Exalted Deeds, Extended Reads

Under the pretext of expanding the game by adding optional character classes, spells, magic items and brave new worlds, the folks at Wizards of the Coast® have devised a brilliant marketing campaign. By continually publishing supplements to existing Dungeons and Dragons® campaign rules, the writers, editors and playtesters generate even more interest in the 30-year old fantasy role-playing game by convincing novice and veteran players alike that the three basic volumes -Player's Handbook™, Dungeon Master's® Guide and Monster Manual®- are not sufficient. These three books each have a book II of the same name. In addition, if the party plans on urban adventures, there is a book for that. A campaign set in a frozen, hostile wasteland? Covered. A world heavy on the magic? There's a book for that, too, plus too many others to list here.

Written by James Wyatt, Christopher Perkins and Darrin Drader, The Book of Exalted Deeds™ is for those players who want to delve a little too deeply into the domain of goodness and virtue. Those who are not satisfied just to have their paladin or cleric vanquish the occasional demon or vampire, and toss a few gold coins to charity now and then, but those D&D players who want to eat, breathe and sleep goodness, those who want their characters to become paragons of virtue in whatever imaginary world they frolic. This volume's counterpart is The Book of Vile Darkness™.

The warning label advising Content is intended for mature audiences only is probably the book's best selling point. Curious perusers will be enticed by the possibility of depictions of nude nymphs bathing in pristine streams or graphic combat pictures showing severed heads and flying limbs. The most suggestive picture is that of two amorous demons being surprised by a sword-wielding paladin. As for violent images, this book goes a little further than most, but not excessively so. As the introduction explains, the warning label is because some readers might consider a few of the topics blasphemous, such as the description on page 47 of the Stigmata feat.

The first chapter, The Nature of Good, is somewhat philosophical, and among its several points is the fact that simply not doing evil does not make one good, but at best, neutral. Interestingly, this particular point transcends D&D. Chapter One goes on to give several different examples of particularly good characters, the benevolent healer, the peasant hero, and even the redeemed villain, for example.

In D&D, good characters are not supposed to use poison. Lopping off an opponent's head with a battleaxe, immolating him with a fireball or crushing his head with a mace is all perfectly fair, but poison is downright evil. So The Book of Exalted Deeds offers a solution to this dilemma: ravages and afflictions. While evil characters will use purple worm poison or lich (an undead magic user or cleric) dust, good characters will employ unicorn's blood or golden ice. The effects are similar to those obtained with poison; just the name is different. Most D&D players will see through this obvious hypocrisy, but it provides a convenient loophole for the hero who wants an extra advantage.

Chapter Four deals with feats, those exceptional abilities that D&D characters possess. Examples from the Player's Handbook™ Core Rulebook I include the abilities to brew potions, draw a weapon with amazing alacrity, and increase the chances that an attack will cause twice the normal damage to an opponent. 60 feats are described in the Player's Handbook™ Core Rulebook I; another 53 are listed in The Book of Exalted Deeds™. Many of these latter feats have two or three lesser feats as prerequisites.

Introduced in previous D&D supplements, prestige classes are obtained by players who have experience in more mundane vocations. For example, the anointed knight described on pages 49 through 51 was first a paladin or a fighter who also dabbled in being a wizard or cleric. The champion of Gwynharwyf (the goddess of barbarians) described on pages 56 through 58 is basically an exalted barbarian imbued with spells. 22 prestige classes are included in The Book of Exalted Deeds™, each with its own unique features and abilities, although there is some overlap between the classes.

Most of the supplementary D&D books contains new spells, and The Book of Exalted Deeds™ is no exception. Listed in Chapter Six are over 75 new spells, about half of them for clerics. Most of these spells, however, are not built upon enchantments described in previous editions, but are impressive for their originality. Some examples are Blood of the Martyr, by which a cleric can heal an individual by taking on his wounds; Vengeance Halo, which causes significant physical harm to anyone who kills the spellcaster and Telepathy Tap, which allows the spellcaster to eavesdrop on telepathic conversations.

Chapter Eight, the final chapter, list many new monsters, but since they are all virtuous creatures, that title is a misnomer. Some of the creatures described are built upon templates from Monster Manual® and other books, and about half of them function as protectors or holy guardians. One of the few monsters described in Chapter Eight which might really worry players is the aleax (page 158), a near-duplicate of a player character sent by his god to punish him for some transgression. The aleax possesses all of the player character's abilities, and a few more, to boot.

As in other D&D books, the writers try ridiculously hard to be politically correct, going out of their way to use the pronoun she when describing traditionally male classes. Thus, the examples given for the anointed knight and the champion of Gwynharwyf are female. Also, the paladin depicted on page 7 pointing a blade at the two demon lovers is obviously female (and probably a half-orc, as well).

Several other supplementary editions to D&D have come out since The Book of Exalted Deeds™ was published in 2003, but that does not make this book outdated. At $32.95 per copy, The Book of Exalted Deeds™ is a bit pricey, and like most of the other supplements, is for hardcore fans. The artwork is good, the additional magic spells and prestige classes may be of interest to players wishing to expand their gaming horizons, but there is sufficient material within the basic set of books for an enjoyable gaming experience.