Customer Reviews

Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good supplement for DMs. Libris Mortis introduces us the the undead in a expanded manner. It opens with chapters on the undead, their outlook and pyschology and gives primers for the characters to fight the undead with positive energy effects like cure wounds, spell effects and other items. Both of which are useful to dms and players.

There is a host of new feats for both undead and players. For players an example is vampire hunter which allows you to know if spawn are closeby and makes you immune to their gaze ability. For the undead there is an improved energy drain.

There are new prestige classes. The DM would need to determine which of these would fit into his campaign. One class is deaths chosen which reminds me of Reinfield from the orginial Dracula movie. There is a bard prestige class the dirge singer, a druid prestige class master of radiance and one for a evil spellcaster and one for a necromancer. The priest one seems similar to the sacred exorcist from the complete divine. There are also monster prestige classes also.

New spells some very nasty. Blade of pain and fear level two d6 plus one every two caster levels and a st vs being frighten. Comsumptive field greater 7th level. Check it out. There are also spells beneficial to the good guys.

New magic items and monsters. 31 new undead monsters and templates in all.

There is a chapter for tactics for various undead and campaign ideas for using inteligent undead as well as mini-adventures to put into your campaign.

The only reason that it didnt get five stars was that I am not going to use everything in the book but I consider it one of the best expansions out there right now

This book in unique in that it's almost exclusively geared for the DM. Even the DMG had more player-oriented material than this one, and this book has far less player-geared material than its cousin, the Draconomicon. So players, stay away... the few bits that are here for you are good, but probably not worth the asking price.

For DMs, however, this is great stuff. The new monsters and templates alone make this a pretty good buy (I could build an entire campaign around one of the templates, which gives undead the ability to turn into a swarm of bats, rats, dust, even organs... perfect for a villain that keeps coming back for more).

Outside of the monsters, there are a load of undead-empowering feats (gotta love feats that improve every single undead creature you summon or control), and a lot of "flavor text" and more colorful information. And in case you ever wanted to know, there's a full-page table that lists the feeding needs and desires of nearly every undead critter in print.

Overall, good stuff. I'd say it's one of the best buys out there for DMs right now (assuming, of course, you're using undead or plan to... maybe I'm biased, I'm running an undead-heavy campaign). Not for players, but by focusing on DMs the book is able to pack in a lot of great content.

Usually, I write reviews that detail the good and bad of a product. I have to do things differently this time around, because this sourcebook is ALL good. Let me tell you why:

FOR THE DMs: The book details pretty much everything you ever needed to know about running undead monsters in your campaign, and then some. The material is extremely well-organized and concise, allowing it to be used readily and requiring little, if any, prior research on the part of a DM to incorporate both "new" and "traditional" undead monsters into the campaign. Updated definitions of abilities and traits are included (even incorporating descriptive material from the Monster Manuals through MM3). Without getting too boring, details are given on the methods and motivations of all of the "traditional" undead types (skeleton, zombie, ghoul, ghast, shadow, wraith, spectre, ghost, mummy, mohrg, vampire, and lich), with information given on creation methods above and beyond the typical myths surrounding these monsters and the mundane "game mechanic" procreation abilities possessed by some of them -- all excellent fodder for creating new adventure hooks or plotlines to jazz up any "haunted house" adventure. In addition, a number of ready-to-use horrors and their backstories occupy a section of the book all to themselves, just waiting for you to pick up and run with them. The latter portions of the book detail more new undead creatures -- fair warning: while there is, at least, no nudity, the illustrations in the New Monsters section makes much of the artwork from the Book of Vile Darkness seem tame.

FOR THE PLAYERS: For those of you out there that enjoy running uniquely interesting campaigns with a twist, there are rules and options presented for playing an undead horror as a PC. Setting up and running an undead character using this book is slightly more involved than running undead creatures as monsters, but the superlative organization and breakdown of information makes this a much more simple task than one might expect. In the same vein as the "Savage Species" sourcebook, Libris Mortis presents the "standard" undead creatures from the Monster Manual as character classes, detailing progression and ability acquisition from 1st level on upward. Since all of the "basic" undead monsters are covered, it's not difficult to extrapolate your own progression for less mundane undead creatures should you desire to expand your options. I was particularly impressed with how smoothly and effectively the character rules presented take all of the best concepts about the old 2nd edition "Requiem" campaign from Ravenloft and simplifies them in 3.5 edition standards.

FOR BOTH: A number of prestige classes (mostly for villains, but with a few foes of the walking dead thrown in) appear here, including updated revisions of a number of prestige classes that originally appeared in the "Defenders of the Faith," "Tome & Blood," and other sourcebooks (including the True Necromancer, the Master of Shrouds, and the Pale Master, among others). A respectably sizeable feats section caters to players and DMs alike, with a plethora of options available for both undead creatures and those that hunt them. With the New Spells and Magic Items sections comparable in size and variety to those provided by the "Complete Divine" sourcebook, there literally is a little something for everyone in the book.

I just got this a few days ago and already have a treasure trove of ideas running through my poor overworked mind. Like Draconomicon, Libris Mortis is a tool kit. Most of the material is geared towards DMs but there are toys for players as well. Some more prestige classes and feats of course but most of the prestige classes are geared toward NPCs than players. Although there are some good toys for undead hunters as well. Much more new monsters in here but very well done. The small section on undead PCs bears mentioning as it was well done and if a DM wants to allow it, the idea is intrigueing, not something I would want to pursue myself but the option is there. All in all a great book.

Where most D&D supplements are basically window dressing for the core game, Libris Mortis opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for your campaign. Whether it's the basic approach of simply bolstering your current setting with some interesting new undead monsters and Prestige Classes; or opening things up by allowing your PCs to play as Vampire Sorcerors or Mhorg Barbarians; or creating an entire campaign set in a world where the undead rule entire kingdoms and the living cower in fear - Libris Mortis is a comprehensive toolkit for making it happen.

Besides the requisite supplement fodder of new feats, spells and prestige classes, Libris Mortis includes great background material and full information on Undead Monster Classes (as opposed to high-powered templates from the Monster Manual) for creating undead characters with full level-by-level progressions. There's also a short but interesting chapter of new equipment (including undead armor and grafts), a slew of new monsters, and some great ideas for incorporating it all into your campaign.

Libris Mortis is arguably Wizards' best core supplement yet!

Libris Mortis is a good creature supplement on par with Draconomicon.

The general review of undead and how to use them is short but about right in length. The book's value really is in the wealth of creatures, classes, feats and spells. These are generally good and usable although there is a fair amount of overlap with Complete Divine, Book of Exalted Deeds and others.

If you are like me, you use undead encounters as frequent fillers as the basic concept of living dead and their debilitating attacks never fails to spook players. If so, this book will help provide a variety of tactics and creatures to really spice these encounters up. And if you want a campaign with a significant undead villain or undead theme, the boo is indispensable.

Some of the prestige classes can make for a memorable one-time villain or sustain an entire campaign as the main foe. Even something as little as a single feat is full of possibility: I'm particular eager to try out a villain with the "Destruction retribution" feat which makes his/her undead explode for damage when destroyed. Imagine the surprise and shock, the re-appraisal of tactics when the players experience that? These sorts of tid-bits are great for shaking up jaded players.

Players of clerics will find this almost as useful as Complete Divine if your referee uses undead at all. The PC prestige classes are few but good. The feats and spells are useful.

Other players will find the book less useful but it is a fun book and worth having on the shelf if you just enjoy a good D&D rule read.

Compared to Draconomicon the book doesn't have quite the same pizazz (what can compare to the grandeur of dragons?) but has more practical material in it for both referee and player.

Definitely solid book and should be considered by most refs and many players.

Where to begin? I suppose I should begin by saying that if you can't stand the sight of cysts, and disembodied heads being swarmed and eaten by rats, then you shouldn't get this book. Also, if you can't stand the thought of children perishing then being brought back and being used by an evil Necromancer to sow chaos, then you might steer clear of this book. But if the aforementioned doesn't bother you, or already has your mind filled with a million and a half ideas for your campaigns, then let's talk.

Firstly, let's talk about... oh, I don't know... say, the monsters. There's fluff and there's crunch, first of all, or if you don't know what that means, things that are overall useless and things that have you saying, 'bout time. Brain In A Jar? Who needs that? Grave-Dirt Golem? I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, No! Not another Construct!' but bear with me, while it's not necessarily necessary, it is fun to have a Golem made of dirt, with bones of people who perished and were unlucky enough to have their graves used for the Golem. Besides, it fits a Necromancer, or any class, really, who builds Constructs for whatever reason who likes to hang around graveyards. So yeah, like I said, fluff and crunch. Also, there's fluffy, crunchy creatures including the Slaughter Wight, the Wheep, and the Spectral Lyrist. I'll leave it to you to decide what's fluff and crunch among those, and every other new monster in the book.

Secondly, let's talk about the prestige classes, there's classes like the Death's Chosen, the True Necromancer, and the Pale Master. Now, those aren't the only classes in this book, there's also the Dirge Singer and the Master of Radiance. I'll talk about those. The Dirge Singer, as you've probably guessed, is a prestige class for the Bard who specializes in songs that fill their enemies with sorrow and dread and, by my gathering, I haven't read in detail yet, can control some undead. The Master of Radiance is a prestige class for a druid, but you also have to have some levels as a cleric, at any rate, the Master of Radiance can use spells that channel sunlight and destroy undead who are destroyed by sunlight (blasted vampires). And on the subject of Clerics, I know, they're lame, let's not kid around here, about all they can do is heal and turn undead. But in this book, they can also summon undead. Yes, Clerics of Nerull, rejoice. You can summon undead to do your dirty work, while you use your Inflict spells to keep them at full strength (Instead of doing damage, Inflict Grievous Wounds recovers a lot of damage for that Huge Skeleton you summoned).

Thirdly, and the last I'm going to write about, is the nuts and bolts of campaign planning included in this book. The people who made this book were generous in giving several sample undead to use as minor villains, or use as the big baddie for your newbie players if your a DM. They also included a few scenarios to use if you're running an undead-centered campaign, including World of Shadows in which undead and the living coincide in day to day life, and Undying Rulers where powerful undead like a lich or a vampire rules the land. Needless to say, if you're the DM, you can change things about these and the other campaign over-views presented as you see fit. Do the undead and the living live in harmony and work together in World of Shadows? Did that lich just recently come into power after a very long line of undead in Undying Rulers? It's up to you. Of course, they're not stand alone. You can use these campaing overviews in conjunction with others described not only in this book, but others, as well, but you'd have to be pretty crafty to interweave a whole bunch of them.

It's ultimately up to you whether you want this book or not, I'm just trying to point you in the right direction if you want an undead-centric campaign or at least to incorporate undead into your campaign. Also, it's a pretty good read as is.

This book, I think is more useful to me that Draconomicon. Dragons are only really useful as a foe later in campaigns. Undead are useful for any occassion. What I like about this book is that it makes the undead more versatile and creepy in game. The new spells and undead monster classes allow you to tailor your undead to fit any situation. I like the new prestige classes here, especially the 14 level True Necro. Unlike most prestige classes, you're epic before your done with this one. That's great because I think its possible for some characters, if you're careful, to pick up 3 of some of the other prestige classes before 20th level.
Anyway, this book is great for DMs. Players need not look at it and I would encourage them to leave it alone so that the DM can surprise them... and make the game better.

Overall I found this book fairly useful, the creatures, and especially the spells were useful to me, and for a DM who loves a little undead action, I found the undead prestige classes a must have. However, had I been looking at Libris Mortis from teh players perspective, I may not have had a positive review. The prestige classes, to me, seem to be the only viable option for players who are alive. So unless you are running a campaign where all your PCs are undead, this book will not appeal to them. It simply doesn't give enough content to the PC to be worth its list price.

This book is an outstanding resource for dm's and players alike. It has several different functions, without going into the specifics of chapter by chapter reviews (which has already been done).

First, it includes a section on the various "ecologies" of the undead. This is an outstanding tool for designing new undead, designing campaigns and plot hooks for players. Several techniques are described for how undead feed and their effect on the undead psychology.

Second, the book provides for a way to rapidly return a player to the game. Nothing is worse than having a character die early in the session and having to wait for your character to be raised or to make a new character to continue play - with this manual, you can rapidly join back in the game AND have a quest to complete at the same time - either the destruction of your sire, or the raising of your corpse. Much in the spirit of Ghostwalk, this manual allows for the game to go on even when your characters' pulse didn't.

The book also contains a selection of new items and feats geared toward undead. Whether your character hunts undead or is one himself, there is something in here for them. In addition, it is useful for DM's in the same fashion to "bulk up" one of the villians with these additional feats and powers and thus suprise the players.

All in all, another outstanding product from WOTC.