The Year of Drizzt? (20th Anniversary)

[Ranger REG]

Of course, while I'm not terribly impressed with Drizz't, I must say that this has been an enlightening look at what sort of fans he attracts.

That's nothing. You should be enlightened at what sort of fans RPG hobby attracts.

 

[Gez]

Speak after me: There is no "'" in "Drizzt". There is no "'" in "Drizzt". There is no "'" in "Drizzt".

Driz'zt is the hidden offspring of Drizzt and Graz'zt (who, like Loki, can take a female form when he needs to). There's also Grizzt, Griz'zt, Draz'zt and Drazzt, but only Driz'zt is the rebel.

Fear him. If you thought the twinkery, the clichery, and the angst was bad enough for a good-hearted outcast Drow badass ranger, prepare yourself for the good-hearted outcast half-archfiend Drow badass ranger/warlock -- it'll be devastating.

Core races, classes, feats, etc. *aren't* boring, if they were, nobody would bother to buy the PHB, they'd all be playing Thri-Kreen Warmind / Duskblade Gestalts. If the writer thinks the races and classes that are the *core* of the game are too boring to use, then perhaps D&D isn't his game, and he should be playing Gamma World or Mutants & Masterminds or something, where unusual abilities and unique circumstances are the order of the day.

The Drizzt books were, initially, books about a Norse-like Human Barbarian, a Dwarf Fighter, and a sexy Human archer (Fighter too, maybe Rogue, I'm not sure). All character types that are rather unexotic, as far as D&D and general fantasy go.

Wulfgar happened to have an exotic cohort who stole the show, but Drizzt wasn't meant to be the star at first.

Regardless, WOTC can do what it wants; coincidentally I’ve never bought anything from them in this age of *.pdf and *.torrent.

This is easily interpreted as condoning the so-called "piracy" (it's counterfeiting, not piracy, but that's a rant for another day) of RPG books and novels.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

There's the DDM Icons release with Icingdeath. That's the only one I'm aware of.

That's this year. They're writing about 2008 being chock-full of Drizzt releases, with DDM, D&D, and Novel releases. That sounds a lot like they plan more minis related to Drizzt (I doubt it will be another set with Drizzt in it, but his friends and foes are often requested by people).

they, conciously or not, are willing the same perfection into their characters.

It's still a perfectly viable concept: Someone who is morally spotless (though he does not fight fair, so he's not quite stark white).

I think saying ‘Haters’ unnecessarily corners people into defending an impossible viewpoint (‘why be hatin’ man?’).

The way some people responded, I'm not cornering anyone unecessarily. I'm not talking about those who say they never had an interest in Drizzt and his books. I'm talking about those people who think it's cool if they talk like stereotypical cave men while stating their dislike, and others like them.

Regardless, WOTC can do what it wants; coincidentally I’ve never bought anything from them in this age of *.pdf and *.torrent.

Did you just confess breaking the law or was that just a sly demonstration of that "stark white is impossible" concept of yours?

An author should be responsible for the words that he writes.

Not if he just borrows the characters and world. This goes for the FR, for Star Wars, and for so many other things. That's the disadvantage of sharing a world with other Authors: you can't do as you please. Personally, I think the advantage is so much greater: You create a vibrant, living world, where more happens than just one story line, and where you can experience more happening than that one story line.

So any Author writing Star Wars novels couldn't just write how Luke Skywalker was seduced by the Dark Side, resurrected Emperor Palpatine in a ritual where he killed a million children, and then the two together made every sentient being in the universe their mental thralls. You can't even just write how Skywalker's wife dies in a car accident, or how Han Solo discovers his homo-sexual side.

Surely it can't be that hard to write a good story where the protagonists are only 6th-8th level, don't have all sorts of weird templates or abilities, and don't wield masterwork or magical items, and yet still use some of the recognizable D&D monsters and races?

If you're writing for D&D, it can very likely be. The novels should fit the game at least loosely. A character without some magic (or at least masterwork!) items is quite unlikely. 6th-8th-level characters don't routinely save whole worlds, and they don't routinely stay 6th-8th-level that long. Abilities are what it's all about in D&D, so the novel heroes should have some. They should not consist of experts and warriors - there's so many classes out there to limit yourself to those two.

But the FR novels have a surprisingly small number of protagonists with any templates (weird or mundane).

Why not something like making a ranger an alcoholic ladies' man? Why not give a dwarf serious Vietnam-like flashbacks?

So you want to escape the same old characters by making other other "same old" characters? I can't even begin to count the number of movies I saw with people crawling into the bottle, or womanising the heck out of the female cast, or being haunted by Vietnam (sometimes, all three are present).

I think if you want to go away from some clichés, avoid them all while you're at it.

 

[Maggan]

The Majority of the people on this site like D&D though.

I'd wager that the majority of people in this site actually likes Driz'zt novels, as well. Considering the popularity of the character it would be really, really odd if the biggest D&D fan site in the world was made up of a majority of Driz'zt haters.

/M

 

[megamania]

How much Drizzt stuff can come out in one year before we all dislike him?


I like the character but I can't stand his popularity. Especially the rip-oofs that are occuring.

Oh well....

 

[Kae'Yoss]

How much Drizzt stuff can come out in one year before we all dislike him?

If they don't force us to buy it all? Let them release 10 articles a day for all I care. I don't hate Batman just because you can buy toys, comics, movie DVDs, t-shirts, caps, stickers, games, and a thousand other things.

 

[Imaro]

This announcement sorta makes me wonder how the Forgotten Realms line as a whole is doing. It seems like a revitalizing move that plays on nostalgia, sort of like the mega-adventures being released.

I don't really have an oppinion either way, liked the stories when I read them years ago, but never got into following it. I'm moreso wondering how you can release a whole years worth of gaming products that tie into one character. It's not like "Year of the Dragon" which is a pretty broad category. I guess time will tell.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I know a lot of people throw hatin' Drizzt's way, but who cares? This will help bring people into the hobby and I think this is awesome except for the fact that it has been 20 years. Holy %$#@ do I feel old!

 

[Vanuslux]

But if you're a fan of Entreri (And Jarlaxle), get the Sellswords Trilogy (part 1 being the older Servant of the Shard, but part 2 and 3 being the newest FR novels by Bob Salvatore).

UGH, again.
HOW are these two still alive?!
How many times have these two both escaped "Certain Death" scenarios?!
Just DIE already, so can get cool NEW villians and plots!

You just hit the nail on the head as to why I've stopped caring about Drizzt novels. The first two trilogies were great...the first trilogy is what got me into D&D. However, after the first two trilogies the series kept recycling its characters and story elements so much that it no longer reading a novel, but watching a predictable TV series where every week the villian is the same and maybe one or two things of lasting significance happens the whole season.

 

[Glyfair]

How much Drizzt stuff can come out in one year before we all dislike him?

That won't affect how much I like him. I tend to base my opinion of a character or product based on the virtues or defects of the character or product themselves.

How popular a character is indirectly affects my opinion at most. It's more likely I'll be aware of a character if it's more popular, for example. Now, if I dislike a character the degree might be affected by how much I'm exposed to them. However, it won't move me from like to dislike.

Unfortunately, this thread moved in the direction I was afraid of. I was hoping for a discussion of the actual subject matter, but knew it was likely to bring out the Drizzt haters (and thus his defenders).