Elminster? Really? Why is he so popular?

[Ahzad]

Elminster was very cool to me as a sage. All the little tidbits in game books, the pages from the mages, all those little blurbs scattered about was the Elminster I was cool with and really enjoyed.

Now Elminster uber-npc has no appeal to me what so ever.

Elminster he's no Pluffet Smedger!

 

[trancejeremy]

I think he started off decently enough, if something of a Gandalf clone.

But like a lot of characters, as more and more gets written about them, they became ridiculous.

A great example to me is Han Solo - in the movies he's presented as some sort of space bum.

Yet, after dozens of expanded universe novels, he's basically been turned into a Mary Sue

 

[prosfilaes]

Steve Jackson Games rebooted the original Traveller setting in GURPS with an alternate history where the Empire didn't fall. Perhaps they should create a GURPS Forgotten Realms where the Time of Troubles never happened, eh?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Steve Jackson Games rebooted the original Traveller setting in GURPS with an alternate history where the Empire didn't fall. Perhaps they should create a GURPS Forgotten Realms where the Time of Troubles never happened, eh?

Don't forget that an edition-free Ed's version of the Forgotten Realms is coming out in November this year. As Ed's home game did not include the Time of Troubles or all the other novel-caused *&%@, there's a good chance that this will appeal to those who really liked the Old Grey Box.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Product (Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms)

 

[humble minion]

Someone must be buying the books. Quite simply, they must sell, or WotC wouldn't keep publishing them. I can't stand them myself (and couldn't stand them even when I WAS still happily reading Drizzt), but my taste is not necessarily indicative of the wider D&D novel market's taste...

 

[JeffB]

Don't forget that an edition-free Ed's version of the Forgotten Realms is coming out in November this year. As Ed's home game did not include the Time of Troubles or all the other novel-caused *&%@, there's a good chance that this will appeal to those who really liked the Old Grey Box.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Product (Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms)

And it likely will not inlude a large chunk of what ended up in the OGB if it sticks to the premise. Grubb was responsible for adding quite a bit of material as well.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

I would dispute that Elminster is that popular among the fans, I suspect he is more popular at WotC.

 

[Dire Bare]

I would dispute that Elminster is that popular among the fans, I suspect he is more popular at WotC.

Sure, that makes sense. Lets keep publishing over 9 novels with Elminster as the main protagonist, keep featuring him as a major character of our most popular setting, because we like him even if he doesn't sell all that well.

 

[Henry]

Sure, that makes sense. Lets keep publishing over 9 novels with Elminster as the main protagonist, keep featuring him as a major character of our most popular setting, because we like him even if he doesn't sell all that well.

I find I have to agree with DB. While I can't place the exact source, I've often heard that many more people buy and read D&D fiction than people who buy tabletop RPGs. Some readers, believe it or not, don't even know there's a game behind it. I imagine that a cool, yet pretty stock character like Elminster sells pretty well to many readers of fantasy novels. I'm honest about the fact that just because I don't find something interesting any more, it doesn't make it unpopular -- if that were true, the Twilight series and Shades of Grey series would be miserable failures, and Firefly would be in its 11th season.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

The novels are far more popular than the games, that's just a simple fact. That's also why the needs of the novels will always trump the needs of the RPG.

Even at Candlekeep - the FR fansite on the web - many of the FR experts don't actually play D&D or any other RPG.