Book of Vile Darkness: Are you going to buy?

[ColonelHardisson]

If it's as 'vile' as the promos seem to suggest then I believe such a product should have been left for games like the White Wolf stuff.

The book itself was written by Monte Cook. I trust Monte's judgement simply because I have several other books by him and can gauge his sensibilities as a game designer by them. So the book almost certainly won't be as "vile" as some seem to think it will be.

D&Ders are a different breed. If the market has shrunk such that WotC believes they need an infusion of new customers, bringing over the White Wolf gang will not save them. If you cater to their type you exclude most traditional D&Ders, and will lose all your old customers as you gain the new ones.

Traditional D&D'ers will likely remember the Empire of the Petal Throne. There was a lot of what would now be called "vile" content in the books for that game/setting - check out the Book of Ebon Bindings, for perhaps the best example. So this "vile" thing definitely isn't new.

Pretty much like what 3E is doing so far anyway. WotC should re-examine their tactics and change strategies. Their current direction will lead them nowhere but the chopping block.

I have played D&D since 1979. I know other gamers from that era who play and like 3e/d20 quite a bit. 3e brought a lot of us back into the fold. WotC is still selling more units per book than just about any other RPG company. I think it's a mistake to think that just because one doesn't like something, that everyone else dislikes it, or that it isn't successful. Sales figures bear out that WotC has been doing something right. Whether that will continue, I don't know.

 

[Barastrondo]

If it's as 'vile' as the promos seem to suggest then I believe such a product should have been left for games like the White Wolf stuff. D&Ders are a different breed. If the market has shrunk such that WotC believes they need an infusion of new customers, bringing over the White Wolf gang will not save them.

I seriously doubt that was their specific intention. They probably already got the majority of the White Wolf veterans they were going to get with the initial release of 3e; people who have resisted conversion until now aren't likely to go to the trouble of learning a whole new rules set because of the controversy over what is essentially a pretty niche supplement.

Learning a new rules system is, frankly, kind of a chore depending on how much free time you have. Most people who give a new system a try are likely to do so if they like the fundamentals of the core game they get with it, not because they see a supplement that looks more their speed. I would imagine they did this book simply because they thought there was a strong market for it in the existing D&D customer base; getting the attention of potential new customers is always great, but it's nothing you can rely on to drive the majority of any supplement's sales.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Traditional D&D'ers will likely remember the Empire of the Petal Throne. There was a lot of what would now be called "vile" content in the books for that game/setting - check out the Book of Ebon Bindings, for perhaps the best example. So this "vile" thing definitely isn't new.

I have, and love, Secret College of Necromancy.
I also bought Armies of the Abyss and Legions of Hell. They add to my game with stuff that is suitably "evil".

I won't decide on Vile Darkness until I see it, as I said, but am leaning towards not getting it, especially if it's a "how to" book for evil.

It depends on how much of the book is actual useful setting material. I.E. the demon lords.

Mind you, I'm not judging a book by it's cover, but by the articles "linked" to it and the ad's I've seen for it.