Champions of Ruin (3.5e)
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Every corner of Faerûn harbors its own sinister element. When opportunities arise¸ malevolent groups and nefarious individuals emerge from the shadows to make their infamous marks on the Realms. Within these pages¸ you will discover everything players and Dungeon Masters need to create the most evil organizations¸ treacherous villains¸ and morally ambiguous antiheroes to ever afflict the Forgotten Realms game setting.
Explore the Darker Side of the Realms
Every corner of Faerûn harbors its own sinister element. When opportunities arise¸ malevolent groups and nefarious individuals emerge from the shadows to make their mark on the Realms. Within these pages¸ you will discover everything players and Dungeon Masters need to create the most evil organizations¸ treacherous villains¸ and morally ambiguous antiheroes to ever afflict the Forgotten Realms game setting.
- 3 new races
- Over 30 new spells
- New feats and prestige classes
*****
Product History
The Forgotten Realms can be an evil¸ twisted place¸ but it's also a land of heroes-so from the villains' perspective¸ there's always room for improvement. Champions of Ruin (2005) embraces this concept¸ focusing on the sinister elements within the Realms to give DMs tools for creating nefarious organizations¸ unforgivable villains¸ and dubiously aligned anti-heroes to bedevil the PCs.
Evil Is as Evil Does. Champions of Ruin opens with a discussion of the various "philosophies" of evil. What's the driving force behind your villain's actions¸ assuming they aren't the type to sit around waiting and then cackling madly while getting beaten up by paladins when they arrive?
This examination of motivation is followed by three evil races¸ the draegloth (drow half-demons)¸ extaminaar (snake-blooded nobles)¸ and krinth (demonic mortal slaves from the City of Shade.) Rules aplenty follow; new feats precede a plethora of delightfully despicable spells. Care to break the link between a cleric and her deity? Want to control shadows¸ summon a bedeviling imp¸ or create a magical fiddle that saws against your enemy's skeleton? You're in luck. Some of these spells are useful for heroes as well¸ as not all are intrinsically evil; it's a good mix.
The "Magic Items" chapter follows this pattern too: Here you'll find gnashing armor that bites your foes¸ ravenous weapons that drink blood¸ and a gauntlet that literally strips the flesh from your foe. Stylish and effective.
Prestige classes in the book focus¸ as you might expect¸ on viciousness and violence. Characters can worship lycanthropes for feral rages as a "black blood cultist"; or become the elven go-to guy for unpleasant tasks as a "justice of weald and woe." You can adopt undead powers at night as a "night mask deathbringer¸" or become a mix of historian and grave robber as a "shade hunter." The "Thayan gladiators" are unstoppable killing machines¸ and "vengeance knights" roam the lands to deliver harsh lessons in steel and blood.
Architects of Evil. For GMs who wish to embrace politics (eeeevil politics!) in their game¸ the chapter on organizations is particularly useful. Read and absorb these; filing off the serial numbers makes them useful in non-FR campaigns as well¸ and they're full of wonderful plot hooks and adventure ideas for drawing heroes into ongoing plots.
When Evil is Fun! When you're making your bad guys that much more reprehensible¸ you still want to make sure the game stays fun. Champions of Ruin addresses this concern¸ providing advice and guidelines for fine-tuning your game's tone and keeping it enjoyable for everyone. You'll want to pay attention to what the players want¸ and make sure you deliver it; the advice found here will help.
Easily usable or adaptable in non-Forgotten Realms games¸ this book makes a fine resource for creating villains worthy of the label. While more rules-focused than some books on evil campaigns¸ there's a lot here to steal even if you aren't running a 3e¸ 3.5e¸ or Pathfinder campaign.
About the Creators. Jeff Crook is a Dragonlance novelist