Complete Champion
From: Wizards of the Coast
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Complete Champion is a new D&D Players Character Supplement from Wizards of the Coast.
Yet another book in the Completeseries, Complete Championfocuses on heroes with a connection to the divine. Primarily, of course, that would apply to paladins and clerics, but likes its predecessors in this series, it goes well beyond that making it a handy book for anyone.
From the back cover: “Divine Power at Your Command!”
First, I have to comment that this book is a landmark in D&D history. A book on religious power is a long time coming since the early days of D&D when some misguided church leaders were bashing it, calling it evil and devil worship. I myself was even prevented from playing D&D by my strict Southern Baptist parents because of all the flap back then. It is heartening to see how far D&D has come — this from a proud Christian Gamer who knows it’s all just imagination.
Content: There are 5 chapters in this book.
Chapter 1: Religion – This chapter covers the expansive subject of religion, churches and their roles in D&D. This is a bold and could be a very large subject. What this chapter really does is present each of the non-evil churches of the D&D pantheon as affiliations – a concept introduced in the Player’s Handbook II (PH2). In basic terms, affiliations are groups or organizations that a character can ally with or be a member of. In the case of the Complete Champion, it is a way to define a church in a beneficial and complete way that works in the D&D rules and world.
The church pantheons include the standard D&D gods like Assembly of Balance (Ehlonna) and the Shining Light of Pelor (Pelor). Each entry includes all the characteristics of an affiliation including Type, Enemies and Allies, Scale, and Affiliation Score Criteria. The Affiliation Score is explained in detail in the PH2, but this book gives you enough to work with. Along with the standard good , lawful and neutral churches of the default D&D universe, there is a short mention of the Dark Churches. These are not expressed in terms of affiliation simply because of their dark nature which would make it difficult to role-play in a mixed party.
Of course, not all D&D worlds, especially home-brew worlds, have the default pantheons. In this vein, this chapter also supplies a system for you to create your own church affiliation. Based on the cleric domains, the system simply gives you affiliation templates for each from Air and Animal to Law and Luck; from Strength and Sun to War and Water.
Chapter 2: Divine Characters Options – Character classes with levels in divine spellcasting are not the only classes that can access divine power for their own purposes, or at least not after this chapter. There are also people that just have strong faith and work hard at what they do, in the name of their god. Some of these folks gain special blessing from said gods. This chapter supplies alternative class features, new feats, and other non-church affiliations that a character can choose from. There are also the obligatory Prestige Classes which of course take a bulk of the chapter.
I’ve always loved the customization concepts of Alternative Class features. It helps classes get out of the cookie-cutter stigma they seem to have. Each class is expanded in this section, with at least a couple of new options for class features. For example a Ranger can be a Champion of the Wild (sacrificing his spellcasting ability to become more fighter focused). Also, the Rogue can be an Antiquarian (trading his trapfinding ability to gain bonuses for Appraisal checks and gain the use of Knowledge (Religion) for examining Magic Items).
New Feats include a variety of new Domain Feats like Air and Water Devotion, several Divine Feats like Retrieve Spell and Spiritual Counter, and Wild Feats like Swift Wild Shape and Venom’s Gift. There are also Tactical Feats like Awesome Smite and Bestial Charge, and Reserve Feats like Charnel Miasma and Umbral Shroud. The Domain Category is a new category introduced in this book and have feats that signify a character’s specific devotion to a religious ideal or tenet. The Divine and Wild categories are from Complete Divine and the Reserve category is from the Complete Mage.These books are not required; I am just mentioning them for reference. This book gives you enough information about each category to work with them.
From the back cover: “This book gives players and Dungeon Masters an unprecedented resource for using divine power and religion in their game.”
Each organization described in this chapter has ties to the divine but is not considered a church. There are groups like the Disciples of Legend (a group that hold up the ideals of ancient heroes as a model for life), Guardians of the Green (environmentalist wackos made it into D&D too!), and Pelor’s Shadow Guards (a semisecret group of zealots). There is considerable more detail presented here than with the churches including in some cases details of their headquarters, lore, uses of these groups in game, and NPC stats.
The Prestige Classes include several connected to the organizations mentioned in the previous section, including First of the Forest and Forest Reeve (Guardians of the Green), Mythic Exemplar (Disciples of Legend), and Shadowspy and Sahdowstrikers (Pelor’s Shadow Guard). There are also others like Ordained Champion and Sanctified One. There are a total of 11 prestige classes.
Chapter 3: New Spells – There are over 50 spells in this book for those that access divine power directly. Spells for Adepts, Blackguard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, and Shugenja are given. Spells include Bleed, Darts of Life and Light of Faith. They range from 1st to 6th level.
Chapter 4: Divine Items – There are several sections to this chapter. It is a lot more than just magic items. First, it starts out with Power Components, which includes different spell components specifically designed to enhance divine spellcasting. Following this is a section on Holy Symbols, the classic staple of any divinely faithful. This section expands on Holy symbols and gives a little more detail about them. The chapter ends with a series of magic items including armor and shields, weapons, clothing and tools. There are some very intriguing items in here. They include the Bulwark of the Living, Spear of the Wild, Cloak of the Vagabond, and Book of All Knowledge.
Chapter 5: Divine Quests and Sites – The final chapter in this book guides the DM specifically into how to create a divine quest. Of course in any classic fantasy game, the grand quest is the heart and soul of the game. But when it is a holy quest, then it brings in different elements. With so many deities, no holy quest will be the same. There are common elements based on domain that one would encounter. Like for a quest focused on the domain of earth, common components would include burrowers, elementals, and/or Underdark locales. The book provides a thematic guide for a holy quest based on domain. It then gives a few sample quests like the Elemental Wellspring or the Ancient Temple.
Also included in this chapter are a few holy sites as magical locations, a concept introduced in the Dungeon Master’s Guide II (DMG II). There are 5 locations described including the Cold Forge of Moradin, Palace of Burning Ice, and the Sepulcher of Wee Jas.
Layout: Of course, this book is on par with all of Wizard’s books. They are good at maintaining the look and feel of D&D throughout their products. You know when you are in a D&D book without even reading it. The art is also well done as most know; Wizards has a good eye for D&D artists.
In conclusion, one concept I thought was interesting while reading this book is a D&D focused on a group of the faithful on a pilgrimage or mission trip. This book is geared towards something like that and more. This book supplies a lot of good information and gaming material for GMs and players alike to play a faithful character no matter what class. It also breaks the stereotype of the cleric being just the healer by giving him more options within the divine realm. This is my first exposure to the affiliation concept and I liked it a lot. It gives a little more depth to a character and the prestige classes they are based on. It has many inspiring tidbits in it that can help start, should I say, a “faith-based” adventuring. Once again, a quality book out of the fine people at WotC.
For more details on Wizards of the Coast and their new D&D Players Character Supplement “Complete Champion” check them out at their website http://www.wizards.com, and at all of your local game stores.
Complete Champion
From: Wizards of the Coast
Type of Game: D&D Players Character Supplement
Written by: Ed Stark, Chris Thomasson, Ari Marmell, Rhiannon Louve, Gary Astleford
Editor: Penny Williams, Jennifer Clarke Wilkers
Game Manager: Chris Perkins
Director fo Development: Jesse Decker
Cover Art by: Eric Polak
Additional Art by: Steve Argyle, Stephen Belledin, Miguel Ciombra, Thomas Denmark, Eric Deschamps, Wayne England, David Griffith, Fred Hooper, Ralph Horseley, Howard Lyon, Eva Wildermann, Sam Wood
Number of Pages: 158
Game Components Included: One hard back book
Game Components Not Included: d20 D&D Core books
Retail Price: $ 29.95 (US)
Retail Price: $ 37.95 (Can)
ISBN: 9780786940349
Website: www.wizards.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung