Exemplars of Evil (D&D) (Dungeons & Dragons) [Hardcover]

When i first heard about this product i was really looking forward to delving in and finding more out about some of the classic villains in dnd that i have never had a chance to really run a campaign with. However, upon purchasing this book i was surprised to find all original content without (strahd, lich queen. etc...). This was disappointing but since i already own the return to castle ravenloft and am hoping to end up with all of the redone classic return to... books it was not a product killer for me. There are 8 ready to run supervillians in this book that can be dropped into almost any campaign. Each one has a stronghold and various allies and minions. Overall this book should save me some time as i am usually too strapped to design all of my villains like i used to do. At the very least this might actually allow me to play a bit more often than i do and give the next campaign i run a villain worthy of a party of heroes. Anyway, i recommend the product for dms who are strapped with time or for any dm that needs a little creative kick in the behind. Its not a perfect book but it is a good one. However, pick it up used or at a discount price...like most wotc books its normal price tag of 29.95 is not worth it. I luckily was able to pick it up fairly cheap used.

I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but this book wasn't really it.

Chapter One provides 32 pages of rules and guidelines for creating villains, including villanous archetypes, plots, and schemes. It also provides the obligatory score of new feats (such as Evil Brand, which provides bonuses to negotiations with evil creatures, or Mask of Gentility, which makes it harder for the PCs to read the villain's true intent) and some new spells (such as Alibi, which plants a false memory of the villain, or Friendly Fire, which lets the caster redirect an incoming ranged attack). There were some interesting tidbits in this section, but nothing that really triggered an "Aha!" moment. I felt that a lot of this material was just filling out an outline, but that it wasn't given enough space or detail to fully develop.

The remaining eight chapters detail specific villains, complete with encounter locations, henchmen, allies, and so forth. If you've picked up any of the recent modules, you'll be familiar with the general format. There are brief descriptions (on the order of a few paragraphs) as to how to set each the villain into Eberron or Faerun. Some of the villains are interesting enough, though I think it would be a big stretch to see a given DM use even two of them, much less all of them. (And, after having read about Obould Many-Arrows in the the Hunter's Blades books, do I really need another smarter-than-your-average orc orc leader aspiring to create an empire?) I do see some value for new DMs just to see examples of fleshed-out bosses, just to demonstrate the concepts set out in the first chapter, but I doubt that an experienced DM is going to get a lot out of this book.

To me, the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons supplements fall into one of four classifications:

Core Books which are required for play

Books which are not core, but are so well designed as to be essentially core.

Non-core books which are entirely optional. They may be well designed but are fringe enough that you can get by without them no matter how good they are.

Non-essential books. Look lets face it...WOC puts out a lot of books that are simply too specialized and simply not necessary but they put them out because there are a lot of completists who will buy anything they out.

Exemplars of Evil (Examples of Evil?) falls into the third category. It's well designed and written and there are some great examples of evil villains provided but it's hardly required reading. I think most DMs revel in creating powerful and evil villains for their campaign and like to do them their way. But if one is in a pinch or is struggling to develop their villain, then this can be a useful book. The first 32 pages of the 160 page book contain the guidelines and concepts for creating truly rich and memorable villains.

The villains can be one of several archetypes (think framework or foundation). These can be the thoroughly wicked Disturbing Villain; the Faceless Villain who is hidden and yet everywhere at once; The Rival who is tied to a particular player character, ala The Joker tied to Batman (although I supposed the Joker could easily fit into the Disturbed Villain as well). These are just a few of the archetypes with which you can begin to construct your arch-baddie.

Once you've established your archetype foundation you need to figure out your villain's motivations. Does he seek wealth? Power? Immortality? Is he/she motivated by vengeance? Guilt? Madness? In other words, what makes him tick? You'll need to construct his personality and his psyche. Is your villain a megalomaniacal Nihilist? Is he vindictive or cruel? All of these traits or ones you might devise yourself go into the design of your villain. Various new feats and spells, specifically designed for villains are included to add even great depth to their character.

Now, the remainder of the book features eight different, and fully fleshed out examples of villains. These can be used solely as examples to show the DM how to go about creating a villain, or, they can be dragged and dropped right into a campaign because not only do you get a ready-to-play character, you also get a mini-adventure with a fully-mapped lair and encounters. The book even provides instruction on using these villains with either the Forgotten Realms or Eberron settings. My favorite example was Valbryn Morlydd, The Queen of the Fire Giants. This was interesting because you don't see a lot of great female villains in D&D. Her mountain stronghold, Gilgirn, is surrounded by a mote of molten lava. It's a nice, high-level adventure.

These examples are very well done and if one are going to use them directly in their own campaigns then you can get a lot out of the book. If you're comfortable with your own villain design then the book is probably not for you although it still may provide some interesting ideas.