[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!)

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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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[Dire Bare]

I would like it if each adventure was set in a generic fantasy environment easily inserted into any given milieu <snip>

An alternate reply to your same post here . . .

WotC did try creating a new generic fantasy setting to use as the core very, very recently, and that didn't work out either!

Have we already forgotten 4E and the Nentir Vale? That seems to be what you are asking for, and WotC did give it a go and have decided to move in a different direction this time. Probably wisely.

 

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

Would I be showing my age if I said that I always think of Mystara as the default Dungeons and Dragons setting.

No .... not at all. Actually, one of my old gaming buddies has gotten that dice rolling twitch again, and asked me if we could adventure using the old D&D Rules Cyclopedia book like we did when we were 13. I picked that up again, The Creature Catalog, and the Wrath of the Immortals box set and reading up on The Known World (Mystara) felt like coming home.

 

[Dire Bare]

Yet we do not have any support for that, and haven't for almost 15 years.

Not even remotely true.

 

[Wicht]

It wasn't called Mystara until the 90's, so no, you're just a young pup.

Yeah, but I was exploring it when it was still called "The Known World."

 

[justinj3x3]

Dire Bare did you read my post on page 37? Post #366? A bunch of people posted at once so you might have missed it. Or are you ignoring it?

 

[Agamon]

Yeah, but I was exploring it when it was still called "The Known World."

True, back in the early 80's, when all we knew about it was some tidbits in B/E and a few adventures.

I still remember the mobs at the FLGS clamoring for support of the setting. I mean how can you actually play there knowing so little about it?

 

[justinj3x3]

An alternate reply to your same post here . . .

WotC did try creating a new generic fantasy setting to use as the core very, very recently, and that didn't work out either!

Have we already forgotten 4E and the Nentir Vale? That seems to be what you are asking for, and WotC did give it a go and have decided to move in a different direction this time. Probably wisely.

Meh Nentir Vale wasn't exactly a real setting (more like an amalgamation of settings or D&D concepts), nor was it handled like one. With that said it was going strong for a non-setting until WOTC stopped producing products altogether. They even canceled the setting gazateer before it had a chance to become a concrete setting.

 

[Wicht]

True, back in the early 80's, when all we knew about it was some tidbits in B/E and a few adventures.

I still remember the mobs at the FLGS clamoring for support of the setting. I mean how can you actually play there knowing so little about it?

I remember buying Gaz 3, The Principalities of Giantri in Toys'R'Us and thinking - "No way, they actually produced books telling you about the world..." I think it was the only Gazeteer I bought for that setting, as I then moved onto Greyhawk as it was the ADnD world, and of course I wanted to play the Advanced version of the game, but I shoulda stuck with The Known World as Greyhawk soon dried up...

Edit: I think it was the massive Greyhawk map which really sold me...

 

[the Jester]

Why then is it a problem that WotC keeps to one setting? Does the existence of Birthright, Mystara, Dark Sun, etc. mean, that we shouldn't be satisfied before at least one AP has been set in each of them?

The problem is for me and other FR-haters alone, and that problem is that WotC has chosen a setting that we hate for all their adventures. It's not a problem from Realms-lovers or people indifferent to the setting an adventure is set in. But for me, if I spend a dollar on a product set in a world that I despise, the message I am sending is "Give me more FR!!" (At least, unless I buy it used and my money doesn't feed WotC... but I want to send them my cash.)

 

[the Jester]

Like, the, ah, Forgotten Realms?!?!

If you can't see the Realms for what it is, a generic fantasy setting that is easily ported to similar generic fantasy settings . . . I can't help you!

I'll start by disputing the assertion that FR, GH and Mystara are all that similar. FR is very Renaissance-style high fantasy. GH is much more gritty Dark Ages in style, and Mystara is supposed to be a pastiche of our world in D&D terms. Sure, there are similarities, but to me (and maybe not to anyone else), the differences are glaring.

That said, LMoP was the first FR product I've purchased in a long, long time, and I don't have any problems with it. They did a great job of making it pretty generic. But, as I posted above, the $20 I spent on that sends the message that I want more FR to WotC; that's not a message that I want to send.

WotC could wisely choose ANY of those to use for their RPG releases, but choose the Realms because it has proven to be the most popular setting with the fans . . . they'd be crazy NOT to use the Realms, IMO!

It has been proven to be the most popular setting because, when they started publishing it, they spent the next decade actively promoting the heck out of it while actively neglecting, or sometimes even consciously undermining, other settings (hello, Castle Greyhawk). I've made this point before in other threads, but of course Greyhawk doesn't have half the popularity of the FR; it hasn't had anywhere close to half the support in, like, almost 30 years!

That said, I agree that the FR is the most popular setting, and that it makes sense for WotC to set their adventures there. But it doesn't make sense for me to buy them unless what they offer is a far stronger temptation than my Realms-aversion.