Supplement IV: Gods, Demigods, & Heroes

This supplement was the forerunner of the Deities and Demigods / Legends and Lore of later editions.  It's clear a lot of research went into this supplement, extensively covering the mythical characters from Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Celtic, Norse, Finnish, Hyborean (Conan), Melnibonean (Elric), Mayan/Aztec/Incan, and Chinese pantheons, as well as notable "normal" monsters and magic items.  But honestly I can't say what the point of all that research was, because this has to be a candidate for one of the most pointless supplements in D&D history across all editions.

What this could have been was an overview of the various classic mythologies - explaining the personalities of the gods, their relationships with each other, the domains they had authority over, and how all of that might impact a campaign world: how clerics of different gods might differ from one another, how a particular pantheon of religion affects a society, and so forth.  Sadly, this kind of sensibility is still many years away at this point, and what we get instead is reflective of the infant (and perhaps infantile) state of the game.

What the supplement is is nothing more than a monster manual for gods.  After a very brief foreword where Tim Kask ironically wags his finger at Monty Haul DMs and an introduction consisting of a single table outlining divine psionic abilities, we dive right into a tediously long list of gods where each god is reduced to six stats (AC, move, hit points, magic ability, fighting ability, and psionic ability) plus a very short paragraph that discusses any special abilities they have.  That's it.  That's the entire book.

What was the point?  TSR would later clarify they didn't intend gods to be just bigger monsters that players fought, but if that's so, then what is the purpose of this format?  In the foreword Kask points out the absurdity of a 40th level fighter when Odin himself "only" has 300 hit points, and that's a good point.  So is the point of this supplement just to show how much more powerful than players the gods are supposed to be?  You don't need a supplement for that.  You don't need rules at all when it comes to dealing with gods.  There's no "roll for initiative" when it comes to facing a god.  The rule is: he's a god, you're not, he wins, end of story.  If you give gods stats like this, it can only be for the purpose of having players actually fight them, but to do so you would have to be the 40th level fighter the foreword disdains.

After Eldritch Wizardry introduced so many epic game elements (even if in a primitive, crude form), it's sad that the followup hit such a low point.  Join me next time as we cover the very last supplement and close out the OD&D era.