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160 pages, 2007, $29.95
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Content
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15
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Organization
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17
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Consistency
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16
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Intelligibility
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15
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Overall
15
Hit
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Review Scoring
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In need of a little evil this holiday season? If so, Wizards of the
Coast's Exemplars of Evil is just the ticket. Packing eight example villains
and a chapter devoted to making the most of evil characters all in 160 pages, this book
provides almost everything needed to terrorize players with recurring villains for dozens of campaigns. All
that is required of the Game Master is a set of dice and a little imagination.
That is not to say the book is perfect. Like any source book devoted to characters or
history, Exemplars of Evil is dry at times, making reading it in-depth seem more
like a chore than research. Also, most Game Masters will quickly realize that they
will more likely than not make extensive use of the first chapter's guide to evil
characters more than they will use the example villains provided. Still, each villain is
detailed with history, sidekicks, motivations, and sample encounters, so dropping
one into a campaign in a pinch is a simple process.
If the Game Master is short on time, Exemplars of Evil can provide a memorable
encounter for the players, and the chapter on how to create and play villains is enough
to redeem what might otherwise be a mediocre product offering.
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