D&D 5E Revel's End... magi-tech that jumps the shark!

[Reaper Steve]

Not at all. I read it and loved exactly those elements that horrify the OP. So they're not wrong. It's just a matter of taste.

If I have one quibble with the OP it's that I would change the title to something that feels less gatekeeper-ish. Take the "we" out of it. Because I happen to think "Prisoner 13" is fantastic, and can't wait to run it. Also...nothing stopping you from making the small tweaks that you describe.

As a fellow Reaper fan, gotta say that I like your handle!

I've edited the title to capture that my issues are with Revel's End as portrayed in Rime of the Icemaiden and again in Keys from the Golden Vault. And hopefully to be 'less gaterkeeper-ish.' I was just trying to use the commonly referenced Happy Days meme for when an entertainment property loses sight of its core.

Re: the handle... thanks! Do you mean the Grim Reaper in general, or a more specific 'Reaper'? (For me it's the latter... but you go first!)

 

[Reynard]

The AD&D DMG I have in front of me includes such items as the Apparatus of Kwalish, the folding boat, Daern's instant fortress, eyes of minute seeing, ioun stones, the portable hole, the sphere of annihilation, and the well of many worlds. These certainly qualify as non-traditional fantasy and many edge on sci-fi. D&D has NEVER not been influenced by science fiction.

 

[Reynard]

If the appearance of Revel's End in Keys makes it a HAT tie in, does that mean the movie is technically a Rime tie-in?

More seriously: does anyone know if there are plans for a tie in for Neverwinter? I believe than MMORPG is still receiving updates.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

While I think it's a little silly to complain about anything being in the Forgotten Realms, as if the setting still had any thematic integrity, I actually agree that this goes beyond what I would include in my version of the Forgotten Realms, or in most other settings I would use, so it sounds like that particular adventure as written is not useful to me.

Fortunately it's an anthology book, so the impact on my overall purchasing decision is negligible.

 

[Reaper Steve]

The AD&D DMG I have in front of me includes such items as the Apparatus of Kwalish, the folding boat, Daern's instant fortress, eyes of minute seeing, ioun stones, the portable hole, the sphere of annihilation, and the well of many worlds. These certainly qualify as non-traditional fantasy and many edge on sci-fi. D&D has NEVER not been influenced by science fiction.

It get it. But a straight-up computer console that doesn't exist anywhere else in the FR* just breaks the verisimilitude for me. If Revel's End has this, why it it the only place to have it? I thought that FR still tried to keep magic 'magical;' this, to me, is the opposite.

[*I am far from an FR expert.]

 

[Parmandur]

It get it. But a straight-up computer console that doesn't exist anywhere else in the FR* just breaks the verisimilitude for me. If Revel's End has this, why it it the only place to have it? I thought that FR still tried to keep magic 'magical;' this, to me, is the opposite.

[*I am far from an FR expert.]

Magitech vibes in the FR are far from unusual, or anachronism in general. See also, Acquisitions Incorporated or Force Grey.

 

[Lanefan]

Magic mouth.

I see 5e has allowed the caster to make MM permanent, but even then it's a very Pavlovian spell: it gives a fixed response to a specific pre-determined trigger.

That's a long way from an interactive illusion/hologram. When I hear "interactive illusion" I think more of something like Tony Stark's JARVIS computer.

 

[Reaper Steve]

When I hear "interactive illusion" I think more of something like Tony Stark's JARVIS computer.

Pretty much. and I do think that addition originates in 'Golden Vault.'

 

[FitzTheRuke]

... Revel's End was previously covered in Rime of the Frostmaiden, and that almost all of the issues I have with its portrayal in Keys From the Golden Vault already existed verbatim in that previous publication. That doesn't really change my opinion...

I found it jarring when I first read it in RotFM, but after giving it some thought, I decided that I think it's kind of a story-shorthand way of creating a "magical systems interface" that lets players know what is going on there, by using a modern-theme. If that makes sense.

If you don't like that (I don't) then it's easy enough (IMO) to come up with replacements. For example, when I ran it, I kept things like the antimagic fields (they'd be needed) but I made all the "systems" maintained by actual wizards. I'd probably do the same thing here - not just the prison, but I'd probably replace the "map" with an NPC clairvoyant/illusionist.

 

[Reynard]

I see 5e has allowed the caster to make MM permanent, but even then it's a very Pavlovian spell: it gives a fixed response to a specific pre-determined trigger.

That's a long way from an interactive illusion/hologram. When I hear "interactive illusion" I think more of something like Tony Stark's JARVIS computer.

Aesthetics change over time. My point was that D&D has always sat in that weird place between fantasy and sci-fi because it pulls its influence from such broad sources. If you scoured the art that appeared in Dragon Magazine just through the 80s you would see tons of anachronisms and outright magitech.