I've never seen, read, or otherwise direclty experienced either Dragon 300 or BoVD. I have no strong opinion on the contents of either one, though from the well voiced opinions (and some not so well voiced opinions, but even those are informative) of others on the board I have some suspicions. But, who knows, I could pick BoVD up and discover to my surprise that it is the best written RPG book in history.
But, I have absolutely no interest in it at present, nor can I begin to fathom at this time what they'd put in it that would interest me.
But, I've said that all before.
What I do dislike is how this product is being marketed and why, and I very much dislike that a product that could in fact contain objectionable material (if the description of corpsebond I've heard is in any way close to the point) is rather deliberately targeting a younger rebellious crowd.
Not to suggest that everyone who is going to buy this product is a 14 year old kid new to the hobby - I'm sure that a large number of counter examples could be pointed at of mature people who have a legitimate interest in increasing the depth of thier play - but mostly I'm inclined to agree WotC is using words like 'mature' (I wish they'd just come out and say 'naughty' or something more to the point) and 'vile' to mean Nickelodean style goop and gross out with a fantasy spin.
And don't get me wrong, that wouldn't offend me in the slightest (well maybe a tad). None of that's really new in published D&D anyway. Let the kids giggle over vomit and eviceration. They are going to do it anyway. What bothers me is confusing that sort of stuff that really isn't evil at all (or is just merely over the top) with stuff that really is crossing a line that probably shouldn't be crossed in a book that is, much as I love RPG's, ultimately just a form of entertainment.
But who knows. I won't really pass judgement on the thing until I see it. Maybe it will be RPG high art - a classic like I6, the DL modules, and that Dungeon MotRD adventure that featured the flesh golem whose name escapes me at the moment. (???) But I wouldn't bet on it.
And for the record, I am stubborn, but I don't think that a person that wants to deal with slavery and rape in his campaign is immature. Heck, I think that not dealing with the issue of slavery seriously and frankly is one of TPM's many unendearing qualities.
However, I do think that it is possible to deal with rape in a very immature fashion, and worse an entirely obscene fashion, and that there are some things that just shouldn't be sensationalized for the purpose of making money.
