My Vilest Review yet (long)

[Tsyr]

Actualy, they make things designed specificly to remove "sticker gunk" and similar things... You can probably find them at any big store along with the windex and stuff. Generaly sold in small spritzer bottles. They tend to leave the book smelling really strongly of orange or lemon or something for a while, but they do work.

 

[Psion]

As for sex and violence being unnecessary--hell, D&D is a game of gratuity and excess.

That really depends on who is running the game, now doesn't it?

Who wants to play a game that's tame and modest?

So a game that does not engage in gratuitous sex and violenge is tame and modest? That's a false dichotomy. I like demons and combat in my game, that doesn't mean my game resembles Overfiend or Caligula.

 

[jollyninja]

Hmm. They didn't push it by much. There really isn't much artwork at all in BoVD. None of the torture or execution equipment was illustrated, which is a sharp deviation from the trend established in the PHB, the campaign setting books, and the class quidebooks, all of which made a point of depicting each piece of equipment described in the chapter. Many of the prestige classes lack pictures, and most of the demons' images--like Jubilex and Orcuse--were too small and indistinct. On the whole, there really isn't much shocking content.

As for sex and violence being unnecessary--hell, D&D is a game of gratuity and excess. Who wants to play a game that's tame and modest?

i would certianly have no objection to seeing pictures of an iron maiden or some other torture device. a picture of one of the victims of such a device while it is being used though is not anything i have any interest in seeing. good pictures of the demons i would have thought would be a given. most people who would find sex and voilence text distasteful will never even see a copy of this book. those who do will probably not read it. they may flip through and look at the pictures. one picture of a naked demon girl feasting on the entrails of Krusk seen by a parent will probably get a kid's whole collection tossed.

 

[Welverin]

Sticker removal

Actualy, they make things designed specificly to remove "sticker gunk" and similar things... You can probably find them at any big store along with the windex and stuff. Generaly sold in small spritzer bottles. They tend to leave the book smelling really strongly of orange or lemon or something for a while, but they do work.

My preferred method is a blow dryer. Just turn it on and point it at the sticker for a bit and start to peel, gets rid of the most sticky stickers and doesn't leave any sticky residue.

 

[Tzarevitch]

It seems to be on all of them no matter where yuou buy it. I got it at the Gaurdtower, but I don't see any of out local gaming stores placing stickers on their books warning on mature content.

ALL of the ones in my local gaming store have the sticker. I just ignore it on my copy.

Tzarevitch

 

[Crothian]

One spell I was surprised to not see in here was Spirit Wrack. THey have a Wrack spell that is pretty nasty, but it is no Spirit Wrack. That was such a cool spell and I think it really fit what BoVD was all about.

 

[Tzarevitch]

i would certianly have no objection to seeing pictures of an iron maiden or some other torture device. a picture of one of the victims of such a device while it is being used though is not anything i have any interest in seeing. good pictures of the demons i would have thought would be a given. most people who would find sex and voilence text distasteful will never even see a copy of this book. those who do will probably not read it. they may flip through and look at the pictures. one picture of a naked demon girl feasting on the entrails of Krusk seen by a parent will probably get a kid's whole collection tossed.

Honestly, I didn't even notice the picture until you mentioned it and I read my book from cover to cover on wednesday. I do agree with your commentary about lack of good pictures of the creatures in the monster section of the book. I really don't like the pictures of the demon princes, with the picture of Demogorgon being a particular dislike.

Oh well, I didn't get the book for the pictures and at least the pictures aren't as bad as many of those in Deities and Demigods.

Tzarevitch

 

[Sinistar]

Good review Crothian. I apprecaite it.

I thought the artwork in the book was very poor. But I have not been a fan of the 3e style since inception. The artists are obviously talented (with some exceptions...), but the style seems poor. This book though seemed to have a lot of the pictures intentionally vague so you could not exactly see what was going on.
That might add to horror or "evil" if it were a picture of some action, but often as not it was a picture of a person or class. I also missed the pictures of the equipment.

 

[Tzarevitch]

Hmm. They didn't push it by much. There really isn't much artwork at all in BoVD. None of the torture or execution equipment was illustrated, which is a sharp deviation from the trend established in the PHB, the campaign setting books, and the class quidebooks, all of which made a point of depicting each piece of equipment described in the chapter. Many of the prestige classes lack pictures, and most of the demons' images--like Jubilex and Orcuse--were too small and indistinct. On the whole, there really isn't much shocking content.

As for sex and violence being unnecessary--hell, D&D is a game of gratuity and excess. Who wants to play a game that's tame and modest?

They actually didnt push the envelope at all. I was bracing myself to see what was actually in there and once I read it my only thouhgt was, "That's it?" I was expecting something more on the level of White Wolf's products based on the complaints I heard. The book is useful source material for Maho-tsukai and oni for my Rokugan campaign, but other than the 1 paragraph definition of what Bestiality is, there wan't anything that even raised an eyebrow. Honestly, the artwork in my 1e AD&D books has more objectionable content than the artwork in BoVD and the text is far milder than the articles on the all-too-real sniper killer that I read in the New York Times and Washington Post this morning.

My only real complaints about the book's artwork had to do with the fact that it was few and far between, and what was to be found wasn't very good.

My sole complaints about the textual parts come from the area of the prestige classes because most of them struck me as a waste of page space what could've been used to add more fiends (Where are the demodans/gehreleths and the rest of the yugoloths anyway?) and other creatures. How many "Disciple of _____" or "Servant of _______" classes dows anyone really need anyway?

Other than those small gripes I loved the book. It's the most useful WoTC product I have purchased since Manual of the Planes.

Tzarevitch

 

[Kai Lord]

Nice, that was 666 post. Couldn't have planned that much better.

Heh. Hadn't even noticed that.

I also forgot to mention it's an invisible brilliant energy arrow. Yours for the cheap price of 2560gp. I think that's a bargain.

Wow, I'll say. Another question, does the book have a feat that allows someone with a Spell-like ability to use it more times per day?