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Book of Exalted Deeds
Strike Down Evil with the Sword of Enlightenment
"Only those who are pure in word, thought, and deed may look upon the knowledge gathered within this blessed tome. For the blinding truths inscribed within offer nothing but redemption or destruction for the wicked. May these consecrated pages forever illuminate the paths of the righteous."
-- Raziel the Crusader, ruler of the Platinum Heaven
As the Book of Vile Darkness was a resource book on the most evil elements of campaign play, the "Book of Exalted Deeds" focuses instead on the availability of good resources and features in the D&D spectrum.
Included are new exalted feats, prestige classes, races, spells, magic items, and descriptions and statistics for a host of creatures and celestial paragons to ally with virtuous characters. The Book of Exalted Deeds also provides descriptions and statistics for a host of creatures and celestial paragons to ally with virtuous characters.
Book of Exalted Deeds is the second title in the line of Dungeons & Dragons products specifically aimed at a mature audience.
To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player's Handbook.
"Only those who are pure in word, thought, and deed may look upon the knowledge gathered within this blessed tome. For the blinding truths inscribed within offer nothing but redemption or destruction for the wicked. May these consecrated pages forever illuminate the paths of the righteous."
-- Raziel the Crusader, ruler of the Platinum Heaven
As the Book of Vile Darkness was a resource book on the most evil elements of campaign play, the "Book of Exalted Deeds" focuses instead on the availability of good resources and features in the D&D spectrum.
Included are new exalted feats, prestige classes, races, spells, magic items, and descriptions and statistics for a host of creatures and celestial paragons to ally with virtuous characters. The Book of Exalted Deeds also provides descriptions and statistics for a host of creatures and celestial paragons to ally with virtuous characters.
Book of Exalted Deeds is the second title in the line of Dungeons & Dragons products specifically aimed at a mature audience.
To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player's Handbook.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2003
5 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Wizards of the Coast
432 books436 followersWizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC /ˈwɒtˌsiː/ or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. Originally a basement-run role-playing game publisher, the company popularized the collectible card game genre with Magic: The Gathering in the mid-1990s, acquired the popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game by purchasing the failing company TSR, and experienced tremendous success by publishing the licensed Pokémon Trading Card Game. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington in the United States.[1]
Wizards of the Coast publishes role-playing games, board games, and collectible card games. They have received numerous awards, including several Origins Awards. The company has been a subsidiary of Hasbro since 1999. All Wizards of the Coast stores were closed in 2004.
Wizards of the Coast publishes role-playing games, board games, and collectible card games. They have received numerous awards, including several Origins Awards. The company has been a subsidiary of Hasbro since 1999. All Wizards of the Coast stores were closed in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2021
Dungeons & Dragons has always had an issue with black and white moralities, the whole idea of Good and Evil, and how they should be presented. The older editions were much more morally grey, where the player characters were expected to explore and seek treasure and carve their own place in the world - the whole bit about good and evil didn't even enter the picture until years later!
The new editions, on the other hand, want you to be a hero. And not only that, but they're a lot more focused on combat and violence: the concerns of diplomacy, stealth, and treasure were relegated to the sidelines or worse. And these two concepts grate against one another, and badly: how can you be the hero if most of the time you beat up everything you disagree with? If the only reason you prevail is because you were stronger, rather than because you convinced your foe of your good nature through other means? Sure, many folks are plain irredeemable and have to die, but it should not be the default, unless you're playing a railroad monster mash.
And then if you do end up convincing everyone of your peaceful ways, perhaps by having someone play an Apostle of Peace from this book... then why are you even playing Dungeons & Dragons? You'd have far more fun with a game that accommodates such a gameplay style better - I'd recommend Burning Wheel.
This book attempts to address the dichotomy, and fails on all fronts. Its new character options and rules either clash completely against the premise of new-school combat-heavy D&D, as with the Apostle of Peace mentioned above; or they provide a bunch more weaponry and killing means for good guys, such as good versions of poisons and diseases, reinforcing Good and Evil as really just two cosmic warbands beating the shit out of one another, neither of them any better.
We were doing just fine with just Law and Chaos.
The new editions, on the other hand, want you to be a hero. And not only that, but they're a lot more focused on combat and violence: the concerns of diplomacy, stealth, and treasure were relegated to the sidelines or worse. And these two concepts grate against one another, and badly: how can you be the hero if most of the time you beat up everything you disagree with? If the only reason you prevail is because you were stronger, rather than because you convinced your foe of your good nature through other means? Sure, many folks are plain irredeemable and have to die, but it should not be the default, unless you're playing a railroad monster mash.
And then if you do end up convincing everyone of your peaceful ways, perhaps by having someone play an Apostle of Peace from this book... then why are you even playing Dungeons & Dragons? You'd have far more fun with a game that accommodates such a gameplay style better - I'd recommend Burning Wheel.
This book attempts to address the dichotomy, and fails on all fronts. Its new character options and rules either clash completely against the premise of new-school combat-heavy D&D, as with the Apostle of Peace mentioned above; or they provide a bunch more weaponry and killing means for good guys, such as good versions of poisons and diseases, reinforcing Good and Evil as really just two cosmic warbands beating the shit out of one another, neither of them any better.
We were doing just fine with just Law and Chaos.
November 6, 2013
A rather disappointing sourcebook to be honest. It's meant to be a counterpart to the Book of Vile Darkness, but I think it was done wrongly. From a mechanics point of view, they took "opposite" too literally. From a flavour point of view, they didn't do it enough.
The new feats were decent and some were even interesting. Some of the spells are okay, but I think there's too many "affects evil creatures only" spells. The prestige classes were pretty horrible, with two 5-level classes as excuses to gain extra exalted feats. The celestial-specific prestige classes were even worse than the mediocre ones in the Book of Vile Darkness - not only is there little coherence with their abilities, they are all very similar (smite is a heavily reused ability). Even the magic items pale in comparison with the evil counterparts.
The saddest excuse of an "option" was ravages and afflictions - poison and disesase for evil creatures that are normally immune to poison and disease...
The remaining bits of the book dealt with the celestials and their champions, just like the introduction for the demon princes and devil lords. But where the Book of Vile Darkness also provided information on cults, motivations, and schemes, these celestials are terribly lacking in what they want to do. Without them, the celestials ended up as nothing more than stat blocks.
With "exalted good" being much more difficult to roleplay, an adventure module or sample scenarios would have served to illustrate things better, especially how it ties in to the Book of Vile Darkness - not just mechanically.
It just felt like this sourcebook was a rather waste of a good opportunity to provide moral dilemmas and hooks for bringing in celestials, as opposed to just being primarily a mechanics supplement.
The new feats were decent and some were even interesting. Some of the spells are okay, but I think there's too many "affects evil creatures only" spells. The prestige classes were pretty horrible, with two 5-level classes as excuses to gain extra exalted feats. The celestial-specific prestige classes were even worse than the mediocre ones in the Book of Vile Darkness - not only is there little coherence with their abilities, they are all very similar (smite is a heavily reused ability). Even the magic items pale in comparison with the evil counterparts.
The saddest excuse of an "option" was ravages and afflictions - poison and disesase for evil creatures that are normally immune to poison and disease...
The remaining bits of the book dealt with the celestials and their champions, just like the introduction for the demon princes and devil lords. But where the Book of Vile Darkness also provided information on cults, motivations, and schemes, these celestials are terribly lacking in what they want to do. Without them, the celestials ended up as nothing more than stat blocks.
With "exalted good" being much more difficult to roleplay, an adventure module or sample scenarios would have served to illustrate things better, especially how it ties in to the Book of Vile Darkness - not just mechanically.
It just felt like this sourcebook was a rather waste of a good opportunity to provide moral dilemmas and hooks for bringing in celestials, as opposed to just being primarily a mechanics supplement.
January 30, 2020
Basic Premise: A supplemental rulebook for D&D 3.5, dealing with good divine things.
This book is really meant for GMs to use, but in player hands it can create the twinkiest of min-maxed characters ever created. I know, I used this book to do just that. Beware.
There are lots of new spells, feats, prestige classes, templates, and more in here. If your game is going to involve heavy divine involvement or reward based on "good"ness, then this is a book that should definitely be looked at.
This book is really meant for GMs to use, but in player hands it can create the twinkiest of min-maxed characters ever created. I know, I used this book to do just that. Beware.
There are lots of new spells, feats, prestige classes, templates, and more in here. If your game is going to involve heavy divine involvement or reward based on "good"ness, then this is a book that should definitely be looked at.
September 8, 2019
This book basically exists to balance out the Book of Vile Darkness. That said, the only reason this book carries the explicit warning is its relation to that other book.
It was an interesting book, but I honestly didn't find much use for it. The BoVD was excellent for coming up with truly diabolical villains, but unless you really have a pious party or want saintly NPCs, it's hardly essential. Not bad, not useless, but not essential.
It was an interesting book, but I honestly didn't find much use for it. The BoVD was excellent for coming up with truly diabolical villains, but unless you really have a pious party or want saintly NPCs, it's hardly essential. Not bad, not useless, but not essential.
June 11, 2012
good(But mature!)dnd book!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews