[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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[teitan]

Gromph opens portals to the Abyss and the Abyss comes to the Realms. Pretty straight foreward Planescape importation.

Rise of Tiamat is considered to be Krynn inspire. PotA Greyhawk inspired. Here it is Planescape. Just a continuation of the formula WotC is using with its APs.

That doesn't make it Planescape inspired because by that logic anything having to do with abyssal demons and portals etc. IS Planescape inspired. Now had it mentioned Sigil and factions or the Blood War, I'd give it to you but you're reaching like a fat kid for a nonexistent cup cake. Planescape had a certain style, a certain way things were done and this doesn't appear to pay any lip service to any of that. I also think people who say the Tiamat AP was Dragonlance are reaching just as much.

 

[Wicht]

No. Demons have always shown up in the FR this has nothing to do even slightly with Planescape. You don't have any idea what you are talking about.

In fairness to Goldomark, in the thread showcasing the art, it has been observed that it is reminiscent of planescapes art; and the whole Alice in Wonderland vibe coupled with the references to madness and insanity make it sound like it is meant to be a blend of whimsy and darkness, which is, I think something of a Planecape vibe.

 

[Henry]

That is why you should always combine "voting with your wallet" together with "complaining on the internet" so that accounting can tell exactly why the latest adventure only earned enough for one gold plated hot tub.

I think you meant "only one tin-bound wooden wash tub, and a $4.99 special from McDonald's." Based on what they charge for this stuff, we have a pretty good idea of the profits they bring in.

 

[Iosue]

Agreed. That's why I bought PotA. It's generic enough and promises to be a darn fun ride. I'd rather they not have Harpers, Zhents, etc. sprinkled about because I can't always tell when they're placeholder names used for a plot-important, but overall non-specific group vs. thrown in because some Realms fans might want to see names they know. I'm totally down with the former as an "implied setting" tool where I can scrub the serial numbers off. The latter makes me spend time figuring out whether it's important that that NPC is a member of the group and is going to show up in Act 4.

The line is very gray. I can't give you specific criteria. What I can tell you is that "Tyranny of Dragons" was on one side and "Princes of the Apocalypse" is on the other.

I know exactly what you mean. I've been running Tyranny of Dragons converted to run in Krynn, and there's just a lot of grunt work involved. The adventure goes up and down the Sword Coast, so you have to essentially "location scout" to find roughly comparable regions and cities. It heavily involves the factions -- one of the PCs' jobs is to unite the factions -- so you have to find rough equivalents for them. It involves famous landmarks of the Realms, like Baldur's Gate, so there's adjusting for that, and a lot of description and flavor that you just can't use. You have NPCs that are, for example, Red Wizards of Thay, and the reasons they do things that they do are because they are Red Wizards of Thay. Or Harpers, or whatever.

Conversely, Princes of the Apocalypse (and Lost Mine of Phandelver, for that matter) revolve around very local, small scale settings, so they calque quite easily into any other setting, published or homebrewed. You don't even really have to change many of the names. We're not talking Realms trademarks like Waterdeep here. The factions are there, but they are just hooks for the characters, not integral parts of the adventure, so they are real easy to convert as needed, or ignore altogether. It's just altogether a much painless conversion.

 

[Mephista]

That doesn't make it Planescape inspired because by that logic anything having to do with abyssal demons and portals etc. IS Planescape inspired. Now had it mentioned Sigil and factions or the Blood War, I'd give it to you but you're reaching like a fat kid for a nonexistent cup cake. Planescape had a certain style, a certain way things were done and this doesn't appear to pay any lip service to any of that. I also think people who say the Tiamat AP was Dragonlance are reaching just as much.

While I agree that its a very large stretch to say that this is pulling in Planescape (the Abyss has been around in settings long before Planescape was made), Tiamat / Takhesis entering a world and wrecking havoc via magical ritual/portal has been a huge plot point of the Dragonlance setting. So many of the novels in that setting revolve around it. And Temple of Elemental Evil kind of did originate in Greyhawk...

So, the latter two really do have a bit of basis, if a bit of understandable exaggeration to them. Abyssal monsters crawling into the Underdark automatically equating to Planescape? Yeah, not seeing it. The Underdark doesn't transfer to Planescape very well, and the Abyss has been very madness-and-insanity inducing for years now. Planescape does not have a monopoly on the Outer Planes.

 

[I'm A Banana]

In fairness to Goldomark, in the thread showcasing the art, it has been observed that it is reminiscent of planescapes art; and the whole Alice in Wonderland vibe coupled with the references to madness and insanity make it sound like it is meant to be a blend of whimsy and darkness, which is, I think something of a Planecape vibe.

It remains to be seen if this AP is truly in a PS vein or not, I think. The basics of the plot (demons invade the underdark and spread madness) isn't inherently PS-y. It's a pretty generic setup. But the art certainly has that "dark whimsy" that DiTerlizzi did well. A PSy vibe is more than that dark whimsy, but that is certainly a part of it.

I suppose if you can persuade Demogorgon to reconsider his invasion by making him realize that his invasion will just trigger an exodus of people fleeing to the Lawful Good bastions of hope and will ultimately weaken the cause of Chaos and Evil in the area, I might confess to it being PS-y.

 

[Wicht]

It remains to be seen if this AP is truly in a PS vein or not, I think. )

Sure, and I'm agnostic on whether it will be or not.

 

[teitan]

While I agree that its a very large stretch to say that this is pulling in Planescape (the Abyss has been around in settings long before Planescape was made), Tiamat / Takhesis entering a world and wrecking havoc via magical ritual/portal has been a huge plot point of the Dragonlance setting. So many of the novels in that setting revolve around it. And Temple of Elemental Evil kind of did originate in Greyhawk...

So, the latter two really do have a bit of basis, if a bit of understandable exaggeration to them. Abyssal monsters crawling into the Underdark automatically equating to Planescape? Yeah, not seeing it. The Underdark doesn't transfer to Planescape very well, and the Abyss has been very madness-and-insanity inducing for years now. Planescape does not have a monopoly on the Outer Planes.

I didn't say anything about PotA did I? Lol and no, the dragon hoard stuff and Tiamat has been a plot hook in FR since the beginning with the Cult of the Dragon and well, its a pretty generic idea. It's a GOD trying to come through to the material plane. The cult is trying to pull that off... Sounds like Tharizdun or Bane or a lot of fantasy novels. The Tiamat series, omg is a rip off of Conan the Destroyer! Holy Snikeys! Burn WOTC!

It's been the stated goal of the Cult of the Dragon for decades. Now had Tiamat created five dragon armies and wreaked havoc in the Realms, while fighting a war with Bahamut etc. Then you'd all be onto something.a god trying to manifest on the prime using her cult is pretty generic. Oh and takhisis wasn't trying to COME to Krynn. Fat kids, invisible cup cake. Superman and Shazam must be the same characte!

 

[Irennan]

Lol and no, the dragon hoard stuff and Tiamat has been a plot hook in FR since the beginning with the Cult of the Dragon and well

Actually, WotC changed the Cult of Dragon by pointing it towards a completely new direction and had Tiamat all of sudden trapped in Hell, when that wasn't the case in FR, in order to make the ToD plot fit (and Ed Greenwood had to spin how that came to happen, since WotC's official answer didn't really exist, so this: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19841&whichpage=7#464818 is the current canon about it).

I agree that it is a pretty generic plot (on the other hand, all these plots are very generic), but one thematically iconic to DL, rather than FR IMHO.

 

[Mephista]

Oh and takhisis wasn't trying to COME to Krynn. Fat kids, invisible cup cake.

Stop being insulting - it does you no favors. Takhesis was trying to manifest in her full glory on Krynn, and she needed her people to do it. Its a major plot point in the second trilogy, making it a traditional Dragonlance plot. That's pretty much undeniable. The comparison is there, irregardless if you like it or not.

Further, the Cult of the Dragon has always had a laser focus on dracoliches and undead dragons, not living. Their actions in Rise of Tiamat is a direct departure from their usual role, repurposed for the sake of the plot.