World Famous Comics: Book of Vile Darkness (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
Book of Vile Darkness (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
By: Monte Cook Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Wizards of the Coast Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: November 09, 2002 Release Date: October 01, 2002
This sourcebook for the Dungeons & Dragons game is intended for mature audiences and provides a Dungeon Master with unflinching access to subject matter that will broaden any campaign. Included in a detailed look at the nature of evil and the complex challenge of confronting the many dilemmas found within its deepest shadows. Along with wicked spells, wondrous items, and artifacts, Book of Vile Darkness also provides descriptions and statistics for a host of abominable monsters, archdevils, and demon princes to pit againt the noblest of heroes.
To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Roleplaying the vile This item is a perfect addition to any campaign of experienced players, I do not recommend it to newly players because it's a little tricky.
Mercy Is For The Weak!! I loved this book so much that I let me players create Evil PC's and we ran and evil campaign for over a year! It was a blast and a well placed vacation from being good and altruistic.
The concepts in this book are for the MATURE, and the ideas not for the weak. But hey, evil bad guys exsist in the game world and even if you get this book to enhance your villians, you will not be dissapointed. Filled with great Prestige Classes, new feats and skills, new evil magic items and new religions, it will flavor your campaign ina most excellent way. Also, ANYTHING Monte Cook writes is usually fantastic, and this is no exception.
Excellent supplement for high level villainy As a huge fan of the original AD&D game, I was always inspired by the devils and demons from the Monster Manual. When subsequent rewrites left them out or "reimagined" them I felt that some of the truest forms of evil had been banished from the game, leaving a rather large hole behind. Seeing them put back in, and "properly" labeled as demons and devils is heartening.
For fans of classic "good vs. evil" campaigns, this guidebook is a wealth of ideas. The motivations behind many of the cults that follow the forces of darkness are great seed material. Many of the prestige classes provide powerful enemies and allies for the player characters. But the foremost reason for purchasing this book is the detail on the Demon Princes and Archdevils.
Updated and given near deity status, the familiar and spine chilling names of Demogorgon, Orcus, Asmodeus, Baalzebul--they are all here. There is more than enough information to inspire any campaign.
If you enjoy extremely dark villains and want to challenge your campaigners with the ultimate tests, this book is for you. Also, look for the dedicated sourcebooks on the Abyss and the Nine Hells that have recently come out. And if you want to truly bring about the contest of good and evil and feel that your player characters are overmatched, also look into the Book of Exalted deeds, where allies can be found to oppose the fiends depicted in the Book of Vile Darkness.
Brilliant for gameplay, brilliant philosophically Dungeons and Dragons supplements should be rated not on their philosophical merits, nor even (I believe) on the quality of their writing, but on their flexibility and usefulness to a wide variety of games. Naturally, a book's being well written and philosophically complex and meaningful often enhances the depth and breadth of its potential application.
This said, I find Book of Vile Darkness, along with its sister book, Book of Exalted Deeds, to be two of the best Dungeons and Dragons supplements in print today. This is because of their potential applicability (after all, most stories will have heroes and villains), and the excellence in which this applicability is achieved, in terms of quality and balanced game mechanics, the addition of new and unique aspects to the world, excellent writing, and a deep core philosophy.
A deep core philosophy? I will start here, as most of the other reviews cover the other points well, and would agree that game mechanics are, for the most part, interesting and well constructed, and that the writing would carry one from the beginning to the end of the text. But the largest complaint is the simplistic philosophy. So what am I doing arguing the opposite? Let me defend myself.
The Book of Vile Darkness takes a deontological approach to good and evil. This approach is seen by most freshmen philosophy students (and even some at a later stage, sadly) as simplistic and faulty. The deontological approach, developed conceptually by Immanuel Kant (of "Critique of Pure Reason"), holds that there is objective, absolute, right and wrong, and that right and wrong rest upon duty.
Duty is important for people with both reason and bestial desire, and toward others with reason and bestial desire. Kant says that there are angels (those who have only reason) and these would always be good by nature, and so would never worry about duty. They would never want wrong. Then there are beasts, who have no reason, and their acts are naturally amoral. They have no responsibility. Then there are people, like you and me. And our duty is structured by a certain code, so that we may know always and in every situation, what is good and what is evil. The code is this: "Human persons are to be treated as ends, and not means to an end". For example, murdering a child for the sake of any reason would be wrong (even if it would save a village of people, or the rest of the world), because it would treat the child not as an end in herself, but as a means to an end. As Kant said, "Do your duty, though the heavens may fall." Right is right, no matter the consequences. As an aside, this is why abortion debates are so heated, because both sides take the deontological approach, but with different definitions of personhood.
Let it be known that I disagree with the deontological approach. However, that being said, the deontological approach is perfect for a text like Book of Vile Darkness to take. First, it is the approach that constructs the most stark heroes. Frodo is good because he fights wearing the ring, and his donning the ring, no matter the circumstance (even to save lives) is objectively evil. Second, because "Detect Evil" is best defined within an objective framework. Third, and most importantly, because an objective framework is easiest to change. Want a game with Dostoevskian angst? Set up this absolute measure, but only allow seriously flawed (and so evil) characters desperately trying to attain the impossible. Want a game with an existential Sartrian perspective? Keep the absolutist stance, but allow that stance to be defined by each individual, the conflict between definitions setting up the conflict of the story.
If we were to stay within the system defined by the gook, we can make truly admirable heroes, and very dark but understandable villains. Let's apply some of the templates of the book to this system.
First, we have a list of evil acts. Each of these (like lying) could be understood in certain circumstances, rationalized, and justified in a way. But from the deontological perspective, these are still always evil. Then the templates. We have the boorish thug. This can be as simple a character as that annoying mugger trying to beat your first level fighter up for his three gold. This can be as complex as Vladimir from Brothers Karamazov, or Sikes from Oliver Twist. The tyrant is a power mad villains who seeks dominion over everything. Again, as simple as the mad necromancer, or dark lord Sauron (though nonetheless a powerful and iconic villain), or as complex as the George W. Bush caricature, who wishes to restrict the freedoms of his citizens for the sake of their own security. The scheming liar finds his place in many corners of literature, from the "simple" Don Juan, to the more complex Faust, who tries to scheme the perfect wish from Satan. The sophisticate can be anywhere from the crazy-eyed madman with his monocle running his fingers along his fine curvy mustache while carving his name into the chests of babies, or it can be a truly sick de Sade character, doing all the things as the mustached villain, but with a complex and sick sexuality that he dismisses by invoking moral relativism ("who is to say forced sex with 10 year olds is really so bad?"). The misguided fool is always Dostoevsky's main character, Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment or Fyodor Karamazov himself, the quintessential villain within the budding postmodern world-view. Monsters become complex, not because of who they are, but because of who they are monsters to, and how they are made (the perfect example would be the movie "Monster"). And the psychopath I left for last, because almost every postmodern novel has a villain of something of this streak. Smyrdnakov of the Brother's Karamazov killed cats, and performed complex Christian burial rituals for them. "The Lord of the Rings" has Gollum, one whose entire psyche has been twisted about one temptation.
So the book actually helps building complex and understandable villains (though not as much as good literature), as has been demonstrated. It just blatantly states that one must remember, though the actions or inactions of these villains, whatever their redeemable qualities or understandable circumstances, they are still evil. And they will seem more evil because of the circumstances, because they will seem more real. And a true and tangible villain is important for every DM to build, for without them, there will be no true and tangible heroes.
So here's to suggesting this book, so helpful in making those believable devils.
Love hate relationship I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love it because most of the ideas are fresh and fun to incorporate into a game. What I hate about the book is that many of the spells are quite useless. A bag of torture equipment, drug addiction, not very helpful. Also powers of lets say, the Warrior of Darkness, has the ability to enchant any weapon with a +1. The downside is that it takes ritual and alchemy skill for three rounds to activate and last only an hour. So basically, you'll have to take a beating for three rounds and whatever is left of you can use the puny +1 dagger. Not very effective. However, if you allow the player to use this as a standard action like a spell and limited to once per day or whatever then it becomes useful. So I like this book but the reasoning behind some of the stuff is silly. That being said, I recommend buying this book, make the changes to suit your game, and your players will run with terror at the truly evil creatures and characters you can inflict upon them.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
