RA Salavatore Books vs 4.0 E

[hamishspence]

rules vs narrative

Do not castigate writers for the occasional mess up rules wise. It is entirely probable that rules were somewhat different when they wrote the novel, and anyway most fiction or movie or series has Things Happening that might be a bit out of place in D&D.

Vice versa (D&D non magic guys doing things that cannot feasibly be done) is even more common. call it cinema physics, "the Bullet Hurls people back effect"

Best not to moan too much either way.

I prefer to look at 3.5 novel character rules as guidelines, especially if novel character does not fit rules. I would, for example, homebrew Guen to make her a formidable sidekick.

Question is: will 4th ed allow viable versions of old favorite NPCs? Should DM use PC type rules for any main character from a novel? And will it fix some issues?

Elminster in 3rd ed was pretty behing magically, cos of his +4 LA Chosen template and muticlassing. In 4th ed you can now have a Sage of Shadowdale with as much magical power as PCs of same CR. And if you can get a Epic Destiny that fits the Chosen concept well, even better.

So, is that likely? Will 4th ed help to fix oddities of 3.5? Will famous NPCs fit the novels better, be quicker and easier for DM to manage, and have better power levels?

 

[Sitara]

Well, i am pretty sure 4e will fix the 'oddities' of 3.5e (by oddities we ofcourse, mean the broken and retarded stuff that was slapped on becuase of system limitations).

Sadly 4e will also introduce many 'oddities' of its own.

And so the cycle continues...

 

[Sitara]

Oh and drizzt is a fighter10/ranger 4/barb1 in the frcs as far as I know.

They didi not give him higer than 4 ranger levels because he never casts spells. (the time he befriended the seal was the use of animal empathy, not a spell.)

Its for this reason I hope ranger spellcasting is either OUT (preferable) or at the very least purely optional in 4e. (i.e. if you want the ranger to cast spells, choose certain talents).

Intruigingly, since the druid is rumored to not be in the phb, it will be interesting to see what spells the ranger gets, if any.

 

[Green Knight]

Oh and drizzt is a fighter10/ranger 4/barb1 in the frcs as far as I know.

They didi not give him higer than 4 ranger levels because he never casts spells. (the time he befriended the seal was the use of animal empathy, not a spell.)

He's a Level 5 Ranger in the FRCS. It's immaterial, though, as Level 4 Rangers also cast spells. He'd have to be a Level 3 Ranger to not have spellcasting ability.

 

[Sitara]

Hmm, i could have sworn he was level 4 ranger. Oh well, the point is moot as they say.

if you have the book handy, what spells does he have memorized?

 

[Green Knight]

Hmm, i could have sworn he was level 4 ranger. Oh well, the point is moot as they say.

if you have the book handy, what spells does he have memorized?

Detect Animals or Plants.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I suppose this means he will hook up with the female elf he was flirting with in Hunter's Blades then.

That's pretty much cleared up in The Orc King.

Another note: it's strongly hinted in the prologue to Orc King that Bruenor is dead. (Obviously the rest of Drizzt's non-elven friends have kicked the bucket too, unless there was some magic interference.)