarded with these, the sheer number is unbelievable.
I was extremely discouraged with the number of articles pre-dating the 2000-2006 era. Most of these issues are easily available at the local library or by purchase on Paizo.com. The older issues, and in my opinion, the CLASSIC ISSUES were entirely under represented. The bias towards the newer articles was blatant and painfully obvious, and reading some of the posts a number of other members feel the same as I.
I feel robbed at purchasing this volume and it was a kick in the teeth for a player who's been playing D&D since 1979. What about the classic articles you read about all the time but you can never get your hands on: (i) discussions between Mordenkainen, Dalamar, and Elminster, (ii) details of Zagyg and the classic imprisonment of the nine demigods, (iii) the intricacies of the outer planes (Nine Hells, Abyss, Pandemonium, etc.), etc.
Where were all the historical articles? Where were all the classical characters reinstalled in the 3.5e system.
You totally lost me on this one and I'm not going to pre-order the next volume but rather wait this time and see how everyone feels about it. I apologize for the length of this diatribe, but I had to vent as it was brewing all night.
I am disgruntled, disappointed, and frankly I feel cheated and betrayed... It was definitely not worth the money I paid!
