Rating: 
Summary: Certainly vile and dark...
Review: When I got the BoVD, I wasn't expecting it to be filled with the typical D&D "orcs and trolls are evil" fare, nor was I expecting, because of the title, to see anything but vile darkness.BoVD is a rather disturbing tome that accounts for all the little things left in D&D's background, but never seem to make it into a sourcebook. The BoVD, while indeed chock full of material for evil in D&D, goes just a teensie bit too far in my opinion. After seeing the picture of Lord Belial and Lady Fierna in their pseudo-porn illustration (and after reading about their incestuous relationship) I quite literally almost threw up. Never had much of an appetite the day after either. Maybe this was the intended effect, but that doesn't make me any less disturbed. The art and visuals is what really pushed it over the edge I think. Showing the things discussed in this volume (things like mariliths torturing people, severed heads bleeding into pits, exploding facial tissue spraying from magical wounds) made it really unappealing to me. After reading it, I didn't want to touch this book, much less read it over and over again. This thing made me feel dirty for reading it, like all the people in my church were right about D&D being something bad to indulge your mind too deeply in. The only thing I want to keep it for is the statistics for the Lords of the Nine and the major demon princes. But it's certainly a loaner, I don't even want to keep it in my house.
Rating: 
Summary: A valualble supplement for DM's.
Review: The criticisms and praise of this book are well placed, in general. I fear that I am too callous, however, because I found little of the book remotely chafing or offensive. My two criticisms for the book are the "Mature Only" warnings, which seem unneccessary, and the inconsistent artwork (previously mentioned). The book serves exactly the purpose I hoped it would: As an interesting resource for DM's to throw new bad guys at the players that they've never heard of and do not know how to counter. It's tiring when players come up against a monster, forget the 4th wall, and reiterate to each other information that the characters would never know about the quickest/easiest way to kill the monsters. Given that my players would never purchase this book, it has already given me material that has surprised them and caused them to really sit and think. If you're a DM looking for new options, this book is a good resource.
Rating:
Summary: Not as Vile and Mature as one might think, but useful
Review: Now first off when the speculation that this book was going to be published people said that it would be a step in the wrong direction for D&D. As if parents didn't complain about role-playing enough now they have a book to as evidence that D&D is evil. Now that I have the book I must tell you that this is not the case, there is no rules about sex, rape, prostitution or anything else of that nature. What is in this book is helpful tables and rules to give evil characters a motivation for doing evil acts. Never before in D&D was there a motive behind sacrifices to evil gods or defininitive rules on Demonic Possession. These things were comon place in such games put out by White Wolf and Palladium Books. The mature lable is somwhat misleading and you won't find many nude pics (my first ed. legends and lore has much more nudity and it was available for anyone). There are also usful info on Executions and torture for information, things that we DMs only had to guess at. Also it is good to have information on Archdevils and Demon Lords as well as some pretty decent Prestige classes. The spells could have been a little more vile than they were. All in all a good book, I had to take away one star because it wasn't quite vile enough for a mature lable.
Rating: 
Summary: What's so vile about it, it's been done before!
Review: Don't let the title of my review fool you, the Book of Vile Darkness *is* vile, sometimes disturbingly so, but it's not anything that's going to break even the most iron will. I won't focus on specifics but simply point out that D&D hasn't had anything of 'shock value' since the old demons and devlis way back in AD&D, first edition. Does anyone here remember the furor of concerned parents who were fearful? This's the same sort of shock material, back and in your face, in a day and age when there's far more to be worried about: the Jackass movie (please don't try this at home kids!), violent video games (heh heh), and of course heaping amounts of T&A. What, then, is the problem of the Book of Vile Darkness? Does it teach kids to commune with the Devil? What, you didn't you pay attention when your son was playing Diablo 2? Shame! Does it present subject matter that's too intense for younger gamers? Stop letting your kids watch R-rated movies then (Quentin Tarentino doesn't need anymore money)! In short, the Book of Vile Darkness isn't so shocking because it's really nothing compared to what we can see in our everydays lives. D&D players tend to be on the mature side from my experience so what's the harm of upping the ante in a game? I thought it was well-done (but not outstanding) and I'm certainly not going to fault WotC for doing 'adult D&D' when it's been done (informally) for years by many (myself included). If it offends, simply don't pick it up.
Rating:
Summary: Vile to be sure, but not dark enough
Review: Just finished reading it and i have to say that it was an interesting read. The only problem I had was that is more disgusting than evil. Lots of grotesque stuff, but not as much real evil. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book and a great addition to any mature D&D gamer's collection. The info on the Demons was great. Orcus is classic! The new prestige classes are also pretty good, though they may seriously disrupt a campaign. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I expected
Review: First thing - this book lives up to being vile and dark. It focuses too much on Demon Princes and Arch-devils. It's cool that they're back from the 1st edition D&D, but they made a separate prestige class for thralls of each one. They could have used the space for other prestige classes. The spells are good (or is that bad?) and nasty. The vile monsters aren't too vile, I'd say they're comparable to some of the freakier Ravenloft ones, with some really cool HR Geiger Alien-ish things. The art has lots of ... The rules for insanity and drug addiction don't look too bad. I was expecting a bit more variety (i.e., slavery, crimes etc), which was oddly missing, and it would have been cool to see fear, horror, and insanity check rules like in Ravenloft. Overall, I'd say that there are better sourcebooks for mature content ...
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best D&D Supplements
Review: This book has several warnings of mature subject matter, and for fairly good reason: there's some pretty disturbing stuff in here, but perhaps not as disturbing as one might expect from the Book of Vile Darkness. It's essentially a big sourcebook for DMs that focuses on the darker aspects of D&D - a side of the game that I have to admit is rather neglected. It starts by discussing the nature of evil, along with cannibalism, murder, rape, necrophilia, bestiality, and drug addiction. Some less well-known evil gods are noted: Karaan; Rallaster; The Patient One; Scahrossar; The Xammux; and Yeathan. Two intriguing evil races are detailed: Vashar (pale-skinned human-like-equivalents of the drow) and Jerren: unpleasant, cannibalistic halflings who kill and devour their enemies and the weakest among themselves. Guidelines are given for creating and developing evil NPCs and the three (four, actually) sample villains presented are quite good (in an evil way). There's an excellent, very detailed section on demonic possession as well as sacrifice and various bizarre curses and diseases. The "equipment" section details torture devices, armor/weapon traps, drugs, poisons, and the necessary components for some spells, such as the hearts, brains, and eyes of various creatures (including the humanoid variety). There are a number of appropriately vile feats. Too few prestige classes are given, but are all quite interesting: I thought the Soul Eater and Cancer Mage were some of the better ones. Following those is an impressive selection of evil spells and some appropriate cleric domains as well as an explaination of corrupt magic. ...Some of the spells are pretty revolting. Some unique and extremely powerful enchanted items of evil (such as Asmodeus's Ruby Rod) are briefly mentioned. A chapter describes certain demon lords of the Abyss (Demogorgon, Graz'zt, Juiblex, Orcus, and Yeenoghu, in this case) and all the Lords of Baator...they and many of their most notable minions are presented here, stats and all. Monte Cook does an excellent job of making these lords of evil interesting all over again. There's a slew of other monsters, too, some familiar, some less-familiar: manes, rutterkins, bar-lgura, babau, shadow demons, chasmes, kocrachons, ghargatulas, Eye of Fear and Flame (very cool undead creature), kythons (not kytons), vaaths, vilewights, and the bone, corpse, and corrupted creature types. The book finishes up with tips and suggestions for DMs wanting to run evil campaigns. ...One thing I must mention is the artwork in this book is simply incredible...the artists really outdid themselves on this one. Arnie Swekel's work for this particular D&D book is his very best - and most disturbing. This is a great supplement, very well-written and nicely illustrated...it addresses volatile topics in D&D in a mature, sober fashion... Still, I almost choked when I saw the price, but went ahead and purchased the book anyway - and I'm not sorry I did. I do recommend this book for experienced DMs who want to develop the darker side of their campaigns, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: The definition of NOT FOR PLAYERS!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The most controversial D&D book yet
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that I am not going to address the moral and ethical implications of this book. If you want in on that debate, visit any of the major D&D message boards. Instead, I'm going to review the BoVD on its merits, or lack thereof, as I would with any other accessory. So, without further adieu... 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!
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but then again...
Review: BoVD is one book that I have been waiting for for a while. In general, the book is well written, and the layout is great. However...why did they slap a "Mature Rating" label on the book, when some of the material can pass off as PG-13?? While some folks might be squeamish if I go into "specifics," some parts of the book has me a tad urked. For example, some of the rules on Torture are vague. I just have to wonder, what exactly happens to someone who get's blinded by having their eyes gouged out? And the issues about slavery would make any Sadomachosist giggle like a schoolgirl. Also, I've noticed the book only has guidelines on evil, but doesn't go into detail about how to run Evil Campaigns. Are we still in that PC stigma with the Bible Thumpers, hmmm?? And some monsters in the book...could've been shafted to Monster Manual II. Also, if this is a "Mature Readers Only" book, then what about subjects like Monster Crossbreeding (for lack of a better word)? What would happen if a Gnoll Tribe captured a harem of Elven Maidens and..."did the deed?" Do we get Catgirls, Werewolves...what?? And correct me if i'm wrong, but some parts of the book seem to have been [borrowed]the pages of "The Complete Guide to Unlawful Carnal Knowledge," the infamous guide of lore that "introduced" a few things that spiced up many games. I gave it 4 stars because I commend the fact that Wizards had the guts to produce such a book. Why it's not 5...perhaps they could've hired folks who knew the material, not just hackmead it??
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