The Book of Vile Darkness -- bad idea?

[Hand of Vecna]

Does anyone else but me see this as a BAD thing? I mean, how long have we been trying to tell people D&D is NOT Satanic? According to WotC, it will "detail slavery, human sacrifice, prostitution, and other sensitive issues in a mature fashion" -- looks to me like more fuel for the Zealots to use for their flames. And as for the "rules for the benefits evil cultists get from sacrifices"... ugh...

Also, I really hope WotC hasn't gone the route of other games/books who confuse rape/slaughter/bondage/demon worship/baby-eating with "mature themes"...

This just seems like a really bad thing to me...

 

[PenguinKing]

So? The whole "D&D is Satanic!" fervor was the best marketing campaign D&D ever had!

- Sir Bob.

 

[Nightfall]

Frankly I don't care about that other stuff. I just want the Demon Princes and the Arch Devils! Besides I don't think no matter WHAT we yell at people like Pat Robertson, he and his kind won't believe differently. It's the same with rock and roll, and the same with ANY kind of censorship that they promote. They just don't learn.

 

[Methinkus]

I was thinking the same thing when i heard about this new project. The fact that they are braggin about how disturbing the cover is just makes me wonder what Soccer-mom is going to think when Little Billy shows it off to her in the book store.

Im also a little freaked out by a statement i read from Monte somewhere that this something he had wanted to do for years and the idea of getting this project done kept him involved in the role playing industry this long - i read that a while ago when he had just announced that he was working on something and it was still a secret - can anyone say disturbed personality?

If i was WotC i would just call this little book the Jesus F*&%er Handbook or Deamons Aren't so bad Kids for all the image problems it could potentialy cause.

 

[Methinkus]

It's the same with rock and roll, and the same with ANY kind of censorship that they promote. They just don't learn.

Um, actually musical censorship is nothing compared to what it once was. I've never in my lifetime heard anyone refer to rock and roll as evil or having a corrupting influence on people outside of certain incidents i heard about in America where some kids brought guns into school but they sounded pretty screwed up to begin with.

And on the issue of D&D, i think a lot of people have learned. D&D is, as far as i can tell, seen as mostly geeky but not really evil anymore. This is progress but i wouldn’t push our luck by printing materials that actively glorified any daemon princess of hell, fictional ones or not.

 

[Lady Dragon]

I think to much is made of all the negativity toward D&D.Yeah a couple of idiots like Jack Chick put out there little booklets and post lies on the internet but how many neutral people actually read and listen to this stuff.(by neutral I mean pre-bias)

I think that the mainstream media doesn't even notice D&D anymore. Yes there was bad press in the late 70's early 80's but that was 20 years ago.

Videos games and Rap music take the morality hit instead after all they are bigger fish to fry.And far more mainstream.

As for the Hasbro argument that they don't want to be associated with a book on evil.I say who will know.WoTC has not changed there name to Hasbro and I think there is reason for that.

Keep in mind that although the average buyer of D&D knows that Hasbro owns WoTC I seriously doubt that the average buyer of Hasbro toys know this same fact or quite frankly really cares.

So will the book of Vile Darkness give Jack chick more ammo for his ranting? I honestly don't think the guy has even noticed that there is a third edition after all he still quotes the 1st edition corebooks that have been out of print for 15 years.

And although the Book of Vile Darkness will certainly sell well among devoted D&D players It will hardly go mainstream Don't expect millions of sales.The mainstream Media will not even notice this book.

 

[coyote6]

Um, actually musical censorship is nothing compared to what it once was. I've never in my lifetime heard anyone refer to rock and roll as evil or having a corrupting influence on people outside of certain incidents i heard about in America where some kids brought guns into school but they sounded pretty screwed up to begin with.

It is not as bad as it once was, but I've heard about people blaming music (metal, rap, rock, etc.) for all sorts of things in the not-so distant past.

And on the issue of D&D, i think a lot of people have learned. D&D is, as far as i can tell, seen as mostly geeky but not really evil anymore. This is progress but i wouldn’t push our luck by printing materials that actively glorified any daemon princess of hell, fictional ones or not.

Heh. Has everybody missed Armies of the Abyss, Legions of Hell, Relics & Rituals (note the cover), that Demonology book, Evil, et al.? Heck, Deities & Demigods?

The BoVD might get a higher profile, what with the "mature audiences" sticker it will apparently have, but the cat seems to be mostly out of the bag now.

 

[Ulrick]

Well, I just wonder if it will be similiar to

INFERNALISM: THE PATH OF SCREAMS from White Wolf.

It would be tough to beat that one in sheer evilness. IMHO


I've always found it a little interesting that though the RPG industry claims it isn't evil, it produces books that describe evil more often than good.

Right from the beginning in the Monster Manual various ArchDevils and Demonlords were decribed.

Here's a list of books in my Gaming Library that I think are kinda cool but wouldn't show a passerby because they simply look EVIL.

1. Infernalism: The Path of Screams--this details infernalism in the White Wolf setting.
2. My Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages books.
3. A Guide to Hell
4. Legions of Hell
5. Relics and Rituals--uh, that rune on the front looks like an altered pentagram.

With all these books I can certainly understand why RPGs seems evil to people. It has that image. Now, a "Book of Vile Darkness" coming from the company that produces D&D will help this image of evil out quite a bit, IMHO.

Ulrick

 

[BMF]

I've never in my lifetime heard anyone refer to rock and roll as evil

No one ever told you that Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin were evil?

I don't think the Book of Vile Darkness is going to hurt the game's image.

 

[Derulbaskul]

IMO, I think it is a bad idea for WoTC to publish this.

While personally I don't like some of the content that has been hinted at so far (as I have also commented on in a couple of other threads), I am also pragmatic enough to understand that this sort of stuff will be printed at some point.

However, I strongly believe that it is in the best interests of the D&D game/our hobby that if something like this has to be published then it should be published by a smaller d20 publisher.

Cheers
NPP