With a gloriously scary cover illustration this, the fifth installment of the Demon Cults series tells of a cult that has its origins deep in the jungles of the south. Whilst you can locate it in any suitable jungle in your campaign world, it is ideal for Kobold Press's Southlands, part of their Midgard setting, and appears - much more than the other Demon Cults - to have been written specifically for it.

The first section (titled Leaders, Organisation and Goals) tells a compelling tale of a lordling in pusuit of profit who encountered savage white apes deep in the jungle and in his attempst to survive he discovered hidden lore that enabled him to eventually become a powerful summoner and almost a god to the apes. His eidolon, a giant white ape, is exceedingly savage and together they have conquered not only the apes but several surrounding tribes. Now they are spreading further afield...

Detailed stat blocks for both lordling and eidolon are given, followed by a collection of adventure ideas organised by APL. Hidden away in the eidolon's stat block - and shared, it appears, by all the white apes - is a nasty disease called spellscourge. Mentioned in the opening story (in passing but unexplained there), this affects the victim's Int or Wis scores, thus diminishing whatever spellcasting abilities they might have had. Scary stuff in a fantasy world. Many of the adventure ideas that follow involve the spellscourge, either seeking its origins or trying to combat its effects, many of the rest are explorations that will bring the party into contact with the white apes even if they don't come looking for them in the first place.

The New Material section goes into greater detail about spellscourge. Apparently those who die of it have a chance of returning from the grave as crazed undead driven to spread the disease even further. This is modelled by an acquired template of 'Spellscourged creature' that can be applied, the more powerful the spellcaster was in life, the more terrible he is as an undead creature. As an example, a spellscoured coatl (who pops up in one of the adventure ideas) is provided. Finally, there's a couple of magic items. The Father's Staff is a relic from the ancient city that's the origin of the white apes, property of a mighty sorceror, and you can cast a selection of spells from it. The other one is a white ape hide made into armour (+2 hide) which also confers additional ape-like properties on its wearer.

This is a mixed delight. The spellscourge concept is truly scary for any fantasy world, and the idea of a horde of white apes living around a ruined city deep in the jungle is one that has been around for a long time. The various exploratory adventure ideas, in particular, pick up on that well. However the so-called cult itself has prefunctory treatment, with the lordling leading it seemingly both fairly insane and desirous of power... but with no clear idea of what he wants it for or is going to do with it. Plotwise, the idea of an exploration of a jungle region that discovers giant white apes and a terrible disease has merit... provided that you have worked out how the disease can be defeated before your campaign world is denuded of magic-using characters!

Return to Servants of the White Ape page.

Reviewed: 9 October 2015