Post/Author/DateTime	Post
abustleinyourhedgerow 06-29-06, 11:50 AM	somebody answer this for me...i understand why the book of vile deeds is for mature audiences, what with carving pockets in your skin and stuff...but why the book of exalted deeds, if it's about good deeds?
RoamingArcher 06-29-06, 12:17 PM	I've heard that a lot of the stuff in it is partially broken, so it requires maturity to use the stuff like Vow of Poverty right. I don't know if there's adult content in it though.
WayneTheGame 06-29-06, 12:17 PM	Because the concept of good deeds as defined in the BoED warrants mature people to make use of it. Remember, both of these books expect the game to deeply involve the concepts they discuss, and involve the question of morality (or depravity as the case may be) routinely in the game session. Hence why it's intended for mature audiences.
runestar 06-29-06, 12:18 PM	What better way to boost the sales of a book by restricting its access or banning it? ;) Truth be told: I have no idea either. I found BOVD too tame for its rating too. :(
starfire311 06-29-06, 12:21 PM	the reason is simple, because it discusses moralities, and ethics, and they felt that the reader should be mature enough to understand these.
ShadowDragon8685 06-29-06, 12:40 PM	No, no, no. You're all wrong. It's rated as Mature because it has (a few, and poorly) drawn bare boobies in it, and in the fallout of Janet Jackson's *** flopping about during the Super Bowl, they decided safer was better than sorrier.
LuckyLeprechaun 06-29-06, 01:10 PM	WayneTheGame and starfire311 have it right on, the book has a mature rating because it deals with questions of morality and ethics, they want to make sure the people who buy will actually look into this and ask "what really is 'good'?" If you come out with the answer "to kill evil creatures on sight because they can," they either just can't understand the true meaning of what this book is for, or they just don't want to use this book to it's full meaning because it will affect the way they prefer to game, which is ok, it just means you shouldn't buy the book in the first place. Also it says it deals roughly with some real-world religion aspects, which some people can find uncomfortable. It's basicly just a warning saying "make sure you really now what this book is about, or don't bother buying it."
hmmmm 06-29-06, 01:15 PM	Yes, the author explains it in the introduction.
razorboy 06-29-06, 01:24 PM	So that only mature people who won't abuse the rules within would use it. :P Just kidding. However, the others are right. The issues of religion, faith, morality, ethics, having to make difficult decisions if you want to play a good (a truly good) character all require a certain level of maturity. You can have an 8-year old mathematical prodigy, but it does not mean that he'll be able to distinguish between certain moral and ethical issues, or be able to be open-minded and understanding of many issues (not that the majority of adults out there can do the same either, or at least it seems so on the news). And yeah, there's some partial nudity and a few violent (more than usual) pics in there. Although I don't think the pics alone justify a Mature rating. Maybe it's because of pornography laws or something.
Millennium 06-29-06, 01:57 PM	In theory, the book is supposed to be a frank discussion of the morality of the classic D&D "Good" alignment. If done well, this would indeed be a mature subject, just as the discussion in the Book of Vile Darkness is a mature subject. However, it really didn't work out that way in practice. Although there was some discussion of the Good alignment, for the most part the book ended up being a lame equal-and-opposite facsimilie of the BoVD, which rather misses the point of what it was trying to go for in the first place. There is also a very small amount of nudity and violence in the illustrations, which I suppose also technically qualifies. When it comes down to it, though, the only real reason to see it as a mature book is that it's not really meant to be used unless you're also using the BoVD, which certainly is a mature book.
AaronDireBear 06-29-06, 02:30 PM	The book was published way before Janet Jackson's 2/3 of a breast were exposed...
Thelandrach 06-29-06, 03:53 PM	Oh, sure. That's what the author says. I say, it's about the boobies.
runestar 06-30-06, 12:54 AM	the reason is simple, because it discusses moralities, and ethics, and they felt that the reader should be mature enough to understand these. Yeah, they glossed over it in a few pages before proceeding to bombard us with yet more feats, more magic items, more prcs... :rolleyes: Champions of ruin touched on similar aspects as well, yet it does not have such a rating...
Kresalak 06-30-06, 03:28 AM	Because kids might mistake it for anything more than a joke.
Sphyre 06-30-06, 01:15 PM	Because too much of anything is a bad thing... Even if it's too much of a good thing. as Edymnion said once "Exalted means your character is so good that a paladin looks like a shifty crack dealer." or something like that. I recently finished up a campaign where at the end, we accidentally freed a good god from a prison for gods. He started bringing everything back to life. Everything. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Life must be allowed to end eventually....
UndeadMouse 06-30-06, 04:21 PM	A: the books deal with very extreme parts of good/evil, that most people have trouble understanding. In the BoVD, you have some really old evil entities in there. Some of the arch-devils are some of the origonal Christian evil entities. B: there are images containing mature material in there. I say BoVD earns it's rating, but I don't know about the BoED because i haven't bought it yet.
Hochiu 06-30-06, 04:25 PM	I like the BOED, just like I like the BOVD. It has nice concepts, but I agree with the warning label and every other poster. It's mature material because it goes in depth over things you should be mature to consider. That way you don't get a bunch of 13 year olds missing the point and going "heheheheheheeh boobies hehehehehehe". Just like the BOVD. I'm sure that Wizards put both Mature labels on there because most of the masses are idiots. Both books'll get some looks at and overzealous parents will freak out over BOTH issues. Remember the people who freak out because the American Pledge of Allegiance has the word "God" in it. It's a way for Wizards to protect their product's integrity, especially after all the Demon-blaming that TSR got in the 1980's. If I were a parent, and I saw books that were regulated by the COMPANY ITSELF, then maybe the rest of their books can be appropriate for my child.
Yak of Darkness 06-30-06, 04:33 PM	However, it really didn't work out that way in practice. Although there was some discussion of the Good alignment, for the most part the book ended up being a lame equal-and-opposite facsimilie of the BoVD, which rather misses the point of what it was trying to go for in the first place. There is also a very small amount of nudity and violence in the illustrations, which I suppose also technically qualifies.Heh. Pretty much. The mature label also gives a great snooty response to anyone who rolls their eyes at parts of the book or questions rules/flavor that are poorly-written or don't make sense--"You're just not MATURE enough to deal with a MATURE book written for MATURE audiences. Also, roleplaying/rollplaying." The BoVD is a better work on Evil than the BoED is on Good. And that's just sad.
FellBlade 06-30-06, 04:35 PM	That way you don't get a bunch of 13 year olds missing the point and going "heheheheheheeh boobies hehehehehehe. much like on these boards
hmmmm 06-30-06, 05:00 PM	much like on these boards I'd say.....
The man they call Boxhead 06-30-06, 06:40 PM	As a side note, it also uses some real-world religions as the basis for the content. As such, it gains an instant Mature warning. Part of it is indeed fall out leftover from the '80s when D&D was thoroughly persecuted for its use of demons, devils and angels, alongside magic and mayhem.