Well well, children, it's taken me a couple of days to read the hallwed tome (and boy are my exams suffering because of it) but it's done. Cover to cover, with special attention paid to any items of intrest.
Enough has been said about the artwork etc-suffice to say, the book's beautiful, but my god, the constant use of prepublished art is killing me-seriously, some fresh blood, please? At least this time, the darkest, most secluded crevices of the archives were plumbed to produce really obscure artwork, which is kinda nice. And retro.
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Tyrant Star
No. Komus was really interesting to me in the main book, but this section is completely unhelpful. It's just an array of ultra-vague hints- think of what's in the source book, but even more vague, just from different perspectives. Okay, I get that they're not going to spoonfeed us the single most epic scenario that's "official" for the Calixis sector, but perhaps some concrete "what if" type scenarios we can rewrite would be better than this. Absolutely erring on the side of caution, this chapter feels really extraneous. I'll still include a massive, overarching Komus thread to the plot as the campaign progresses, no thanks to this.
Chapter 2: Hereticus
Some good information on cults, and how they tend to operate. There's still a fair bit of "fill in the blanks", since we know more about the workings of cults than the actual societies in which they operate, but that's like berating DOtDG for the failings of the corebook. It makes for interesting reading, and should definitely allow for far more realised and convincing cults in games, which can't be a bad thing. Most useful part of the chapter I thought, were descritpions of the different death-cults, mainly as it gave an insight into the "all cults are heretical, yet some are tolerable" mindset that is just a little important for inquisiton business. There are also some interesting psychic powers, which should surprise any unsuspecting players. Psychic Vampire and Molten Man are probably the most interesting. These new powers also serve as good examples of stuff that can be made up, using the corebook as a guide, if you wanted to write your own powers. Untouchables are dealt with here- all too briefly, but I seem to be alone in actually liking the rules. Though Frauka and Bequin seemed to automatically prevent any and all psychic use in the fluff, as do celexus assassins, IIRC. This might not be the best in an RP situation though, blinding the cell's own psyker, or indeed making that cult magus or daemonhost just a bit too easy to kill.
Sample cults include:
The Temple Tendency- Pre-ecclesiarchy cult, once ruled the empire. View themselves as reighteous, and the ecclesiarchy as corrupt. Perhaps not the most interesting of cults, but certainly different, which can't be a bad thing. The concept didn't seem as evocative as I'd have liked, to be honest. I'd use them as "filler" opponents for short campaigns, or interludes. The best thing about them is that they include the rules for arco-flagellants, which is pretty damning really. The arco-flagellants have party wipe written all over them, incidentally.
The Logicians- Now that's more like it. Renegade techies, hoarding every bit of knowledge they can, and looking eventually to supplant the high lords of Terra. I love their MO, in particular unleashing mass genocides to cover their escapes. They also tie in quite well with one of the Most Wanted heretics(I'll get to those later). They would serve as a good "manipulator" cult- the one that's behind the activities of another cult from the book. Also includes some neat gear, and the rather cool Ashen Tear assassins, for terrifying lower-level cells, or any isolated acolytes.
The Pale Throng-Also quite interesting, but mutants and mutant society are a bit of an unknown. Also expect to spend a lot of time drawing your character stats up before the adventure due to the nature of the mutations. Mutants are less credible infiltrators than regular cultists, as most of them tend to look like, well, mutants, which might steal some of their subtlety. I do however love the thematic idea that they are not necessarily the bad guys, twisted ad horrible as they might be. Played appropriately they have good drama potential, though challenging to write.
The Night Cult-Underfleshed, confused idea for a necromantic cult. While the idea of zombies with shotguns is great,the rest of their material leaves me cold, lacking any truly interesting plot hooks. But there are some good zombie rules, for those interested, with ideas on how to adapt them.
Chapter 2: Xenos
Too many humans, not enough actual Xenos themselves, and certainly not enough xenos weaponry and gear. The lack of xenos items and races really makes me wonder what the authors were trying to do (The good stuff's in Creatures Anathema I'm thinking). The Cold Trade is just disappointing, I'm afraid.
The Amarnthine Syndicate- Interesting, and it's nice to see the Slaught return. Maggots In The Meat wasn't a very good adventure, but the Slaughth are quite an interesting race. Now they have a business front, whose sole motivation is to fund the collapse of society by feeding all of mankind's worst traits and allowing humanity to destroy itself. Lots of good potential.
The Beast House- well fleshed out and written, nice selection of animals and handlers etc, but can you honestly say that animal smugglers, no matter how murderous, are a threat to intimidate your acolytes?They'd function well as a front for something more dangerous, but as it stands, they're just the WH40K version of the local petshop. Includes the rules for ogryns as well as some nastie alien creatures, all wild animal types, disappointingly.
The Cryptos- invasion of the Body Snatchers stuff. A little bit creepy and whatnot, but that will disipate just like the cryptos themselves would in a hurricane once it's revealed that an intelligent, sentient gas is behind it all. they do form the basis of a good plot hook though, springboarding onto something else.
Halo Devices- Should've been an item included in the Cold Trade section. Very interesting, yet not really deserving of its own chapter. Having said that, I've integrated them into my campaign pretty seamlessly.
The Beast Of Solomon- Thisis what I'd have liked to be done with Komus. It details what exactly is happening now, and gives several potential scenarios for the GM to run, based on what the GM wants the Beast to be. Interesting little section.
Malleus:
Here we get Daemon weapons(far, FAR too brief) Sorcery (like psychic powers, but diff- okay not really different) and there are some artifacts too.
Cults included:
The Pilgrims of Hayte- The prototypical chaos cult. Fully written and fleshed out, they have their own ideology, idysyncracies etc, all you have to do is write the characters. They have their own daemons, and rules for creating your own too, which is pretty cool.. They seem a tiny bitt one-dimensional, but that's to be expected, really, given their nature. Very nihilistic and apocalyptic, obsessed with torture and pain. Very similar to Republicans.
Ateanism- It's a philosophy which works like a drug, and also causes reality to implode. You heard it here first. It's left somewhat open to interpretation how best to apply it. If you choose to use it, you've got your work cut out for you, but it has potential, certainly.
The Brotherhood Of The Horned Darkness- Ah, the good old cowled cult that meets in secret to make sacrifices to their god who in turn rewards them with power. Wonderfully strong imagery, but not as cliché as you'd expect. Quite a likable cult actually, and probably more interesting for most to deal with than the pilgrims of hayte. If you hayte(pardon the expression) your PC's, they prefer to corrupt rather than destroy, allowing for great manipulation of unwiting players who finally realise they've literally made a deal with the devil.
The Vile Savants- More zombie rules, and a fantastic and wonderfully flavourful demonic incursion to boot. there's no cults here, no mortals to deal with, so scenarios revolving around them will be kinda combat heavy. it must be said though, the actual rules and concept for the savants themselves are amazing- just too good not to use. It's a zombie incurision that rapidly explodes into a full on demonic incursion and soul harvest- what's not to love?As well as the aforementioned zombies, there are rules for swarm creatures.
The Menagerie- These guys will make an absolutely fantastic Big Bad. Uber-machiavellian cult that eats other cults alive, notable for warp powers, and the patronage of Tzeentch. They could conceivably be behind almost anything, while actually retaining some character. Also noteworthy for their ties to The King In Rags And Tatters himself. Also some chaos spawn rules.
The Murder Room- Saw meets the Ordo Malleus. Again, this is what I would have liked to seen with Komus- a nebulously vague concept with enough hooks and "concrete" material to keep it interesting, and then a selection of different possiblities as to what the real evil could be. Inspiring.
The Enemy Within-
Very useful into on how the Inquisition and other bodies relate to one another, as well as inquisitorial factions. I'd still kill for more specifics, less breadth of scope, but it's absolutely welcome, and a boon for anyone creating some political intrigue within the inquisition or without. Also includes the statistics of two full-fledged inquisitors for reference. While Actually not the combat monsters we were all expecting, the skills and talents panel is has to be seen to be believed.
The Hunted-
A series of interesting profiles. No stats, which is fogivable, but perhaps a little more secret, less publicly known info would be useful- or perhaps like The Murder Room, some "hat if" ideas for the motivation of each character. Most of them are good, with Farran Ghast being a particular favourite. (What if he's also the unknown heretic?!?!?!?!??!?!!!! ZOMGWTFBBQROFLAMETHROWER)
Plenty of fluff here, nothing concrete.
The House of Dust And Ash:
Looks like quite a lot of fun, although the ending is a tad unfair. Also, not a fan of the opening chapter, it needn't be so abrupt. If you're running it, I'd humbly suggest a heavy fleshing out of the first act. It is suitably dark, though.
All in all, a good book, and an essential for any GM who plans to use covert organisations extensively in DH(and who doesn't?)
Not quite on par with the Inquisitor's Handbook in terms of quality, but that's asking a hell of a lot, and it performs admirably, despite its flaws. What's there is very good, but what's not there is what's galling. Still though, go buy it. Or I'll eat you.