Rating: Summary: Boring and over rated Review: This book didn't have many new additions and its rules for drug addiction and other "evil/Vile" rules left much to be desired. There where a few redeeming factors like a few of the special abilities for weapons but all together this book wasn't worth the money.
Rating: Summary: After Rokugan, sort of ho-hum Review: I've read a few reviews where people where shocked by the content, either a: they're young, or b: don't get a lot of spam from some rather nasty websites like I do. I have to agree with an earlier review, it was rather to focused on Demons and Devils, similar to the sourcebook EVIL. Some interesting spells, and a monster rather similar to one from a familiar series of movies... obvious to a Geiger fan. If this book is too much for you, then stay well away from the source material for the Shadowlands from, L5R, now there's some VILE darkness.
Rating: Summary: Is this book tastless or laughable? Review: This book isn't as evil as Wizards of the Coast said it was going to be. In fact, I wasn't really impressed by it and found 3rd Edition Ravenloft far darker than anything in here. Sure there were somethings in this book that were vile but most of it was laughable. Mr. Cook seemed to be trying to shock people more than anything... Speaking of the demons and the devils, those chapters bore me to no end. They didn't make the fiends evil enough, in my opinion... I wouldn't recommend buying this. It's hardly worth the money, not to mention its rather tasteless in some parts...
Rating: Summary: a little bit heavy on the game mechanics Review: First I want to say, that I am not a D&D gamer, so some of my abjections may not apply to you. I mainly baught this book, because it "offers an insight to evil", which I translated into a psychological discussion and insight into "how an evil mind works". It does offer some motivation hints of the various villians, a GM can throw at his players, but that's it. A good portion is given to new spells and outsiders, whereas I never understood, why D&D distinguishes between deamons and devils. Anyway, the book includes good artwork, some nasty spells (Death of Thorns.. my favourite) and a few prestige classes a vampire after 1000years on the material plane might pick up. Alltogether a mixed bag, IMHO Olaf
Rating: Summary: Mature Audiences? Review: Quite frankly, this book isn't that bad. I bought this book at my local game store, despite the cautions that I should stay away from it from the owner, and read it cover to cover. In my personal assessment, it's not really that bad, if you look at it objectively. There are segments that are highly objectionable - some of the art is distinctly adults only (legally if not otherwise), and it is probably one of the most gruesome supplements for the setting. As for the content, the fact is that it's written for GM's to deal with villains. There is emphasis on demon/devil-worshippers (as perhaps one of fantasy's oldest cliches), which I only consider to be particularly "mature content" due to the fact that one of the prestige classes involved consists of necrophiliacs. It is further suggested that one of the Arch-devils may be sleeping with his daughter, and a handful of other references to incest are included, along with a fairly long (though by no means extensive) list of fetishes is included. But, frankly, that's at most 10% of the material. *Most* of the material in this book can, if not should, be used in any campaign. Monsters (including new Outsiders), cultists, diseases, poisons, and the vast majority of the new spells and items - all of these could fit into any campaign with a truly evil villain. Final opinion? This book *is* for mature audiences, but that doesn't necessarily refer to your age. If you have the mental maturity to view the issues it raises objectively, pick and choose what you want to use from it, and not spend all your time ogling the picture of the Thrall of Graz'zt, you should be able to handle this book. After that, you just have to decide if you really want to use material like this in your campaign - personally, I've introduced it with no problems whatsoever.
Rating: Summary: Valuable new material for D&D Review: This book represents a leap forward for D&D. Every dungeon-master should own a copy of this book.
Rating: Summary: Less Than Expected Review: While the book certainly does offer new and usefull information, as well as a new perspective on D&D gaming, it's not really as vile as you might think - or hope. The book focuses a lot on dealings with outsiders and touches on a few of the evil deeds one can do, but I don't really feel that it adds as much of a vile element to the game as it could. From the hype, I expected more, and if you're expecting real degredation and evil, this is not the source to find it in.
Rating: Summary: Usefull for Guidelines Review: This book provides a great deal of usefull information, mostly it gives rules for things other DnD products don't touch, but also is provides a great deal of campaign resource- ideas about what y ou can do to realy mess with your PCs; Now one of my PCs has become pretty much a deranged bard bound to the service of a devil, and most of my other PCs are being severly tempted to do the same. I wouldn't recomend the book if you aren't a sadist DM, or if your PCs tend to shy away from evil..but if you have PCs who respond well to realy deranged and gross situations, or you have players who are hoping to become deranged and gross, this book is your new DM's guide.
Rating: Summary: Most Complete book on Evil in D&D Review: I remeber seeing this on the Wizards of the Coast site and saying to myself "Wow that's a must have." Many people may find this book very contreversial, and it most certainly is not for younger readers for I read this book cover to cover and I couldn't see letting a 12 year old read this book. For the more mature crowd who plays D&D this gives a very real approach to the world of evil. I think this accessory could add even more depth to the campaigns and Vile Villians your PC's could face off. It allows for a more descript villian, one who you don't just cut down quickly in battle, but a villian who has woven his evil into the depths of society. It also goes into the mind of the villian, whether he's insane, what gods he/she worships, what spells/weapons he/she has at his/her beck and call. This is merely for a me a compilation of that is evil in the world of D&D, which can be found on the various planes. Being an Avid Planescape player, I had the foreknowledge of many of the demons found in the Abyss. However, this book brings it a step further than just what a I've read about the demons themselves and has a great overview on what the worshippers think or feel, if that demon has a worshippers. Overall I thought this book was amazingly done and I think it's a must have for any DM who feels like adding an even more in depth aspect of his game to the evil characters. While the book says over and over again that the author does not condone the actions mentioned within to cover his own butt because this truly is a Vile Book and most would be repulsed at the acts if they occured in real life. However, a lot of the acts are straight from history, because they did actually happen in real life which gives the book(and your game) that extra air of reality and real villians did commit them. Simply put, this is one of the better books released for D&D that I've seen and I have a lot of D&D books. So trust me if you want to create some truly Vile character's for your PC's to play as or fight against, then this is simply a must have no questions asked.
Rating: Summary: If you run a ROLE PLAYING oriented game... Review: If you run a role playing oriented game where the PCs are up against truly evil and twisted individuals, this book is probably for you. Do you want to have the soul of a PC or NPC captured by an evil creature for some nefarious purpose? This book can give you mechanics for it beyond just a Magic Jar spell. How would your characters react to finding the heart of a celestial creature or small child for sale in the local market? This book will tell you how much it's worth to the right people and what kind of use they would put such an item to. Yes, there are some things in this book that would probably not be included in the "typical" D&D adventure. But that's not the kind of game I run anyway so I have found this to be an invaluable source. The book starts off explaining the nature of evil in a D&D world. It goes on to enumerate various evil acts, under what circumstances they are evil, etc. If you have a paladin in your game, this section alone can be great fun. From there it talks about some very interesting new mechanics for evil. It explains how villians can use pain, despair and depravity to increase their own power and lessen that of the PCs. It includes a variety of very interesting magic items that only an incredibly evil character would even think of using. It has a table of poisons that will knock out even those epic level characters. And more information on addictive drugs and the effects of addiction. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that a large portion of the book provides stats on all the Lords of Hell and their main minions - not something I have found much use for yet in my game. It's dark. It's twisted. But it's supposed to be because it's all about evil. And I find that it adds a new dynamic to my game that my players and I really enjoy.
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