Galifax’s Guide to Everything Evil by Jay Davidson (@RollPlayJay1)

There has long been spirited discussion, at times rather spicy and heated, about the merits and nature of an evil campaign and evil characters. I firmly find myself in the, within reason there could be a huge amount of good clean fun playing an evil campaign as long as it doesn’t verge into the problematic and/ or become some kind of horrific colonial crusade camp. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, although calling someone actually evil for even considering is a bit much...

This tome absolutely contains everything you need to start building evil characters and evil campaigns with heart and story, as well as how to play evil or otherwise ungoodly characters in ‘good’ parties and games without making it a nightmare for all involved.

From discussion of Safety Tools and detailed advice on creating evil characters for evil or otherwise campaigns that can play well and ferment machinations together for good or ill, through example evil campaign concepts, lucky 13 excellent evil subclasses and 3 egregious evil backgrounds, a plundered trove of items, including an assortment of new tools, purloined poisons and an I’ll-gotten fortune of fabulously evil items, to detailed systems for maintaining minions and ingenious Infamy, infa-you, infa-everybody in the party...and bestiary. This is everything evil wrapped up and ready to go! Plus, because Davidson has crafted everything with such care, nothing here is one note evil evilness, so there is so much that will play in any game!

Before We Begin Great section addressing the need for communication and consent, even more so with evil characters and themes.

Tips & Tricks Some fantastic questions to ask ourselves before we play to encourage self-reflection and to be mindful of other players “Don’t forget to care for one another and happy gaming!”

Honor Among Thieves Wonderful advice regarding the running and playing of an evil campaign with various suggestions for why your merciless crew of cutthroat might choose to keep each other breathing.

“The most important thing to remember is that everyone at the table is there to have a good time playing together and tell a fun story. Being a thorn in everyone else’s side doesn’t help that. Try your best to be a part of the fun, not the reason nobody’s having any.”

Playing the Black Sheep Insightful takes on playing in groups with mixed alignment or an evil or good character in a party or primary good or evil, and making it work.

“Regardless of your party’s alignments or back-grounds, it’s important to remember this; every-one at the table is there to have fun telling a story together.”

Evil Campaign Types Five campaign types are outlined with the kind of stories that can be told and what can generally make up elements of an evil campaign. These are presented with three qualities; Combat, Role Play, and Complexity, which represent how combat-orientated the type may be, the emphasis they put on roleplaying, and the number of moving parts and potential complications.

These campaign types are: Swords for Hire, Servants of Evil, Ambitious Thievery, Dark Rulers, and Usurpers Of Good.

Evil Archetypes New subclasses for the 12 base classes, as well as the artificer, are provided with evil flavour, though they could find play in any game also.

Reanimator This artificer makes themselves a meaty friend to suit themselves with greater abilities and options as they progress, including the ability to augment themselves and others with their embalming tools and necromantic skills.

Path of the Maw Content Warning: Cannibalism These Barbarians are touched by the Abyss and fight with bloodthirsty abandon, able to shrug off deadly wounds and choosing bonuses for consuming the flesh of their fallen goes.

College of Horror These bards revel in the macabre and laugh in the face of fear, telling haunting ghost stories and unnerving lullabies that manifest their enemy’s greatest fears and weaponises it against them. They later gain the ability to literally. Scare you to do with a well-timed boo!

Void Domain These cosmic horror Clerics are tapped into some unknowable entity or power, a source of chaos from the beyond. A glimpse of your ‘deity` can render your enemies catatonic and through this power, these anarchic clerics (anarchlerics?) become dark angels!

Circle of Calamity These Druids are one with the destructive elements of nature and can use their Wild Shape to embody these calamitous forces, as well as eventually learning to unleash destructive forms of localised weather.

Warlord These Fighters are master tacticians and well-studied in getting the most from their allies who they can command and bolster. This insight grants them greater defence and assures they are no slouch at the commencement of battle.

Way of the Striking Serpent Much like Number 2 in the Five Deadly Venoms (great old kung-fu film btw), these monks have studied snakes and incorporate their wily movement, camouflage, poisonous bite and dazzling glare in their fighting style.

Oath of Corruption These Paladins are as close to being an Antipaladin as makes no difference. They revel in evil and actively seek out as subdue good, using their insidious influence to turn ally against ally and ultimately being searing anathema to purity.

Monster Conclave These monstrous Rangers feel a kinship with monstrosities, which allows them a relationship akin to that which many other rangers share with beasts. This affinity also confers them adaptations allowing them to transcend their own flesh for a time.

Torturer Honestly, I thought I was going to have a problem with this one and honestly, I don’t like the name or connotations, even within an evil context, but Davidson has created a subclass that centres on inflicting more damage with more precision and a studied eye in combat, opposed to taking it anywhere problematic. The Torturer’s Tools are a step to far for me, personally. I would rename the class and swap out the tools for use in my own game.

Cursed Bloodline These Sorcerers manifest their ancestral misfortune by mitigating their own difficulties and manipulating others through cursed means. This really makes me want to finally play my first sorcerer!

Shadow Patron Warlocks with the otherworldly Shadow Patron are one with the darkness, using its cloak to hide their misdeeds, trapping enemies with tendrils of darkness and moving freely within their Patron’s umbral domain.

School of the Mind Thief Like the great Mentok the Mindtaker, these Wizards use other people’s minds as crystal balls and can draw energy along with memories, including replenishing slots from snuffing out the spells of their enemies. Where the Divination Wizard looks outward to the mysteries the Mind Thief looks inward to secrets. This also gets the Finley nod of approval, which is something as they only ever play Wizards.

Evil Backgrounds “Every good villain has a backstory.”

Heretic “You once belonged to a religious order that centered around some creed or deity.” This is a brilliant alternative to acolyte for the less...commonly pious with so much flavour in the personality. A solid choice for evil or any other questioning alignment.

Monster Breeder “The world is full of things that creep and crawl in the dark.” Let your true Sokhbarr out and become one with the beasts and monstrosities, taking one to truly become an expert.

Graverobber “You’ve had to scrounge and scrape to get your hands on what you’ve needed to survive, even if I was once in the hands of someone else.” Not the cleanest way to make a living, but it certainly has its perks.

All three of these come with so much flavour for backstories and potential adventures and campaigns.

Evil Items

Weapons
“Perfect items of death-dealing for any scoundrel, cheat, assassin, or thug”, including the classic Assassin’s Wrist Blade!

Poisons “Diabolical concoctions in easily-hidden-from-guards sized packages” in an interesting variety of danger and flavour, including a true answer that takes the choice out of “cake or death” and a Demon Elixir steroid boost.

Special “Cheating requires finesse, skill, and a bit of creativity”, including take chance into your own hands or keeping things secret and safe with the installation of Hidden Compartments.

Tools “Every job requires the right tools, especially the dirty ones.” All the new tools associated with the new player options are included here, including Grave Robbing Kit and the Torturer’s Tools, which are a bit too much for me personally.

Magic Items A large vault of “vicious magics for the villains who want them” of so many awesome items of all rarities, including a Flesh-Eating Cauldron that solves the problem of body disposal and what to do for lunch, a Banshee Music Box whose mournful song causes a palpable terror, making their victim’s all the more pulpable, a legendary Suit of the Dread Lord, which protects and helps make an appropriate entourage for such a dedicated follower of fashion, a Jasper Scorpion Figurine of Wondrous Power, and a Reliquary of the Damned, which collects and transfers souls to its owner’s evil deity for spectacular bonuses.

Optional Rule Systems “There’s a lot to do in order to become a successful evil villain.”

Recruiting Minions “Whether you’re a paranoid tyrant with enemies around every corner or the wealthy leader of a thieves guild, every ambitious evil character needs a group of minions at their beck and call.” This is a seriously impressive comprehensive, yet simple to apply system to build and maintain a range of minions to do all manner of tasks for you.

Infamy “The truly vile forces of evil leave their mark on the world long after they have left.” This ten-tiered system offers increasing benefits and motivation for building a reputation in infamy. The concepts, bonuses and connections made to other factions and entities make this system work as a spine for an evil campaign on its own. Well thought out and guaranteed to enrich a campaign.

Bestiary Seven creatures are included that will benefit any game, but make fantastic, goodie-two-shoes enemies for the evil campaign. Unless, they could be turned to your cause? From the righteous guardian of the Divine Sentinel, through the holy rollers of the Archpriest, Holy Warrior, Crusader, Squire to the defenders of nature in the Verdant Protector and Verdant Redeemer.

This book is filled the gills with tonnes of stylish and freaky original artworks throughout the book, along with wry annotations from the eponymous Galifax.

I already believed that evil could prevail without corroding the game and tainting the players before reading this, but I just wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it, but this has made me a convert working on becoming an alignment wonk. I believe this could convince goodly holdouts and get them join your Legion of Doom or Evil League of Evil.

This is truly a monumental and sensational work covering so much ground and brining so much to the table!

If you have an evil bone in your body, you need this. If you’re good, come to the Dark Side – we have cookies!

Credits Written & Edited by Jay Davidson (@RollPlayJay1) Artwork & Design by Inferential Studios (@EyeEnEffStudios)

My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/332705/Galifaxs-Guide-To-Everything-Evil?affiliate_id=1507682

From the moment I saw a preview of the art for this book, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it! The use of color to set the tone of the book is exquisite and very eye catching. Honestly, I could go on for days about the art, but you really want to know about the content.

One of the understandable hesitations in running an evil campaign is, how can one be evil and still work as a group? How can we still play a comfortable and safe game while living out our evil fantasies? Right in the beginning, GGEE addresses this in section titles “Tips & Advice”. This section very thoroughly goes through ways to make sure you are respecting your fellow players, including questions to ask in your session 0, ways to discuss the themes of the campaign, and even how to incorporate characters that are a different alignment that the rest of the party. While this advice is directed for an evil campaign, it can also be applied to good aligned campaigns with darker themes.

Now that you have set up a safe space for your campaign to flourish, it is time to set your plot hook and characters. GGEE includes 5 evil campaign plot hooks to start creating your adventure, each ranked by combat, role play, and complexity. Skipping ahead a few sections, there are also two optional rule systems, Recruiting Minions and Infamy, to include in your campaign to give your campaign an added level of complexity. These hooks and optional rules are very well thought out and a great place for the novice evil DM to start.

For your players, there are 13 evil subclasses and 3 evil backgrounds for your players to choose from for a uniquely evil experience. As a Druid, you know I went straight to the Druid Circle to see if it held up! Circle of Calamity is a truly unique take on a druid’s connection to nature and makes your character a true force of nature and destruction. There is an archetype for every class, from the Artificer Reanimator to the Monk Way of the Striking Serpent to the Wizard School of the Mind Thief, and each are as unique as the previous.

Now I can understand if you are not ready to fully embrace your evil side in a long form evil campaign, but I would still recommend you pick up this guide. With 12 pages of evil items, including weapons, tools, poisons, and magic items, you will find at least a couple things to add to your campaign, good or evil. There are also 7 good aligned monsters found in the Bestiary section, complete with gorgeous art of each.

Overall, this is a very beautiful and detailed guide, and I would recommend it to any DM or players who are looking for something a little darker to add to their D&D 5e game. Thank you for taking the time to read my review!

Being good is fun... but being evil is great. Galifax's Guide to Everything Evil (GGEE) is positively (hah) exactly what a group of adventurers (and their DM) could ever want when it comes to creating their own group of baddies. The author, Jay, takes care in creating a "tips & advice" section to make sure that everybody keeps themselves well within the boundaries of the groups comfort zone. From offering suggestions on how or why a character is the way they are, to even helping give spark to any Evil Campaign scenarios for the DM and their group to venture forward and fully enjoy this guide. Each page is carefully written out and is truly an escort into the mindset of a more chaotic and vastly fun time that perhaps would otherwise go unexplored.

Each page, save for the occasional few, comes with a creatively appealing piece of art. InferentialStudio's has provided the audience with a truly prominent piece of the guide, through their artwork and layout appearance. Every archetype has their own individual character art that shows what a player could easily create given the tools that this guide provides. Alongside the archetype art, every weapon is detailed in both picture and writing, giving a player a clear indication of what each weapon does and what their character could potentially carry in hand. This intense detail, down to the last stroke of the digital paintbrush, helps truly flesh out the GGEE to its max. An inspirational piece of work that reminds people that you can play the bad guy and have fun, without being a bad person.

With a whopping 60+ pages of content, Galifax's Guide to Everything Evil surely has something evil for everyone, even the most Lawful Good folk could get behind and surely enjoy. Kick your feet back, enjoy not being the voice of reason, and begin your terrifying reign.

Evil laughs mandatory.

So Galifax's Guide to Everything Evil, is a must have for any DM or player who wants to take their games and chracters to the next level!

If you are like me, and struggle with creating convincing deep story based evil characters and villians, seriosuly consider snagging a copy of this! The authors walk you through not just evil items, but they walk you through sub classes, backgrounds, and most importantly they give advice on how to make your characters more than just Evil for evils sake! They help with setting advice, and motive advice, helping your character become more than generic!

Seriously, stop just floundering in the dark and coming up with weak evil characters! Get Galifax's Guide to Everything Evil, and show your players what true evil is!!!