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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8471171" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>This was another good one, though I seem to recall thinking that the sheer number of plot threads was starting to become...not cumbersome, per se, but rather offering more than could be adequately showcased. As you noted, this book would have felt short even if it was twice the length that it was. But while some (actually a lot) of this gets touched on later in the series, the ones that didn't felt kind of like a tease.</p><p></p><p>But I suppose that if my biggest complaint is "it left me wanting more," then I don't really have a complaint now, do I?</p><p></p><p>The ending of the book, when they finally get to the Demonweb Pits, was by far the most memorable portion of this story, at least to me. The usage of high-level magic was impressive, not simply unto itself, but because this felt like a story where we could really follow the action in terms of the D&D 3rd Edition rules. There are plenty of stories with high- and epic-level characters (Elminster and the Seven Sisters come to mind), but these usually have a "plot first, then rules" structure, where they're whipping out magic we've never heard of before, and we'll have to hope that there's a sourcebook or an article in <em>Dragon</em> magazine that will eventually put stats to what they're doing.</p><p></p><p>While that's a good way to generate new content, and maybe even interest in a particular novel if you read those rules first and then want to go back and see them in action, this was a nice change of pace. <em>Gate</em>, <em>astral spell</em>, <em>blade barrier</em>, <em>sending</em>, and quite a few more were on display. It's like the difference between watching the Marvel shows on Disney+ after having seen every film in the MCU versus only having seen a couple of them; those little "I know what that is!" moments are more worthwhile than you think.</p><p></p><p>Of course, occasionally that goes the other way. I can't recall if it was in this book or the previous one where Danifae reveals that she's a bard, and as such has access to the <em>cure light wounds</em> series of spells, since bards could do that in 3rd Edition despite being arcane spellcasters. That's <em>never</em> sat right with me, since healing being a hallmark of divine magic - or at least, a hallmark of the idea that your spells are <em>given</em> to you by some entity (which is why I have no problem with Pathfinder's witch class having access to healing spells, despite also being an arcane spellcasting class) - is a D&D staple, and there's never been an adequate (again, to me) explanation for why bards could suddenly use them despite their arcane magic. Particularly in the Realms, where divine spellcasting requires that you worship a deity or near-divine entity; none of this "cleric of a philosophy" stuff there. Plus we got a whole bunch of stuff about Danifae's bardic tradition that felt a bit too rambling in its attempt to answer the question of why drow society would even have bards.</p><p></p><p>Still, it was good stuff overall. That they actually got to the Demonweb was a bit surprising; I'd have thought they'd have dragged that out until the end. But them arriving and not getting any clear answers was a nice twist, even if it then turned into a game of "let's try it again, maybe this time it'll go differently."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8471171, member: 8461"] This was another good one, though I seem to recall thinking that the sheer number of plot threads was starting to become...not cumbersome, per se, but rather offering more than could be adequately showcased. As you noted, this book would have felt short even if it was twice the length that it was. But while some (actually a lot) of this gets touched on later in the series, the ones that didn't felt kind of like a tease. But I suppose that if my biggest complaint is "it left me wanting more," then I don't really have a complaint now, do I? The ending of the book, when they finally get to the Demonweb Pits, was by far the most memorable portion of this story, at least to me. The usage of high-level magic was impressive, not simply unto itself, but because this felt like a story where we could really follow the action in terms of the D&D 3rd Edition rules. There are plenty of stories with high- and epic-level characters (Elminster and the Seven Sisters come to mind), but these usually have a "plot first, then rules" structure, where they're whipping out magic we've never heard of before, and we'll have to hope that there's a sourcebook or an article in [i]Dragon[/i] magazine that will eventually put stats to what they're doing. While that's a good way to generate new content, and maybe even interest in a particular novel if you read those rules first and then want to go back and see them in action, this was a nice change of pace. [i]Gate[/i], [i]astral spell[/i], [i]blade barrier[/i], [i]sending[/i], and quite a few more were on display. It's like the difference between watching the Marvel shows on Disney+ after having seen every film in the MCU versus only having seen a couple of them; those little "I know what that is!" moments are more worthwhile than you think. Of course, occasionally that goes the other way. I can't recall if it was in this book or the previous one where Danifae reveals that she's a bard, and as such has access to the [i]cure light wounds[/i] series of spells, since bards could do that in 3rd Edition despite being arcane spellcasters. That's [i]never[/i] sat right with me, since healing being a hallmark of divine magic - or at least, a hallmark of the idea that your spells are [i]given[/i] to you by some entity (which is why I have no problem with Pathfinder's witch class having access to healing spells, despite also being an arcane spellcasting class) - is a D&D staple, and there's never been an adequate (again, to me) explanation for why bards could suddenly use them despite their arcane magic. Particularly in the Realms, where divine spellcasting requires that you worship a deity or near-divine entity; none of this "cleric of a philosophy" stuff there. Plus we got a whole bunch of stuff about Danifae's bardic tradition that felt a bit too rambling in its attempt to answer the question of why drow society would even have bards. Still, it was good stuff overall. That they actually got to the Demonweb was a bit surprising; I'd have thought they'd have dragged that out until the end. But them arriving and not getting any clear answers was a nice twist, even if it then turned into a game of "let's try it again, maybe this time it'll go differently." [/QUOTE]
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