Editing Book of Vile Darkness (section)

==3e Splatbook==
[[File:BoVD cover.jpg|thumb]]
Released for 3.0, the Book of Vile Darkness was a sourcebook on evil, containing a mixture of [[Monte Cook|the authors']] personal musings on the nature of evil and how to use it in your games of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], either as adversaries for your party or by running an evil PC campaign yourself, and mechanical support for that goal in the form of new rules, equipment, systems, monsters, gods, etc.

The book is widely regarded as something of an eye-roller, as it handles its themes clumsily at best. It got [[skub]]bed hard by no less than [[Tracy Hickman]] come out of semi-retirement to blast it for proving [[Jack Chick]] [[Satanic_Panic|right apparently]]. And the content is balanced about as well as Kate Upton dancing the ballet. It was, however, the original splatbook for 3e to feature many classic "villainous" monsters, such as [[Demon Prince]]s and [[Archdevil]]s.

Some alternate options for bestow curse are presented. While most are pretty nasty social penalties and not really of note since the ''default'' options include "do nothing half the time", it also has "Target is rendered sterile." Since curses are relatively easy to remove (just cast the opposite spell), this tends to be an ''advantage'' to most [[Adventurers]]. The disease Festering Anger is also introduced which damages Constitution in exchange for an increase in Strength with no ceiling. It's as easy to break as ''healing the constitution damage'' (a mere second level spell, [[Archivist|or first if you know what you're doing]]). This can reach insane levels with Cancer Mage, a [[Prestige Class]] that doesn't take penalties from disease and was printed in '''the same exact book'''.

The first chapter is titled, simply '''The Nature of Evil''', and it talks a lot about what evil "is" in the context of D&D. It lists specific evil acts, details "evil" fetishes or addictions (with mechanical traits to add), lists several unique "vile gods" ([[Karaan]], [[Rallaster]], [[The Patient One]], [[Scahrossar]], [[The Xammux]], [[Yeathan]]), two new "vile" races ([[Vashar]], [[Jerren]]), and an overview on creating villains and malign sites, with examples of both.

The second chapter is dedicated to '''Variant Rules'''; possession, sacrifices, curses, diseases, "The Calling" (a justification for an evil creature to  be mysteriously augmented by the powers of darkness), "Dark Chant" (an unholy litany that the undead can use to hinder turning spells), "Dark Speech" (a system for a language of pure evil that can have mystical effects when uttered), using souls and liquid pain as power, creating hiveminds, the new mechanic of Vile Damage, a list of "evil weather" (violet rain, green fog, plague of nettles, rain of blood, rain of frogs/fish), and possible lingering effects of evil.

The third chapter is all about '''Evil Equipment'''; torture devices, execution equipment, trapped armor & equipment, alchemical & quasi-magical items, drugs, poisons, and evil material components for spellcasting. It's kind of weird to have execution equipment here; after all, lawful good societies execute people too, and Fiendish Codex 2 even listed performing an execution as a ''lawful'' act, not an evil one.

Chapter four is all about the '''Feats''', and needs little further explanation.

Chapter five is for '''[[Prestige Class]]es''', introducing myriad ways for beings to tap into greater power from unholy sources:
* [[Cancer Mage]]: A mystic who seeks to explore the magical powers in disease, spreading plague and pestilence as weapons.
* [[Demonologist]]: A [[Conjurer]] who has focused on the futile art of mastering and subjugating [[demon]]s.
* [[Diabolist]]: A malevolent spellcaster who barters their soul to the Nine Hells of [[Baator]], hoping to master infernal magics and ultimately become a powerful [[devil]] themselves.
* [[Fiendish Disciple]]: A servitor of a specific [[archdevil]], who gains unique powers depending on which of the Nine that they serve. In the book, this is treated as a set of separate (but thematically identical) prestige classes, representing disciples of [[Asmodeus]], [[Baalzebul]], [[Dispater]], [[Mammon]], and [[Mephistopheles]].
* [[Lifedrinker]]: A [[vampire]] who has learned to draw ever-greater magical power from the blood they ingest, imbuing themselves with pronounced spellcasting abilities.
* [[Mortal Hunter]]: A dark parody of the [[Ranger]], Mortal Hunters are fiends who have trained themselves specially to hunt down and assassinate mortals, allowing them to remove those who stand in the ways of their masters' plans.
* [[Soul Eater]]: A monster that has transformed itself into an abomination that devours the souls of living beings in order to fuel its own might.
* [[Demonic Thrall]]: The [[Abyss]]al counterpart to the Fiendish Disciple, a Demonic Thrall is a devout worshipper of a specific [[Demon Prince]] who gains powerful abilities in emulation of their master. Demon Princes granted thralls in this book consist of [[Demogorgon]], [[Graz'zt]], [[Juiblex]] and [[Orcus]].
* [[Ur-Priest]]: An arch-blasphemer who hates the gods so much that they learn methods of secretly leeching away divine power from them to serve their own needs.
* [[Vermin Lord]]: A mage who seeks to master the power that comes from controlling and communing with invertebrates; insects, arachnids, and all other squirming lowly beasts.
* [[Warrior of Darkness]]: A warrior who seeks to enhance their physical might by augmenting themselves with vile alchemical reagents and black magic rituals.

Chapter 6 is all about the '''Magic'''; new spells, new magic items, and new malevolent artifacts.

Chapter 7 is devoted to '''Lords of Evil''', covering several [[Archdevil]]s and [[Demon Prince]]s. It also briefly covers how to handle clerics sworn to a specific archfiend. The archfiends covered in this chapter are:
* [[Demogorgon]]
* [[Graz'zt]]
* [[Juiblex]]
* [[Orcus]]
* [[Yeenoghu]]
* [[Bel]]
* [[Dispater]]
* [[Mammon]]
* [[Belial]] and [[Fierna]]
* [[Levistus]]
* The Hag Countess
* [[Baalzebul]]
* [[Mephistopheles]]
* [[Asmodeus]]

Naturally, chapter 8 follows this up with an assortment of new wicked monsters:
* [[Demon]] - these are familiar 1e staples Mane, Rutterkin, Bar-lgura, Babau, Shadow Demon, Chasme
* [[Devil]] - here original: Kocrachon, Ghargatula
* [[Eye of Fear and Flame]] from the infamous ''[[Fiend Folio]]''. BECAUSE WHY NOT
* [[Kython]] (Broodling, Juvenile, Adult, Impaler, Slaymaster, Slaugtherking) Not to be confused with [[Kyton]]s.  Kythons are a race of monsters who were created by demons trapped on the material plane in an attempt to make more of themselves.  They somewhat resemble xenomorphs.
* [[Vaath]]: An extremely sadistic fiendish reptile/insect creature from 2e [[Planescape]]'s ''Conflict'' box, [[Carceri]] specifically.  It paralyzes prey and then uses the extendable second mouth on its head to dig into the prey's flesh and consume their organs, choosing to consume organs that won't kill the prey immediately, so that they will suffer as long as possible. Added here: [[Grimdark|while it is eating, it telepathically makes everybody nearby it taste whatever it tastes, including the victim]].
* [[Vilewight]]: A more evil version of a [[wight]] with long claws and exposed intestines that have transformed into tendrils with mouths on them.  They can fire beams of negative energy, infect people with a disease that makes you unable to see living things, drain energy, and transform people they kill into regular wights.
* Creature Templates:
** Bone: A template for making a skeleton that retains the intelligence and abilities it had in life.
** Corpse: A template for making a zombie that retains the intelligence and abilities it had in life.
** Corrupted: A creature that has been mutated into a more monstrous version of itself due to exposure to sheer evil.

Finally, it ends with an appendix discussing how to handle evil PCs, specifically addressing a singular evil PC, an evil party, and how to run an evil campaign.