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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36906 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Jan 2005 : 15:06:21
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quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
An interesting note is that when Salvatore was preparing to write The Crystal Shard, he spur-of-the-moment dreamed up Drizzt during a phone conversation with one of the TSR people, who asked who Wulfgar's sidekick would be. So Drizzt was never intended to be the spotlight character, he was just a sidekick. Look what happened there. 
So Drizzt was originally Robin? Or Tonto? 
Better that than Jimmy Olsen... 
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
As for Elfshadow, that's not the only book about Arilyn Moonblade and Danilo Thann. Their tale spans several more books -- Elfsong, Silver Shadows, Thornhold, and Dream Spheres.
And an anthology or two if I recall correctly has featured one or both of them. Not to mention a short story in Dragon Magazine.
You are indeed correct.
Here's the order, from Elaine's site (and originally from the WotC page):
Elfshadow -- Harpers 2; Songs & Swords Book I
"The Bargain" -- Realms of Valor Story IV
Elfsong -- Harpers 8; Songs & Swords Book II
Silver Shadows -- Harpers 13; Songs & Swords Book III
"The Great Hunt" -- DRAGON #246; Elaith & Arilyn after Silver Shadows
Thornhold -- Harpers 16; Songs & Swords Book IV.
"Speaking with the Dead" -- Realms of Mystery Story I
"Stolen Dreams" -- DRAGON #259; (Isabeau story runs concurrent to "Speaking with the Dead")
The Dream Spheres -- Songs & Swords Book V
"The More Things Change…" -- Realms of Infamy Story II
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1730 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2005 : 15:28:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
An interesting note is that when Salvatore was preparing to write The Crystal Shard, he spur-of-the-moment dreamed up Drizzt during a phone conversation with one of the TSR people, who asked who Wulfgar's sidekick would be. So Drizzt was never intended to be the spotlight character, he was just a sidekick. Look what happened there.
So Drizzt was originally Robin? Or Tonto?
Better that than Jimmy Olsen...
"The Adventures of Wulfgar's Pal!"
Darnit, Wooly, now you've got me re-envisioning the Realms in Jack Kirby style--Halaster running Undermountain ala Project Cadmus and constantly surrounded by the flurry of "Kirby dots" to show off his power.... 
Apologies for going all comic-book-goober, but frankly, I'd LOVE to see someone draw some pictures of some Realms characters in Jack Kirby style, just as a nostalgia trip (and I just know that Ed would appreciate this sort of silliness as well, since he's just as much a comics fan as Wooly and me).
As for advice for getting to know the Realms, you're taking the right tack in reading the novels. They'll give you a better broad sense of the sorts of styles inherent in the Realms. I might suggest trying one or more of the short story anthologies to give you a wider taste-test of places and peoples as well. Shouldn't be hard to find any one of the 12 or so that've been done over the years...
And while I hate to plug a product of my own, I think it's available yet as a free download (but others may correct me here or provide the link I don't have). Thus, CITY OF SPLENDORS was written/developed with the mindset for a group of starting PCs to have their own little corner of Waterdeep (The Adventurers' Quarter) and their own book (with a DM's secrets book). Waterdeep's a daunting place, which is why we set up COS the way we did.
I'm really enjoying this thread as one of the things it was always hard to gauge within TSR or WotC was EXACTLY how people picked up the campaign settings and what drew them to the worlds (or frustrated them enough to leave them behind).
Steven Schend |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2005 : 15:53:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Better that than Jimmy Olsen...
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36906 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2005 : 16:32:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Better that than Jimmy Olsen...
"The Adventures of Wulfgar's Pal!"
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
I'm really enjoying this thread as one of the things it was always hard to gauge within TSR or WotC was EXACTLY how people picked up the campaign settings and what drew them to the worlds (or frustrated them enough to leave them behind).
Steven Schend
As I've said before, a friend's Dragginglance comics got my attention first. I started reading those, and then I wanted to know if there was more info out there about certain characters... So I got into the Dragginglance novels, reading the first five trilogies or so...
But I was starting to get bored with the setting... It wasn't dynamic, and the continuity drew much vacuum (i.e.: Kharas, who lived after the Cataclysm, forged his Hammer at Reorx's forge. This same Hammer was used 3,000 years earlier to forge the first Dragonlances  ).
Then I saw either Spellfire or Shadowdale, and the cover blurb said it was by the publishers of the Dragginglance setting. So I gave it a shot. It was good enough for me to keep reading Realms novels... And the rest, as they say, is history.  |
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Lucius
Seeker
98 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2005 : 21:54:07
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| Should I begin reading the Icewind Dale trilogy next then, or would it be better to start reading his life in chronological order? Also, does the Icewind Dale trilogy have any connections with the game of the same title, or does the similarities end after the location? |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36906 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2005 : 01:46:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Lucius
Should I begin reading the Icewind Dale trilogy next then, or would it be better to start reading his life in chronological order? Also, does the Icewind Dale trilogy have any connections with the game of the same title, or does the similarities end after the location?
My preference, no matter the series or genre, is to always read the books in chronological order. In this case, it really doesn't matter, but I'd still read the books chronologically. That makes it easier if you keep reading Drizzt books after the first two trilogies. |
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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SiriusBlack
Great Reader
USA
5517 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2005 : 04:20:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Lucius
Should I begin reading the Icewind Dale trilogy next then, or would it be better to start reading his life in chronological order?
I believe this question has come up before....but for some reason I just can't recall who brought it up or what the answer was.
Thus, I have to go with WR here and say chronological order has to be the smart way to go. I know I enjoy books more when read in that order verus publication dates when there are discrepancies between the two. |
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Lucius
Seeker
98 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2005 : 15:19:42
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Thank you all for the usefull responces here. It's much appreciated and helpful for a starting DM.
I'm afraid, however, I have another 2 questions. This time, they are easily answered, I'm sure, and rules (3.5) related
1. Is it possibly to multiclass a character over 4 classes, or is there a limit of three class combinations? For exmaple, is it possible to create a 3rd level rogue / 3rd level wizard / 3 level fighter / 3rd level monk?
2. It is stated in the PHB that a character gains one additional feat at level one. Does this mean that every time you begin a new class, you gain the additional feat, or does it just apply to character levels? |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2005 : 16:24:38
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Bob says he came to truly see Drizzt as the main character, so I believe him. But it would have been easy, otherwise, to surmise that he'd been kicked into that role because the character was seen to be popular. For me, Wulfgar and Bruenor are still the heroes of Bob's books.
I would read the Icewind Dale trilogy before Dark Elf, and see the progression of the characters and Bob's as a writer that way, but either order is fine. But I would read Ed Greenwood's Spellfire next, not Drizzt books, if you want to know the Realms. No better introduction to the setting exists, among novels, though this is a fine handout to give your players the right idea.
1. yes. 2. You only get the feat at 1st (character) level. |
Edited by - Faraer on 28 Jan 2005 16:32:38 |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4694 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2005 : 17:47:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Lucius
1. Is it possibly to multiclass a character over 4 classes, or is there a limit of three class combinations? For exmaple, is it possible to create a 3rd level rogue / 3rd level wizard / 3 level fighter / 3rd level monk?
It is posible to have 10 or more classes, as long as one does not perclude the other all can be advanced equally, resulting in no experience point award penality. Some computers versions do limit the ability to multi-class this most likely a coding issue.
In theory a player could design a character in such a way that selecting a new class at level one, that the character would have a 100 percent penality as to amount of points awarded. That any would seek to do this is unlikely, however if 10 classes are more then one level away from each other this is the result.
quote:
2. It is stated in the PHB that a character gains one additional feat at level one. Does this mean that every time you begin a new class, you gain the additional feat, or does it just apply to character levels?
There is Character Level and Class level.
At Character Level 1 one recieves an extra feat, 4 times skills points.
At Character Level 1 a player selects a Class level and recieves the Class features. One can only be at Character Level once, as that is the total number of classes/Hit Dice that a Character aquires.
Class level is a prusuit decides to follow. One can start out as a fighter, develpe and interest in music and become a bard, then perhaps move on to Sor or even cleric.
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Edited by - Kentinal on 28 Jan 2005 17:49:58 |
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Lucius
Seeker
98 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2005 : 16:00:06
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Steven Schend, you'll be pleased to hear I've taken your advice and ordered an anthology, as well as Homelands. Thanks for the advice.
Does anyone know where I can find a list of all the 3rd edition source material for the Realms? There seem to be a large amount of source books.
Also, I read somewhere that Dragon Magazine did an article on creating Bhaal-Spawn characters, based on Baldur's Gate, as well as an article with the stats for Jahera and Sarevok, amongst others from the game. Could anyone tell me which issues these are? |
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RevJest
Learned Scribe
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2005 : 15:29:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
An interesting note is that when Salvatore was preparing to write The Crystal Shard, he spur-of-the-moment dreamed up Drizzt during a phone conversation with one of the TSR people, who asked who Wulfgar's sidekick would be. So Drizzt was never intended to be the spotlight character, he was just a sidekick. Look what happened there.
I'm going to toss this quasi non-sequitor in for fun, and because it might make an old friend of mine a tad less cranky.
Back in the 80s, before RA Salvatore penned The Crystal Shard, I and several friends were playing in a long running Greyhawk campaign. My friend Eric ran an interesting character named Piell.
Piell was a drow.
A noble drow.
A drow who had forsaken the evil of his people and left them.
A drow who was often hounded by angry and fearful folk, and who had to prove himself often.
A drow who had to do a lot of soul searching, and was sometimes broody.
A drow who fought with two swords.
I know this sounds totally unfamiliar.
Eric can't discuss his favorite AD&D character with other gamers. Because if he does, the conversation goes like this:
Eric: *tells someone all about Piell*
Someone: "Oh, you mean he's like Drizzt?"
Eric: "... no. Drizzt is like Piell."
- RJ
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Edited by - RevJest on 27 May 2006 16:29:38 |
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Octa
Learned Scribe
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2005 : 18:27:35
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| buy the basic 3.5 books, find the old grey box, set your campaign in the Dalelands, 1356 with the elves leaving and a mysterious ruined city being opened up for exploration and exploitation and go from there, it is the best 1st realms experience you will ever have. |
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe
Denmark
468 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 16:47:56
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| I agree... Make sure to make it simple. At least when you choose the setting. No need to rush yourself into an adventure that races across the continent before you realy knows it. |
"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings" |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2006 : 02:35:36
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quote:
Originally posted by RevJest
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
An interesting note is that when Salvatore was preparing to write The Crystal Shard, he spur-of-the-moment dreamed up Drizzt during a phone conversation with one of the TSR people, who asked who Wulfgar's sidekick would be. So Drizzt was never intended to be the spotlight character, he was just a sidekick. Look what happened there.
I'm going to toss this quasi non-sequitor in for fun, and because it might make an old friend of mine a tad less cranky.
Back in the 80s, before RA Salvatore penned The Crystal Shard, I and several friends were playing in a long running Greyhawk campaign. My friend Eric ran an interesting character named Piell.
Piell was a drow.
A noble drow.
A drow who had forsaken the evil of his people and left them.
A drow who was often hounded by angry and fearful folk, and who had to prove himself often.
A drow who had to do a lot of soul searching, and was sometimes broody.
A drow who fought with two swords.
I know this sounds totally unfamiliar.
Eric can't discuss his favorite AD&D character with other gamers. Because if he does, the conversation goes like this:
Eric: *tells someone all about Piell*
Someone: "Oh, you mean he's like Drizzt?"
Eric: "... no. Drizzt is like Piell."
- RJ
Hey the first surface Drow ranger - pre-drizzt character. No worries my friend, I see your point |
Edited by - scererar on 28 May 2006 02:36:28 |
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A Forgotten Realms Virgin
