Avatar's Handbook, The

With all of the “vile” material that has come out over the past couple years across the d20 spectrum for third edition (3ed) Dungeons and Dragons, the situation seemed grim for many players. Dungeon Masters (DMs) now had a wealth of gaming material to challenge and badger player characters (PCs). From the sinister Devil manipulating the lord of the city, to the Demon driving Gnolls and other evil monsters into civilized lands, to the Drow tunneling up from earth’s bowels, to just plain horrible magic, it appeared that PCs had few options to change the tide. Of course, if the PCs overcame these threats and challenges, their deeds would shine that much more brightly… until the next act of despairing evil. With the prevalence of fiends, monsters, and wicked necromancers and warlords in many games, it appeared that goodness was limited and powerless. It is true that D&D; is a game in which it should be the players who are the heroes, the beacons of light in the deepest darkness; however, it stands to reason that while the forces of evil have their champions the masters that goodness do as well beyond the few Celestials that appear in the Monster Manual. The truth of this has been revealed recently and the oracle of knowledge in this case is Green Ronin Publishing.

Coming off the success of The Book of the Righteous and the two volumes of the Books of Fiends, Green Ronin Publishing has offered another book for those interested in the exploits, powers, and personalities of Outsiders. This time focusing on the power of Good, Green Ronin offers The Avatar’s Handbook. Written by Jesse Decker, The Avatar’s Handbook (TAH) is a part of Green Ronin’s Master Class line. TAH is also a full-fledged jack-of-all-trades for goodness. Not only does it introduce a brand new core class and the attendant feats, spells, and magic items, TAH also triples as a monster collection and a divine sourcebook. With much the same intensity and ingenuity exhibited in earlier Green Ronin products, this recent book offers a great deal of material for both DMs and players alike.

At the heart of TAH is a new core class, the Avatar. Detailed in chapter one, the Avatar is designed as a divine spellcaster with the power to call on the “Celestial Hosts” to further the cause of good. The general build of the class melds elements of the Sorcerer with components of the Cleric; although his spellcasting is divine in nature, the Avatar can cast a large number of spells per day and has a limit to the number of spells he can know as he increases in level. Naturally, his spell selection melds those for Clerics and Sorcerers from the Player’s Handbook. He is not as physically weak as the Sorcerer, but does not quit reach the Cleric in most of his physical attributes. As he progresses in levels, he gains unique powers including Heaven’s Mantle (allowing him to take on certain Celestial attributes) and Sacred Boon (granting him special, permanent qualities). While the Cleric has access to Domain spells and abilities, the Avatar’s claim to fame is his ability to summon celestial creatures to assist him eradicate evil. For the most part, the Avatar class appears balanced.

The next chapter on spells and magic details new spells, including the Avatar’s spell list. TAH also offers some variant rules on handling summoning, notably to make time consumption for using such spells in the game more manageable. A new and very cool addition to the list is spells are Banner Spells. The manner in which this was written evokes images of patriots charging down a hill waving a national symbol, and that is probably the intent. Each has a unique property and most can be used for a one-time melee attack.

Considering that one of the chief aspects of the Avatar class is the ability to summon Celestials, it would become very boring to call on the same eight featured in the Monster Manual (MM). TAH offers a solution in the form of 25 new Celestials. Most of the beings presented are illustrated and have at least one page devoted to them. Ranging from challenge rating (CR) 1 to 20, these new Celestials fill in many encounter gaps in the MM for beings of pure goodness. Following the new Celestials are “Creatures of the Upper Planes,” which includes three new dragons and four new good “monsters.” By and large, most of these entities are well designed, with appropriate CRs and a nice array of powers. As has become a staple of Green Ronin, the descriptions are excellent and a number of special attacks and qualities are beyond the standard fare. However, some of the beings are supposed to be a part of a particular “caste” presented in the MM but do not fulfill certain requirements of that caste. For example the Choralia is an Archon but, instead of being Lawful good, it is Neutral good. Although this is a minor glitch all things considered, it is one that should not have appeared.

The Appendices follow, the first being a treatise on Archangels. TAH reinforces its relationship to The Book of the Righteous and the two Books of Fiends by providing the account of the Archangel Iblis, his fall into Hell (where he is a Duke as detailed in Legions of Hell/LoH), and his replacement, Mika’il. Mika’il, alongside the archangel Gabriel, is detailed in his full glory; also included are abilities unique to Archangels. If there is any area that I found disappointing, it was this appendix. It is strange to know that Fallen Celestials (as detailed in LoH) receive so many additional powers as the result of a full-fledged template while an Archangel receives relatively little… barely more than an expansion of existing qualities. This is somewhat unfortunate from a mechanics point of view since it would have been nice to see good Celestials flex their muscle against their fallen counterparts and Fiends.

Appendix II offers five new Templates. By and large, the templates seem very powerful to their very conservative CR increases, never higher than +2. However, the concepts in and of themselves for most of the templates are noteworthy. The Reforged template is used to rekindling goodness within the hearts of evil creatures (including Fiends), while the Sublime template represents those beings touched by a higher, unquestionable righteous, morality. An utterly unique template is the Uncalled; these are literally good Undead that could give Ghosts and Liches a run for the border. The templates here should have included one for Archangels. I also have issues with the idea that a creature that has descended into evil needs to be forced to become good; this is strongly inferred in the description of the Reforged template. If good can fall, so too should evil rise.

The art for TAH is generally very good. Although the cover is not as powerful or thematically interesting as it could have been, it does suffice. Like most Green Ronin publications, the interior art is black and white, but the images provided by Jennifer Meyer are absolutely heavenly (pun intended). Her soft lines and delicate shading give an airy yet powerful presence to her images, perfectly representing the nature of this book. There is at least one strange picture in this book that caught my attention. There is a Reforged Cornugon in the appendix, but the illustration that accompanies him is that of a Reforged (I’m assuming) Glabrezu. This error gets back to artists needing to pay attention to the descriptions they are giving and/or on art directors to make sure that they provide the proper descriptions. Beyond this, most of the other art is well done, although it is Meyer’s work that brings home the atmosphere this book intends.

In the end, The Avatar’s Handbook is a very useful book. It is a great resource with a lot of open content. It is a wonderful supplement for DMs and players who want to broaden their game worlds. It provides a balance of great mechanics, inviting flavor text, and intelligent and thought-provoking ideas. I do think that TAH misses an opportunity to showcase god-like Celestials and I do think have a few philosophical issues with the material offered in the book, but beyond these elements The Avatar’s Handbook is a very good resource and another success from Green Ronin Publishing.


The Avatar’s Handbook
Type of Game: A Green Ronin Master Class book
Written By: Jesse Decker
Cover art by: James Ryman
Additional art by: Liz Danforth, Jennifer Meyer, Britt Martin, and Ken Burles
Number of Pages: 80
Retail Price: $16.95 US
Item Number: GRR 1303
ISBN: 0-9723599-6-6
Web: www.greenronin.com

Added: May 18th 2003
Reviewer: Serge W. Desir
Score:
Related Link: The Avatar's Handbook
Hits: 507
Language: eng