Review of Dungeons and Dragons Book of Vile Darkness

Upon casually flipping through the glossy pages of this 193-page manual of malevolence and mayhem, I was immediately struck by the graphic depictions of violence and manifested hatred splattered liberally throughout the eight chapters. Full color illustrations were usually reserved for the most gruesome scenes, though the ink drawing on page 51 of an ogre-like urchin devouring a maggot-infested corpse was sufficient to turn my stomach. The only appealing image, at least from a male perspective, was the scantily-clad Thrall of Graz'zt on page 69. As if most of the images were not enough to immediately repulse me, the descriptions of the odious entities, black magic and perfidious plots were described with an almost encouraging tone. To be fair, however, I would read this terrible tome, and bestow upon it the disapprobation that it clearly merited. But I would gradually be swayed, not so much by the dark side as by an appeal to my imagination and ingenuity. To paraphrase author Monte Cook in the introduction, the viler the foe, the sweeter the victory over him. The Dungeons and Dragons® Book of Vile Darkness™ offers boundless opportunities for challenging the most jaded party of player characters.

This book is the billed as the antithesis to The Book of Exalted Deeds™, but in design and layout is very similar. While the latter is intended for taking the concepts of goodness and virtue one step further, The Book of Vile Darkness™ aims for the same with evil and corruption. Experienced D&D players know well the drawbacks of playing evil characters -foremost among them the constant threat of betrayal from one's companions- but there are limitations placed on good characters that also severely hamper the game. The bad guys are not only free to be greedy, dishonest, lecherous and violent, they are encouraged and often rewarded for being so! But while the Book of Vile Darkness™ refrains from being preachy as to being good versus being evil, it does state in several places ". . .if you allow evil characters in your campaign." In the realm of D&D, evil is not "wrong" any more than good is "right." They are just two different philosophies, two different ways of looking at the world.

Following a brief introduction are eight chapters: The Nature of Evil, Variant Rules, Evil Equipment, Feats, Prestige Classes, Magic, Lords of Evil and Evil Monsters. While "Evil Monsters" might seem redundant, one must keep in mind the aforementioned point that in D&D, everything is relative; the noble unicorn and the hideous night hag are both monsters.

Chapter 4: Feats, is probably the weakest, and the feats described within are much less imaginative than might be expected. For the layperson, feats in D&D can be described as extraordinary, occasionally supernatural skills that player characters possess. An example from The Player's Handbook™ is Power Attack, whereby the character subtracts a number from his roll to score a successful hit in combat in exchange for scoring more damage from that hit. There is much repetition in the feats listed in The Book of Vile Darkness™, like in the case of the feats Deformity (Clawed Hands), Deformity (Eyes), Deformity (Face), Deformity (Gaunt) and Deformity (Vile). These are all basically the same feat with different areas of focus, and even so, the prerequisite self-mutilation to gain them hardly confers equivalent benefits. Of the 28 new feats, none are particularly impressive.

The 18 new prestige classes described in Chapter 5 represent a distillation of the most heinous and depraved villainy that player characters might face. The names Cancer Mage, Demonologist, Soul Eater, Disciple of Mephistopheles and Vermin Lord are enough to strike terror in the hearts of the most stalwart heroes. Players in an evil campaign are limited by the fact that many of these prestige classes require the aspirant to already be a demon, devil or monster, which, with a few exceptions, most player characters are not. Thus, about half of the prestige classes described in The Book of Vile Darkness™ arguably belong in Chapter 8: Evil Monsters, instead. The criteria for advancing to levels of extreme evil should not be so restrictive, but the Dungeon Master might see fit to alter the rules a little.

The magic, both in the form of spells and items, is an excellent addition to any D&D campaign. Prior to The Book of Vile Darkness™, most magic items were slanted toward good characters. Now Blackguards (the opposite of Paladins) have their Blackguard's Blade, witches have their Staffs of Corruption, Assassins have their Psychic Poison Oil. Cook makes the argument in Chapter 6: Magic that evil spells deliberately cause undue suffering, or tap into negative energy to draw their power. Therefore immolating a group of goblins with a Fireball is not inherently evil, but casting Death by Thorns, which causes an opponent to be ripped to shreds by an internal growth of giant briars, is. Much of this is subjective, though, and I do not totally agree with Cook's assessment.

The 15 new monsters in Chapter 8: Evil Monsters are interesting additions to the game, but the Lords of Evil in the previous chapter deserve nothing more than a casual mention, not the full statistics which Cook provides. Just about any party that faces the Prince of Demons, Demogorgon, would be instantly slaughtered, and any party powerful enough to fight him is probably too powerful to continue playing. Better to retire them, and start new, first-level characters.

Spending $32.95 for a supplementary D&D book mandates that the book be well-written, and contain tips, hints and information that could potentially improve both players' and DM's gaming experience. The Book of Vile Darkness™ qualifies.