Finally figured out why I hate D&D novels.

[BrooklynKnight]

I can understand the upset but I'd suggest you may be overgeneralizing a bit. There's a whole series of "Priests" novels in FR, which, presumably, include ample clerical magic. And the protagonist of my FR novels is also a priest/assassin who regularly casts divine magic, some of it reasonably powerful.

My point is simply that many writers in the various D&D lines are quite familiar with the rules and manage to incorporate them into (what I hope are) good stories.

Paul

As a P.S.: there's an interesting discussion to be had about the "availability" of magic to PC's as distinguished from its general availability/use in a given setting. As players (and I am one, as well as an author), we often conflate those two things. Raise Dead and similar spells raise this issue most acutely.

Hey Paul.

I just wanna say I love your book. The short story was a great precurser and I cant wait to read the rest of them! I hope you write many many more Eberron books, and some FR ones, and some Starwars too!

 

[LiKral]

Interesting point, Vraille Darkfang. When people criticise D&D books, they often take the angle that they are too much like D&D - you can "hear the dice rolling in the background." But I have always felt that they are actually too little like the game.

A good example of healing magic taken to its logical conclusion is Steven Brust's "Vlad Taltos" series of fantasy novels. In that setting, magic for raising the dead is so common that assasination is seen as nothing more than a strong warning.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I agree. The mages are gods and clerics are pansies is pretty stupid in the FR. I stopped reading the novels personally. They annoy me as well. God-like chosen who can do whatever they want whenever they want don't make for interesting reading. I don't expect them to follow D&D exactly, but making characters that manifest any power the author feels like giving them at any particular time is cheesy and makes for poor storytelling.

 

[Vocenoctum]

A simple plot point that none of the PCs have noticed despiter being Tarasque sized, painted Purple and singing "I Love You!"

Spoiler:

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!

I agree, though they didn't know that they had done that, they never gave it any real thought, though they spent years trying to "figure out why".

 

[jonesy]

(Exception, Dragonlance & Dark-Sun both were pretty cleric poor, that's fine, they were suposed to be that way).

You just have to pick the right time period in Dragonlance. The Kingpriest Trilogy (which is, quite naturally, about kings who are also clerics) is very much full of healing of all kind. It's also a very good series of books regardless.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Interesting point, Vraille Darkfang. When people criticise D&D books, they often take the angle that they are too much like D&D - you can "hear the dice rolling in the background"

It's not so much I want that. If it reads like flavor text, I don't care for it.

This isn't about writing style, it's about writing substance.

Or, the double-standard between the Game World of Faerun & the Book World of Faerun.

They both use the same world. One affects the other (Shade Enclave from the Books, Sorcerers from 3rd edition). It's pretty clear they are really just 2 sides of the same coin.

Despite that, they seem to have completely different rules about what you can do in Faerun.

I understand when characters go above and beyond game stats (say Drizzt & Elminster). I can believe they have powers not detailed in the game.

No problem. Just because it's not written, doesn't mean its not there.

The problem is when Characters seem to forget ALL of their abilities. Hamstringing a Cleric's spell selection to drive home a plot point seems kind of lame to me.

When, due to that sudden lack of spellcasting potency, the hero fails to contain some menace that then gets out & wrecks havoc about the North and then a North RPG book comes out that details all the nasty thing this menace is doing...

Then I have problems.

If you are going to make Faerun the Game World & Faerun the Book world blend into a single entity (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep for example) you need to have a consitent set of rules.

As the Game World is pretty much restricted to the current Rules Set, you should make that the starting point. Feel free to do a little bit of 'DM discretion' but keep it within reason.

Basically, if you are going to treat the worlds the same you should use the same "Setting Bible" for both.

 

[Arnwyn]

When, do that sudden lack of spellcasting potency, the hero fails to contain some menace that then gets out & wrecks havoc about the North. Then a North RPG book comes out that details all the nasty thing this menace is doing...

If you are going to make Faerun the Game World & Faerun the Book world blend into a single entity ... you need to have a consitent set of rules.

Well said.

Of course, I would be happiest if Faerun the Game World never referenced any novel. Ever.

 

[thegreatbuddha]

I remember the moment I lost all respect for D&D novels. It was The Chaos Curse, book 5 in the Cleric Quintet.

Cadderly has to deal with a vampire who has invaded the Edificant Library and captured Dannica. Instead of Turning Undead, he hits it with a nonmagical quarterstaff, and then I believe he gets saved by one of his companions.

Later that day, he casts a spell that creates an entire temple.

Also, IIRC from the series, every time Cadderly casts a spell, it drains a portion of his soul. I know he turns into an old man after creating the temple, and thinks about losing a portion of his life force after trying to raise some deceased farmers at the end of Night Masks, but I think it occurs with regular spells, like Bless or Cure Light Wounds as well.

Then again, I could be wrong, as I haven't read the series since 92 or so.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I used to read the FR novels, but I stopped. I started picking up R.A. Salvatore's more recent Drizzt novels, which are much better when they don't have Drizzt in them.

Brad

 

[Darth K'Trava]

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

Regarding your spoiler: how many parties have attained that quick a "power jump" as your example has? Quite a few, I'm sure.

I don't know if Bob Salvatore made Cadderly into his own "Mary Sue" or not..... He may have been one of RAS' PCs that he put into a novel....