Touched by the Gods (Penumbra OGL 3E)

This book is a collection of unique "religious" organizations that can be plugged into any D & D campaign. What's great about this book, though, is that the material is creative. The cults are all very distinct. Also, they are based on a believable concept or circumstance. I like this much better than the religions in more official books which are based on one of hundreds of "dieties" with generic labels like "good" or "evil". A few of the cults in this book: A cult of goblins who fell victim to a contagious change-alignment spell. These hippy goblins are all about love and peace. They're also addicted to the purple smoke that carries the "disease". As with every cult in this book, a few creative hooks are presented for introducing the cult to one's campaign. In this case, the narrative example introduces the party to a group of terrified goblins that have barricaded themselves in one area of the dungeon in order to avoid falling victim to the curse -- and the horrible activities their peers are participating in (hugging each other, etc.). A second cult is a group of youth -- sons and daughters of wealthy nobility that are too busy to keep track of their rebellious children. The cult began when a bored child of nobility found a book about a forgotten god of nobles and a story about blessings that had been given to those he had saved from imminent death. This youth later "preaches" that, to recognized by this god, one must be nobility and one must thrust oneself into a lethal situation. This breeds a group of suicidal, bratty, rich children, and some embarrassed noble parents. Anyway, quite interesting. Again, the reader is left to decide whether there is any truly divine force behind this cult. I think it's more interesting when there isn't one. A less destructive cult is a group of warriors who has experienced death and resurrection. Their mission is to help others who have died in service to a greater cause, then been restored to life. I think this is an example of D20 material that is better than the WoC material.

For those that are NOT familiar with the idea, WOTC has offered an 'Open Game License' to any publisher that would like to contribute to the further growth of the d20 system that has been implemented with D & D3Ed.Up till now, I had not been overly impressed with products by Penumbra for the d20 system. That has changed. Touched by the Gods is a collection of fifteen Cults, Churches and Cabals (also in the form of prestige classes). The strongest point for this product is the rich detail given regarding each of these institutions. After reading the book twice, it is my opinion that the Churches and classes asscoiated are best suited either to NPC's as support and framework for the campaign OR for all members of the party be somehow related to the group in question.Either way, Touched by the Gods is very rich and rewarding reading in a nice hardback package.