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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Selvarin" data-source="post: 2010862" data-attributes="member: 6102">The Book of Exalted Deeds, a 192-page hardcover,is the second in a line of mature-themed products published by Wizards of the Coast. As with its predecessor, the Book of Vile Darkness, BoED came with a "Warning! Content is intended for mature audiences only" sticker. I know, it seems strange considering it isn't filled with vile material or try to quanitfy real-world religions or religious leaders--something which could understandably bother some people. However, some portions do draw upon aspects of real-world religions in a general sense and so the sticker was included. (One of the authors, James Wyatt, mentions after the intro that he didn't expect to see a disclaimer on it.)  Regardless, in the end this is a minor issue and the sticker comes off much more easily than the one placed upon the BoVD. What mattersmore is what's inside, so let's hit it.The Book of Exalted Deeds is about the nature of goodness, morality within a campaign world, and how to play a good character in a better manner. After the obligatory introduction, it gets into the Nature of Good in Chapter 1. Here, the usual ideas about what makes a person good (charity,  forgiveness, and personal sacrifice, to name a few) are dealt with in concise bits. Sidebars regarding the use of material from the Book of Vile Darkness, and the difference between 'exalted' and epic, are included. Every form of Good is clarified, as well as certain heroic archetypes (from the benevolent Healer to the Redeemed villian), plus what exalted members of each class type should take as far as feats and prestige classes found within the BoED goes. the concept of using celestial creatures as PCs also comes into play. Some may disregard the first part of the chapter which dealt with what being Good or 'exalted' entails but personally I found it to be a worthy read. The part about ends & means in particular gave me something to think about, since inmany campaigns--mine included--the heroes are a bit grittier and may occasionally resort to dodgier things for the greater good. Chapter 2 deals with variant rules and runs for 10 pages. Here, you will find details on channeling, exalted cohorts, exorcism, as well as exalted gods (new, and provided later in the book). Where chapter one dealt with basics, chapter gets more specific and has game effects. Channeling (wherein a celestial merges/manifests within a willing mortal's body) is an interesting concept, as are the listed benefits of voluntary poverty level by level. There's a table listing the level adjustments for half-celestials and sections on sainthood and martyrdom. And were you looking for a celestial counterpart to Dark Speech? There are the Words of Creation, which can be used to enhance magic items as well as bardic talents. Additional guidelines regarding how a character gains experience points in D&D when they're pacificistic were also included. This, to me was a bit more difficult to comprehend as D&D is more or less a game aboutsmacking the bad guys down in spectacular ways, nonetheless I'm glad it was covered. (By the way, even if you're a pacifist  with the Vow of nonviolence and Vow of Peace feats you're allowed to gain XP for destroying constructs and undead so it's not all bad.)Chapter 3 deals is all about Exalted Equipment. It's a retty short chapter, only 6 pages, which was fine with me as I'm practically drowning with 'new' equipment from other books. No, what's here is only what's needed. the concept of non-lethal weapons is expanded upon a little, which is just as well since pacifistic types need something to disable their opponents when words or spells fail. Ravages and afflictions is, at least to me, an idea I've never encountered before in other game books. Poison in general is evil because of the damage it causes, thus goodly types can't use it. Ravages and afflictions are, in essence, magical forms of trauma that only affect evil creatures, and are most potent against evil outsiders. I don't know if any of them derive from real-world stories or what, but they're all pretty creative. Haunting Conscience (a magical affliction), causes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage and causes the sufferer to dwell on its evil deeds. Another causes the sufferer to obsess about themselves to the point where they'll just stare into a mirror.      The concept of sanctified weapons is  also introduced. Such weapons aren't inherently magical but they deal 1 extra point of holy damage to evil  creatures or 1d4 points of damage against evil outsiders. There's a variant piece on optional material components and their potency when used. It was okay but I didn't like the idea of a % that optional component x would provide a given bonus or enhancement. Let's use a couatl feather for example. According to the BoED a spell to which it's applied has a 35% chance to have its effective caster level increased by +2. that's great but why only 35%? if it's so special in the first place then there should be a definite benefit. In this case it's easy enough to rule-0 it and say 65% of the time it provides a +1 bonus with a 35% chance of a +2 bonus. I'm not saying this can be done in every case, but still I think it's a step in the right direction. Oh, and the interesting part regarding these material components is that they must be freely given, and not  merely taken from a dead creature. Another subject brought up in this chapter regards relics, which have the touch of goodness upon them but which aren't necessarily magical in the typical sense. Just a few items are detailed, sch as a saint's burial shroudor a sacred vessel which turns water placed inside it into holy water. It's a nice touch, and if used in a low-magic campaign will prove very useful.In Chapter 4 you'll find various feats. Some are general but some have the 'exalted' designation and can only be taken with the DM's permission. Exalted Turning causes 3d6 points of additional damage to undead who are successfully turned, whereas Holy Ki Strike allows you to deal an additional 2d6 points of holy damage to evil creatures.  For the most part they're well written and the sort that any good-aligned PC would love to have. Again, for the pacifist types there are some special options, such as Nonlethal Substitution  (imagine being able to lob a fireball at opponents that deals nonlethal damage instead of fire damage). There are also feats which relate to special vows as well as feats which relate to bonuses gained from swearing allegiance to the Court of Stars or Servant of the Heavens. Stigmata is an interesting feat wherein you heal others by giving your own life energy. No one's left out, there are useful feats foreach class or type. Even rogues get their share.Prestige Classes fill up about 33 pages in Chapter 5.  21 prestige classes, two of which are 3-level PRCs, one of which has 5-levels, and the  rest 10-level PRCs. Twelve are tied to deities or celestial beings (such as powerful archons). The Beloved of Valarian is dedicated to the unicorn deity Valarian and takes a vow of chastity, while Vassals of Bahamut serve his caus against evil dragonkind. There's the Apostle  of Peace (which is well-written and has its own spell progression, not some +1 caster level/PRC level), the Lion of Talisid, and the Skylord,  to name just a few. The Sword of Righteousness and the Wonderworker are PRCs designed to allow a character to gain more exalted feats at the cost of slower progression, which is why they're both only 3-levels each. And for those who missed the swanmay of 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D, here she is as a prestige class instead of a monster type. Overall I'm pleased with the variety and depth of the prestige classes, and I like the idea of classes which are devoted to celestial individuals and groups who aren't necessarily deities in their own right. It adds an extra layer of service to a higher authority. Chapter 6 deals with Magic. Nine new domains, 119 spells, new magic items. Ack, it's almost a blur to my eyes. There's so much. Something  long overdue is the expansion of spells with the Good descriptor. Hallelujah! (You knew this was coming, right?) For clerics who chose the Good  domain, you now have more at  your disposal. In addition, there's the notion of 'sanctified magic', magic which draws power from the spellcaster as part of the spell's casting. This sacrifice runs the gamut of temporary ability damage to a permanent level drain or worse. It's costly but also quite powerful,  and while I shudder at the thought of casting Armageddon--and losing a character level in the process--I might be tempted nonetheless. Take note of Phoneix Fire, a 7th-level spell that instantly kills you, deals damage to evil and neutral creatures within range, and then brings you  back from the ashes (you lose a level here as well, as per resurrection). There are some colorful spells here, no doubt about it.    The magic item section  has its own goodies from new armor properties like Soulfire (immunity to all death spells, magical death, etc.) to weapon propertes (Heavenly Burst,  which discharges a damaging radiant burst upon a successful critical against evil creatures)...It's almost too much to list, really, between the spells and magic items. Some early faves from the specific weapons list are the Bow of the Solars and the Nightblade of Arvandor, not to mention some new intelligent items. The major artifacts section is short, including only the Cup and Talisman of al'Akbar and the Regalia of Good. What others will go 'hmmm' in a nice way about is the section on redeeming evil magic items. There's a specific procedure for doing so, and some examples of what such a redeemed magic item might become thereafter Some  may become just an ordinary version of itself---a redeemed nine lives stealer that lost the ability to steal life becomes a +2 sword, whereas it becomes a +1 holy sword if itstill possessed the ability prior to redemption. (I don't recall seeing a procedure in the BoVD concerning corrupting good items, but if not it's easy enough to extrapolate from this how to do so.) Of course, some cannot be redeemed and  for them options are suggested as a means to facillitate their destruction.Filling up the last third of the book are chapters 7 (Celestial Paragons) and 8 (Monsters). Chapter 7 begins with more details on channeling and the qualities conferred upon mortals by the celestial paragon in question, as well as an epic level spell that facilitates this  called Channel Celestial Paragon. Unless you're going 'Epic', you can skip it for a while. The rest of the chapter details the various named celestials, such as Raziel the Crusader, as well as sample champions for each. Most have high CR's, as you can guess, including Zaphkiel the Watcher (CR 32). Past that, there is Talisid and the Five Companions. Whereas the celestials mentioned previously were all Lawful Good, these beings of Elysium are Neutral Good. And last but not least is the (CG) Court of Stars, replete with Morwell the Queen of Stars and both her champion and consort, respectively. Although she and her consort are eladrin, I don't see why they couldn't be turned into something even more fey-like. Perhaps a campaign where the elves are descended from eladrin? In Chapter Eight,  the deathless type is introduced as a goodly alternative to the undead type. It's a temporary type, however, and unlike undead they draw their power from the Positive  Energy Plane. In addition, there is the saint and sanctified templates, the latter of which is added on to a once-evil creature (the sample creature used is a sanctified red dragon). The rest of the chapter is filed with new archons and other outsiders. Some are new (such as Shiradi and the mousy Musteval) while others are not (bariaur, eladrin). And while I was aware that the Aleax would be included, the Moon Dog was a surprise. At the very end is an index of celestials, listing all good outsiders from all WotC/D&D products up to the time of publication.Conclusion and final thoughtsIt can be hard to justify paying $32.95 for yet another game book. In fact I had no intention of picking this up when I went down to the game store--I was jonesing  more for the Underdark HC than anything else. However, there was something about this book that made me curious so I bit the bullet and got it anyway. I was not disappointed in the least. From the material (by and large new, not recycled) to the layout and artwork (which was superb, even Tom Baxa's work was above the norm), I've been enthralled. I know that someone's going to look for something to nitpick over but I personally can't find anything to gripe about. From a gaming standpoint it's  a very useful sourcebook for playing Good heroes. This isn't something you'd get in order to better play a medieval 'Dirty Harry' type, this is a book to get if you aspire for something greater. I do agree that it works a little better when your DM has the Book of Vile Darkness, if for nothing else to make the villians stand out in starker contrast to the heroes, but by no means is it necessary. Despite the warning/mature theme sticker I don't think most people will have a problem with any of the subject matter. Sure, you'll see where something from a real-world religion may well have inspired a spell or object (e.g., the saint's burial shroud may  remind some of the Shroud of Turin), but everything has been thoughtfully treated and the references are minor. There is some minor nudity on pages 23 and 141, but in both cases it was natural and logical (I don't think avorals and lillends feel the need to cover themselves, ye know?). As stated in the introduction you can use what you like, adapt what doesn't fit, and ignore what you don't like. It's a toolkit, and a handy one.Quick note: "Holier Than Thou", an article by Christopher Perkins relating to celestial monsters, appears in Dragon #312. It deals with using asuras, bariaurs, hollyphants, leskylors, moon dogs, quesars, and rhek in a Savage species-style manner. As Perkins is listed as one of the BoED's authors (with James Wyatt and Darrin Drader), and since it is Part I, it's worth getting the magazine for that article even if you aren't sold on the BoED itself.</blockquote>

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