''Villains' Lorebook'' is an accessory for the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setti ...

campaign setting A campaign setting is a setting for a tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaign. Most campaign settings are fictional worlds; however, some are historical or contemporary real-world locations. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adve ...

for the second edition of the ''Advanced

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

The 160-page book features a two-page introduction, which explains that this book is companion volume to ''

Heroes' Lorebook ''Heroes' Lorebook'' is an accessory for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Heroes' Lorebook'' updates the previously published ''Hall of Hero ...

''. The book compiles information from novels and other sources, as well as 1989's ''

Hall of Heroes ''Hall of Heroes'' was an American independent comic book company that existed in the mid-to-late 1990s. Based in Elkhart, Indiana, Hall of Heroes operated from 1993 to 1999. The company's longest-running titles were two volumes of the antholog ...

''. The book describes 29 characters, each including an illustration, game statistics, suggestions for campaign uses, and a list of the sources consulted for each character's entry. Character descriptions appear on pages 6–59, and include such notables as

Artemis Entreri ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a settin ...

, Elaith Craulnober, Fzoul Chembryl, Halaster Blackcloak,

Jarlaxle ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a settin ...

, Kymil Nimesin, Manshoon, and Szass Tam. The book's center 16-page section (pages 81–96) presents a series of color illustrations depicting many of the characters described in the book in a variety of scenes. Pages 60–106 provides game statistics and descriptions for several monsters, as well as notable individual creatures like Errtu, Kazgaroth, and Tyranthraxus. A number of organizations are described on pages 107-126, such as the Cult of the Dragon, the

Drow The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of Elf (Dungeons & Dragons), elves connected to the Subterranea (geography), subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have t ...

Menzoberranzan Menzoberranzan, the "City of Spiders", is a fictional city-state in the world of the ''Forgotten Realms'', a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The city is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the ...

, the Red Wizards of Thay, and the Zhentarim. A number of magical items and spells are described on pages 127-157. A list of sources mentioned throughout the book can be found on pages 159 and 160.

Publication history

The book, with product code TSR 9552, was published in July 1998, and was written by

Dale Donovan Dale A. Donovan is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Dale Donovan began working in the hobby-gaming industry in 1989. A past editor of Dragon magazine, Donovan worked for TSR, Inc., Wizards of the Coast, and H ...

. Cover art was by

Todd Lockwood Todd Wills Lockwood (born July 9, 1957) is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and for his covers for the books of R. A. Salv ...

and interior art by David Martin,

Fred Fields Fred Fields is an American artist whose work has appeared largely in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR. Biography Fred Fields was born in northern Kentucky. He grew up in the small town of Burlington, Kentucky. Fie ...

Keith Parkinson Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as ''EverQuest'', '' Guardians'', '' Magic: The Gathering'', and '' Vanguard: Saga of Hero ...

Jeff Easley Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy Work of art, 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 ...

, and

Jennell Jaquays Jennell Allyn Jaquays (born Paul Jaquays; October 14, 1956 – January 10, 2024) was an American game designer, Game art design, video game artist, and illustrator of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). Her notable works include the ''Dungeons & ...

Reception

Reviews

*''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' #116 *''Backstab'' #11

Notes

References

* Donovan, Dale. ''Villains' Lorebook'' ( TSR, 1998).

External links

*http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_764.html Forgotten Realms sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1998 {{ForgottenRealms-stub