Elder Evils (Dungeons Dragons) (Hardcover)

~ Robert J. Schwalb (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

High-level threats for your Dungeons & Dragons(R) campaign.

Elder Evils provides DMs with 160 pages of truly wicked threats to challenge high-level heroes. Each "elder evil" described in this nightmarish tome comes with a detailed description, stat blocks for the elder evil and its minions, tips for how to incorporate the elder evil into any D&D campaign, adventure seeds, and maps of the elder evil's lair (complete with encounters and room descriptions). The book also provides guidelines to help DMs create their own unique elder evils as worthy campaign villains and endgame encounters.

About the Author

ROBERT J. SCHWALB is a staff designer and developer for Green Ronin Publishing. His design credits for Wizards include the Player's Handbook(TM) II, Tome of Magic(TM), and Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells(TM) supplements. Robert lives in Tennessee with his patient wife and pride of cats.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (December 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786947330
• ISBN-13: 978-0786947331
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #213,720 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Finished due to 4E, December 18, 2007

By	Michael D. Briggs "Dark_Psion" (El Reno, OK United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Elder Evils is one of the last few 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons books and due to the publishers focus on the newer edition, this book feels unfinished and is missing much of the stuff common to 3e books.

The focus of this book is "End of the world" evils, like Cthulhu and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Chapter one is a basic guide to "So you want to end the world" and Chapters 2 - 10 are different "Elder Evils" you can unleash.

The book provides plenty of new ideas and opportunities, but what is missing is from the book is the basic rules for incorporating these ideas. There are very few new feats, most here are reprinted from the Book of Vile Darkness, and there are no new spells, prestige classes and only two magic items. It is like a cake without any icing.

The art is good, not recycled, but the book is a fixer-uper. You are going to have to do much of the work to actually use these Elder Evils. Each Elder Evil chapter does include stats for the Aspect of that Elder Evil, some example minions and a short adventure to try and stop it. The adventure is presented in the newer spit format, with the text on one set of pages and the encounter on a different set of pages. Personally I find this very anoying and difficult to use, I prefer everything together in one place.

Overall, it is a good read and has lots of good ideas, but since the writers leave adapting most of those ideas to the DM, I only gve it 3 stars.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So, where are the Elder Evils in "Elder Evils"?, January 12, 2008

By	James Ryan Hamm (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Bolothamogg, "Him Who Watches From Beyond the Stars." Holashner, "the Hunger Below." Piscathces, "the Blood Queen." Shothotugg, "the Eater of Worlds." Y'chak, "the Violet Flame." These were the Lovecraftian entities described briefly and tantalizingly in the supplement "Lords of Madness," Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) the Elder Evils of the ancient aboleths - not gods, but ancient and dreadful powers preceding the deities of the world. Since the publication of Lords of Madness, the Cthulhu fan in me has eagerly awaited the sourcebook that would flesh out these intriguing characters and help me introduce a bit of their cosmic horror to my game.

This is not that sourcebook.

This misleadingly titled tome describes some *other* Elder Evils. The villainous characters described in its chapters range from inspired (Atropus) to downright silly (the, ahem, Hulks). All that said, it is a useable book to crib for campaign ideas. Its just not what those whose appetites were whetted by "Lords of Madness" have been waiting for. Buy it used, and buyer beware.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Plot hooks ahoy!, February 13, 2008

By	Geoffrey Royal (Pendleton, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought Elder Evils expecting not much more than was found in Fiendish Codex I, and found just what I was expecting. And this is not a bad thing. It has plenty of different hooks for your campaign, NPCs to go with them, and a decent selection of feats. I was disappointed that there were no prestige classes, spells, or even a real monsters section, but it did exactly what it set out to do: Give the DM a half-dozen or so storylines that make the PC's feel heroic (or villainous) without making them take on the stereotypical dragon, pit fiend, or deity.