Back in early May, 2015 I started looking into the soon to be released Out of the Abyss (D&D Accessory)
campaign (see Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons, Announced and a Look at Other Connected Products that have been Announced for more) and one of the things that became apparent during my investigation into the product was that Drizzt Do'Urden, R. A. Salvatore's famous Drow, would be playing a prominent role in the story throughout the majority of the connected products. While some of my readers were unhappy about this connection others were excited by the possibility of having one of their favorite characters taking a prominent role in the game.
campaign (see Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons, Announced and a Look at Other Connected Products that have been Announced for more) and one of the things that became apparent during my investigation into the product was that Drizzt Do'Urden, R. A. Salvatore's famous Drow, would be playing a prominent role in the story throughout the majority of the connected products. While some of my readers were unhappy about this connection others were excited by the possibility of having one of their favorite characters taking a prominent role in the game.
Zohaletha was one of those looking forward to having Drizzt Do'Urden play a big role in the games with the players having an opportunity to interact with the world's most famous Drow in a big way. Unfortunately it seems that Zohaletha was more than a little bit disappointed in the final product.
You've been lied to about Drizzt Do'Urden being a part of the Out of the Abyss campaign. I just double-checked at the D&D sites, thinking maybe I misread. I did not. The Rage of Demons publication line, computer-games to RPG, were ALL supposed to feature Drizzt Do'Urden. Out of the Abyss is the RPG campaign for that line and was advertised to have him. But our local gaming store actually got the campaign early (release date 9-15-15) and we have been able to purchase them.Undoubtedly some will find Zohaletha's terrible experience to be a blessing as Drizzt has been a source of concern expressed in my feed since the early announcement of the new storyline. For myself Drizzt was more of a curiosity than anything else as I've never actually read anything with him involved so I was looking at the possibility of his inclusion as I did every 'famous' non-player character I've ever run across in my years playing: as a good source of precious loot and experience points. Although I will say that I kind of enjoyed seeing him leap into Demogorgon's mouth . . .
IT IS A LIE!!!!!! Drizzt Do'Urden is nowhere in the campaign setting of Out of the Abyss. There isn't even a hint of him. The closest you get is a single interview with Bruenor (who doesn't even mention his good friend, btw). The adventure starts you off as prisoners of the drow. Upon your escape you can line up with an NPC to do some sidequests that don't really have anything to do with anything until you're sent back into Menzoberranzan on a sidenote by Bruenor. After that you line up with an evil drow (who is previously unheard of) to complete the storyline. I'm so angry. I waited months for this campaign to come out, believing that at least in some way, shape or form our characters would work with Drizzt Do'Urden. I made a character especially for this campaign. I'm pissed and I'm returning the product. I'm willing to bet the video game and computer game are the exact same way. Don't waste your money on this product. The company (TSR, WotC, Hasbro, whatever they are calling themselves these days) have lied to you.
Regards,
zohaletha
Interested in Purchasing the Adventure?
There was no lie. Drizz't is a part of the Rage of Demons storyline. They never said that he was a large part of Out of the Abyss. And he is apparently a possible random encounter, from what somebody posted in a review. ^_^
ReplyDeleteI think that the problem is that the announcement article makes it seem like Drizzt will be there. I mean the very first line of the article says: "Fight alongside Drizzt Do’Urden in the new Dungeons & Dragons storyline on computer, console or tabletop this Fall . . ." (Rage of Demons), and that sets the tone for every product that comes after in the blurb. Of course you could read the twitter feeds of Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, and Christopher Perkins to get clarification (which they later provided) but if you took that article at face value it would be incredibly easy to be mislead. That's a problem and it's why Zohaletha felt lied to, and why the letter was sent with the claim that we had all been lied to by Wizards of the Coast.
DeleteAnd he/she still CAN. It is just not going to be spoon-fed. I am about to start running this one, and my players are voting that it be a home game so that I am not hand-tied by AL rules. In that case, I can do anything with the campaign. Having Drizz't as a random encounter means that there is an opportunity to play alongside the drow ranger, but I am in no way bound to it.
DeleteAnd he/she still CAN. It is just not going to be spoon-fed. I am about to start running this one, and my players are voting that it be a home game so that I am not hand-tied by AL rules. In that case, I can do anything with the campaign. Having Drizz't as a random encounter means that there is an opportunity to play alongside the drow ranger, but I am in no way bound to it.
Delete*spoiler*
ReplyDeleteDriz'zt is lurking in the background ready to jump out and ninja your killing blow on Demogorgon.
I'll kick his, and his heavy handed Dungeon Master's, butt.
DeletePicturing Drizzt as the kill stealer guy made me laugh! thanx for the chuckle!
DeleteI really liked THE LEGACY and STARLESS NIGHT. There are other Drizzt books that I like as well, and I like several of the ones that focus on other characters at least as much as the actual Drizzt books, but of the books that are actually ABOUT Drizzt, those two are my favorites.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with such a longstanding character, though, is that Salvatore wrote each of the early books as journeys of personal growth for his protagonist. Well, by the time he'd done TEN of these, Drizzt was a well-adjusted paladin of righteousness who'd become utterly invincible in battle. It turned people off.
Thankfully, the newer books are structured differently. They are more like bits on an ongoing comic series, with the characters more-or-less stagnant as personalities but the plotlines evolving in interesting ways. Whatever character growth occurs, it tends to occur among the villains. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't--this is nearly always true of Salvatore's work--but it goes a long way to explain the structure of RAGE OF DEMONS. They might've put Drizzt on the cover, but the story itself is about Gromph and the politics of Menzobarranzan. If you've been following the story's evolution over the long haul, then you can see that Salvatore has had this idea in mind for several years at least.
Honestly, I give WotC credit for letting their best writer write what is in essence a multi-line crossover. If you think of RAGE OF DEMONS in the same way that you thought of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, then you are looking at it with the right perspective. Some parts involve some characters, and others don't, but it's the Underdark itself that is the main character. That's actually a really interesting idea IMHO.
Personally I am happy that he is no where to be seen in this adventure arc.
ReplyDelete