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[UPDATED] RAGE OF DEMONS! New D&D Storyline Features Drizzt, Underdark, & Demon Lords!
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<blockquote data-quote="jbear" data-source="post: 7670065" data-attributes="member: 75065"><p>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.</p><p></p><p>Read this way the announcement indicates (as TwoSix mentioned but was ignored) that Drzzt kicks off a segment of <strong>the computer game</strong> Sword Coast Legends where players are sent into the underdark.; an <strong>expansion of the MMORPG</strong> Neverwinter:Underdark will send players to Menzoberranzan with Drzzt; players of the <strong>tabletop RPG</strong> <u>can</u> descend into the Underdark in the new adventure Out of the Abyss where <strong>demonlords</strong> 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).</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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?). </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.)</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jbear, post: 7670065, member: 75065"] 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 [B]the computer game[/B] Sword Coast Legends where players are sent into the underdark.; an [B]expansion of the MMORPG[/B] Neverwinter:Underdark will send players to Menzoberranzan with Drzzt; players of the [B]tabletop RPG[/B] [U]can[/U] descend into the Underdark in the new adventure Out of the Abyss where [B]demonlords[/B] 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). [/QUOTE]
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[UPDATED] RAGE OF DEMONS! New D&D Storyline Features Drizzt, Underdark, & Demon Lords!
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