Crothian
First Post
Review of Book of Vile Darkness
The Book of Vile Darkness is Wizards book on everything evil. It comes with a Mature Audiences Only warning. I found only some of the topics had gone overboard. Most of the book deals with them in a very mature and well-handled manner. There are many themes in her like bestiality and sacrificing that are clearly not meant for the younger fans of our hobby.
The artwork is up to Wizards usually high standard. Some of the scenes are a little graphic showing blood and guts and a little nudity, but for the most part it was not nearly as bad as it could have been. The book is well organized and there is a table of contents as well as an index to make finding things very easy. This is a book made for the DM and is suggested that players not read it. I concur as many of the items in here lose a little luster if the players are already familiar with them.
Chapter one is the Nature of Evil. Within this chapter it covers the many different types of evil and gives different suggestions for using them. It goes into how Evil is in the standard D&D game, as well as giving an optional take on evil. Throughout the chapter is goes in depth on what makes a person evil and how evil is defined. There are many different ways a person can be evil and this chapters seems to cover them all. Many of the ideas are very easy to transport to new or old NPCs to give them a more evil feel. It also goes into different types of fetishes and addictions that may be some of the traits of evil beings. There are some game mechanics attached to the different addictions, making them easy to use. The Chapter then goes into some Vile Gods. These are new gods given small write-ups. There are some god ideas here, but if any are to be used the DM will need to fill out a lot of missing details. Next, it goes into two new races that are designed to be evil. One is basically a human the other is basically a Halfling. I feel that the races are two close to these races, but that may have been the idea to make evil look like what we already know. Either way, I felt the races could have been better. It then goes into some common evil archetypes and each has an example given. The ideas are good and should help a DM build a truly evil NPC. There are some fully fleshed out villains. The first is the Dread Emperor, next is a pair of villains: a Medusa and a Half Orc. Finally, they have a demonically possessed Blue Dragon. All of these are well defined and should be easy to use. Lastly, the chapter describes two evil sites. One is the place where a truly large mass murder was taken place, the other is a alchemically pool that goblins use to change themselves into something not quite right. Both are well described and should be easy to drop into any campaign setting.
Chapter two is Variant Rules and like one would expect it is filled with optional additions to the game to make evil a little more unpredictable. The first new item is possession. This is a great way for villains to use other people’s bodies and truly confuse ones players. There are many options with possessions like the possessor just watching or actually taken control of the person. Or an object can be possessed. It can be enhanced or hindered depending on what the possessing entity wants to do. Next, the chapter has some very simple and easy to use sacrifice rules. This is attached directly with the knowledge religion skill, and I would really like to see a version of this for good and neutral clerics. Curses are covered in great detail after the Sacrifice section. There are many new types of curses as well as more powerful version like the Dying Curse, a curse an evil creature utters as it expires. This section also deals with family curses and curses of misery. I think the section on curses in the strongest section in the chapter and has great ability to confuse and hinder a party of player characters. Next, there are many new diseases. They are mostly what is expected, new types of magical disease that hinders ability scores. There are two diseases that are a little different. However, since diseases are pretty easy to cure and there are more then a few classes that gives total immunity to them, I would have liked to see some that are harder then normal to cure and that can even effect people immune. Lastly, the chapter covers many ideas in less detail. The best of these is Dark Speech, an evil language that affects people that hear its utterings. There are also ways to use pain as power, the ability to use souls, lingering effects of evil, and evil weather. There are lots of great things in this chapter.
Chapter Three is Evil Equipment. It is filled with everything an Evil Overlord needs to one up those pesky, good player characters. First is covers Torture Devices and ways to extract information out of those devious good guys. It covers a good range of the usually torture devices like the Iron Maiden and Rack. Next it covers execution equipment and rules for determining if the execution is successful. Then the books talks about trapping ones own equipment and it gives some good examples of these. The chapter also covers some new alchemical items, drugs and addiction, poisons, and different material components for spells. The detail is very good, but it seems more of the same old stuff as there are only so many ways to write up these things.
Chapter Four is called Feats. It introduces a new type of feat, the vile feat. These are feats that are usually granted by greater evil beings to their servants. Most of the feats are rather bland. They take a few meta magic feats, and now have them apply to spell like abilities. There are a few interesting ones like Lichloved that makes it so mindless undead see the person as an undead creature.
Chapter Five is of course Prestige Classes. It does not disappoint having eighteen of them. All of them are of course designed for evil characters. Some are a little on the powerful side giving full attack bonuses, best saves for all three saving throws, d10 HD and new powers every level. However, for the most part they seem pretty well done. The Lifedrinker is a prestige class designed for a vampire. It does a good job of taking the abilities of a vampire and expanding on them. The Mortal Hunter is a class for fiends that kill mortals. The most interesting though, is the Ur-Priest. This is a person who despises the gods, and is able to steal a little of the power the gods give their followers, so the Ur-Priest is able to cast spells.
Chapter Six is Magic. It starts with a whole bunch of new spells, most with the evil descriptor. There are also spells called corrupt spells that require ability damage for them to be cast. Others can only be cast by demons, devils, people effected by a disease or a poison, or other certain criteria for casting these spells. There are new spells for the Assassin, Bard, Blackguard, Cleric (including seven domains), Druid, and Sorcerer/ Wizard. Many of the spells are very interesting and should be able to catch the players off guard. Some of these spells are truly disgusting like Abyssal strength that one needs to consume a piece of another’s flesh to gain strength and constitution bonuses. This is a corrupt spell, so the caster will take 2d6 wisdom damage. There are other less nauseating spells like Demon Wings, which temporarily allows the caster to grow wings and fly. There are some spells which even good characters may want to use like Drug resistance that allows the subject to be immune to the addiction effect of drugs. Then there are some truly cool spells like Were-Doom that will cause people to temporarily become a random type of lycanthrope and start attacking people around them. Then the chapter deals with some truly evil magical weapons and enhancements. The Grim Defender is a +1 Breastplate that allows the wearing to transfer damage from himself to another within one hundred feat. There is the Harrowheart, a rapier that does x3 critical damage against a good aligned person instead of x2. Then there is the slime pot that will create green slime when the owner places decaying organic matter in it. The magical items are very well done and interesting. The abilities are varied and just plain cool. Lastly, we have new minor and major artifacts. These are from the nightmares of paladins and good people. There are things like Demon Blood that turn a large area unhallowed and make it so nothing natural can ever grow there again. There are Diabolic Engines and Demonic Devices. These are machines crafted in the lower planes and they are used by the demons and devils there. One is the Cauldron of Zombie Spewing. It is a great cauldron filled with strange chemicals. Place 50 corpses into it, shake well, allow it to set for 24 hours, and out comes zombies. Send the zombies lose to kill more people, gather the bodies and repeat the process. Finally we get to the Major Artifacts. Items that only the greatest of demons and devils weld, although a few are probably lost on the prime material waiting for some poor soul to find it. Included in here is the famous Regalia of Evil. Three major artifacts in their own right (a crown, a scepter, and an orb) but get two or all three of them together and their power increases.
Now we get to one of the most anticipated Chapters in D&D history, Chapter Seven: Lords of Evil. This is the chapter that stats out all those arch devils and demon lords that have been causing havoc in the prime material since time began. The chapter starts with a brief description of the lower planes, as it exists in the standard cosmology. There is a small sidebar that deals with evil plane variants. Not only are the lords themselves stated, but also some of those lords prized minions as well. All of the Arch Devils and Demon Lords are true powers to behold. I would have liked to see a sidebar or two saying how to incorporate the Epic Level Handbook with these guys to allow them to challenge PCs of much higher levels. Even so, the description on them is well done and played properly they will be more then a match for any group players.
The Last Chapter is all about Evil Creatures. It describes new types of outsiders that are aligned with evil themselves. There are some old favorites like the Eye of Fear and Flame. There are creatures that will challenge almost any level of party and a nice variety along with it. There are three new templates as well. The Bone Creature is for something that looks like a skeleton, but retains its intelligence. The Corpse Creature is zombie like, but again is as smart as the original creature. Lastly, is the Corrupted Creature that represents something twisted by the power of evil.
It doesn’t end there though. There is an appendix about evil characters. This is great for any DM to read through as it gives great advice and warns of some of the danger for allowing evil alignments. It deals with the one evil PC in a non-evil group as well as a group of all evil characters. There is even some advice on the all-evil campaign. While not as dedicated to the subject as some books like Evil, it does a great job of setting DMs on the right path to accomplish what they need to do.
The Book of Vile Darkness was what I hoped it would be and not what I feared it would be. It covered the topics well and did not go overboard into graphic detail that where neither needed nor wanted. It presents everything in a well thought out manner. Once again we can place our trust in Monte Cook, the author of the Book of Vile Darkness, and he will not disappoint.
The Book of Vile Darkness is Wizards book on everything evil. It comes with a Mature Audiences Only warning. I found only some of the topics had gone overboard. Most of the book deals with them in a very mature and well-handled manner. There are many themes in her like bestiality and sacrificing that are clearly not meant for the younger fans of our hobby.
The artwork is up to Wizards usually high standard. Some of the scenes are a little graphic showing blood and guts and a little nudity, but for the most part it was not nearly as bad as it could have been. The book is well organized and there is a table of contents as well as an index to make finding things very easy. This is a book made for the DM and is suggested that players not read it. I concur as many of the items in here lose a little luster if the players are already familiar with them.
Chapter one is the Nature of Evil. Within this chapter it covers the many different types of evil and gives different suggestions for using them. It goes into how Evil is in the standard D&D game, as well as giving an optional take on evil. Throughout the chapter is goes in depth on what makes a person evil and how evil is defined. There are many different ways a person can be evil and this chapters seems to cover them all. Many of the ideas are very easy to transport to new or old NPCs to give them a more evil feel. It also goes into different types of fetishes and addictions that may be some of the traits of evil beings. There are some game mechanics attached to the different addictions, making them easy to use. The Chapter then goes into some Vile Gods. These are new gods given small write-ups. There are some god ideas here, but if any are to be used the DM will need to fill out a lot of missing details. Next, it goes into two new races that are designed to be evil. One is basically a human the other is basically a Halfling. I feel that the races are two close to these races, but that may have been the idea to make evil look like what we already know. Either way, I felt the races could have been better. It then goes into some common evil archetypes and each has an example given. The ideas are good and should help a DM build a truly evil NPC. There are some fully fleshed out villains. The first is the Dread Emperor, next is a pair of villains: a Medusa and a Half Orc. Finally, they have a demonically possessed Blue Dragon. All of these are well defined and should be easy to use. Lastly, the chapter describes two evil sites. One is the place where a truly large mass murder was taken place, the other is a alchemically pool that goblins use to change themselves into something not quite right. Both are well described and should be easy to drop into any campaign setting.
Chapter two is Variant Rules and like one would expect it is filled with optional additions to the game to make evil a little more unpredictable. The first new item is possession. This is a great way for villains to use other people’s bodies and truly confuse ones players. There are many options with possessions like the possessor just watching or actually taken control of the person. Or an object can be possessed. It can be enhanced or hindered depending on what the possessing entity wants to do. Next, the chapter has some very simple and easy to use sacrifice rules. This is attached directly with the knowledge religion skill, and I would really like to see a version of this for good and neutral clerics. Curses are covered in great detail after the Sacrifice section. There are many new types of curses as well as more powerful version like the Dying Curse, a curse an evil creature utters as it expires. This section also deals with family curses and curses of misery. I think the section on curses in the strongest section in the chapter and has great ability to confuse and hinder a party of player characters. Next, there are many new diseases. They are mostly what is expected, new types of magical disease that hinders ability scores. There are two diseases that are a little different. However, since diseases are pretty easy to cure and there are more then a few classes that gives total immunity to them, I would have liked to see some that are harder then normal to cure and that can even effect people immune. Lastly, the chapter covers many ideas in less detail. The best of these is Dark Speech, an evil language that affects people that hear its utterings. There are also ways to use pain as power, the ability to use souls, lingering effects of evil, and evil weather. There are lots of great things in this chapter.
Chapter Three is Evil Equipment. It is filled with everything an Evil Overlord needs to one up those pesky, good player characters. First is covers Torture Devices and ways to extract information out of those devious good guys. It covers a good range of the usually torture devices like the Iron Maiden and Rack. Next it covers execution equipment and rules for determining if the execution is successful. Then the books talks about trapping ones own equipment and it gives some good examples of these. The chapter also covers some new alchemical items, drugs and addiction, poisons, and different material components for spells. The detail is very good, but it seems more of the same old stuff as there are only so many ways to write up these things.
Chapter Four is called Feats. It introduces a new type of feat, the vile feat. These are feats that are usually granted by greater evil beings to their servants. Most of the feats are rather bland. They take a few meta magic feats, and now have them apply to spell like abilities. There are a few interesting ones like Lichloved that makes it so mindless undead see the person as an undead creature.
Chapter Five is of course Prestige Classes. It does not disappoint having eighteen of them. All of them are of course designed for evil characters. Some are a little on the powerful side giving full attack bonuses, best saves for all three saving throws, d10 HD and new powers every level. However, for the most part they seem pretty well done. The Lifedrinker is a prestige class designed for a vampire. It does a good job of taking the abilities of a vampire and expanding on them. The Mortal Hunter is a class for fiends that kill mortals. The most interesting though, is the Ur-Priest. This is a person who despises the gods, and is able to steal a little of the power the gods give their followers, so the Ur-Priest is able to cast spells.
Chapter Six is Magic. It starts with a whole bunch of new spells, most with the evil descriptor. There are also spells called corrupt spells that require ability damage for them to be cast. Others can only be cast by demons, devils, people effected by a disease or a poison, or other certain criteria for casting these spells. There are new spells for the Assassin, Bard, Blackguard, Cleric (including seven domains), Druid, and Sorcerer/ Wizard. Many of the spells are very interesting and should be able to catch the players off guard. Some of these spells are truly disgusting like Abyssal strength that one needs to consume a piece of another’s flesh to gain strength and constitution bonuses. This is a corrupt spell, so the caster will take 2d6 wisdom damage. There are other less nauseating spells like Demon Wings, which temporarily allows the caster to grow wings and fly. There are some spells which even good characters may want to use like Drug resistance that allows the subject to be immune to the addiction effect of drugs. Then there are some truly cool spells like Were-Doom that will cause people to temporarily become a random type of lycanthrope and start attacking people around them. Then the chapter deals with some truly evil magical weapons and enhancements. The Grim Defender is a +1 Breastplate that allows the wearing to transfer damage from himself to another within one hundred feat. There is the Harrowheart, a rapier that does x3 critical damage against a good aligned person instead of x2. Then there is the slime pot that will create green slime when the owner places decaying organic matter in it. The magical items are very well done and interesting. The abilities are varied and just plain cool. Lastly, we have new minor and major artifacts. These are from the nightmares of paladins and good people. There are things like Demon Blood that turn a large area unhallowed and make it so nothing natural can ever grow there again. There are Diabolic Engines and Demonic Devices. These are machines crafted in the lower planes and they are used by the demons and devils there. One is the Cauldron of Zombie Spewing. It is a great cauldron filled with strange chemicals. Place 50 corpses into it, shake well, allow it to set for 24 hours, and out comes zombies. Send the zombies lose to kill more people, gather the bodies and repeat the process. Finally we get to the Major Artifacts. Items that only the greatest of demons and devils weld, although a few are probably lost on the prime material waiting for some poor soul to find it. Included in here is the famous Regalia of Evil. Three major artifacts in their own right (a crown, a scepter, and an orb) but get two or all three of them together and their power increases.
Now we get to one of the most anticipated Chapters in D&D history, Chapter Seven: Lords of Evil. This is the chapter that stats out all those arch devils and demon lords that have been causing havoc in the prime material since time began. The chapter starts with a brief description of the lower planes, as it exists in the standard cosmology. There is a small sidebar that deals with evil plane variants. Not only are the lords themselves stated, but also some of those lords prized minions as well. All of the Arch Devils and Demon Lords are true powers to behold. I would have liked to see a sidebar or two saying how to incorporate the Epic Level Handbook with these guys to allow them to challenge PCs of much higher levels. Even so, the description on them is well done and played properly they will be more then a match for any group players.
The Last Chapter is all about Evil Creatures. It describes new types of outsiders that are aligned with evil themselves. There are some old favorites like the Eye of Fear and Flame. There are creatures that will challenge almost any level of party and a nice variety along with it. There are three new templates as well. The Bone Creature is for something that looks like a skeleton, but retains its intelligence. The Corpse Creature is zombie like, but again is as smart as the original creature. Lastly, is the Corrupted Creature that represents something twisted by the power of evil.
It doesn’t end there though. There is an appendix about evil characters. This is great for any DM to read through as it gives great advice and warns of some of the danger for allowing evil alignments. It deals with the one evil PC in a non-evil group as well as a group of all evil characters. There is even some advice on the all-evil campaign. While not as dedicated to the subject as some books like Evil, it does a great job of setting DMs on the right path to accomplish what they need to do.
The Book of Vile Darkness was what I hoped it would be and not what I feared it would be. It covered the topics well and did not go overboard into graphic detail that where neither needed nor wanted. It presents everything in a well thought out manner. Once again we can place our trust in Monte Cook, the author of the Book of Vile Darkness, and he will not disappoint.
