Finally figured out why I hate D&D novels.

PaulKemp · Jul 28, 2006

Ah! I better understand your statement.

And thank you for the compliment.

Arnwyn · Jul 28, 2006

Vraille Darkfang said:
& to keep me up with what sort of near-Realms calamity is going down that month.

Heh. Best quote of the thread.

Needless to say, I dumped the FR novels about 6 years ago (after having a complete collection up through 2000), and have been extremely happy with that decision.

horacethegrey · Jul 28, 2006

Well the only DnD novels I've read are the FR books of Salvatore, and the Azure Bonds, first of the Finder's Stone trilogy (love Alias and Dragonbait

).

I've not encountered the underpowered cleric problem that Mr. Darkfang mentioned. In fact, the clerics I've come across in the books I've read have been horrendously overpowered. Case in point, Cadderly Bonaduce, the hero of Salvatore's Cleric Quintet novels. SPOILERS I mean seriously, when we first meet Cadderly, the guy's just some choir boy in training in the order of Deneir. But by the end of the novels, he's gone toe to toe with a psychic assassin, tamed a elder red dragon, taken on an entire army, and created a whole freaking temple to Deneir by himself.

Now I'd understand if the series occured within a number of years, as it would show Cadderly growing into his power. But it doesn't, the novels as a whole occur only in one year, and Cadderly himself becomes some demigod by the end of it. Can you say Mary Sue anyone?

SPOILERS

Vraille Darkfang · Jul 28, 2006

horacethegrey said:
I've read have been horrendously overpowered. Case in point, Cadderly Bonaduce, SPOILERS

Cadderly is more the exception than the rule. He actually acts like a high-level priest. He raises an entire cathedral all by his little old self. He does things a really high level priest could do, a nice, all too rare, counter point to all his Arcane contemporaries.

Aside from him (and maybe Fzoul), there are very few high level clerics who are presented as being really powerful.

Every other hamlet in the Realms seems to have an arch-mage (Semmon, Halaster, Khelben, Alustriel, Szass Tam, etc, etc, etc).

When you need something blown up, there's a wizard right there. You need a priest to repair a severd arm. Good Luck, even if you are in Waterdeep in front of Lathander's Temple.

The Realms has high level clerics around (maybe not a prominent as mages), but they are there. Yet, it seems they rarely live up to their potential, while Wizards move mountains.

I just would like a better balance. Let the Priests be, well, preistly. They got 9th level spells too.

reanjr · Jul 28, 2006

Stop reading Forgotten Realms. None of the other D&D novel series are like this.

WayneLigon · Jul 29, 2006

horacethegrey said:
Case in point, Cadderly Bonaduce, the hero of Salvatore's Cleric Quintet novels.

So in other words he's a normal adventurer, rising from 1st to 20th in a year of 4-hour sessions

Vraille Darkfang · Jul 29, 2006

reanjr said:
Stop reading Forgotten Realms. None of the other D&D novel series are like this.

But, FR is the only series (WotC) I'm interested in.

Except Ravenloft (and not many of those were that good).

I stopped Dragonlance around 2000 or so (I'd read every title up to Dragons of a Vanished Moon or so). I got tired of the Divine Hokey-Pokey. "You give all your portfolio in, you take all your portfolio out, in but the portfolio back in, then you shake your clerics all about"

The FR world is where I learned to DM & where most of my favorite campaigns as a player took place in. I know the FR world. When in my other posts, I said it's not D&D, I should have said it's not FR. FR has high level characters of every class, not just Arcane Casters. You just don't see the Divine Casters rise up to the level they should all that often.

You have a distinct set of rules for a common world. It seems they decided to have 2 different sets of rules for FR, one D&D & one Fiction. I mean it works out really well in movies right? What makes it popular in one medium just won't translate to a 'larger' medium. I call this the "Joel Schumacher" school of thought.

I liked my D&D Forgotten Realms. I don't get to play that anymore, so I try to kinda keep in touch via the novels. The problem is it just isn't there. The 'feel' of the game isn't there (Most of the time, some good execptions exist, say the Parched Sea or the Finder's Stone Series).

It's like Star Trek without the Prime Directive,

Star Wars without the Force.

Music Television without FREAKIN' VIDEOS!!!!!

Shakira without Hip Shaking.

It might still be good (except MTV), but it's not the same (OK, Shakira's Dia de Enero lacks the hip gyrations, but is still Shakira).

But, at some point as I've stopped gaming FR, but still reading it (as opposed to both), the gulf between Novels an Game has become so far they don't really even resemble each other.

You could slap an FR Cover on a Warhammer Fantasy Novel & it'd seem about as FR as most of the Current FR novels seem to be.

I'm just sort of disapointed, that's all.

ssampier · Jul 29, 2006

I stopped reading D&D novels in general. I am happy to hear people still enjoy them, though. The lack of clerical magic concerns a bit though. I wonder if they choose to do it for simplicities sake, since divine magic can undue many permanent situations (death, poison) that can be used for dramatic effect.

Vraille Darkfang said:
But, FR is the only series (WotC) I'm interested in.

Except Ravenloft (and not many of those were that good).

I stopped Dragonlance around 2000 or so (I'd read every title up to Dragons of a Vanished Moon or so). I got tired of the Divine Hokey-Pokey. "You give all your portfolio in, you take all your portfolio out, in but the portfolio back in, then you shake your clerics all about"

But That's what it's all about!!

(sorry had to).

I think it makes it Epic or something. My cousin's all RAVE about it and the stories they tell always hinge on this God and That God.

Dark Psion · Jul 29, 2006

For me it is Magic Items and Treasure.

The Forgotten Realms is full of magic, but your rarely see any "basic" magic items. If one is featured, it is a lesser artifact of great power.

And where is the gold! In the recent Eberron adventures, I don't think any of them have come out richer than when they started.

I am currently reading The Claws of the Tiger (Eberron) and while it is a good story, it does have one problem. A simple plot point that none of the PCs have noticed despiter being Tarasque sized, painted Purple and singing "I Love You!"

Spoiler:

You don't suppose that evil spirit we released is why our cleric suddenly turned evil on us? I mean just because the Paladin detected "unspeakable" evil in her is no reason to put 6 and 6 and 6 together.

Duh!

Klaus · Jul 29, 2006

Dark Psion said:
For me it is Magic Items and Treasure.

The Forgotten Realms is full of magic, but your rarely see and "basic" magic items. If one is featured, it is a lesser artifact of great power.

And where is the gold! In the recent Eberron adventures, I don't think any of them have come out richer than when they started.

I am currently reading The Claws of the Tiger (Eberron) and while it is a good story, it does have one problem. A simple plot point that none of the PCs have noticed despiter being Tarasque sized, painted Purple and singing "I Love You!"

Spoiler:

You don't suppose that evil spirit we released is why our cleric suddenly turned evil on us? I mean just because the Paladin detected "unspeakable" evil in her is no reason to put 6 and 6 and 6 together.

Duh!

Regarding Shattered Land, they aren't richer because, hey, the adventure most surely isn;t over. But at least one of them got a neat magic item.

But they got paid in the first book, enough to buy them a base of operations!