This is the second Monstrous Arcana book I have read (see Illithiad review for the first), and it shares the depth I enjoyed in the previous product. The quality of the work itself, cohesiveness of the text and suspension of disbelief they create exceed that of the other book.
Sea Devils are the Sahuagin AD&D monster race of part man, part carnivorous fish. Hive minded and shark worshiping, they have built a culture of savage nobility and racial superiority. Wanting nothing permanent to do with the harsh environment outside the ocean, they harass the barbarian surface dwellers at sea whenever possible. Raids onto land are seen as heroic, and are both rare and dangerous.
The book reads like a fantasy naturalist's textbook on the Sahuagin. Myths are explored and debunked, facts are collaborated and a scientific method is applied to theories provided within. Racial abilities and limitations follow chapters on anatomy and life cycle. Mutation and variation are more common but not tolerated in Sahuagin society. Hatchlings are put in immediate competition at hatching and the weak are killed and eaten by their nest mates. The only mutations allowed are those born with 4 arms, due to their combat prowess, and those that look more like sea elves than Sahuagin (useful against their greatest enemies).
History, creation myths, religion, and psychology are discussed in detail across the next two chapters. Their society norms and a sample village are provided for realism in play and to put in concrete, this evil race's threat. A full chapter is devoted to their technology, tools and architecture. The detail provided shows great attention to the realism required to make the Sahuagin a believable living culture, and an understanding of the medium they live in and what happens to them when they leave it. The chapter on priestesses continues to build on this information, finishing a complete mosaic of a believable fantasy race.
A final chapter provides new and updated rules for underwater adventuring and how typical adventurers might perform in that environment. A short monster appendix provides creature data for the Angolan, a less civilized eel-like Sahuagin-kin, and shark-were lycanthrops.
As with most products I enjoy and keep, I find myself considering non-fantasy non-AD&D uses for the product. I can easily see using it as a resource for detailing Buck Rogers: XXVc ganymen or sharc genetically engineered aquatic humanoids. Another obvious choice for me is to use the background provided to detail a mutant race of fish-men in a Gamma World 4th edition campaign. Lastly, the depth provided could easily be used to bring the Sahuagin to any horror (ala CoC) or scifi setting as an ancient evil or alien race.
Fear not, the purchase of this tome, for it is a good read as well as a grand resource. AD&D, D20 or other systems, fantasy or other genre. You will find use and enjoyment in it.
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