Princes of Darkness (Book of the Damned Vol. 1) [RPG]

In the cosmology of the official Pathfinder campaign setting of Golarion, the infernal planes are divided by alignment and the type of fiends that reside there: Hell (occupied by Lawful Evil devils); Abaddon (occupied by Neutral Evil daemons); and the Abyss (occupied by Chaotic evil demons).  The first entry in the three-volume "Book of the Damned" series, Princes of Darkness, is devoted to the devils of Hell.  Devils in Pathfinder value order, hierarchy, and gaining new mortal souls through trickery and temptation in the form of infernal contracts.  This 64-page book contains a wealth of information on Hell, including sections on each of its 9 layers, its capital, the various types of devils, and a new prestige class for devil-worshipping diabolists.  I've never dabbled much with this aspect of D&D-based RPGs, but I thought this book was really well done and definitely value for the money.  I suppose the weird thing with this review is that I'm writing it *after* the Book of the Damned hardcover has been released, and that book collects and updates the material in Princes of Darkness.  But I have this book and not that one, and I'm a completist.  So, here we go.

 In terms of artwork, you can judge the front cover for yourself--I think it's very cool and has the right feel.  The interior art is also great, with one or two exceptions.  Page layout and design is top-notch, with well-placed sidebars and little illustrations here and there that fit the theme.  Particularly well-done are the pages from the in-universe "Book of the Damned" (which I'll explained in a minute), as they're in script on a parchment-style background.  Very cool.

The interior front cover lists the symbols of the various archdevils of Hell, and I'm sorry to say they look a bit amateurish to me.  The interior back cover lists the things a devil-worshipping cleric would need to know, including the domains, areas of concern, and favored weapons of the various denizens of Hell.  It's quite detailed, with Asmodeus, the eight archdevils, the four "Whore Queens", twenty-eight "infernal dukes", and twelve "malbranche".  The book itself is divided into four main sections: Hell and the Archdevils (descriptions of the various layers and their lords), Devilkind (explaining the different types of devils), Diabolatry (devil worship), and Diablerie (a bestiary of new devils).

Between these sections are two-page long inserts presented as if they were real extracts from the in-universe Book of the Damned, a catalog of the infernal planes written by an angel named Tabris (who, himself, has a fantastic story developed in later books!).  Three of these extracts ("Before", "Order", and "Exodus") talk about the origins of Hell, a story which at first is too vague and a bit boring until you realize how directly the ruler of Hell (Asmodeus) is tied into the creation of the universe itself.  Other extracts briefly discuss Dis (the greatest of Hell's cities) and the internal organization of Hell (briefly describing the various lesser, but still important, players in Hell).

The first main section, "Hell and the Archdevils" (20 pages) takes up about a third of the book.  There's a very brief introduction that covers some of the features of Hell, like Hellfire, Hellmouths, and the River Styx.  Each of the nine layers of Hell is then covered, with one page devoted to the layer itself and one page devoted to its ruler.  I'm tempted to go layer-by-layer, but that would make for a very long review so I'll just mention a few things.  Each of the nine layers revolves around a different concept--for example, the third level (Mammon) is the treasure vaults of Hell and home to those mortal souls who were dominated by greed, while Stygia, the fifth level, is the source of blasphemy, heresy, and corrupted faiths.  There's definitely some echoes of Dante's Inferno here.  I especially like how the rulers of each layer are far more than just embodiments of particular sins--they have unique personalities and backstories.  The writing is top-notch and quite impressive for a sole-authored book.  I suppose that if I had to be picky, I would single out the artwork of Geryon (lord of Stygia) as being kinda silly and state that Nessus (the 9th layer of Hell) is kind of bland.  I might even note that Asmodeus' throne is, visually, much cooler than he is!  But really, this is the heart of the book and it's great.

"Devilkind", the second main section (8 pages) clearly explains how the various denizens of Hell are sorted by power level with themes of authority and submission respected throughout.  Advancement is possible, but sometimes only through self-administered torture!  The main creatures discussed are imps, barbazus, erinyes, osyluths, hamatulas, gelugons, cornugons, and pit fiends.  Most of these were new to me, and the book did a really good job explaining their various roles in Hell.  Devil-summoners will be pleased to note that there are suggestions on how to make fiends more amenable to negotiations (such as telling osyluths secret vices of mortal rulers to gain a +2 bonus on Charisma checks).  The "infernal nobility" of Hell receive a few paragraphs of description each: Infernal Dukes (who rule particular sections of each layer under the supervision of the archdevils), the Whore Queens (fallen angels who operate schemes throughout Hell), and the Malebranche (the generals of Hell's armies).

"Diabolatry" (14 pages) is the third section.  It has information on infernal contracts (in which a mortal agrees to trade their soul for a boon) and includes tips on how a GM should handle them in-game.  The little sample contract is a good template.  New magic items called "devil talismans" are introduced, and they're quite powerful, providing the ability to draw on the powers of devils bound within them.  Next, there's information on the importance of and how to discover the true names of devils.  Perhaps of most interest to players in this book is the Diabolist prestige class; it looks quite flavourful (gaining an imp companion and bonuses to negotiting with summoned devils), and I like the "Damned" class feature: when the diabolist is killed, her soul is instantly sent to Hell and raising that character from the dead requires a high caster level check.  Five new spells appear in this section as well, and they're really fun to read even though I've never seen any of them in a game.  Perhaps a curious omission is how little reference there is to Golarion and whether/where there are specific concentrations of devil-worshippers in particular areas.  I know about Cheliax, for example, but to a new reader this could appear as a setting-neutral book.

The final chapter is "Diablierie" (10 pages).  Four creatures get two-page spreads with stat blocks, descriptions, and artwork:  Apostate Devils (specialists in turning mortals away from their faiths), Heresy Devils (specialists in undermining established religions through corruption and heresy); Host Devils (hunters of souls that have evaded capture in Hell), and Warmonger Devils (construct-like war machines).  The artwork is especially good in this section and each of the new creatures is interesting and well-described.

There's a *lot* to like about Princes of Darkness, and I would definitely recommend it for anyone planning to introduce devils or Hell into their campaign.  It's very much a GM book, with only occasional bits of potential interest to players.  One disappointment I do have in the book is that it's still really hard for me to picture what adventures or even encounters in Hell would look like.  Something like a "Running Games in Hell" sidebar (with suggested Average Party Level for different types of stories) would be really useful in trying to conceptualize adventures there.  Overall though, this is a great book and well-worth a purchase whether in PDF from Paizo or in hard copy from a used book seller.