Of note, this is another book I obtained from the Grenda collection. So that is also a good reason to feature it. It can also stand-in as an entry to my "One Man's God" series.
1992, by Carl Sargent. Art by John Lakey, Laura Lakey, Keith Parkinson, Terry Dykstra. Softcover, blue&white and full color art. 128 Pages.
This book was the fourth in the DMGR, or Dungeon Master's Guide Rules, series for AD&D 2nd edition. I did not purchase many of these when they were new. At this point, most, if not all, of my gaming money went to Ravenloft-themed products.
This book covers, not monsters really, but their gods, demigods, and heroes. The format is simialr to that of new Legends & Lore book for 2nd Edition, and it would be a prequel of sorts to various Forgotten Realms "Faiths & Avatars" books, with Demihuman Deities being its direct descendant.
Now to be fair, Monster Mythology is not a Realms book per se. A lot of what goes on in this book will later get adopted to the Realms. Author Carl Sargent, also know for his Greyhawk From the Ashes boxed set, makes many mentions of various Greyhawk secific gods. It seems that he felt these two products would work together. And they do, quite well in fact, but the Forgotten Realms are also explicitly mentioned.
What does this book actually have in it?
There are gods for the Elves (including sea elves), Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings, specifically for the Forgotten Realms, though we have seen these before in one form or another. There are "Goblinoid Deities" of the orcs, goblins, bugbears, kobolds, and others.
There are the Gods of the Underdark: For Drow, Underdark Dwarves, Illithids, Beholders, Myconids, and Deep Gnomes.
Gods for the Giants, for other monsters, and many more are also mentioned. This includes the Elder Elemental God, aka the Elder Elemental Eye. This book does nothin to clear up that confusion, but that is fine. I like my gods messy. Case in point, the Demon Lord Juiblex is listed as a Lesser God here. Indeed, one man's god is another man's demon.
In addition to Juiblex, other demons are mentioned and get deity-level treatment. This includes Demogogn, Yeenoghu, Kostchtchie, Baphomet, and Lolth (naturally). Additionally, other "monsters" get god-like treatments, such as Bahamut and Tiamat.
Vampires, liches, and even hags get gods. Though I am not sure I'd ever use them as gods and more as "powerful examples" of each type.
It is an interesting mix, especially rereading it with 2025 eyes. Some gods were ported over from the various Gods of the Demihumans articles from Dragon magazine, and others from previous Realms-based books and earlier as well. The Underdark gets more detail. It's no surprise; the early 1990s were all about the Underdark and Drow in particular.
All gods get mentions of their Specialty Priests. So in general, this book has more value to the game than does the Legends & Lore book proper.
A couple of thoughts, though, of my own.
I'm not sure what happens with the gods of the Kobolds as they became less "goblin" and more "dragon." I am likely to say that these gods were once powerful kobold heroes that fell into a sort of ancestor worship.
I also can't see the Illithids or the Beholders having gods. For the Illithids, I say that their two gods, Ilsensine and Maanzecorian, are not real beings but rather constructs of the Illithid shared mindscape, something akin to a Tulpa. The beholders, on the other hand, have their "Great Mother," who I say is not so much a divine figure, but actually the mother of all beholders. So in a way she is more akin to Vlaakith of the Githyanki.
The book is flexible enough to be used in any campaign setting, and it mentions just about every campaign setting from that time.
While the book has been superseded by newer AD&D 2nd Ed books in the Forgotten Realms and by shifts in the pantheons in different editions, this is still a solid book.
The details on specialty priests alone makes it worthwhile.
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