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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 5993043" data-attributes="member: 1165">I've only read one or two Elminster stories before I swore them off. It seems like power fantasy. I generally don't use the term Mary Sue to describe him, as he's not fanfiction, and isn't an idealized version of the author, but he's a "Canon Sue". Elminster without magic is still the smartest, most competent character around who never seems to make a mistake, cannot fail to seduce a woman unless she's an elf who has personal reasons to hate him, and if he rolls a natural 1 on his Int checks, the goddess of magic that he had sex with will rescue him. With magic and he becomes a boring invincible hero. (You can tell you read too much TV Tropes when...)But there's people who like that kind of book. They're the fans who will insist their favorite character is "the greatest" and the book is filled with proof of that.Other books featuring Chosen of Mystra are like this too, although to a lesser extent. (Khelben can occasionally mess up, and I'm not talking morally.) From other Greenwood stuff that I've read (Knights of Myth Drannor, the Kingless Land), he's a good author as long as the Chosen of Mystra are shown the door.I don't have the attention span to watch videos of that length anymore, and I don't know if it's possible to watch a livestream after it's done, so in short I didn't watch the linked video. All I can say is Elminster was downgraded into a crazy character too afraid to use magic (also downgraded stat-wise, although that wasn't strictly necessary; Elminster's stats were always the least cheesy part of the character)and I thought he should stay that way, so how can he headline a series of books? Characters like him were my least favorite part of the Realms, and I was glad to see him and Mystra dumped. Fortunately, there's other settings out there.</blockquote>

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