Lords of Darkness (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting) (Paperback)

~ Sean K. Reynolds (Author), Jason Carl (Author) "This chapter details seven of the largest and most insidious evil organizations in Faerun..." (more)
Key Phrases: servitor vampires, lesser piwafwi, drow sleep poison, Night Masks, Night King, City of Shade (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Evil Powers Threaten Faerun

Sinister cabals plot in shadows, while merciless armies gather for war. Explore the inner workings of infamous factions such as the Red Wizards and the Zhentarim. Discover more recently unveiled enemies, including the shades and the People of the Black Blood. With detailed descriptions of key villains, secret headquarters, and more, this guide covers everything a Dungeon Master needs to conspire against the heroes of the Forgotten Realms game setting.

28 villainous groups
Maps of evil strongholds
New spells, feats, and magic items

To use this accessory, you also need the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786919892
• ISBN-13: 978-0786919895
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent supplement for Forgotten Realms DM's, November 12, 2001

By A Customer

If you play in the Realms and want to flesh out your villians, this book is wonderful. It's the same size and layout as Magic of Faerun, so that right there is a plus. Personally, i think the artwork is much better than Magic of Faerun, and some of the power groups detailed therein are quite intriguing. From the Daemonfey to the old Red Wizards, the book covers dozens and dozens of personalities, locales, and enemies to throw against your party.

If you don't play in the Realms, the book is not as useful, but it is still GRADE A gaming material that could have pieces used in other campaigns. It seems like WOTC is pumping all their best talent and money into the FR series, which is fine by me, but it means that some other lines end up lacking (like the class supplement books).

Yes, the book is very pricey, but for a DM who wants a whole slew of villians, monsters and plots, it's worth the money.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well done but lacking in some areas., November 7, 2001

By	"malec" (Tampa, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

I'll start by saying the book is a good book for anyone playing in the Forgotten Realms setting. This book is perfect for DMs and not as important for players, although players who wish to play in an evil group will find this book very useful. Any DM that wishes to tackle the pcs with an evil group will find a lot of support and ideas in this book including stats, items, influence, npcs, allies, locations, maps etc. It also adds a handful of prestige classes specific to some of the evil groups including Church of Cyric (Spur Lords), Worshipers of Entropy(Entropist), Zhentarim's Sky mages, Thayan Knights of the Red Wizards and even the Darkmask for surface drow that follow Vhaeraun. The end of the book contains favored magical items and favored spells to some of the groups. Some of the groups have character leaders stats and items. I had to hold back from rating this book as a single reason which I thought is important as someone who plays with psionics. The books contains no psionical support, or even a psionical option, for cults like the Mindflayers which are obviously psionically oriented. Other than that, I highly recommend the book, especially for playing in or against evil groups.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Excellent, January 30, 2002

By	Hrafn (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

While the standard paperback offerings for D&D 3 have thusfar disappointed me, the ones for Forgotten Realms have been truly outstanding and have proved applicable beyond the bounds of FR games.

I had high hopes for this book after having gotten Magic of Faerun, I was not disappointed. This book is well organized, sorted by both size of the group (major or minor) and alphabetically, and covers a great many "evil baddies" in the world that can be easily incorperated into either a new game or an existing Campaign.

Groups like The Night Masks, The Church of Shar, The Church of Bane, the Shades, and the Drow are now covered in extensive detail. A rich history is given, along with what are essentially roleplaying notes, and stats on prestige classes and promenant members of the organization.