Some Ideas for a Dungeons and Dragons Game
A pretty good book if you’re looking for some Dungeons and Dragons game ideas.
If you like Dungeons and Dragons role-playing, you will probably enjoy R.A. Salvatore’s Canticle. If for no other reason then that it will probably suggest some interesting scenarios for a D&D game should you wish to start one. This isn’t a deep, philosophical novel and the characters (the main characters are a cleric, a monk, and two dwarves because you normally get four playing characters in D&D games) are not really developed. (Or, to be more exact, they are as developed as they would be in a D&D game.) However, like any good Dungeon Master, R. A. Salvatore presents you with some really interesting bad guys and situations for a group of first-to fourth-level characters.
There’s the very intelligent imp who wants to be sure he’s on the winning side while trying to hide his intelligence from the evil wizards around him. There’s Darjin, the bad wizard who is really out to rule the world and is none too bothered about the (evil) goddess he’s supposed to be serving. The main villain (Aballister) though is a bit disappointing. All he really does is sit in his study and plot. Occasionally he stops plotting to mention how the evil goddess appeared to him and brew a potion. Then he plots some more.
The heroes are—well, standard Dungeons and Dragons fare. You almost get the feeling that Salvatore invited a group of his friends over and said, “OK I need a monk, two dwarves and a cleric.” (Salvatore even admits that he often plays the cleric in Dungeons and Dragons in the introduction.) The two dwarves are cooks and the monk is in love with the Cleric. And the Cleric is an orphan who would like to know more about his father. That’s about it as far as character development is concerned. I could almost see Salvatore say that the dwarves get so and so points for intelligence (not many) and so and so points for strength (a goodly amount) while the Cleric gets lots of intelligence to start with but if he is to hit something, he better have a really lucky roll of the dice. The Monk gets decent intelligence, great dexterity, and a goodly amount of strength.
More interesting were the “non-playing” good characters like Newander, the Druid and Percivel, the squirrel. Because Salvatore does not feel the need to put them through the D&D action or assign the right points or base characteristics to them, these get some pretty realistic development.
Overall, if you don’t expect great, Shakespearean-type literature, just want a light read that provides suggestions for a D&D scenario for level one through three players, this is a pretty good book.
It certainly reminded my husband and I what fun playing Dungeons and Dragons could be. So much so that we became members of a local D&D club.
Related article on D& D Insider here
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I didn’t realize you were into fantasy… Thanks so much for this approach; though I still haven’t read the book, I plan to as I have all five novels of the series in an omnibus version. And, you know something… I’ll bet he had some people play the characters and their actions throughout Faerun and recorded the sessions before even starting the books. Thanks again for sharing.
Excellent, book review.
Is this a new game? I’m goin’ to look for it.
Dungeons and Dragons? It’s been around for over 30 years–most RPGs are based on it. To play it, you need the Player’s Handbook if you’re going to role-play a player or the Player’s Handbook, Monster Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide if you’re the Dungeon Master. You also need dice and a board–and about four friends. (Little figurines to represent your character are also very helpful)
The rest is your and your friends’ imagination.
Good luck!
Inna
Nice write!Thanks for sharing.