Hordes of the Abyss is Now Available
My newest book, Fiendish Codex 1: Hordes of the Abyss, is now available at bookstores, game stores, and on the Internet. This is my first hardcover release for Wizards of the Coast since 2003's Fiend Folio, and believe me when I tell you it was an absolute labor of love.
My co-authors on the book were James Jacobs and Ed Stark. My contribution is Chapter 5: Into the Abyss, an overview of D&D's Outer Plane of chaos and evil. The Abyss is home to the vilest demons in the multiverse, and it was a thrill to update their habitat in an official Dungeons & Dragons book.
I had previously tread upon this unhallowed ground, albeit unofficially, in the pages of Green Ronin's Armies of the Abyss, which was later compiled (with a bunch of stuff I didn't write) into the company's extremely popular Book of Fiends. Although the Green Ronin books are not official D&D, they are a hell of a lot of fun to read and are great additions to any Dungeon Master's library (if I do say so myself).
I'm interested to hear your reaction to my material in this book (much of the Internet chatter so far has focused on game statistics I didn't write), and will happily answer any of your questions about the book in the comments section of this post.
posted by Erik | 4:39 PM
9 Comments:
An update!
I bought the first and only preview copy at my LGS. I must say I haven't read it cover to cover but at a skim it will be used right up there with the Draconomicon as I tend to use alot of abyssal stuff.
I love the addition of Malcanthet from Maure Castle, a nice boost for people like me running that campaign. Also Pale Night is very cool.
I've not had a chance to buy it yet (too poor) or even check it out (I'm not sure it's reached FLGS' in Eng-Land yet) but will do both when I get the chance. In regards to the internet chatter, I'm in James' camp with the stats issue, and was also quite shocked to see the amount of traffic on Wizards' boards bemoaning the "fact" that this stuff is "Greyhawk specific"; which is both untrue and somewhat hypocritical.
I just finished my copy and absolutely loved it. I'm hoping very much for the same level of quality in FCII, and am crossing my fingers that a FCIII: Mercenaries of the Blood War is in the works as well.
Erik, are you a CE fanboy, or no time to work on the LE book? Chapter 5 was one of the best in the book, I'd like to see you get paid to write more for WoTC.
I liked the Greyhawk material, and increasing demon lords up in CR is no big thing - people really are making a mountain out of a molehill.
It's on my wish-list, Eric, which means I probably won't see it until Nov/Dec-ish, which is when I tend to be given most of my D&D books (for bday/Xmas). If I succumb in the meanwhile and buy the book on the cheap, I'll definitely chime in and let you know my thoughts!
On Q, though: I'm somewhat surprised, given you extensive Abyssal background, that your role in the book was limited to one chapter. Does that reflect your availability (because of other projects), or did WotC hand-pick you for that chapter specifically?
Allan.
Excellent book, Erik.
Nelson
Cool.
Glad people are digging the book. I just got back from Origins this weekend, where it was the exciting new release (despite the fact that Wizards of the Coast no longer bothers to come to the show anymore). My net access was spotty, so I apologize for not replying sooner.
Mortellan: Glad you like the book! I was pleased to include Malcanthet (and James Jacobs all but insisted on it). As far as I know, Rob Kuntz invented her for "Maure Castle," so it was nice to bridge the magazine into the territory of official hardcover books. It's been 30 years since Rob first started contributing to the game, and it's nice to see that his creations can still fit seamlessly into the modern era. For some reason, I think there's a perception that the old school and the new school are incompatible. To that I say: Bullshit. My goal in writing Chapter 5 of "Hordes of the Abyss" was to weave in material from first, second, and third edition D&D without screwing any of them. I think the experiment was relatively successful, and I hope in some way I've shown what's possible so long as you put a little work into it.
Martyn: I definitely sympathize with being too poor to buy a book you want. The stats hullabaloo was quite disappointing to me, not only because my stuff in the book had nothing to do with stats, but also because the first person to get the book and post about it on EN World pretty much only mentioned this aspect of the book, and the topic dominated conversation for the weeks between the appearance of the review copies and the newsstand release. It was pretty frustrating, but perhaps also instructive. It's worth thinking about what D&D fans really value out of their books (in this case, powerful stats for demon lords) and the impact of giving them something other than what they want. One of the biggest lessons I've learned during my time at Dragon and Dungeon is that if you give people what they want, they will trade you money for it. If you try to instruct them that what they want isn't really what they want, and that you know better, you're most likely in for a disappointment.
The Greyhawk-specific issue is also puzzling, but perhaps not surprising given the setting's "there-not-there" treatment in the third edition era.
Ace: Thanks for the kind words on the book. I have absolutely no insight into what Fiendish Codex II will contain, and I've had absolutely no contact with the authors. I trust that Robin Laws knows what he's doing based solely on his sterling reputation in the industry, and I can say with authority that Robert Schwalb is one of the most twisted freelancers in this or any other industry. I have no idea how their book will compare to ours, but I am sure it will be deviously delightful in its own right.
I know absolutely nothing about a Fiendish Codex III, including whether or not such a thing will ever exist.
I am currently working on a new hardcover for Wizards, which is funny because I swore up and down that "Hordes" would be my last D&D book, at least for a while (it's difficult for me to balance my freelance and personal life with my work sometimes, and getting the chance to write D&D books I've wanted to write since I was a little kid doesn't help). So look out for another book with my name on it (along with a couple of other familiar names) some time next year. When news breaks of this one it's going to be pretty crazy. Really crazy.
Grodog: My role being limited to one chapter was really a function of the fact that I was too busy to write more than anything else, though I will note that it has been a _long_ time since one name has appeared on the cover of a Dungeons & Dragons book. I guess things just don't work that way anymore.
Anonymous: Thanks for coming back, Nelson! Glad you enjoyed the book and I hope you stick around for a while.
Wanted to wait until I had a chance to read some of the book.
Very cool, if only it could have been longer and more detailed. :)
One of the threads on Canonfire was talking about Mayaheine and how she fits in with Pelor's worshippers and where she came from. I thought of the planes that are threatened by Lolth and thought that might be a cool way of her ascending to godhood. Any ideas about her material plane?
I adored this book but one thing at least will NEVER stop bothering me about it, and I had a huge issue with. Grazz't is the demon prince of sex. As I understand it, that was the purpose he was created to fill and to this end there is scarecely a nod. I do enjoy the additions mentioning his children. That said, my only complaint about the book is that it was so short. Evil always seems to get the shaft. Compare The Book of Exalted Deeds to The Book of Vile Darkness...Its a shame, really.
But overall, great book.
I was ecstatically pleased with this whole book, but Chapter 5 in specific contained one of those great "AH HA!!" moments that helped me figure out a problematic little knot in the story of my current campaign. Central to my game is a Days of Our Lives-like tangle of drama and grudges between demons both in the Abyss and in the greater multiverse. The whole chapter helped me to understand just how much of the conflict between demon lords is due to territorial dispute... Also it gave me some great little nuggets of backstory for a succubus NPC. I loved the detail and the little maps, not that I intend to use everything verbatim, but it's a good framework that I can use to build MY Abyss!
Oh, and as for all the stupid whinging about world-specific things - anyone who thinks that anything in the D&D books is unable to be heavily adapted needs to L2imagine.
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