Book Of Exalted Deeds
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The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' is an optional sourcebook for the 3.0 edition of the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
published by
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...
(WotC) in 2003. It provides supplementary game material for campaigns involving characters of good
alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...
. Within the game, there is also a powerful magical artifact of the same name.


Contents

The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' was designed to be a counterpoint to the previously published '' Book of Vile Darkness'', and offered new rules for
good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...
occurrences, acts, and characters in the game.


Chapter summary

# The Nature of Good: This defines how good is seen in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' setting, as well as how good-aligned characters of different alignments act in relation to the world around them. # Variant Rules: This simply adds additional rules for a campaign featuring good-aligned characters that allows such characters to become exalted characters. # Exalted Equipment: This talks about the weapons (sometimes special) used by exalted characters. # Feats: This chapter includes several new feats, the vast majority of which are exalted feats, meant specifically for good-aligned characters and usable only by such. # Prestige Classes: This chapter introduces prestige classes appropriate for an exalted campaign. # Magic: This chapter provides spells almost exclusively for good characters, as well as magical items, weapon and armor enhancements, and artifacts appropriate to such a campaign. # Celestial Paragons: This chapter discusses (and provides NPC stat blocks for) celestial paragons, rulers of the Upper planes so overwhelmingly powerful that they are revered as a god would be, even on the Material Plane. It also discusses the Upper Planes to an extent. # Monsters: This chapter contains good-aligned monsters, featuring the Deathless type, as well as templates to create customized monsters.


Mature content

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...
had published the controversial '' Book of Vile Darkness'' in 2002, a game supplement that explored evil themes and raised the ire of some with its "Mature Content" sticker, sexualized imagery and graphic details. The following year, WotC released the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'', also with a "Mature Content" warning. The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' was the flip side of the ''Book of Vile Darkness'' and dealt with "the extreme elements of the good alignment". It included "ethical questions that most players might not be comfortable with including in their game" and "also dealt with aspects of real-world religion and tried to use them in the context of ''Dungeons & Dragons,'' such as stigmata".


Authors

The book was written by
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...
, Darrin Drader and Christopher Perkins, with cover art by Henry Higginbotham, and interior art by Tom Baxa, Steve Belladin, Matt Cavotta, Brent Chumley, Rebecca Guay-Mitchell, Jeremy Jarvis, Doug Kovacs, Ginger Kubic, David Martin, Mark Nelson,
Wayne Reynolds Wayne Reynolds is a People of the United Kingdom, British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games. Early life and education Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough. Gam ...
, Ron Spencer, Arnie Swekel, and Ben Thompson.


The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' artifact

Not to be confused with the WotC book,
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...
described a powerful magical artifact of the same name in the original ''
Dungeon Master's Guide The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' co ...
'' in 1979. The original item raised the Wisdom ability score of good clerics who spent a week reading it, and also granted them a new level of experience. The artifact has subsequently appeared in every new edition of ''D&D'', although with varying powers.


Reception

* While reviewer Alex DeMorris thought that the book had some "great new material", he noted that the new "paragon" class of creatures lacked any obvious motive or purpose, saying, "Their descriptions come across more as creature statistics than a character portrait. Without goals, it may be hard for a DM to use them as anything other than stage dressing when the player characters start traveling the planes." DeMorris concluded that the book had "some rough spots that could have been better developed", and that it was "a good book, but not a great one." * Reviewer Merric Blackman thought there was good material in the book, particularly about the nature of good, variant rules for good characters, new feats and prestige classes. He was less enthused about new equipment, new magic spells and new monsters. Blackman thought this was a stronger book than ''Book of Vile Darkness'' due to the inclusion of more usable material, but he warned that it "may not integrate well into your established D&D cosmology." He also noted the "tendency towards powerful abilities that may not be properly balanced by the role-playing restrictions. This is not a book for the novice Dungeon Master!" Nevertheless, he concluded that he did like the book, and found it "inspiring". *The review site ''Game Monkeys Magazine'' liked the tangible theme of the book, and found the artwork "fair to good with no real stand out pieces." It also found the new feats, prestige classes and spells "solid additions to the game." It concluded by giving the book an average rating of 3.5 out of 5, saying "All in all, for those who like to play the extremely valiant character, the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' is a solid addition to your primary sourcebook", but added "That is unfortunately only useful if you're playing the gaming equivalent of Mother Theresa."


References

*
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...
, Christopher Perkins, Darrin Drader. ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' (
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...
, 2003) {{D&D topics Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Dungeons & Dragons magic items Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2003