Page 223 - Dungeon Master's Guide

VILE LORE
The Book ofVile Darkness touches on every evil in the
cosmos. A character can use the lore the book contains
to unearth terrible secrets no mortal should know. Among
the contents a character might find are the following, plus
whatever else you choose:
Vile Apotheosis. The book could hold a ritual that allows a
character to become a lich or death knight.
True Names. The true names of any number of fiends
might be in the book.
Dark Magic. Several spells of horrific evil of the OM's
design and choosing could be in the book. Spells could
impose dreadful curses, disfigure others, require human
sacrifice, afflict creatures with crippling pain, spread vile
plagues, and so on.
.
A creature attuned to the book must spend 80 hours BooK OF
reading and studying it to digest its contents and reap its VILE DARKNESS·
benefits. The creature can then freely modify the book's
contents, provided that those modifications advance evil
and expand the lore already contained within.
Whenever a non-evil creature attunes to the Book .,
of Vile Darkness, that creature must make a DC 17
Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the creature's
alignment changes to neutral evil.
The Book of Vile Darkness remains with you only
as long as you strive to work evil in the world. If you
fail to perform at least one evil act within the span
of 10 days, or if you willingly perform a good act, the
book disappears. If you die while attuned to the book,
an entity of great evil claims your soul. You can't be
restored to life by any means while your soul remains
imprisoned.
Random Properties. The Book of Vile Darkness has
the following random properties:
3 minor beneficial properties
• 1 major beneficial property
3 minor detrimental properties
2 major detrimental properties
Adjusted Ability Scores. After you spend the
requisite amount of time reading and studying the
book, one ability score of your choice increases by 2, to
a maximum of 24. Another ability score of your choice BooK OF
decreases by 2, to a minimum of 3. The book can't EXAL TEO D EEDS
adjust your ability scores again.
Mark of Darkness. After you spend the requisite
amount of time reading and studying the book, you . .
acquire a physical disfigurement as a hideous sign .
of your devotion to vile darkness. An evil rune might
appear on your face, your eyes might become glossy
black, or horns might sprout from your forehead. Or
you might become wizened and hideous, lose all facial •'
features, gain a forked tongue, or some other feature
the DM chooses. The mark of darkness grants you Dark Lore. You can reference the Book of Vile
advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks made to Darkness whenever you make an Intelligence check
interact with evil creatures and Charisma (Intimidation) to recall information about some aspect of evil, such
checks made to interact with non-evil creatures. as lore about demons. When you do so, double your
Command Evil. While you are attuned to the book proficiency bonus on that check.
and holding it, you can use an action to cast the Dark Speech. While you carry the Book of Vile
dominate monster spell on an evil target (save DC 18). Darkness and are attuned to it, you can use an action
You can't use this property again until the next dawn. to recite word from its pages in a foul language known
as Dark Speech. Each time you do so, you take 1d12

CHAPTER 7 I TREASURE
223