ART & LAYOUT: WotC continues with their book covers that resemble a "real" fantasy text. The Book of Vile Darkness (BoVD) certainly gets across the feel that it's a tome of evil. As a note, the cover you see on Amazon right now is not the published cover for the book. The real cover looks much cooler. Within, the pages look marked by fire and brimstone around the edges. The actual artwork itself varies in quality as with most of WotC's products. Much of it is very skillful and well done (Goblin Pits). But, just drawing tons of blood & gore doesn't make a drawing cool (Kythons). There are also more topless females in this book than in any other WotC product to date. Interpret that how you will. (This accessory would have gotten 5 stars if the art was consistantly strong throughout.)

CONTENT: Again, time for a preface. I'm a big Monte Cook fan. I think he makes some of the most brilliant D&D 3E products available. In some ways, this book is his greatest achievement yet. Why? He writes about evil, possession, curses, disease, torture, vile magic, and more, in an objective fashion, without glorifying it, rather putting into it d20 terms that you can use to enhance your game. That takes a phenomenal amount of tact - and I think he succeeds. Now onto what you'll find within:

* The Nature of Evil: My favorite section. This is the theory behind evil that allow for DMs to generate villains with realistic (albeit deranged) goals and motivations. What the heck drives these maniacs to such extremes? Here we examine psychology, fetishes, and what exactly is considered an "evil act". Keep in mind, we're talking evil in the D&D sense - a tangible thing you can sense with spells. We also get new vile races, example villains, and malign sites.

* Variant rules for possession, sacrifice, curses, diseases, and all aspects of evil.

* Evil equipment including torture devices (yikes), drugs, poisons, you get the idea. All the talk of "experimentation" gives me shivers, as it will for your PCs.

* Evil-only feats.

* Prestige classes: Another one of my favorite sections. You want a truly memorable villain? Start here. I sent a Vermin Lord after my PCs last night and they were looking at each other like "oh my god, what IS this thing." DMs like those moments.

* Magic: For those that have checked out Mr. Cook's Books of Eldritch Might, you know he can invent some of those most innovative spells & magic items. The BoVD is no exception. Wild, scary stuff. Your PCs will be left wide-eyed. BTW, there are many variant rules for [evil] spells and such, so these aren't only new, but altogether different in many ways from the Player's Handbook spells.

* Lords of Evil: Stats for the Demon Princess and Arch Devils. There are also stats for some lesser baddies. The princes are roughly demigod level in power, so for practical purposes, only a very high-level group would tackle them. However, they could plague a lower level group from behind the scenes just fine.

SUMMARY: If your game is rated PG or G, be very cautious about introducing aspects of the BoVD - You probably don't even want to buy this book. For the rest of you: Don't feel the need to throw the whole book into the mix at once. Used sparingly, the BoVD will definitely help DMs create memorable villains that the heroes will want to see go down and go down hard! Remember, even being vile should be fun when it comes to playing D&D!


Fun spells, embarassingly childish worldview   November 18, 2002
 43 out of 69 found this review helpful

I can't begin to tell you how delighted I was to hear that a product with the title Book Of Vile Darkness had been published, as the original magic item is one of my All Time Favorites. However, this book is ultimately disappointing, and is probably the last WOTC d20 product I will ever buy.

Although it has some great spells, and the art is kind of neat, all the more philosophical materials on the nature of evil are just too silly for words. Cannibalism, I can almost forgive them for rating as evil, but necrophilia? That's stretching it, especially with consenting undead. Then they call S&M evil?!?! I'm sorry, but that's just embarassing. I'm sure it's titiliating for little pre-teens who aren't supposed to be old enough to read it, but if you are over 18, you'll probably find it a bit quaint, or even somewhat offensive - but not in a good "evil" way, just in a sad square judgemental way.

WOTC D&D also has this special talent for missing the point, missing what's cool and fun about their own game worlds. I use quite a lot of outsiders in my games, and even a cursory examination of the material that already exists will give you better ideas about the abyssal power structure than you'll find in this book.

For instance, take Demogorgon; he's great, he's exploding with life energy, he's all about steamy poisonous hungry ravening chaotic mutuating kinds of creatures - he's the *opposite* of Orcus, he really shouldn't have necromantic powers. Why not give him special access to the corrupt domain? They set up a world with polar opposites, positive and negative material energy, neither of which is supposed to be inheirently evil, but each of which needs to balance the other. Then they throw that out the window and just give all the evil guys necromancy.

Not to mention the fact that Orcus, as a Prince of Undead really should look more like a bloated corpse than like a fat muscle-bound wrestler. He is afterall supposed to be rotting, not pumped and oiled up to enter the ring.

I was hoping to see something that fleshed out, and deepened the existing lore, not a half-baked re-write. The DM advice for putting evil elements into a game is reasonably sensible, however nothing new to experienced players - all the same points have been covered in numerous other sources, and none of it is particularly insightful anyway. For new DMs it might be somewhat useful, but I hate to think that new DMs would get any other ideas about in-game morality from this source. I'd recomend discussing the matter (of in game evil) with another intelligent gamer if you need help rather than trying to figure it out with the dubious assistance of this book.

I'm actually totally removing the descriptors Good & Evil from my gameworld when I start my next campaign, because the way ideology is handled just doesn't work for me or my group. We're substituting "sense outsider" for paladins, and a code of conduct rather than alignment restrictions.

If you really need help with new spells, the BoVD is probably worth the cover price, but writing spells is so easy in the d20 system I'd recommend trying to write some of your own first. If you do, go back and read the 1st & 2nd edition material, the MM, MM2, and the wonderful Fiend Folio and Dieties and Demigods books. They have way more cool evil goodies than this product.

Good Gaming to you! (Or Evil Gaming, I don't care.)


The definition of NOT FOR PLAYERS!   October 21, 2002
 24 out of 27 found this review helpful

I'm serious. The only person who can get anything remotely useful out of this is a DM. Players, unless they're in a "Hey, we're bad guys" campaign, have nothing remotely resembling a reason to have it.

Then again, I picked it up. And a mild case of nausea, to boot.

This is the sourcebook on evil and villainy for D&D. It includes descriptions of evil acts, what constitutes evil, ideas on making villains, feats and prestige classes and equipment for villains, lots of new spells, and a lot of new-to-3e monsters as well, including the demon princes.

The good...er, outstanding parts: It has a high production value, and it's clear that they've put a lot of thought into this. (The author's foreword: "I'm not a bad guy. Really.") It's also easy to make bad guys your PCs will want to stomp. Some of the equipment, properly rinsed in holy water after filing the serial numbers off, would be great for regular PCs.

The bad...er, negative: Way too many of the prestige classes are devotees of the demon princes and archdevils; that's boring. The corrupt spells (really Evil spells that any caster can use) are kind of stupid; they inflict heinous attribute damage on the caster and don't do enough damage. One of the villains, the Dread Emperor, has a suggested attack pattern that's impossible (just try to cast four spells in one round without being in epic levels...you have a standard action to cast Haste, cast a regular spell with the partial action from haste, and then one quickened spell/round), this from the system guru. That unnerves me a little bit. Finally, the demon princes and archdevils are, if anything, too weak.

So, in the final analysis, it's okay, and definitely worth a look, but don't even bother if you're a player. It's not at all useful for those, and not even that interesting. And, if you're the type that's easily offended by descriptions or depictions of gore, then, by all means, stay as far away from this as you can.


Several Things To Keep In Mind   December 31, 2002
 22 out of 27 found this review helpful

1) If you are a D&D DM, and need any help at all with creating evil and villainous characters and events in your planning session, then this is the book for you. It has a lot of things that you might find very interesting and helpful.

2) It focuses mainly on the lower planes, sometimes to the point of excess. Virtually every prestige class and spell listed draws its power from demonic forces. There is little actual material regarding villainy in the classic Sheriff of Nottingham style.

3) While it spares you from the excruciating descriptions, some of the new rules introduced are. . . Hardcore, to say the least. A particular feat that stands out is "Lichloved," wherein the character obtains "dread powers" by "repeatedly committing perverted sex acts with the undead." Fun for the whole family, eh?

4) The art featured within is significantly more graphic than in any other TSR book that I've seen to date, and I've been playing since 2nd edition's hay-day (although 2nd edition is notorious for its tip-toeing around this kind of subject matter). Basically, you're going to see some nudes of various deformed creatures and demons, as well as a few vivid depictions of obscene violence, although not all of the art is so direct in its approach.

5) Rest assured that PCs making use of this source material are going to be un-kosher, to say the least. There are rules regarding torturing people, power through masochism/sadism, offering sacrifices to dark gods, becoming demon thralls, and destroying the souls of others. Such PCs are highly unlikely to fit in with conventional campaigns.

6) All that having been said, the book generally delivers in full on what it promises: Vile darkness and unspeakable evil. I can barely put it down. . . But then again, I'm weird.


Tame and Listless   November 27, 2002
 17 out of 25 found this review helpful

BoVD is neither particularly offensive nor particularly inspiring. The first, depending on your viewpoint, may be a good thing -- this book is really only unsuitable for children or other very impressionable persons. The latter is extremely disappointing. Cook does not offer any fresh perspectives on evil, taking the Disney-riffic "Evil==Ugly" route. For heaven's sake, there are feats for "obese" and "gaunt." Gee, Monte, YOU'RE a little thick in the waist... working on qualifying for the Stale Design prestige class?
With one exception, the prestige classes are underpowered and therefore unsuitable for PCs. They may be useful for NPCs. There are really only two solid reasons to buy this book: A) You are a DM and you are NOT comfortable with crafting rules on the fly: you want your tables, charts, and rules for things like torture, sacrifice, and possession. B) You are a DM and you are running a campaign that deals intimately with Demons or Devils, specifically the Demon Princes or Archdevils. They are all have a subsection. Be warned that you may find their stats underpowered for your campaign (CR's generally range from 20-30).