D&D 5E Clickbait we didn't fall for: "Wizards is copying Critical Role"

[Umbran]

A D&D novel from wotc isn’t exactly a new thing, just think it’s funny to make this specific point when most of them were born before 1984. (Double checked and yeah only Marisha and a couple guests are under 40)

Matt Mercer is 41.
He was not reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight while waiting for snack in his high chair.

 

[Lanefan]

One of my current players at school has stipulated that his cleric worships ALL gods - he wears an assortment of holy symbols and grabs the one he thinks most relevant to a particular situation. It's entertaining.

Your deities must be a mighty forgiving lot, then, given the innumerable instances where practices required in the Cleric-level worship of one deity would seriously offend another.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

No need to wonder, we have the cover and the description from Penguin:

View attachment 307654

ABOUT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE FALLBACKS: BOUND FOR RUIN​

Meet the newest Dungeons & Dragons party in the first epic adventure of The Fallbacks.

To become renowned adventurers, this party needs to survive their first job.

Tessalynde is an ambitious young rogue who dreams of leading Faerûn’s foremost adventuring party. While the crew she’s gathered isn’t the stuff of legend yet, she’s confident her guidance can get them there.

The team: Anson, a fighter too stubborn to stay down, even when the odds are stacked against him. Cazrin, a self-taught wizard determined to test her theoretical mettle against the real world. Baldric, a cleric who refuses to tie himself to a single deity when he can trade favors with them all. Lark, a bard with as many secrets as songs. And, of course, Uggie, a monstrous pet otyugh who loves giving hugs and eating trash.

Their first job: recovering a mysterious spellbook from a lost temple for a hefty payout. Tess hopes this assignment can turn her group of fledgling freelancers into a true team. But when their client is killed, their coin and his murderer both vanish, leaving the party to take the fall.

Stuck with a sentient, bloodthirsty grimoire and pursued by mercenaries and the undead, this is hardly the mission Tess envisioned. Her crew must save the day, get the gold, and clear the party’s name—which they haven’t even agreed upon yet! With the threats against them mounting, a single mistake will see this party over before it even begins.

Can this band of mismatched misfits stay together in the face of danger? Or are they bound for ruin?

Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin by Jaleigh Johnson: 9780593599549 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Meet the newest Dungeons & Dragons party in the first epic adventure of The Fallbacks. To become renowned adventurers, this party needs to survive their first job. Tessalynde is an ambitious...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Well, that cover should end any comparisons to Critical Role. It does not resemble CRS style at all.

 

[Staffan]

I love, love, love the idea of clerics using "divine magic", which is a way of bargaining with and channeling deities as needed, rather than clerics being a champion of one particular diety. That's a great way to make D&D henotheism more compelling, and present a reason why all clerics use similar magic.

I had an idea back in 2e that I never really developed where priests would start out worshiping the pantheon as a whole, but at some moderate level (like 5 or so) they would have the choice to either keep doing that (which would give them broad spell access but not much in the way of Kewl Powahs) or devote themselves to a particular god which would limit their casting of higher-level spells as well as possible weapon/armor selection but in return give some really impressive granted powers. Sort of a proto-prestige class, although the idea was more inspired by how casters worked in the Bard's Tale computer game.

I thought they were all younger.

They were. They've been at it for 8 years now.

 

[TwoSix]

Your deities must be a mighty forgiving lot, then, given the innumerable instances where practices required in the Cleric-level worship of one deity would seriously offend another.

There's no requirement for gods in your classic portfolio driven D&D setting to have any sort of omniscience.

Ares cares that you killed 10 enemy soldiers on the battlefield in his name, it's not his concern if you later heal 10 soldiers on the same field of battle in honor of Apollo.

 

[Alzrius]

Baldric, a cleric who refuses to tie himself to a single deity when he can trade favors with them all.

To the Wall of the Faithless with him! (Seriously hoping this at least gets a mention, since this is set in the Realms; it'd be a nice way to undo that ill-conceived errata removing the Wall from SCAG.)

EDIT: Just in case anyone isn't big into FR-lore, the joke here is that switching between gods makes someone False, not Faithless.

 

[TwoSix]

I had an idea back in 2e that I never really developed where priests would start out worshiping the pantheon as a whole, but at some moderate level (like 5 or so) they would have the choice to either keep doing that (which would give them broad spell access but not much in the way of Kewl Powahs) or devote themselves to a particular god which would limit their casting of higher-level spells as well as possible weapon/armor selection but in return give some really impressive granted powers. Sort of a proto-prestige class, although the idea was more inspired by how casters worked in the Bard's Tale computer game.

I love the idea, although I'd probably handle it more diegetically (since that's kinda my thing). The more you serve a particular god, the more power they're willing to grant you. Since the amount of service you can do in game is finite, most clerics will earn differing levels of favor with various gods just over the course of the narrative.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

One of my current players at school has stipulated that his cleric worships ALL gods - he wears an assortment of holy symbols and grabs the one he thinks most relevant to a particular situation. It's entertaining.

As for this book: it's a pretty vanilla collection of adventurers. Kinda lame, IMO. At least there's a tiefling.

And an a Dwarf Cleric who seems like the only one whose has an interesting hook at all, although the way they flavoured it steps hard on the Warlocks toes. Clerics don't make deals, they give worship. A Planar or Polygot cleric would have been better then a Warlockish Cleric.

I'm not sure what race the Rogue in the center is supposed to be.

It really seems like some of the most boring characters I've ever seen, almost completely generic AF, no hook into their background, no exotic race, besides Tiefling (not even one of the new subraces by the looks of it), the only interesting part is the new garbage disposal plushie toy they'll be selling soon in stories undoubtedly. Because what kid doesn't want to be hugged by their toilet/trash can right?

By D&D team did they mean the PR department or marketing teams?

Literally the only thing going for it is it an amazing writer, but like can she save it when they hand her a completely generic lemon plus obvious toy insert?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

To the Wall of the Faithless with him! (Seriously hoping this at least gets a mention, since this is set in the Realms; it'd be a nice way to undo that ill-conceived errata removing the Wall from SCAG.)

EDIT: Just in case anyone isn't big into FR-lore, the joke here is that switching between gods makes someone False, not Faithless.

Actually no that's no how that works. You go to the afterlife of the last God you faithfully served, or if you've never denied the existance of the Gods or Betrayed your Patrons teachings in a majorly destructive way, you you just serve Kelmvour, the Gods don't demand Monoltry.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I thought they were all younger.

They're about the same age than me and I'm young, so they're young too!