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''Book of Vile Darkness'' is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. The book was written by Monte Cook and published by Wizards of the Coast in October 2002. Described as a "detailed look at the nature of evil," it was the first ''Dungeons & Dragons'' book labelled for mature audiences. The second was the "good" companion volume ''Book of Exalted Deeds''. Another ''Book of Vile Darkness'' was published for the 4th edition of ''D&D'' in 2011. ==Before release== Ed Stark, Design Manager for the ''D&D'' game at Wizards of the Coast at the time, explained to ''Pyramid'' that "the idea for ''BoVD'' grew out of both the initial success of the new edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game and the excitement about "nostalgia" products such as ''Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil''. The new D&D game promised people the same "back to the dungeon" feel 1st Edition provided, but with all the improvements twenty-plus years can put on a game system."〔http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=3686〕 As with most new products, Wizards of the Coast announced and previewed ''Book of Vile Darkness'' on its website during the months before its release. Unlike other products, previewer Mat Smith revealed virtually no hard details about the book's contents because the book "is being released as a 'Mature Audiences Only' title." Instead, he stressed that this book was something its developers felt had been requested by the community, something that "many, many gamers have been asking for." Also, as part of the promotion of the book, Paizo Publishing included sealed "mature" sections in both official Dungeons & Dragons magazines. ''Dragon'' issue 300 included flesh and skin themed magic, while an adventure printed in ''Dungeon'' issue 95, "The Porphyry House of Horror", called on players to infiltrate a harem in order to disrupt a sacrificial orgy intended to turn the city's residents into fiends. Author and co-creator of the Dragonlance campaign setting Tracy Hickman distributed an angry response to ''Dragon'' 300 in a mailing-list newsletter entitled "D20 Terrorism".〔Hickman, Tracy (2002-09-12). (D20 Terrorism ). ''Hickman Newsletter #96''. Retrieved on September 3, 2009〕 Hickman described both the ''Dragon'' content and the then-unreleased ''Book of Vile Darkness'' as "excrement" and as "cheap, trashy and demeaning." Following repeated references to the Comic Book Code, he stated, "Every dark fear that mothers and clergy across America have about D&D is now, suddenly, true. In one stroke, I watched everything Laura () and I had worked toward for the last 25 years come crashing to the ground." Following Hickman's statement and amidst substantial debate in the online community, Paizo president Johnny Wilson issued a statement defending the magazine material. He drew comparisons between the growing ''Book of Vile Darkness'' controversy and that involving the video game ''Mortal Kombat''. He also argued that "publishing a guide to the atrocities and perversions that put the VILE in EVIL" allows role-playing that is "truly heroic" in contrast, while citing real-world examples of horror and heroism, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Vietnam War, and World War II. Nevertheless, he did offer a partial apology, remarking that the introductory content outside the sealed sections was "as offensive (or more so)" than what was within them. Game designer Dale Donovan noted in ''Pyramid'': "The fact that both the 300th issue of ''Dragon'' and issue #95 of ''Dungeon'' had sealed, "mature content" sections incited more than one Internet flame war, with lots of folks flying off the handle in this direction or that, numerous invectives being tossed back and forth like hot potatoes, and scores of teeth gnashed for one reason or another. All that, and the book wasn't even out yet."〔http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=3690〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Book of Vile Darkness」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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