Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="sparxmith" data-source="post: 1640180" data-attributes="member: 14838">Vile DarknessThe Book of Vile Darkness is a poor guide to designing a demonic/diabolic campaign.  It begins with a look at and exploration of the nature of evil.  The author's, Monte Cook's, take on morality in this instance made me sick to my stomach.  It is in the prurient moral interest of the D20 community to boycott this book.  All of the hassle of D&D being tied to the occult would come to front and center on the national news AGAIN if any reporter decided to make a case for it.The book's exploration of Demonology, though primarily fictitious, so closely mirrors the Christian/Satanic mythos that anyone, including the author, would have a difficult time denying a claim of Satanic influence.  The argument of, "It's just a game.  You need to stop seeing demons where none exist," in my opinion, doesn't hold weight when the book uses the names of ACTUAL entities from a REAL-WORLD religion (Christianity) and its opposite (Satanism).Dungeons & Dragons has moved so far away from the Occult influences of its early days.  We no longer play with any real world references.  All of the Deities and symbols have been sterilized of these refernces (i.e. We don't have any pentagrams or any other "magical" symbols in our books, and we now use completely fictitious deities).  To revert to using the mythology of Chrisitanity and Satanism was just that: a reversion.  It's a step backward.Furthermore, adding "Vile" elements to a campaign only serves to add an unnecessary amount of evil to a campaign.  Something "Vile" is, by definition, disgustingly evil.  The purpose of D&D is to play heroes.  If a campaign has devolved to the point that the only way the PC's look like heroes is to resort to the BBEG's being cultists of Satan, Lucifer, and Beelzebub, then maybe a reality check is in order.  The campaign has moved beyond the scope of playing heroic fiction.  I'll grant that for some, playing an evil character is what makes D&D enjoyable.  However, I'd not care to play with such individuals.  "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."  In summary, my detestation of the Book of Vile Darkness comes from a profound desire to see my hobby cast in its most positive light, and from a sincere desire to play a heroic game.  My experiences in religion have taught me that if it looks bad it probably is.  The BoVD definitely fits that bill.</blockquote>

Verification