Planescape review: The Dead-Book of the Gods

29 Oct, 2026

For the last three years, I've run a Planescape¹ campaign through almost all of its modules. Now, after successfully finishing it, I want to look back and review these adventures, highlighting the pros and cons of each one.

Each module will be rated in three categories, up to 3 points in each:

• Presentation: how easy it is to understand and run the adventure.
• Openness: how open the adventure's scope is, regarding the freedom of choice.
• Quality: Overall quality of the adventure, including the originality and richness of its content, and players' enjoyment.

The full list of currently published reviews is available under the planescape tag.

The Dead-Book of the Gods

In which the Heroes travel to the Silver Void, receive a Warning that all is not yet right, explore the rocky Corpse of the Villain they have long opposed, and learn once again, that Things are seldom what they Seem.

• Designer: Monte Cook
• Source: Dead Gods:² Out of the Darkness, Chapter IX
• Party: 4-6 characters of 6th-9th levels
• Play-time: 1 session
• Locations:
  • Astral / Tenebrous

The grand finale of the Dead Gods series takes place some time after the characters delve into the Deepest Pandemonium. The proposed hook is sudden and blunt: The Guardian of the Dead Gods, formerly Anubis, appears in front of the party while they travel through the Astral Plane, saying, "It is not yet over," and ominously pointing into the distance. If the characters have skipped the Pelion chapter, the Guardian could also hint at this missed opportunity.

Following the indicated direction, the party discovers the gargantuan corpse of Tenebrous floating through Astral, as many a fallen power does. The bloated humanoid corpse is a four-mile-long island of gray stone. Once the characters land on Tenebrous, the usual Astral travel rules no longer apply, and they must traverse the whole length of the island to get to the god's head, where the last priest of Orcus, half-ogre Quah-Namog (from the previous chapter) already have started his dark ritual in attempt to resurrect the fallen deity.

While getting through this grim and perilous landscape, the characters will encounter various hazards of Abyssal and undead nature. A good half of these occurrences do not present any meaningful danger, and another half is not a tough challenge for the characters of high levels. At the end of this journey, the party must climb a sheer cliff of the god's jowls to reach the spot where the ritual takes place.

Under normal circumstances, felling a single evil priest also wouldn't be much of a problem for the party, but the battle they must endure first will take place in their own minds. A disturbing visage of the City of Doors ravaged by Tenebrous stands before the characters, streets red with blood, uncountable bodies of slain gods at his feet, and the broken body of the Lady of Pain in his claws. Despite the scene itself being illusory, the characters must navigate it to find Quah-Namog and disrupt the ritual, while the illusory Tenebrous dishes out not-so-illusory auto-hit damage.

The final part of the module describes the aftermath of the characters' deeds, as well as the permanent changes in the multiverse in the wake of Tenebrous, including the list of slain gods (just five, which is somewhat underwhelming) and the aftereffects of their passing.

Presentation

🖋️🖋️ useable

The map of the Tenebrous' corpse with the scale and height labels is OK, but not that practical in the actual gameplay, unless you are willing to brandish a ruler and measure the distance traveled. A detailed "zoomed-in" map of the final confrontation — the dead god's face — would be a good addition, but alas, there isn't one. Otherwise, the module is of a typical quality for this book.

Openness

☀️ linear

No question about it, there is only one implied approach. The module event goes into extensive detail about how cunning ideas like teleporting, dimension-dooring, or sneaking underneath the island must be curtailed. Moreover, the module explicitly devalues any previous possible attempts of the characters to destroy the Wand of Orcus, as it is yet again whole in the hands of Quah-Namog. Further still, no matter the success of the affair, Tenebrous and his priest simply vanish from Astral, leaving it to the DM to decide what to do next.

Quality

★★ good

Despite its obvious flaws, the module was mostly enjoyed by the players, with the scenery being evocative and the culmination presenting a real challenge to the party. Adding more custom encounters on the way to the final clash would improve the experience even further.

Summary

Below is the compilation of scores given to each chapter, with the average score for both adventures in the Dead Gods book.

Out of the Darkness

Into the Light

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