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[UPDATED] RAGE OF DEMONS! New D&D Storyline Features Drizzt, Underdark, & Demon Lords!

Following Elemental Evil this fall, Rage of Demons will launch a new storyline featuring Drizzt Do'Urden, the Underdark, and various demon lords from the Abyss including old favourites like Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz’zt. This will feature on tabletop, console, and PC. "The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface." It begins with the adventure Out of the Abyss, which releases on September 15th for $49.95, and is being designed for WotC by Green Ronin Publishing. (Thanks to Charles Akins for that last scoop!)

Following Elemental Evil this fall, Rage of Demons will launch a new storyline featuring Drizzt Do'Urden, the Underdark, and various demon lords from the Abyss including old favourites like Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz’zt. This will feature on tabletop, console, and PC. "The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface." It begins with the adventure Out of the Abyss, which releases on September 15th for $49.95, and is being designed for WotC by Green Ronin Publishing. (Thanks to Charles Akins for that last scoop!)


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Drizzt? WotC's Chris Perkins says: "Drizzt's role in the RoD story varies depending on the platform. In the TRPG adventure, the PCs are the stars."

Inspiration: "My inspirations for RAGE OF DEMONS were Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories and EXILE, by R.A. Salvatore." [Perkins] So this is the Alice in Wonderland inspired story that's been previously alluded to.

Here's the full announcement.

"Today, Wizards of the Coast announced Rage of Demons, the new storyline for Dungeons & Dragons fans coming in Fall 2015. The demon lords have been summoned from the Abyss and players must descend into the Underdark with the iconic hero Drizzt Do’Urden to stop the chaos before it threatens the surface. Rage of Demons is the story all D&D gamers will be excited to play this fall, whether they prefer consoles, PCs or rolling dice with friends.

Following on the critically-acclaimed Tyranny of Dragons and Elemental Evil stories, Rage of Demons will transport characters to the deadly and insane underworld. Rumors of powerful demon lords such as Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz’zt terrorizing the denizens of the Underdark have begun to filter up to the cities of the Sword Coast. The already dangerous caverns below the surface are thrown into ultimate chaos, madness and discord. The renegade drow Drizzt Do’Urden is sent to investigate but it will be up to you to aid in his fight against the demons before he succumbs to his darker temptations.

Dungeons & Dragons fans will have more options than ever to enjoy the Rage of Demons storyline. The themes of treachery and discord in the Underdark are in Sword Coast Legends, the new CRPG (computer role-playing game) coming this fall on PC from n-Space and Digital Extremes. The epic campaign that drives Sword Coast Legends' story forces players deep into the Underdark and continues well after launch with legendary adventurer Drizzt Do'Urden.

For fans of Neverwinter, the popular Dungeons & Dragons-based MMORPG will bring a new expansion – tentatively titled Neverwinter: Underdark – in 2015. The update will see adventurers travel with Drizzt to the drow city of Menzoberranzan during its demonic assault as well as experience a unique set of quests written by the creator of Drizzt, R.A. Salvatore. The expansion will initially be released on PC and will come out on the Xbox One at a later date.

Players of the tabletop roleplaying game can descend into the Underdark in Out of the Abyss, a new adventure which provides details on the demon lords rampaging through the Underdark. Partners such as WizKids, GaleForce 9 and Smiteworks will all support Rage of Demons with new products to help bring your tabletop game to life. To really get in the mind of Drizzt, fans will have to check out Archmage, the new novel by R.A. Salvatore, scheduled for release in early September.

“Rage of Demons is a huge storyline involving all expressions of Dungeons & Dragons, and we’re excited to bring players this story in concert with all of our partners,” said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director at Wizards of the Coast. “I can’t wait to see everyone interact with one of the world’s most recognizable fantasy characters: Drizzt Do’Urden. Descending into the depths won’t exactly be easy for him, and D&D fans will get their mettle tested just like Drizzt when they come face-to-face with all the demon lords.”





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Celtavian

Dragon Lord
Now this sounds interesting. I will most likely give this a shot.

I'll probably drop Drizz't and include a character from the world we're playing in.
 

moldyderp

Explorer
So much Drizzt hate. Maybe it's time for a new Mary Sue? Someone call Rothfuss and ask him if WotC can use Kvothe in a new D&D adventure.
 

Patrick McGill

First Post
I like Mike's tweet on the subject:

"What I love about this story is when [MENTION=13127]chrisp[/MENTION]erkinsDnD & co. decided that the Underdark was way too safe and happy, needed some real danger."
 


Ghost Matter

Explorer
Unfortunately... Other worlds need love too.. But its a good business decision since a massive investment and number of people play Neverwinter MMO, and you cant just up and pop Eberron into that.... brand unity and all...

You can make a similar event happening in both. Dungeons & Dragons Online had Elemental Evil and it's set in Eberron..

Hey, they actually name smiteworks as licensee in the announcement! Did they do something similar with Trapdoor when they were announcing the first two story lines?

No, because Smiteworks actually released the products.
 

As a WoW player, I'm used to share the spotlight with an official protagonist for some time now. If anything, it helps different groups connect to the same story, which is a good thing, in my opinion.

Personally, I don't like Drizz't that much, but not doing a FR path where he has an important role is much like doing the Hogwarts adventure path and not featuring Harry Potter as an important NPC for the players to interact with. It seems that, except for a vocal minority, people really love Salvatore's creation, and not using him is leaving money on the table.

That said, I really looked forward to the Underdark storyline, and I cannot say that I'm not frustrated about demons being the main antagonists. Not a lot of chance for a mindflayer/aboleth storyline in the near future, it seems... :(
 

Greg K

Legend
The good news is that it has Demon princes. On the other hand, it is an adventure path and also tied to the Underdark which means that there are two reasons that I will not be buying it.

A major factor in my decision to not purchase 4e was how they released the Monster Manuals with one Demon prince (or, in the case of Lolth, Queen) per book and other Demon Princes and Demon Lords in various books and online Dragon issues. Based on 4e's release of Demon Princes and Arch-Devils, I made a conscious decision to hold off on investing in 5e to see how they handle the release of stats for Tiamat, Demons Princes, etc.. I don't see this format as any for my preferencesthan was 4e. In some ways it is worse as it is tied to Adventure Paths for which I have no use.
So, if the only way to get stats for Tiamat, Demon Princes, Elemental Lords, etc. is to purchase individual Adventures/Paths, bye bye 5e and WOTC.
 

Also, why do people here assume they are so much more intelligent than the adventure writers? What was the last professionally designed adventure where the party followed around a mary sue NPC and did as they were told? Maybe assuming the worst possible and least likely outcome isn't very productive.


This isn't an IQ debate. It is about features that a lot of tabletop players don't care for in published adventures, and as such it is purely opinion. We aren't playing "are you smarter than a WOTC designer" here.

The company has goals that go well beyond the tabletop and some of the decisions made about the design are included because of that. So if 80% of your revenue comes from sources OTHER than tabletop, then designing your product to market heavily towards those sources is SMART. Some of us hold the tabletop game as more important than anything else and wish that decisions reflected that.

D&D had to become a brand to survive under Hasbro. A brand is simply an asset used to generate revenue. D&D is now just a corporate marketing tool.
 

So much Drizzt hate. Maybe it's time for a new Mary Sue? Someone call Rothfuss and ask him if WotC can use Kvothe in a new D&D adventure.

Will the adventure be 500 pages of making sympathy lamps and endless farting around with paying your tuition? How many talents and jots will you need to buy your textbooks? Can you get your library card back? Stay tuned for the epic conclusion of the Student Loan of the Wind trilogy!

For all the hate Drizzt gets, he's not a 1% of the Mary Sue Elminster is, who spends all his time flying through the multiverse banging various goddesses of magic. Or Raistlin, the biggest junior high school vengeful nerd fantasy ever. "Yes, one day I'll lord it over the cool kids, after I get my comp sci degree! Then the girls who wouldn't date me because of my odious personality and grooming habits will have to like me!"
 

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