Crothian
First Post
Exemplars of Evil
Every game has opponents and in most games they are considered the evil ones, the bad guys. It is not that common though to get good about the bad guys. Sure there are plenty of books with stat blocks of things to fight both easy and hard but not so many about how to play a bad guy and how to make them effective. For Dungeons and Dragons this is probably the best book on villains since the Complete Book of Villains for second edition.
Exemplar of Evil is one of the last books to come out for Third Edition Dungeons and Dragons by Wizards of the Coast. It is a one hundred and sixty page hard cover by Robert Schwalb. I will be talking more about him in the next paragraph. The book has the very familiar solid lay out of the Third Edition game line. The color art is mostly good but over all it seems a little less impressive then I am used to from Wizards of the Coast.
Robert Schwalb is one of those writers I have been following for a while and really enjoying his books. He is also a DM that I have enjoyed his games getting to play with him a few times at Origins Game Fair. He is one of the few writers that has a sadistic imagination that is perfect for this kind of book. I would not be surprised if he had to tone down some of his ideas. I remember one Thieves World game he ran that was early in the morning and two of the players asked him to cease with some of his descriptions because it was making them a little ill. They had just had breakfast. In another instance I heard that he actually had a player complain about his gaming being a little too graphic. Robert Schwalb can do evil and he does it a little too well at times.
Exemplars of Evil is not going to be a book for everyone. There are plenty of DMs that do not need help with villains. They can come up with motivations and plans just fine. But there are going to be DMs who want the extra help or can find ways to use this to enhance their game. It is not a book for players. There are a few feats and class options in here but they are designed for NPC villains.
The best chapter is also the one few books include. It is the how to do this stuff yourself. It is one thing to have a book filled with villains but allowing someone to be able to create their own and use these guidelines to make their own ideas better is very important. It talks about how to use a villain in a campaign verse a one shot. It discusses challenge ratings of them and how villains can evolve. There are many archetypes and each one is very nicely described. There are seven archetypes listed and while this is not a complete listing for all types of villains these do seem to be the most common kinds. One of the most difficult parts could be the coming up with the objective and motivation of the villain. There are plenty of options for these listed in the book as well. I really like this section and it is good enough to apply to most role playing games not just Dungeons and Dragons.
There are eight villains written about in the book each one getting its own chapter. These are each almost fifteen pages long and each has a fully fleshed out villain and small adventure concerning them. This part of the book is very useful for DMs that are a bit short of time but also the short adventures are nice to use in a campaign. There are many times that I like to use small items like this over a more typical and much longer module.
Exemplars of Evil is a good 3ed D&D book for DMs that need a little help with their own villains. There are some nice examples listed in here and there is good information on how they can be used in the Forgotten Realms and Eberron. The book has a good dose of creativity that I have grown to expect from something with Schwalb’s name on it.
Every game has opponents and in most games they are considered the evil ones, the bad guys. It is not that common though to get good about the bad guys. Sure there are plenty of books with stat blocks of things to fight both easy and hard but not so many about how to play a bad guy and how to make them effective. For Dungeons and Dragons this is probably the best book on villains since the Complete Book of Villains for second edition.
Exemplar of Evil is one of the last books to come out for Third Edition Dungeons and Dragons by Wizards of the Coast. It is a one hundred and sixty page hard cover by Robert Schwalb. I will be talking more about him in the next paragraph. The book has the very familiar solid lay out of the Third Edition game line. The color art is mostly good but over all it seems a little less impressive then I am used to from Wizards of the Coast.
Robert Schwalb is one of those writers I have been following for a while and really enjoying his books. He is also a DM that I have enjoyed his games getting to play with him a few times at Origins Game Fair. He is one of the few writers that has a sadistic imagination that is perfect for this kind of book. I would not be surprised if he had to tone down some of his ideas. I remember one Thieves World game he ran that was early in the morning and two of the players asked him to cease with some of his descriptions because it was making them a little ill. They had just had breakfast. In another instance I heard that he actually had a player complain about his gaming being a little too graphic. Robert Schwalb can do evil and he does it a little too well at times.
Exemplars of Evil is not going to be a book for everyone. There are plenty of DMs that do not need help with villains. They can come up with motivations and plans just fine. But there are going to be DMs who want the extra help or can find ways to use this to enhance their game. It is not a book for players. There are a few feats and class options in here but they are designed for NPC villains.
The best chapter is also the one few books include. It is the how to do this stuff yourself. It is one thing to have a book filled with villains but allowing someone to be able to create their own and use these guidelines to make their own ideas better is very important. It talks about how to use a villain in a campaign verse a one shot. It discusses challenge ratings of them and how villains can evolve. There are many archetypes and each one is very nicely described. There are seven archetypes listed and while this is not a complete listing for all types of villains these do seem to be the most common kinds. One of the most difficult parts could be the coming up with the objective and motivation of the villain. There are plenty of options for these listed in the book as well. I really like this section and it is good enough to apply to most role playing games not just Dungeons and Dragons.
There are eight villains written about in the book each one getting its own chapter. These are each almost fifteen pages long and each has a fully fleshed out villain and small adventure concerning them. This part of the book is very useful for DMs that are a bit short of time but also the short adventures are nice to use in a campaign. There are many times that I like to use small items like this over a more typical and much longer module.
Exemplars of Evil is a good 3ed D&D book for DMs that need a little help with their own villains. There are some nice examples listed in here and there is good information on how they can be used in the Forgotten Realms and Eberron. The book has a good dose of creativity that I have grown to expect from something with Schwalb’s name on it.
