LogFAQs > #896998442

ParanoidObsessive posted...

over the years I've been dismissive of D&D novelizations in general and the Drizzt books specifically, because they always seemed like such genre-trash wankery. The sort of books non-reader teenagers would read because they didn't know any better. I always assumed that they were probably terribly written (an assumption not helped when I DID buy the Baldur's Gate novelizations and they were terribly written).

From what I can recall of other D&D novels, at least some of them are written pretty poorly -- or, at least, not properly edited (or maybe not even properly proofread). But that's largely true of most genre fiction, and the D&D novels are more pulp than others. Honestly, half-makes me want to take a serious stab at fiction one of these days but I've never been that fond of the idea of writing filler or going into overly long descriptions which often pad out these stories.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

As an aside, I almost feel like it's better to read Icewind Dale before Dark Elf regardless of book numbering now, because chronological by publishing is almost always better than chronological by setting when it comes to reading order. I feel like you sort of care more about Drizzt's origin when you already know him, then flash back to how he got where he was when you first meet him.

Which is actually an interesting point in itself given how many standalone works of fantasy start with the hero as an inexperienced youth when perhaps they should start a bit older and more experienced. Granted, a too-large segment of fantasy kind of sets up heroes as reader-inserts so that may not be entirely viable.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

If you were a player or a DM trying to come up with a god to slot into the Seldarine (the elf pantheon, for those who don't know) who mostly has the same sort of ideology as the 4e version of Pelor ("Protect the weak, help the helpless, smite the shit out of evil"), and you decided you wanted them to be a child of Corellon (the god of art and magic who created the elves in the first place, and head of the elf pantheon), would you be more inclined to make that god male or female?

Because it occurred to me while playing around with the Dex-based Elf Paladin idea that there really aren't any good elf gods for more traditional Paladins. They're a bit too "pansy" in general, with all of the really good "SMITE THE SHIT OUT OF EVIL" gods kind of being tied way too strongly to human culture. So I was sort of making a "Pelor, but not really Pelor" sort of god of protection in my head, but couldn't decide if it should be Corellon's son or Corellon's daughter.

Personally, I would really need to know more about the existing pantheon. If it's a predominantly male pantheon, I would likely just slot in a male. Likewise, I associate more aggressive tendencies (like "smite the shit out of evil") with males -- partly due to hormones and partly due to social acceptable behavior where a more peacekeeping role I'd be tempted to just flip a coin unless I had a very specific character design in mind.

For general characterization, I'm tempted to make suggestions but I'm not sure what would really fit within the existing canon and, quite honestly, I hate additions who feel off-type.
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There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.