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Deities and Demigods: Cyclopedia of Gods and Heroes from Myth and Legend
The rare unauthorized 2nd print containing the Cthulhu & Melnibonean mythologies. with Special thanks to Chaosium on page 4. Only true 1st Prints lacked the "thanks". Subsequent prints lacked the mythologies.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
James M. Ward
116 books55 followersJames M. Ward (b. 1951) is an American game designer and fantasy author.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 19, 2023
Over forty years ago I picked up Deities & Demigods along with the other Advanced Dungeons and Dragons core books (Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, and Fiend Folio). These books introduced me to Fantasy Roleplaying Gaming, a hobby I enjoy to this day, and led to the formation of lifelong friendships. That turned out to be an auspicious shopping day at the mall gaming store.
As a game resource, Deities & Demigods was the least useful, the most unnecessary of those original books. The design made it impractical to incorporate the gods and legendary heroes into the game. Yet it had an outsized impact, as it became one of my earliest introductions to comparative mythologies. It introduced me to Finnish Mythology, Celtic Mythologies, Babylonian/Sumerian Mythology, and many others. Here I first encountered Gilgamesh and Ishtar, the terrible Kali, Vainamoinen the Ancient Hero, Cu Chulainn, and Quetzalcoatl the Feathered Serpent. What I first learned here led to my reading of The Kalevala, The Mabinogion, The Elder Edda, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Táin. Deities & Demigods opened Worlds to me.
As a game resource, Deities & Demigods was the least useful, the most unnecessary of those original books. The design made it impractical to incorporate the gods and legendary heroes into the game. Yet it had an outsized impact, as it became one of my earliest introductions to comparative mythologies. It introduced me to Finnish Mythology, Celtic Mythologies, Babylonian/Sumerian Mythology, and many others. Here I first encountered Gilgamesh and Ishtar, the terrible Kali, Vainamoinen the Ancient Hero, Cu Chulainn, and Quetzalcoatl the Feathered Serpent. What I first learned here led to my reading of The Kalevala, The Mabinogion, The Elder Edda, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Táin. Deities & Demigods opened Worlds to me.
December 29, 2019
It really is a shame that Lovecraftian abominations and all the other stuff got dropped out of the later editions - especially when 2nd edition added the clerical domain spheres, which I thought were a great way to give different gods and faiths their own distinctions and unique flavour. What were the cleric of Cthulhu's major spheres? What kind of special abilities could a druid of Shub-Niggurath bring to the table? I guess we'll never know.
For some reason, Finnish gods also didn't make the cut. What, did Lönnrot file for copyright?
For some reason, Finnish gods also didn't make the cut. What, did Lönnrot file for copyright?
October 27, 2018
This is the version I had as a kid, although unfortunately I lost that copy somewhere in the mists of time and had to hunt down another “Cthulhu” edition. Incidentally, the later editions were not changed due to “copyright violations” in this one, but at the request of other publishers who had given the rights originally. James Ward is still trying to set the story straight on the Internet after years of inaccurate versions making the rounds.
Anyway, despite the lovely artwork and fascinating details of the Cthulhu and Melnibonean Mythoi that are missing from later versions, this was still a somewhat ill-conceived project. Instead of giving useful details on how to integrate various pagan world religions into a cohesive campaign, or focusing on how to develop a believable religious environment for AD&D, they chose to treat gods and legendary figures as just more monsters, with stat blocks and combat details for each one, making it hard to do much with this book except give your players more powerful foes to fight, or occasionally allies to fight alongside. Worse, they maxed out the hit points at 400, making it conceivable that a mid-level party could actually win a fight with a Greater God, and that a truly high-level one would hardly see gods as a challenge. And thus was many a “monty haul” campaign born.
There is some useful information about deities, the multiverse, and clerics as player characters in the front- and end-matter, but the data we really needed for each deity has been relegated to a simple chart at the end, rather than included with the entries for that deity. This chart would have made a good beginning for a more usable stat block for each god, but unfortunately this didn’t occur to anyone at the time. Several of the mythoi (and especially those based on fictional series) really don’t “play nice” with the others and will tend to take over the campaign, if played as written here. For the most part, DMs have to “fake it” and figure out how to use divinities on their own.
The art is still great, however, and a lot of young people who didn’t have comparative religion classes in school like I did learned a huge amount about the history of world religions from this book, so it still evokes a great deal of nostalgia, even if it wasn’t a terribly useful rules supplement.
Anyway, despite the lovely artwork and fascinating details of the Cthulhu and Melnibonean Mythoi that are missing from later versions, this was still a somewhat ill-conceived project. Instead of giving useful details on how to integrate various pagan world religions into a cohesive campaign, or focusing on how to develop a believable religious environment for AD&D, they chose to treat gods and legendary figures as just more monsters, with stat blocks and combat details for each one, making it hard to do much with this book except give your players more powerful foes to fight, or occasionally allies to fight alongside. Worse, they maxed out the hit points at 400, making it conceivable that a mid-level party could actually win a fight with a Greater God, and that a truly high-level one would hardly see gods as a challenge. And thus was many a “monty haul” campaign born.
There is some useful information about deities, the multiverse, and clerics as player characters in the front- and end-matter, but the data we really needed for each deity has been relegated to a simple chart at the end, rather than included with the entries for that deity. This chart would have made a good beginning for a more usable stat block for each god, but unfortunately this didn’t occur to anyone at the time. Several of the mythoi (and especially those based on fictional series) really don’t “play nice” with the others and will tend to take over the campaign, if played as written here. For the most part, DMs have to “fake it” and figure out how to use divinities on their own.
The art is still great, however, and a lot of young people who didn’t have comparative religion classes in school like I did learned a huge amount about the history of world religions from this book, so it still evokes a great deal of nostalgia, even if it wasn’t a terribly useful rules supplement.
November 2, 2021
Five stars because of nerdy nostalgia and being the specific edition that's actually collectible.
The information presented in this review is important if you are looking to own or consult the edition and printings containing the Lovecraft and Moorcock pantheons. It's also important because facts should matter (this is both a political and bibliographic statement).
This first edition has 144 pages and contains the following seventeen pantheons:
American Indian Mythos
Arthurian Heroes
Babylonian Mythos
Celtic Mythos
Central American Mythos
Chinese Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos (H.P. Lovecraft)
Egyptian Mythos
Finnish Mythos
Greek Mythos
Indian Mythos
Japanese Mythos
Melnibonéan Mythos (Michael Moorcock)
Nehwon Mythos (Fritz Leiber)
Nonhumans' Deities
Norse Mythos
Sumerian Mythos
Contrary to what many believe, TSR *had* obtained permission to include the Lovecraft and Moorcock material. Unfortunately, gaming company Chaosium had already licensed the same material and sent TSR a cease-and-desist letter. The compromise was that the second printing included credit to Chaosium.
The third printing (1981?) has 128 pages and only fifteen pantheons, the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan having been removed. Apparently, Chaosium is still credited and the back cover still claims seventeen pantheons.
Way too many knuckleheads are selling (and buying, I suppose) the 128-page editions for big dollars when those copies don't have the information people are seeking. The more you know....
Sources (they don't all agree on every detail):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deities...
https://www.facebook.com/james.m.ward... (a post from one of the authors)
https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setp...
The information presented in this review is important if you are looking to own or consult the edition and printings containing the Lovecraft and Moorcock pantheons. It's also important because facts should matter (this is both a political and bibliographic statement).
This first edition has 144 pages and contains the following seventeen pantheons:
American Indian Mythos
Arthurian Heroes
Babylonian Mythos
Celtic Mythos
Central American Mythos
Chinese Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos (H.P. Lovecraft)
Egyptian Mythos
Finnish Mythos
Greek Mythos
Indian Mythos
Japanese Mythos
Melnibonéan Mythos (Michael Moorcock)
Nehwon Mythos (Fritz Leiber)
Nonhumans' Deities
Norse Mythos
Sumerian Mythos
Contrary to what many believe, TSR *had* obtained permission to include the Lovecraft and Moorcock material. Unfortunately, gaming company Chaosium had already licensed the same material and sent TSR a cease-and-desist letter. The compromise was that the second printing included credit to Chaosium.
The third printing (1981?) has 128 pages and only fifteen pantheons, the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan having been removed. Apparently, Chaosium is still credited and the back cover still claims seventeen pantheons.
Way too many knuckleheads are selling (and buying, I suppose) the 128-page editions for big dollars when those copies don't have the information people are seeking. The more you know....
Sources (they don't all agree on every detail):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deities...
https://www.facebook.com/james.m.ward... (a post from one of the authors)
https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setp...
March 1, 2025
An amazing supplement in every sense. Everything that you could want when dealing with higher powers and the divine can be found in this manual. Although I rarely consult this book when I do it's always easy to find the information I need and much more detailed than expected. One of the crown jewels of my collection.
January 10, 2020
A lot of cool lore and the early versions have Elric and fafhred in them.
March 12, 2022
I've got the first edition, where TSR included pantheons from Earthly mythology and fiction. While it seemed odd to include them, instead of creating their own (something that was done in later editions), it afforded DMs a chance to perhaps change the flavor of their campaigns.
One thing it definitely did was expose early readers, who were primarily American, to non-Judeo-Christian cultures. To my point, it included the following mythologies: American Indian, Babylonian, Celtic, Central American, Chinese, Egyptian, Finnish, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Norse, and Sumerian. Although the descriptions of each deity or hero was limited to a few paragraphs, it was a nice introduction to these other cultures.
As for fictional pantheons, it included Arthurian legend, Cthulhuian monstrosities, Michael Moorcock's world of Melnibone (Elric), and Fritz Leiber's world of Nehwon (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser). This certainly spurred me into reading more about these authors' works.
The one drawback to this collection was the need of the authors to put stats to the beings—heroes and deities alike—contained herein. They became just more monsters for characters to fight on a dungeon crawl, albeit on the astral plane. I think that took away from their exalted status.
Still, it's impressive for an RPG book to not only be educational but to promote the reading of literature as well.
One thing it definitely did was expose early readers, who were primarily American, to non-Judeo-Christian cultures. To my point, it included the following mythologies: American Indian, Babylonian, Celtic, Central American, Chinese, Egyptian, Finnish, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Norse, and Sumerian. Although the descriptions of each deity or hero was limited to a few paragraphs, it was a nice introduction to these other cultures.
As for fictional pantheons, it included Arthurian legend, Cthulhuian monstrosities, Michael Moorcock's world of Melnibone (Elric), and Fritz Leiber's world of Nehwon (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser). This certainly spurred me into reading more about these authors' works.
The one drawback to this collection was the need of the authors to put stats to the beings—heroes and deities alike—contained herein. They became just more monsters for characters to fight on a dungeon crawl, albeit on the astral plane. I think that took away from their exalted status.
Still, it's impressive for an RPG book to not only be educational but to promote the reading of literature as well.
July 23, 2017
As a mythologist, this book was wonderful. I could read and reread it over and over to learn about the various myths of the world.
December 21, 2022
A much extended and updated version of the already existing Original D&D supplement (Deities, Demi-Gods & Heroes from 1976) dedicated mainly to giving descriptions and stat blocks for different gods and mythical characters from around the world, this is also a vast improvement on that pamphlet.
Before we talk about those improvements I have to say that I have some problems with vast sections of this work. Professionally I am a scholar of Religion with a PhD in the field, and seeing such simplifications of "American Indian Gods" or things like calling Kali a "Chaotic Evil" Goddess are beyond problematic, being pretty insulting to what are living religions followed by millions today. You will notice no stat blocks for Christ or the Christian God... well they should have had the same tact concerning other living religions. But it was the late 70s/early 80s and I understand that those kinds of considerations were far from the minds of the writers.
However, this is still a pretty interesting and useful book, particularly when it comes to fictional pantheons like the Lovecraftian or the Melnibonean pantheon, and even more interesting when we get some D&D original lore concerning non-human gods, here we have the first appearances of such staples as the orc god Gruumsh, the dwarven god Moradin or the elven god Corellon Larethian, as well as bringing in gods that first appeared in adventures such as the kuo-toan goddess Blibdoolpoolp from D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. Full of illustrations, this is a pretty great book to leaf through.
Before we talk about those improvements I have to say that I have some problems with vast sections of this work. Professionally I am a scholar of Religion with a PhD in the field, and seeing such simplifications of "American Indian Gods" or things like calling Kali a "Chaotic Evil" Goddess are beyond problematic, being pretty insulting to what are living religions followed by millions today. You will notice no stat blocks for Christ or the Christian God... well they should have had the same tact concerning other living religions. But it was the late 70s/early 80s and I understand that those kinds of considerations were far from the minds of the writers.
However, this is still a pretty interesting and useful book, particularly when it comes to fictional pantheons like the Lovecraftian or the Melnibonean pantheon, and even more interesting when we get some D&D original lore concerning non-human gods, here we have the first appearances of such staples as the orc god Gruumsh, the dwarven god Moradin or the elven god Corellon Larethian, as well as bringing in gods that first appeared in adventures such as the kuo-toan goddess Blibdoolpoolp from D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. Full of illustrations, this is a pretty great book to leaf through.
January 20, 2025
A gaming supplement that never made much sense to me back in my old school AD&D gaming. As the DM, the campaign I ran was not religion-heavy, and at no time would the players ever come across yet get into conflict with immortal beings that were essentially 25th level NPCs that could have squashed them like bugs and still make the evening train.
None of the religious background material was needed or desired for my campaign, and back then this was by-and-large just something to have up on a bookshelf, never to be referenced.
With or without the copyrighted infringing material, this is another book that I feel is only for AD&D completionists.
None of the religious background material was needed or desired for my campaign, and back then this was by-and-large just something to have up on a bookshelf, never to be referenced.
With or without the copyrighted infringing material, this is another book that I feel is only for AD&D completionists.
December 3, 2022
In some respects more interesting than the main 1E core books, if only for its attempt to add significant cultural flavour to the game. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
May 12, 2018
Classic 1st edition book. A must for any old-school AD&D player!
April 14, 2019
This is the original one with mythologies from several fantasy series that they had to remove from later editions due to copyright violations.
September 14, 2019
Really great insight into how early AD&D cosmos-building could go, great illustrations, and a ton of inspiring content. So glad I had a read thru this.
September 15, 2021
Not as useful as the other original manuals, but interesting to read for background on the various pantheons.
December 1, 2022
Such a sweet book. Just wish they made ad&d > current adapter
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews