Evil

Rating:
Summary: A departure from the usual short shrift given to Evil
Review: THE Book for any player or GM who wants to present a character as truly evil, or to understand Evil itself, the book "Evil" deals with evil characters, evil NPCs, evil monsters, evil devils and demons, and -- above all -- with the evil which lurks within us all.

Moral dilemmas are brought up which challenge the reader's pre-expectations, and place "evil" characters" and "creatures" in a more humane light: if a goblin troop fights to the death to protect their young from PCs anxious to get at the treasure which the goblins stole, are their actions then evil or good, in that they are fighting to protect home and family against rampaging adventurers who are one step above bandits, and who will surely slaughter the young if they aren't killed first? Is a dragon "evil" for defending a lair it has occupied for a thousand years before humanoid encroachment? -- Moral quandries to help a player (or DM) determine a character or creature's REAL alignment in light of their deeds, not their words.

For those who are determined to pursue the course of evil for whatever reason (e.g., improper potty training followed by a decade of bullying from schoolmates who simply MUST have vengeance exacted against them!), "Evil" provides rules for making the ultimate commitment -- from swearing oneself to deities of Evil to forging pacts with demonic and diabolical powers willing to grant wealth, extended life, and power in exchange for ... the soul of the PC. Gothic, philosophical, and pragmatic in its game applications, "Evil" is one of the best books from AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group), and a must read for anyone who wants to play an evil character, or for anyone who wants to truly understand the psychology of the evil character.

I rate this book highly and think that every gaming group should have access to at least one copy. Clerics and Paladins of a thoughtful bent may also be tempted to study this book, ... unless they fear its siren song of ... EVIL....

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book.
Review: This book is EXCELLENT. There's no other word for it. Its approach to explaining the different alignments should be read by every player and DM out there. It's quite different from the one used by WotC, and believe me, it's much more profound and logical. Evil is as multifaceted and heterogeneal as good, and no two evil characters are alike (compare Hitler, Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, and Jack the Ripper), and this book completely explores each kind of evil, its origins (how characters become evil), its motivations and its goals.

It explores worshipping evil deities, their domains and new spells; making infernal pacts, summoning and bargaining with demons and getting power in exchange for your soul; It describes several different evil archetypes (and this should be read by every DM out there, because not all evil characters charge against the good aligned party - some of them do, some of them like to back stab, some of them like to use their intelligence and plot against their enemies, some are ugly but some are beautiful...). It proposes some new uses for old skills (i really liked this part) and proposes new feats for evil-aligned characters.

Finally, it contains some evil spells and prestige classes, and gives some good guidelines as to how to run an evil-aligned campaign.

The art and the illustrations may not be this books strong points (actually they're not very good), but its contents are very solid, well written, and extremely useful for every DM and player out there. This book should be in every gamers book-shelf, no kidding.

The only reason i'm changing this book's rating from 5 to 4 stars is the many errors included in the texts. Really, this book deserved better test reading. There are so many mistakes in it, it's a real shame... it could have been perfect...