Vraille Darkfang
First Post
It's not like I read them expecting the next Homer or Hemingway, or Robert E. Howard.
In fact, they only ones I still read are the FR novels (as it's cheaper than buying every RPG supplement that come out, and I haven't played or ran a FR game in years).
I just read it as some cheap escapism & to keep me up with what sort of near-Realms calamity is going down that month.
Yet, it seem I'm getting more and more ticked off by the time I put the book down. Not that it was bad (per se), just that it wasn't, well, D&D.
Who's ever in charge over there at the book department has decided the C, H & R (Cure, Heal, Regenerate) words are 'Not to be mentioned'.
Clerics just don't work right. Wizards can stop time, blow up mountains, or fly towers over the moon (the new Blackstaff novel), but a High Cleric can't cast a Cure Critical Wounds or a Neutralize Posion to save his life (or, more likely a character that needs to die dramatically).
Why?
It can't be that 'It makes things less dangerous and really makes it hard to come up with dangerous situations'. I've been DMing for 10+ years and playing longer. Despite having access to obscene (occasionally) amount of Healing Magic, My characters still died. In fact, despite have a lot of healing magic in D&D, the Grim Reaper still seems to have to work overtime. In fact, despite all these ways to 'Prevent the threat of danger' I've got several trees worth of dead PC's. Most gamers I know do. So, if we can kill people left & right at the drop of the hat despite all the high level Healing spells, why can't an author?
The simple fact is: Using the D&D rules-set as is, doesn't make it all that much harder to tell a story. Sure the "Sorry, old friend, cough, cough, the clerics say I won't last through the night. My wounds are too severe. Cough, cough, But before I die we need to have this emotional conversation to resolve this plot point (I think this was in one of the Rage/Rite/Ruin novles)."
Don't power wedgie the clerics. You sure don't power wedgie the Mages.
Imagine reading a Star Wars novel and reading how the editor thought "All those Force Powers just get in the way of telling a story, so I cut them out".
Or: What's with all these Train Steam Engines. That's just making it way too easy for Holmes to solve these crimes, they have to go.
By deciding to rip out of of the Core Pillars of D&D, these aren't D&D novels. These are just like every other fantasy novel out there. It's a level playing field.
Guess what? D&D is the KC Royals of the Fantasy Section. Still in the big leagues, but no one's sure just why.
I guess Blackstaff was my last D&D... wait... Wizards of the Coast Book Department Fantasy Novel.
I'll still read the good ones (like the Royals they still get lucky once in a while), but I'm through reading these novels as "D&D Books"
I wouldn't buy a Dying Earth Anthology where the spellcasters cast willy-nilly all day. I wouldn't buy an Reggae Album of Hard Rock. It's not that they'd be bad. It's just thye're trying to be something they're not. Or perhaps, something that some marketing guru thought would sell better.
And it only took me about 3 years to realize it.
If I read a FR Novel, I'll expect High-Magic, Time Stop & every other 9th level spell there is. I won't expect a High Cleric to get out anything better than a bless. After all, trying to come up with a way to create a believable threat to a group of adventures would take, say, 5 mimutes with any gaming group in the country. In fact, you'd have to spend a hour (maybe two) talking to various DM's for them to come up with a thousandth or so way in which they killed a PC, despite high level healing floating around.
If WotC wants a competitive edge in my purchasing decisions, they have 2 options.
1. Write better books.
2. Take the D&D (FR in this case), as is. All-powerful Mages. Skillful Rogues. Noble Fighters. and POWERFUL CLERICS who can cast a Frickin' HEALING SPELL ONCE IN A WHILE.
Rant over.
Now where's my Warhammer Fantasy Novels....
In fact, they only ones I still read are the FR novels (as it's cheaper than buying every RPG supplement that come out, and I haven't played or ran a FR game in years).
I just read it as some cheap escapism & to keep me up with what sort of near-Realms calamity is going down that month.
Yet, it seem I'm getting more and more ticked off by the time I put the book down. Not that it was bad (per se), just that it wasn't, well, D&D.
Who's ever in charge over there at the book department has decided the C, H & R (Cure, Heal, Regenerate) words are 'Not to be mentioned'.
Clerics just don't work right. Wizards can stop time, blow up mountains, or fly towers over the moon (the new Blackstaff novel), but a High Cleric can't cast a Cure Critical Wounds or a Neutralize Posion to save his life (or, more likely a character that needs to die dramatically).
Why?
It can't be that 'It makes things less dangerous and really makes it hard to come up with dangerous situations'. I've been DMing for 10+ years and playing longer. Despite having access to obscene (occasionally) amount of Healing Magic, My characters still died. In fact, despite have a lot of healing magic in D&D, the Grim Reaper still seems to have to work overtime. In fact, despite all these ways to 'Prevent the threat of danger' I've got several trees worth of dead PC's. Most gamers I know do. So, if we can kill people left & right at the drop of the hat despite all the high level Healing spells, why can't an author?
The simple fact is: Using the D&D rules-set as is, doesn't make it all that much harder to tell a story. Sure the "Sorry, old friend, cough, cough, the clerics say I won't last through the night. My wounds are too severe. Cough, cough, But before I die we need to have this emotional conversation to resolve this plot point (I think this was in one of the Rage/Rite/Ruin novles)."
Don't power wedgie the clerics. You sure don't power wedgie the Mages.
Imagine reading a Star Wars novel and reading how the editor thought "All those Force Powers just get in the way of telling a story, so I cut them out".
Or: What's with all these Train Steam Engines. That's just making it way too easy for Holmes to solve these crimes, they have to go.
By deciding to rip out of of the Core Pillars of D&D, these aren't D&D novels. These are just like every other fantasy novel out there. It's a level playing field.
Guess what? D&D is the KC Royals of the Fantasy Section. Still in the big leagues, but no one's sure just why.
I guess Blackstaff was my last D&D... wait... Wizards of the Coast Book Department Fantasy Novel.
I'll still read the good ones (like the Royals they still get lucky once in a while), but I'm through reading these novels as "D&D Books"
I wouldn't buy a Dying Earth Anthology where the spellcasters cast willy-nilly all day. I wouldn't buy an Reggae Album of Hard Rock. It's not that they'd be bad. It's just thye're trying to be something they're not. Or perhaps, something that some marketing guru thought would sell better.
And it only took me about 3 years to realize it.
If I read a FR Novel, I'll expect High-Magic, Time Stop & every other 9th level spell there is. I won't expect a High Cleric to get out anything better than a bless. After all, trying to come up with a way to create a believable threat to a group of adventures would take, say, 5 mimutes with any gaming group in the country. In fact, you'd have to spend a hour (maybe two) talking to various DM's for them to come up with a thousandth or so way in which they killed a PC, despite high level healing floating around.
If WotC wants a competitive edge in my purchasing decisions, they have 2 options.
1. Write better books.
2. Take the D&D (FR in this case), as is. All-powerful Mages. Skillful Rogues. Noble Fighters. and POWERFUL CLERICS who can cast a Frickin' HEALING SPELL ONCE IN A WHILE.
Rant over.
Now where's my Warhammer Fantasy Novels....
