D&D 5E Out of the Abyss - No Drizzt afterall?

[Majoru Oakheart]

Not really.

I said non-novel products. That math includes novels. In fact that's where almost all your numbers come comes

There's also 181 Forgotten Realms accessories for 2e/3e and 5 for 4e. Of those a dozen mention Drizzt. Plus the 3 adventure paths, only one mentions Drizzt. So 93.1% don't mention him.

Drizzt isn't even mentioned in that one. There is a coy reference to a Drow with two scimitars. But let's say we count that one.

I was referring to the amount of content featuring him. Not the number of products. I mean, if we totaled the number of words in all of those products then figured out how many of them were in reference to Drizzt or things Drizzt did, I'm virtually positive that even in the 12 products he's mentioned in he is an EXTREMELY small portion of those products.

 

[Henry]

I'm going to have to pick a nit with this: the execrable "Marco Volo" adventures star a named NPC who can't really be removed. It's a different NPC, but it's the same mistake.

Edit: worth noting, of course, that both the Time of Troubles and the "Marco Volo" adventures were done by TSR. AFAIK, WotC have never made that mistake.

Thanks for the correction - I never read or bought the Marco Volo adventures, and I wager very few people did as well, given how rarely they're mentioned by fans reminiscing about old modules. Most of the time the Avatar trilogy modules are mentioned it's for how bad they are. yet strangely, same arent usually said of the first Dragonlance modules, and they had a similar problem...

 

[Hussar]

Mmm, I dunno. The Dragonlance modules get pretty heavily criticised for the railroading, and, a large part of that is due to the NPC's.

It's not like DL modules are ever held up as examples of great modules. Except maybe for production value. They had that in spades. Some of the absolute best, most beautiful maps in D&D come from those modules.

And, one thing I've always loved about the DL modules is that TSR was willing to experiment. One of the modules isn't even an adventure - it's a boardgame you can use to recreate the War of the Lance and comes with suggestions on how to use the events of the boardgame to drive events in the modules. It's brilliant. Never minding the number of modules that came with Battlesystem mass combat goodies.

But, as far as the adventures themselves, particularly the first four, they are brutally heavy handed.

 

[delericho]

Thanks for the correction - I never read or bought the Marco Volo adventures, and I wager very few people did as well, given how rarely they're mentioned by fans reminiscing about old modules. Most of the time the Avatar trilogy modules are mentioned it's for how bad they are.

Yeah. The "Marco Volo" trilogy, the "Avatar" trilogy, "The Forest Oracle"... TSR sure did put out some bad adventures.

yet strangely, same arent usually said of the first Dragonlance modules, and they had a similar problem...

The Dragonlance adventures do seem to get a fair bit of criticism. I think their reputation is helped a bit by the novels (the opposite of Drizzt? ). But the big criticisms there seem to be the assumption that you'll use their pre-gen characters as the PCs, and also the 'fated' character deaths. The only one I've ever actually read is the very first, "Dragons of Despair", and as an dungeon adventure it seemed pretty solid. Of course, that was before the railroading really kicked in.

 

[This Effin’ GM]

I read an postonce by a black player who stated that Driz'zt represented to him one of the fantasy genre's first icons to incorporate a non-white protagonist. He stated that this appealed to him like no other character had and brought him into the game. He cited Driz'zt's turmoil over accepting the race changing magic item from one of the books and ultimate rejection of it to be particularly inspirational.

Unsure of the validity of that post. But it has always caused me to look at the character through a different lens.

 

[Ghost Matter]

I honestly don't get the people worrying about Drizzt. He was never supposed to be there. Maybe people didn't read the press release correctly? It only mentioned him as a part of the storyline (his book). Out of the Abyss never indicated anything about Drizzt.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I honestly don't get the people worrying about Drizzt. He was never supposed to be there. Maybe people didn't read the press release correctly? It only mentioned him as a part of the storyline (his book). Out of the Abyss never indicated anything about Drizzt.

The reason people got worried about him is that he was mentioned at all and some people are really paranoid about mentions of him as you've seen in the thread, his name can throw some people into panic attacks.

But also, I remember a confirmation that he was in the adventure. I can't remember which one of the developers replied but after some people got worried about him being in the adventure, they asks someone and their answer was something like "Don't worry, he barely appears in the adventure." or "Don't worry, he doesn't overshadow the PCs in the adventure". I can't remember the exact quote. But in the old thread about this there was a lot of arguing back and forth about "See? He's barely in it. I bet he just gives the PCs a mission and wanders off." followed by "But the fact that my PCs have to even KNOW Drizzt exists is too much for me. I'm not getting this adventure!"

I'm sure someone will come along shortly after finding the real quote and the name of the person who answered. I'm just busy right now and don't have time to search.

 

[DMCF]

"Shucks <insert famous character template> you slipped pulling your pants up near the hole in the ground that is your makeshift bathroom and hit you're head. Now you just babble on about a rectangle with an upside down "Y" and a horseless carriage who thinks he's a <random class>. What's that? No. Dear lord no. Im afraid this isn't madness. It's brain damage. Without a cure very very soon it will be permanent. Unfortunately you are a slave to the drow and everyone is level one. Yeah time's up. Everyone, this guy's name is 'Durdur'. You all decided to name him this because that's all he says he sits there staring blankly at you with a finger up his nose."


If I was a dick. Hasn't happened so I have no idea.

 

[delericho]

The reason people got worried about him is that he was mentioned at all and some people are really paranoid about mentions of him as you've seen in the thread, his name can throw some people into panic attacks.

I don't think the "Rage of Demons" press release helped. Because it was an announcement for the storyline as a whole, and because it talked about how "players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden", that was cause for concern.

Though even then it was no more than cause for concern. When the specific announcement of the "Out of the Abyss" book was later made, and made no mention of Drizzt, that concern faded. And, besides, there was always at least the suspicion that WotC (and Green Ronin) knew what they were doing...

But also, I remember a confirmation that he was in the adventure. I can't remember which one of the developers replied but after some people got worried about him being in the adventure, they asks someone and their answer was something like "Don't worry, he barely appears in the adventure." or "Don't worry, he doesn't overshadow the PCs in the adventure".

I believe it was Chris Perkins: "Drizzt's role in the RoD story varies depending on the platform. In the TRPG adventure, the PCs are the stars." So, actually, he didn't even go so far as to say he was in there (though he didn't say he wasn't, either).

 

[Beleriphon]

But, I wonder. If a Dwizzt DMPC and a Dwizzt special snowflake ever met, would this cause paradoxes of some sort?

I can only hope it goes the way BG2 does if you make an elf named Drizzt and finally meet him and the companions in the game. It gets really funny if you import Drizzt from BG1 and have his gear. He's really, really mad about the character killing him and taking his stuff.