[UPDATED] RAGE OF DEMONS! New D&D Storyline Features Drizzt, Underdark, & Demon Lords!

Following Elemental Evil this fall, Rage of Demons will launch a new storyline featuring Drizzt Do'Urden, the Underdark, and various demon lords from the Abyss including old favourites like Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz’zt. This will feature on tabletop, console, and PC. "The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface." It begins with the adventure Out of the Abyss, which releases on September 15th for $49.95, and is being designed for WotC by Green Ronin Publishing. (Thanks to Charles Akins for that last scoop!)

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Drizzt? WotC's Chris Perkins says: "Drizzt's role in the RoD story varies depending on the platform. In the TRPG adventure, the PCs are the stars."

Inspiration: "My inspirations for RAGE OF DEMONS were Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories and EXILE, by R.A. Salvatore." [Perkins] So this is the Alice in Wonderland inspired story that's been previously alluded to.

Here's the full announcement.

"Today, Wizards of the Coast announced Rage of Demons, the new storyline for Dungeons & Dragons fans coming in Fall 2015. The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface. Rage of Demons is the story all D&D gamers will be excited to play this fall, whether they prefer consoles, PCs or rolling dice with friends.

Following on the critically-acclaimed Tyranny of Dragons and Elemental Evil stories, Rage of Demons will transport characters to the deadly and insane underworld. Rumors of powerful demon lords such as Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz’zt terrorizing the denizens of the Underdark have begun to filter up to the cities of the Sword Coast. The already dangerous caverns below the surface are thrown into ultimate chaos, madness and discord. The renegade drow Drizzt Do’Urden is sent to investigate but it will be up to you to aid in his fight against the demons before he succumbs to his darker temptations.

Dungeons & Dragons fans will have more options than ever to enjoy the Rage of Demons storyline. The themes of treachery and discord in the Underdark are in Sword Coast Legends, the new CRPG (computer role-playing game) coming this fall on PC from n-Space and Digital Extremes. The epic campaign that drives Sword Coast Legends' story forces players deep into the Underdark and continues well after launch with legendary adventurer Drizzt Do'Urden.

For fans of Neverwinter, the popular Dungeons & Dragons-based MMORPG will bring a new expansion – tentatively titled Neverwinter: Underdark – in 2015. The update will see adventurers travel with Drizzt to the drow city of Menzoberranzan during its demonic assault as well as experience a unique set of quests written by the creator of Drizzt, R.A. Salvatore. The expansion will initially be released on PC and will come out on the Xbox One at a later date.

Players of the tabletop roleplaying game can descend into the Underdark in Out of the Abyss, a new adventure which provides details on the demon lords rampaging through the Underdark. Partners such as WizKids, GaleForce 9 and Smiteworks will all support Rage of Demons with new products to help bring your tabletop game to life. To really get in the mind of Drizzt, fans will have to check out Archmage, the new novel by R.A. Salvatore, scheduled for release in early September.

“Rage of Demons is a huge storyline involving all expressions of Dungeons & Dragons, and we’re excited to bring players this story in concert with all of our partners,” said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director at Wizards of the Coast. “I can’t wait to see everyone interact with one of the world’s most recognizable fantasy characters: Drizzt Do’Urden. Descending into the depths won’t exactly be easy for him, and D&D fans will get their mettle tested just like Drizzt when they come face-to-face with all the demon lords.”

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[RichGreen]

I'm a big fan of demon lords and the Underdark so very much looking forward to this!

 

[Inchoroi]

Why would Drizzt need the help of the PCs? He's such a Gary Stu that he can clear it out all on his own. No need for other adventurers to help him.

If I decide to purchase this one (big if...I am *not* a fan of Drizzt), I will gut him entirely from the campaign.

As much as it pains me, as I do own all the Drizzt novels and love them...I'll be cutting him as well, assuming he plays anything more than a "This person exists and is part of history. Learn about him to gain info on the Underdark. Go adventure yourself, forgetting about the Notorious Mary Sue." Still, I'm hoping for quality commiserate with Princes of the Apocalypse.

 

[Kramodlog]

With Menzo mentioned and Gromph, I would think Drizzt will be prominent.

 

[Agamon]

There's so much angst for Drizzt in this thread, it reads like a page of his journal. Oh, the irony!

Do we know who's designing the adventure? Seeing as Kobold and Sasquatch did the last two, I'm assuming this one will be freelanced as well?

 

[delericho]

wow, it doesn't even mention Drizzt at all, and people are getting so up in arms about it?

They put him front and centre in their official announcement of the storyline. You can hardly be surprised if people assume he's going to be kind of important to it.

 

[Raunalyn]

Did anyone see the plot description for the "Out of the Abyss" Module on the WOTC website? I don't think our Dark Elf Ranger will have a prominent role in the RPG version.

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/outoftheabyss

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[h=3]SYNOPSIS[/h]Dare to descend into the Underdark in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game!
The Underdark is a subterranean wonderland, a vast and twisted labyrinth where fear reigns. It is the home of horrific monsters that have never seen the light of day. It is here that the dark elf Gromph Baenre, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, casts a foul spell meant to ignite a magical energy that suffuses the Underdark and tears open portals to the demonic Abyss. What steps through surprises even him, and from that moment on, the insanity that pervades the Underdark escalates and threatens to shake the Forgotten Realms to its foundations. Stop the madness before it consumes you!
A Dungeons & Dragons adventure for characters of levels 1–15
[h=3]ITEM DETAILS[/h]Price: $49.95 C$63.95
Release Date: 15 September, 2015

That *is* a really sweet picture of Demo-gorgon though...

 

[jbear]

So we all know what paragraphs are for, right people? Well, I would suggest those of you who are getting all worked up about Drzzt potentially overshadowing PCs inthe newadventure should re-read the 'full announcement' with a view that a paragraph contains a main idea which is elaborated with supporting detail. Fans (us and others who don't frequent RPG internet boards alike) will be able to interact with the new storyline in different ways. These different ways are then explained, each involving Drzzt in varying degrees.

Read this way the announcement indicates (as TwoSix mentioned but was ignored) that Drzzt kicks off a segment of the computer game Sword Coast Legends where players are sent into the underdark.; an expansion of the MMORPG Neverwinter:Underdark will send players to Menzoberranzan with Drzzt; players of the tabletop RPG can descend into the Underdark in the new adventure Out of the Abyss where demonlords are rampaging about the place and minis will be produced to support the adventure (please notice that in this section of the announcement there is NO DIRECT MENTION of Drzzt being involved in the adventure at all, just demonlords); also a new novel about Drzzt is being written (this comment is tacked on, not warranting a paragraph of its own).

I really don't think that Drzzt is going to be a major part of the table top adventure whatsoever, let alone a threat to overshadowing PCs involvement. The writers are every bit as aware as you and I that doing so would be an error, I am certain.

In any case, I think the whole hating on the character Drzzt has become a movement of its own. It's just not cool amongst D&D nerds to like Drzzt. One must mock and poopoo Drzzt at any opportunity lest one be thought of as less cool. Pfft. I didn't read all of the forgotten realms books with Drzzt, true. I reached a point where I found that the description of the fights reminded me too much of someone narrating the mechanics of a D&D session when fights occurred. I'm not a fanboy defending anything. But I'm not going to lie and pretend that the first couple of Drzzt books I read when he had first ventured into the underdark and was surviving down there by himself, the evil mindflayer, the drow priestesses whith their snake whips, the assassin Artemis Entreri, the double agent Jarlaxle, disgusting driders and all of the scheming of the drow houses wasn't thoroughly enjoyable to read about.

I know a lot of people don't like FR, but as I really don't give a crap about being a 'cool nerd' (a term I just made up, and a status which is only relative amongst other nerds), I'm going to go out on a limb here and say something else equally unpopular. I've found loads of great inspiration for my own campaigns from FR material. Yes, I cherry pick, 'tis true. But seriously ... FR 4e campaign book ... full of loads of gems! Helped me create a very cool place for my players to adventure within (yeah, if I say so myself ... who else is going to say it?).

Now that I don't have the time to invest in cherry picking ideas I like as fodder for creating my own world anymore (RL and all that), I am enjoying getting to know the Sword Coast, so I don't mind that the 5e adventures that are being prduced up until now (both Encounters and Adventure Books). It helps expanding the pathways a lot easier for me. I'll admit to feeling very constrained by the adventure as proposed in Tyranny of Dragons. The expectation of the movement of events in the adventure was not something that made sense to my players... my coming up with things on the spot to try and make those things make sense felt very forced to me. It felt like I was forcing my plyers down 'the one path'. I didn't enjoy that feeling, and I was sure that my players didn't enjoy the feeling that their options were so narrow. The adventure took players to the iconic city of Baldur's Gate, and so I decided to sit down and have a look at the Murder in Baldur's Gate adventure. It was awesome how the adventure brought that city that had been a really great memory as a young man playing the computer game of the same name. So Baldur's Gate is no longer going to just be a pitstop for my PCs. The pathways will open and they will make of it as they choose.

Looking further ahead the PCs pick up NPCs in the equally iconic Daggerford (one of those a renegade Red Wizard of Thay), so I decided to take a look at the Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, which also involved NPCs from there. All of a sudden I felt like I was able to interweave different storylines, open up different pathways to new adventure, as the PCs journey through and actually get to know the locations they are travelling through... and with no real prep (which I don't have time for sadly). They can choose which adventure they wish to proceed with, and if they want to stick with the main story line then that is a genuine choice; if they want to take the hooks elsewhere then I have material based on the same locations ready to go, which can easily feed back into the main story if I so wish. (This particular adventure would also be incredibly easy to link into the new Temple of Elemental Evil I imagine as well, although I do not have that adventure ... but the common locations and themes make it really easy to link.)

That's really what I want. Linked options that I can connect like a web together, and players can choose the strands they are drawn most strongly towards. I want to be able to bring a place to life in the minds of my players rather than Baldur's Gate being a generic city where there are loads of people, it has urban events, and you can get stuff. I want my players to be able to visit and then revisit a place, benefitting from the fact that they now know people and places there. I want to have world changing events going on that the PCs connect to at certain times depending on their chose course of action. I want their actions to effect the world and I want the actions they chose or chose not to take to develop to have an impact on how those world changing events proceed for good or for ill. I don't have time to create a giant sandbox of my on accord, an intricate game world , or even an elaborate adventure anymore. I love doing those things, but its just not feasible for me. SO having adventures linked by location, factions and organisations is really really useful. All I have to do is connect the dots. A little tweak here, a bit of a jiggle there, and voila, I can do all that with an absolute minimum of prep. Not with the adventure as a stand alone but in combination, pulling bits and pieces from here and there to create a web. An option to link things down to demons below... sweet I say, personally. It seems like a cool place to be able to take an adventure and to have other new things already going on.

So complain away if you like, because this next one includes Drzzt, and Drrzt aint kewl, but I personally think they are doing a pretty good job at the moment. I happily await other major themes to emerge (I'm hoping a nod to Ravenloft emerges next personally).

 

[ThirdWizard]

Drizzt dies in chapter three. You get to pick up his magic swords. You are the new Drizzt. Enjoy!

Of course!

"Well, Drizzt had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not Drizzt Do'Urden', he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the swords from the previous Drizzt Do'Urden, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Drizzt Do'Urden either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Drizzt has been retired fifteen years and living like a king in Calimport.'"

 

[SilverfireSage]

They put him front and centre in their official announcement of the storyline. You can hardly be surprised if people assume he's going to be kind of important to it.

Except nobody bothered to actually read the description of the RPG itself and proceeded to post 8 pages of complaints about it. I'm not surprised they did put him front and center though. This is essentially a marketing campaign for the new book as well, which likely sells better than any D&D book.

 

[Agamon]

Also, why do people here assume they are so much more intelligent than the adventure writers? What was the last professionally designed adventure where the party followed around a mary sue NPC and did as they were told? Maybe assuming the worst possible and least likely outcome isn't very productive.

I could make a fortune selling these here.
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