''Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead'' is a book which is an official supplement for the
3.5 edition of the ''
Dungeons and Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...
'' role-playing game. The book covers the fictional
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
within the ''D&D'' universe and comprises seven chapters, introducing new content for
Dungeon Masters and players, as well as providing general information about undead.
It was received positively by reviewers, with praise for its material for Dungeon Masters and its illustrations, but received criticism for its weak player-oriented content. The book was the second in the series of books about specific monster types, the first being ''
Draconomicon
The ''Draconomicon'' is the title for several optional sourcebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, providing supplementary game mechanics for dragons specifically. Different ''Draconomicon'' books have been issued for the 2nd, ...
''. Similar books published since include ''
Lords of Madness
''Lords of Madness'' is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game.
Contents
The book includes new content for aberrations including new aberration monsters and monsters related to them, ...
''. ''Libris Mortis'' included content from older books, such as ''
Tome and Blood
''Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers'' is an optional rulebook for the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and notable for its trade paperback format.
Contents
The guidebook provides supplemental information for characters ...
'' and the ''
Book of Vile Darkness
''Book of Vile Darkness'' is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the 3rd edition of the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The book was written by Monte Cook and published by Wizards of the Coast on October 1, 2002. Described as a "de ...
'', that had been reworked.
Inspiration and production
''Libris Mortis'' was written to present "a comprehensive overview of the
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
" within the ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' universe, offering new
game rules and content, for both players and
Dungeon Masters.
The book is in the same format as the earlier published ''
Draconomicon
The ''Draconomicon'' is the title for several optional sourcebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, providing supplementary game mechanics for dragons specifically. Different ''Draconomicon'' books have been issued for the 2nd, ...
'', which instead focused on
Dragons
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
,
and was described as "a super-sized monster ecology" by the Nuketown podcast.
Similar books that have since been released include ''
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss'', ''
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells'' and ''
Lords of Madness
''Lords of Madness'' is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game.
Contents
The book includes new content for aberrations including new aberration monsters and monsters related to them, ...
''.
Inspiration for the book's content came from numerous sources. In an interview posted on the Wizards of the Coast website, Collins said that inspiration came from ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'', ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'', various ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'' films, along with films ''
The Mummy
A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse.
Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to:
Places
*Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States
*Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...
'' and ''
The Mummy Returns
''The Mummy Returns'' is a 2001 American adventure horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez, Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, and Dway ...
''. Cordell said that pop culture has "less impact on
isconceptualizations of the undead", but he did mention ''
The Evil Dead
''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMan ...
'', ''
28 Days Later
''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...
'' and the novel ''
Salem's Lot
''Salem's Lot'' is a 1975 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It was his second published novel. The story involves a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot for short) in Maine, where he ...
''.
According to Collins, he and Cordell worked equally on the book, with Collins focusing more on material relating to character building, sample undead and running undead, while Cordell dealt with monster design and undead material, but he said that they "dabbled in each others'" sections quite a bit as well". He also mentioned a monster template designed by
Matt Sernett
Matthew Lee Sernett is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Career
Matt Sernett was part of the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, with designers James Wyatt, Ed Stark, Michele Carter, Stacy Longstreet, and Chris ...
that was originally written for the ''
Monster Manual III
''Monster Manual III'' is a manual published in September 2004 by Wizards of the Coast, for use with the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It is the first of the monster specific books published by Wizards of the Coast to be made for the ...
'' and had been included in ''Libris Mortis''.
Origin of the name
![BruceCordellGenCon2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/BruceCordellGenCon2004.jpg)
''Libris Mortis'' was named after a book from within the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' universe written by an aasimar cleric of
Pelor
This is a list of deities from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game.
A
Al'Akbar
Al'Akbar is the Baklunish demigod of dignity, duty, faithfulness, and guardianship. His symbol is a cup and eig ...
named Acrinus in a dialect of the Celestial
language of
good
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
outsiders
Outsider(s) may refer to:
Film
* Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film
* Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film
* Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...
. The title of the fictional book probably translates into English as ''From the Books of Death'', though the dialect is no longer used.
The title ''Libris Mortis''
' was intended to be interpreted as
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
but ''Book of the Dead'' would translate as ''Liber Mortuorum''. On the subject of name, Collins was quoted as saying "I don't have any insight on the naming process that produced ''Libris Mortis''. I don't know Latin and wasn't involved in selecting that name. Regardless, I think what's in the book is far more important that what name is attached to it."
Content
''Libris Mortis'' has seven chapters and an introduction. The chapters are named "All About Undead", "Character Options", "Prestige Classes", "Spells", "Equipment", "New Monsters" and "Campaigns".
"All About Undead"
The first chapter, "All About Undead", contains general information about undead monsters. The chapter discusses the ecology of undead creatures, though this section was described as "very small",
and talks about undead religion, introducing new
deities
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
.
The chapter also discusses "stranger areas", including the idea of undead citizenship in cosmopolitan cities.
Variant rules are introduced for areas including hauntings and exorcisms, which were received positively, and for undead hunger and appetites.
The section also includes advice on how to combat undead, but according to Casey Smith of D20 Magazine Rack, "veteran players probably won't get much out of this part of the book".
Overall, the section was described by one reviewer as "one of the more interesting".
"Character Options"
The second chapter, "Character Options", lists 59
feats
''A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcrafts'' was a book written by George Gifford and published in 1593. It 'is notable for its attention to the ministerial challenges posed by witch belief as well as for its entertaining dialogue designed to ...
, discusses undead characters in the party, and offers rules for undead monster classes.
Many of the feats are geared towards
spellcasters,
with few martial feats, a single
Bardic
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
feat and no feats geared specifically towards
Druids
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
or
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...
.
Different types of feats include the Corpsecrafter tree, for spellcasters to improve their undead, monstrous feats to modify the special abilities of undead creatures,
and tomb-tainted feats, allowing living characters to gain undead traits.
Smith commended feats that Dungeon Masters may use, such as Spell Drain, Lifesense and Necrotic Reserves, but said that "feats that players might use aren't nearly as interesting".
The discussion of and rules for undead characters was said to be the "weakest section of the book".
Five
alternate base classes were introduced in the ''
Savage Species
''Savage Species'' is a sourcebook for use as a supplement in the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game, detailing the use of monstrous races as PC races.
Contents
''Savage Species'' introduces classes and outlines rules for playin ...
'' "monsters as classes" format.
These are classes for the
Ghoul
A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a certa ...
/
Ghast,
Mohrg,
Mummy
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...
,
Vampire Spawn
In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, a vampire is an undead creature. A humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature can become a vampire, and looks as it did in life, with pale skin, haunting red eyes, and a feral cast to its f ...
and
Wight
A wight (Old English: ''wiht'') is a mythical sentient being, often undead.
In its original use the word ''wight'' described a living human being, but has come to be used in fictional works in the fantasy genre to describe certain immortal bein ...
.
"Prestige Classes"
Chapter three, "Prestige Classes", introduces eleven new prestige classes.
*Death's Chosen, for mortals with undead masters.
*The Dirgesinger is a Bard-specific class, and a "personal favourite" of Smith.
*Master of Radiance is a Druid specific class for fighting undead,
*Master of the Shrouds can summon incorporeal undead.
3.5 edition versions of the Pale Master and the True Necromancer (originally from ''
Tome and Blood
''Tome and Blood: A Guidebook to Wizards and Sorcerers'' is an optional rulebook for the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and notable for its trade paperback format.
Contents
The guidebook provides supplemental information for characters ...
''
) can also be found.
The chapter has four prestige classes specifically for undead:
*Ephemeral Exemplar is a class for incorporeal undead
*The Lurking Terror is a stealthy undead class
*The Master Vampire strengthens the abilities already possessed by a
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
*The Tomb Warden is a prestige class designed for undead who guard tombs.
Kenneth Newquist, of Nuketown, said that the undead prestige classes "are excellent for turning traditional undead threats into something exceptional", and said that his "only complaint with these prestige classes is that there aren't enough of them".
"Spells"
Chapter four, "Spells", introduces 57 new
spells
Spell(s) or The Spell(s) may refer to:
Processes
* Spell (paranormal), an incantation
* Spell (ritual), a magical ritual
* Spelling, the writing of words
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Spell'' (1977 film), an American ...
.
The spells mostly focus around the school of Necromancy, with many domain spells for the new deities introduced in the first chapter.
Spells commented on by reviewers included Consumptive Field, Awaken Undead,
Wither Limb, Avasculate, Necrotic Cyst (and related spells, including Necrotic Domination and Necrotic Bloat), along with spells aimed at players, such as Spawn Screen and Mass Death Ward, described as "more pragmatic than exciting".
Some of the spells included in the chapter were version 3.5 reworks of spells found in the ''
Book of Vile Darkness
''Book of Vile Darkness'' is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the 3rd edition of the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The book was written by Monte Cook and published by Wizards of the Coast on October 1, 2002. Described as a "de ...
''.
"Equipment"
Chapter five, "Equipment", contains sections on special items and alchemical substances, "positoxins", magic items and undead grafts.
Positoxins, poisons that affect undead, were poorly received by reviewers, with the Nuketown podcast asking "we have plenty of folklore remedies for combating undead, why not create magical versions of those?"
Magic items included profane weapons, sacred weapons, ectoplasmic armor and specific items including the Ghoul Globe and Unholy Shroud.
This section was also criticized by the Nuketown podcast, which said that the "Magic item section is only six pages; I'd like to have seen more magic items, particularly more unique ones alone with a few lesser artifacts".
The grafts section worked on rules introduced in the ''
Book of Vile Darkness
''Book of Vile Darkness'' is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the 3rd edition of the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The book was written by Monte Cook and published by Wizards of the Coast on October 1, 2002. Described as a "de ...
'' and the ''
Fiend Folio
''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters.
The bulk of the material in the first edition ca ...
'', adding new undead "grafts", but did not include rules for creating your own.
"New Monsters"
Chapter six, "New Monsters", introduces 47 new monsters,
the weakest of which is the Carcass Eater and the strongest of which is the Dream Vestige.
Newquist praised
ooze like Blood Animote, while the Nuketown podcast commended the Swarm templates.
Smith praised the Brain in a Jar, swarm-shifter templates, Necropolitan, Revived Fossil and Skulking Cyst,
but called the Hulking Corpse and Murk "surprisingly benign".
Mike MacKenzie, of
RPGnet
RPGnet is a role-playing game website. It includes sections on wargaming, wargames, tabletop games and video games, as well as columns on gaming topics.
RPGnet was founded in 1996 by Emma and Sandy Antunes, Shawn Althouse ( etrigan) and Brian Dav ...
, called the Skin Kite and Angel of Decay "ghastly", the Revived Fossil and Necropolitan "less interesting" and the Half Vampire an "extraordinarily bad idea".
"Campaigns"
The seventh and final chapter, "Campaigns", includes tips on how to use undead in campaigns and
adventures
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...
, as well as how to control specific undead monsters. It also has adventure sites and back-stories for various cults.
The chapter was well received, being called the "best section of the book"
and being "better than I
he reviewerexpected".
The maps were commended by some, being called "useful right out of the box"
but Mike MacKenzie, of RPGnet, said they were "basically a ''
Book of Lairs'' for undead. Nothing terribly remarkable here."
The section includes statistics and back-stories for alternatives classic undead monsters, including ten different ghosts, six liches, 19 skeletons, ten vampires, and fifteen zombies.
Illustrations
The ''Libris Mortis'' art staff comprises Dawn Murin as art director, Dee Barnett, Dawn Murin and Trich Yochum as graphic designers. The graphic production specialist was Angelika Lokotz, with Candice Baker as image technician. Cartography was provided by Dennis Kauth, with the cover designed by
Tom Kidd. Interior illustrations were provided by
Thomas Baxa
Thomas M. Baxa is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Biography
Tom Baxa grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He enrolled at Northern Illinois University, where he studied under comic and fantasy artist Mark Nelson.
Works
To ...
,
Steve Belledin
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
Notable people with the name include:
steve jops
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people
* Steve ...
,
Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art.
Early life
Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...
,
Steve Ellis,
Wayne England
Wayne England (d. 9 February 2016) was an English artist whose work regularly appeared in role-playing games, wargaming rulebooks and magazines and was used on cards for collectible card games such as ''Magic: The Gathering''.
He died on 9 Feb ...
,
Emmanuelle Hunter,
Jeremy Jarvis
Jeremy Jarvis is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Early life and education
Jeremy Jarvis grew up in a small town in Alabama, and moved to New York City right after high school just before his eighteenth birthday. There, he ...
,
Chuck Lukacs
Chuck Lukacs is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Career
His first published ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work was in '' Dragon'' magazine while Paizo was its publisher. His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for ...
(who provided the images for the start of each chapter
),
David Martin David or Dave Martin may refer to:
Entertainment
*David Martin (artist) (1737–1797), Scottish painter and engraver
*David Stone Martin (1913–1992), American artist
*David Martin (poet) (1915–1997), Hungarian-Australian poet and novelist
*Dav ...
,
Michael Phillippi
Michael Phillippi (born ) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Education
Michael Phillippi started his illustration career in 1997 after graduating from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Career
His ''Dungeon ...
,
Steve Prescott
Stephen Prescott (26 December 1973 – 9 November 2013) was a professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000s.
Prescott made his début for St Helens in 1993, and soon established himself as the club's first choi ...
,
Wayne Reynolds
Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games.
Early life and education
Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough.
Games
Wayne Reynolds has continue ...
and
Brian Snoddy
Brian Snoddy is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Career
Brian Snoddy and his friend Matt Wilson formed Privateer Press with writer Matt Staroscik to publish their own d20 supplements. Snoddy and Wilson produced the cover ...
.
The artwork was praised by Mike MacKenzie of RPGnet, who said that "the art is good. Its re-assuring to see the quality we expect from WotC in this department." He criticized the "unintentionally goofy" images of the Mohrg Barbarian and Wight archer, but commended the "
sepia-tinged" work of Wayne England as fitting the book's mood. The work by Chuck Lukacs was also praised, as were the images by Jeremy Jarvis. Jarvis' Angel of Decay and Atropal Scion were said to be "just as creepy as we would expect".
Reviews
''Libris Mortis'' was generally received positively by reviewers. Mike MacKenzie, of RPGnet, gave the book a 5/5 for style and a 4/5 for substance, with the summary comment: "As a DM, I personally think this is a great (creepy) book, especially the first and last chapters, and there is some good crunch to be found."
Casey Smith, of D20 Magazine Rack, gave the book 80% "reviewer opinion", averaging with other scores to give an overall grade of 82%.
Kenneth Newquist, of Nuketown, gave ''Libris Mortis'' a rating of 9/10, with the comment "''Libris Mortis'' isn't an essential source book, but it is a useful one."
The Nuketown podcast gave the book 8/10, saying it was "good, but not essential. Worth picking up for anyone for whom the undead play a major role in their campaign."
Vincent Venturella, of Flames Rising Dot Com, gave the book 3/5 for style, 5/5 for substance and 4/5 overall.
The reviewer from ''
Pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' commented: "There's a little more campaign advice here than in previous Wizards of the Coast products, though not a whole lot. You get a short introduction to what undead are and how they unlive, eat (eww), and procreate. Theories on whence they come, examples of cities and religions for the cosmopolitan zombie, and advice on strategy when facing (or being) the dead (especially the self-aware threats) make good reading, but these are sadly brief."
References
External links
''Libris Mortis''at
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
''Libris Mortis'' excerptsat Wizards of the Coast
''Libris Mortis'' art galleryat Wizards of the Coast
{{D&D topics
Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2004