A review copy of “Faiths of the Forgotten Realms 2” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: Micah Watt (Pyromaniac Press), with Scott Bean, Ryan Langr, Isaac May, Bryan Holmes, Marquis Hartis, Steve Fidler, Anne Gregersen, Ashley May, Justyn Johnston
One of my favorite Dungeons & Dragons video games, and one of my earliest introductions to D&D, is Neverwinter Nights. I loved downloading and playing countless modules, but I also discovered a love of creating characters, dreaming up their backstories and tying in thematic abilities and equipment.
Reading through the massive 150+ page player supplement Faiths of the Forgotten Realms 2 brings fond memories of theory-crafting characters, thanks to the 100 (!) new class archetypes themed around exotic non-human deities.
The supplement features a professional, pleasing layout with lots of stock art. The book is organized by pantheons, including drow, dwarves, and orcs, with each pantheon featuring a number of gods and goddesses, and each deity providing two class archetypes. Unfortunately only the overall pantheons are listed in the table of contents, making it tricky to find the classes you like.
Unlike the first Faiths of the Forgotten Realms, the new class archetypes are spread among all 12 base classes in 5E. Clerics and Paladins are still overly represented, comprising 49 of the 100 new archetypes. Makes sense, give their whole thing is about worshiping divine figures! Most of the other classes get around five new archetypes each, though druids are particularly loved at 12, while sorcerers and warlocks get shafted at three new archetypes total.
What sells this book is the excellent theming for each archetype. Clerics, Paladins, and Rangers that follow Tiamat or Bahamut can gain breath weapon attacks, sprout wings, and sow fear. A Druid who worships The Lord of Slime, Ghaunadaur, can wild shape into ooze forms, and eventually split their form.
The barbarian Path of the Hoarder is driven by Abbathor’s never-ending greed for treasure, and spends their own money to fuel their rage attacks. At 14th level they can access Abbathor’s Vault and pull out magic weapons for temporary attacks. One of my favorites is the Psionic Sorcerer (from Deep Duerra, the Duergar anti-illithid god), who gains special Psionic Disciplines that are an interesting mix of Warlock Invocations and Battle Master Maneuvers.
Not all of the 100 archetypes are cool and interesting. The Cleric Steelheart Domain of Moradin is a slightly tweaked version of the Forge Domain from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, while the Chaos Mage Arcane Tradition basically adds Wild Magic to a Wizard (albeit with better rules). But most of the archetypes get a thumbs up from me, and they all seem well balanced at a glance, unlike many of the new archetypes I see come out of the DMs Guild.
Many archetypes also feature new spells, most of which are re-skinned to fit the theme, like the ooze druid’s Slimewave (cone of acid), Slimeburst (acidball), and Wall of Ooze (wall of acid). Given that we already have plenty of spells to work in 5E, re-skins are pretty much exactly what I’m looking for in a themed character concept.
In addition to the archetypes and spells, each god has a d4 table of Background Story Hooks. These are very well-written, single-paragraph backgrounds that could provide excellent story seeds for character concepts. They help flush out the otherwise surprisingly minimal information on each deity. With a title like Faiths of the Forgotten Realms, I shouldn’t feel the need to dive deeper with a Google Search.
We’re also given a number of holy texts and magic items tied to these deities. The holy texts could provide strong character-specific campaign motivations, while the magic items could make great rewards for religious characters.
Although the actual deity information is mildly disappointing, Faiths of the Forgotten Realms 2 more than makes up for it with an impressive collection of fun archetypes and character ideas.
Pros:
- 100 interesting and thematic archetypes for every class (though mostly clerics and paladins).
- Holy texts and magic items provide thematic role-playing tools and equipment.
- Every entry is properly attributed.
Cons:
- Table of contents isn’t broken up by subclass.
- Quantity over quality when it comes to deity details.
The Verdict: With 100 new subclasses and spells, Faiths of the Forgotten Realms 2 provides a truly divine resource for creating highly thematic character concepts.
A review copy of “Faiths of the Forgotten Realms 2” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.
RogueWatson 