Candlekeep Forum
Candlekeep Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Active Polls | Members | Private Messages | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Forgotten Realms Products
 D&D Core Products
 Tales from the Yawning Portal

Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!

Screensize:
UserName:
Password:
Format Mode:
Format: BoldItalicizedUnderlineStrikethrough Align LeftCenteredAlign Right Horizontal Rule Insert HyperlinkInsert Email Insert CodeInsert QuoteInsert List
   
Message:

* HTML is OFF
* Forum Code is ON
Smilies
Smile [:)] Big Smile [:D] Cool [8D] Blush [:I]
Tongue [:P] Evil [):] Wink [;)] Clown [:o)]
Black Eye [B)] Eight Ball [8] Frown [:(] Shy [8)]
Shocked [:0] Angry [:(!] Dead [xx(] Sleepy [|)]
Kisses [:X] Approve [^] Disapprove [V] Question [?]
Rolling Eyes [8|] Confused [?!:] Help [?:] King [3|:]
Laughing [:OD] What [W] Oooohh [:H] Down [:E]

  Check here to include your profile signature.
Check here to subscribe to this topic.
    

T O P I C    R E V I E W
Wooly Rupert Posted - 05 Jan 2017 : 19:43:53
So there's a new product dropping in April...

Tales From The Yawning Portal

quote:
When the shadows grow long in Waterdeep and the fireplace in the taproom of the Yawning Portal dims to a deep crimson glow, adventurers from across the Sword Coast spin tales and spread rumors of lost treasures. Some of yarns overheard by Durnan, the barkeep of the Yawning Portal, are inspired by events in far-flung lands, or even other worlds across the Planes, and these tales have been collected into a single volume.

Within this tome are seven of the most compelling dungeons from the 40+ year history of Dungeons & Dragons. Some are classics that have hosted an untold number of adventurers, while others were some of the most popular adventures ever printed.

The seeds of these stories now rest in your hands. D&D’s most storied dungeons are now part of your modern repertoire of adventures. Enjoy, and remember to keep a few spare character sheets handy.

For use with the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide, this book provides fans with a treasure trove of adventures, all of which have been updated to the fifth edition rules. Explore seven deadly dungeons in this adventure supplement for the world’s greatest roleplaying game:

  • Against the Giants
  • Dead in Thay
  • Forge of Fury
  • Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
  • Sunless Citadel
  • Tomb of Horrors
  • White Plume Mountain



And Mike Mearls talks about it in an interview:

D&D's 'Tales From The Yawning Portal' Is The Game's Greatest Hits

30   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Brimstone Posted - 25 Aug 2017 : 22:05:50
Have the players go into Undermountian on a quest, then have the "Mist" come and take them to Barovia...
Elren_Wolfsbane Posted - 25 Aug 2017 : 21:58:44

Okay cool, so if I wanted to use the yawning portal as a means to get to another world I could just say they went into the under-mountain and found a gate there.

As for Barovia I was just using you as
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Elren_Wolfsbane

So, I had a question. Could I use the Portal in the Taproom to plane shift from one world to another (like from Faerun to Barovia, etc...) ??? I know I may need to use a spelljammer, but was unclear. If anyone can elaborate, I'd appreciate it. Thanks



Unless the new book has changed something, the Portal in the Yawning Portal isn't a gate -- it's just an opening into Undermountain. It is, in short, a big hole in the ground.

Spelljammers are for space travel between the various worlds of D&D. You can't set course for Barovia, because it's in Ravenloft and that's its own demiplane. That said, the Mists of Ravenloft can reach into wildspace to pull in a spelljammer. And -- again, assuming they've not changed anything -- getting out of Ravenloft is an entirely different matter; the place actively resists letting people go.

The main concept of the book is that people from elsewhere have been to the Realms and have talked about these other dungeons they've been to. Given the nature of Undermountain, it would not be unreasonable to have portals to other worlds.

Wooly Rupert Posted - 25 Aug 2017 : 21:22:32
quote:
Originally posted by Elren_Wolfsbane

So, I had a question. Could I use the Portal in the Taproom to plane shift from one world to another (like from Faerun to Barovia, etc...) ??? I know I may need to use a spelljammer, but was unclear. If anyone can elaborate, I'd appreciate it. Thanks



Unless the new book has changed something, the Portal in the Yawning Portal isn't a gate -- it's just an opening into Undermountain. It is, in short, a big hole in the ground.

Spelljammers are for space travel between the various worlds of D&D. You can't set course for Barovia, because it's in Ravenloft and that's its own demiplane. That said, the Mists of Ravenloft can reach into wildspace to pull in a spelljammer. And -- again, assuming they've not changed anything -- getting out of Ravenloft is an entirely different matter; the place actively resists letting people go.

The main concept of the book is that people from elsewhere have been to the Realms and have talked about these other dungeons they've been to. Given the nature of Undermountain, it would not be unreasonable to have portals to other worlds.
Elren_Wolfsbane Posted - 25 Aug 2017 : 21:01:41
So, I had a question. Could I use the Portal in the Taproom to plane shift from one world to another (like from Faerun to Barovia, etc...) ??? I know I may need to use a spelljammer, but was unclear. If anyone can elaborate, I'd appreciate it. Thanks
Markustay Posted - 14 Apr 2017 : 18:59:12
I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Schley isn't working on said maps already - the new 'model' seems to be to get artists to do the work 'for free', and then allow them to sell the maps themselves, privately.

When they started this trend, they still prvided the maps, but at a low resolution in the books themselves, which gave you the option of buying the 'better quality' one directly from the artist. Not sure if anything's changed in that regard, but if they are using less and less maps, thats not a good sign. I HATE anything "a'la carte", and would truly despise that sort of presentation for products moving forward.

At one time we had physical books coming out, and we'd get 'web enhancements' with additional content that wouldn't make it into the page count. Now, I wouldn't mind them doing something along those lines with monster stats, and what-not (and they've done that), just to allow for more 'meat' in the product itself, but it appears they may be moving in the opposite direction, 'padding' the products with stats and then selling us the maps. Not good. I hope this isn't the plan - getting us used to 'less for more'.

So George, what do you think "having to justify your existence" does to a person's ego?
I'm picturing a Hasbro 'bean-counter' dressed like Neegan right now...
Shadowsoul Posted - 14 Apr 2017 : 15:10:37
I sat down at the shop and thumbed through the book and I wasn't impressed. You have all these adventures but no proper maps that you can use.

It's a shame that people still haven't learned that slapping nice special effects on a movie doesn't make it great.
Gary Dallison Posted - 14 Apr 2017 : 11:17:15
Good to see im not the only one.

Ive decided to pay by the word for new FR lore produced by WoTC. This book gets zero pence from me
George Krashos Posted - 14 Apr 2017 : 04:56:37
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas


This is why, for me, the idea of buying new modules just for realmslore/new rules was a hard buy (i.e. I've got so many modules that I can adapt). That being said the sheer drought of anything being released makes me more apt to buy. It may get to a point though where I just start looking more at DMs Guild and hoping that some of us who have a love of the realms start producing (which is why I gotta get off my own butt and finish my own stuff).



I've decided I'm not going to buy WotC quasi-Realms products. They do nothing for me and just perpetuate the direction that WotC has decided to take if sales are good. This product in my view is purely indicative of the lack of originality and timidity that permeates the WotC creative team - and that's something I'm not prepared to give support to. In the modern world of PDF publishing, with designers such as Ed for the Realms, Keith Baker for Eberron and a host of grognards for GH ready to churn out material, it only needs a green light from the powers that be. They even have the DMs Guild as a vehicle to do it easily and cheaply. But they choose not to. In days gone by, the view was that the brand and sales suffered due to the smaller and smaller subset of fans that existed for the various campaign worlds, due to little crossover. It was too expensive to publish phyiscal books in that environment. PDF publishing has put paid to that in my view and it's now simply a question of "why aren't you doing x, y or z?" Why? Well, I'd hazard a guess that the small, barely hanging on gang of designers at WotC have to justify their existence - if they farm out too many gigs to external parties, the bean counters are likely to wonder what they're paying them for.

So we'll continue to see re-hashed stuff updated from the time when real creative types had a hand on the wheel, uninspiring APs that are Realms lite and a stately procession to 6th Edition when another PH/DMG/MM sales spike is required for people to stay in a job. I have shelves full of FR products, a HD full of my own stuff, an imagination that whisks me to the Realms in an eye blink and many friends who love the Realms as I do. I don't need WotC. But I do have plenty of disposable income. If they want some of that, then they know what they have to do.

-- George Krashos
sleyvas Posted - 13 Apr 2017 : 17:14:09
If there were one piece that I wish they'd done at a glance, its the "new monsters" section. They have "evoker" as a monster, when what this is is an NPC built for that module. I just wish they'd separated these out into the two separate groupings of "new monsters" and "NPC encounters". Just to clear up whenever someone starts making a list of monsters and we have "a different version of the evoker monster" elsewhere.

I will say that even though I've played this game/read material from it for the past 35 years... there's been so much that's been produced that 3 of the 7 adventures listed here I've only given passing glances at most (forge of fury, I've never looked at... Sunless Citadel I literally only looked at in the past two months when I started working more on the red mineral forest of Shyr... and the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan I've glanced through). I can also say that the final 2 years full of dungeon magazine's physical run, I kept buying them and still have them in their wrappers.

This is why, for me, the idea of buying new modules just for realmslore/new rules was a hard buy (i.e. I've got so many modules that I can adapt). That being said the sheer drought of anything being released makes me more apt to buy. It may get to a point though where I just start looking more at DMs Guild and hoping that some of us who have a love of the realms start producing (which is why I gotta get off my own butt and finish my own stuff).
KanzenAU Posted - 13 Apr 2017 : 02:55:20
Hopefully this will help, moonbeast.
moonbeast Posted - 13 Apr 2017 : 02:20:52
Yes, started reading my copy today (got it from Amazon). It's a very good book. It's basically the classics updated to 5E, with minor changes here and there, but essentially left the intent and flavor of the same classics. I agree with farinal, the artwork is quite nice. I just wish they would let us download some high-resolution JPEG/PDF maps of the adventures. The maps from the Giants series would be really welcome. I hate scanning pages and maps directly from a hardcover book since it tends to damage the spine of the book.
farinal Posted - 13 Apr 2017 : 01:49:09
Just got my book yesterday. It's a gorgeous thing of beauty. Art is top notch. I really like the presentation as well. Adventures are already as you know, awesome! Seems like a surprise favorite product for me. If only SCAG was a bit better I wouldn't have any problem wtih 5E line of books. (Perhaps apart from Tyranny of Dragons)
Markustay Posted - 11 Apr 2017 : 07:38:03
The books are very different.

Well, maybe not different, but rather better, because there is so much more back-story developed (turns out Harry's father was a bit of a jerk himself - he was "Snape's Bully"). Also, it was Harry's father's 'gang' that created the marauder's map. which they don't get into at all in the movies. Harry had several girlfriends. Ginny was a bit of a ho for awhile there. Hermione was actually kinda plain until she got hit in the mouth and got 'fixed' with magic (they never covered any of that in the movies), which makes the whole thing with her and Ron make a bit more sense (he was the only boy who liked her when she was still 'funny looking'). Luna lovegood's part was much bigger; in fact, a bunch of other characters were much more developed (including teachers). Entire IMPORTANT characters were completely left out (there was a reporter involved in the Goblet of Fire novel, and in the books, thats when Luna was introduced, as a counter to that reporter, and Hermione gets a bit 'medieval' on her). And so much more... its like learning about FR from Drizzt novels compared to reading all the sourcebooks... SERIOUSLY.

Treat yourself.

Back on-topic:
Ya know, ya have to give WotC 'bravery props' for publishing a book with 'yawn' in the title.
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 23:21:41
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

They were surprisingly good.

I'd place J.K. Rowling in the Ed Greenwood category - one helluva storyteller.

Your idea: There is a precedent for that (the Time-Turner) in the novels, and I thought of that as well. Write a story where Harry's son has to go back and fix things, because his dad turned into a total jerk (he's not even with his mom - he knocked-up Ginny and just went his merry way). That could be a 'what if...' and still be within continuity... that could work, and fit right into the planned sequels.

The world would change as well - be like how the world changed for Marty in Back to the Future (a darker version). Then have Snape (guess we'd need a different actor - *sob*) be a good guy that helps the son... since he IS his namesake.

Little Sev would have been 'protected' from forgetting the real version of the world - with magic, we can create any sort of McGuffin we wanted. (wearing a 'bowler of mental protection' or some-such). We may want to go back a bit before when Harry was 'sorted', though, so we could get away with different (younger) actors. The originals are too old now. maybe even go back to when Voldemort was creating the Horcruxes...

AND, we did it again. Sorry mods.

Tales from the Yawning Portal - it am good! You buy it, me no kill you!!!

{too much?}



Yeah, buy Tales from the Yawning Portal... I am just so that they can keep the doors open and make more stuffs.


Oh, and yeah, I just hate reading books after I've watched the movies. That being said, its been so long since I saw the first movies, that it's vague in my mind. My girlfriend's little girl is 8, so maybe once I finish my reread of the Thayan civil war trilogy, I'll shift around and start these and buy her a copy too. Then we can watch the movies together (first time for her... fun for me).
Gary Dallison Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 22:06:49
Jar Jar was a mere trifling annoyance.

Abeir and 4e/5e are the star wars christmas special, the alien 4, the episode of Dynasty where it all turns out to be a dream.

Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 21:49:48
They were surprisingly good.

I'd place J.K. Rowling in the Ed Greenwood category - one helluva storyteller.

Your idea: There is a precedent for that (the Time-Turner) in the novels, and I thought of that as well. Write a story where Harry's son has to go back and fix things, because his dad turned into a total jerk (he's not even with his mom - he knocked-up Ginny and just went his merry way). That could be a 'what if...' and still be within continuity... that could work, and fit right into the planned sequels.

The world would change as well - be like how the world changed for Marty in Back to the Future (a darker version). Then have Snape (guess we'd need a different actor - *sob*) be a good guy that helps the son... since he IS his namesake.

Little Sev would have been 'protected' from forgetting the real version of the world - with magic, we can create any sort of McGuffin we wanted. (wearing a 'bowler of mental protection' or some-such). We may want to go back a bit before when Harry was 'sorted', though, so we could get away with different (younger) actors. The originals are too old now. maybe even go back to when Voldemort was creating the Horcruxes...

AND, we did it again. Sorry mods.

Tales from the Yawning Portal - it am good! You buy it, me no kill you!!!

{too much?}
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 21:31:43
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Is Abeir our Jar-Jar?

EDIT:
I don't ever see J.K Rowling doing a 'What if..' story, but you never know. One does do whatever one can when one gets used to having gobs of money. LOL

Personally, him going Slytherin, and taking Hermione for himself (the one thing that J.K. herself says she regrets, a bit) would be pretty damn cool. Not that I want him to go full-blown villain, but a darker version of him, where he belittles Malfoy and the other'inferior' wizards in his house, and where he goes hard-core on destroying Voldemort (who he thinks of more as a misguided 'rival'), to the point were other wizards aren't sure if backing HP might not be the 'lesser of two evils'... that sort of thing.

Oh, and have him torture Peter Pettigrew, because, ya know... PETER friggin' PETTIGREW! If anyone deserved to have HP get downright medieval on his arse, it was that schmuck!

And while thats goin on, have Ron Weasley puke, and his GF Hermione eyes sparkle in avery... unsettleing... way. YEAH... like that...

Now I may have to go and write a fanfic... I HATE fanfic!




What if Voldemort's final contingency kicked in, and it allowed him to send back in time to the choosing hat and control it. Then future Harry has to go back and prevent himself creating and releasing the sex tape of himself and Hermione, because he realizes it ruined her life.

You know, I keep saying I need to read the Harry Potter books, but I've got such a stack... damn there's not enough time in the world.
Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 20:44:33
Is Abeir our Jar-Jar?

EDIT:
I don't ever see J.K Rowling doing a 'What if..' story, but you never know. One does do whatever one can when one gets used to having gobs of money. LOL

Personally, him going Slytherin, and taking Hermione for himself (the one thing that J.K. herself says she regrets, a bit) would be pretty damn cool. Not that I want him to go full-blown villain, but a darker version of him, where he belittles Malfoy and the other'inferior' wizards in his house, and where he goes hard-core on destroying Voldemort (who he thinks of more as a misguided 'rival'), to the point were other wizards aren't sure if backing HP might not be the 'lesser of two evils'... that sort of thing.

Oh, and have him torture Peter Pettigrew, because, ya know... PETER friggin' PETTIGREW! If anyone deserved to have HP get downright medieval on his arse, it was that schmuck!

And while thats goin on, have Ron Weasley puke, and his GF Hermione eyes sparkle in avery... unsettleing... way. YEAH... like that...

Now I may have to go and write a fanfic... I HATE fanfic!
Gary Dallison Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 20:34:09
I hope that one day JK Rowling will write an alternative version of the Harry Potter stories. One where Harry didn't think to choose Gryffindor as his house and was therefore put in Slytherin.

The rewrite of Star Wars history gives me hope that one day 4e and 5e will just be a really bad and pointless dream and the realms will once again be back to its original glory (or something very close to it).
Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 20:28:54
And now, Disney has 'un-done' that (he DID appear in the new movie... well... the other new movie - I haven't bothered to see the latest one, and won't...)

I'm not a fan of SW. Oh, I borrow from it, and there are individual elements I like a lot, but the whole thing leaves me flat. At the time it came out, I was awed (as was everyone else) by it. Now, in hindsight, I can judge it for what it is - a poorly written, tropey, hack-fest, that banked heavily on the new, computer-generated special effects, and with THAT, Lucas hit one out of the park. Had those effects NOT been available to him, that movie would have gotten the 'acclaim' its so richly deserves - the bargain-bin at Walmart.

Anyhow, I guess that means I don't care either way about RAS 'killing Chewey' - I just like throwing that out there as one of those little-known factoids by the non-'rabid SW fanboi' crowd. Personally, I would LOVE to write a novel where I get to kill-off Harry Potter - I'd BATHE IN THE HATE. lol

And I like Harry - I'd make it a 'good death'. Not like what I'd do to about a thousand other 'heroes' I'd love to roast over a slow fire. I guess I've always been more into the villains - someone who uses 'their powers' for selfish ends is just so much more believable, IMO.

EDIT: And before Wooly takes out his Hamster stick, or Sage manages to accidentally wander into these halls while looking for his car keys...
As for TftYP, here's the bottom line: If you play D&D, then buy the damn thing. More products getting sold means more backing for D&D from Hasbro, and that means more products - FR PRODUCTS - that we all get down the line. JUST DO IT!
And if you don't play D&D, then maybe you should consider buying it based on your own reasons for liking FR. If you are an 'FR purist', than don't. Personally, i don't even know how anyone can be one of those anymore, considering the wacky state of the IP in the past decade. But whatever...

But if you buy D&D products in general - regardless of whether you play or not - than its really a no-brainer. If you want to see more of what YOU ENJOY, then buy it, so we get to see more. The same should even go for you 'purists', but at this point, if you still believe in 'canon' that much, I'm not sure what would make that crowd happy (reboot to 3e? 2e? Zero-e? {Eds Realms} - the only way to 'stay pure' these days is to just not move forward into the new era, and thats just not a thing thats going to happen).

So accept the fact that FR IS D&D now, and vice-versa, and anything that TSR has ever produced could show up in FR... possibly with an explanation... or not. This product at least tries to fudge an explanation, which is more than we got with most of the 4e schlock.
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 19:53:17
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

This SO weird... ME TOO!
I only go to B&N about once a year, and the kid working there showed me the Yawning Portal, which I looked through. How coincidental is THAT?!

To make a short story long (), I looked through it, and he said his DM planned to run it. Then he told me he only started playing D&D recently - he had no idea the Drizzt novels were connected to the game (at this point my 'fanboi alert' alarms were starting to tingle). He asked if I read them, and I said yes, that I had read most of the Forgotten realms Novels, although there were still quite a few I missed. He asked me which was my favorite, and I did a , "Oh boy... there are so many". "I really enjoyed the Cormyr series, and the saurials books were pretty good" (I was still sifting through my memories for something I could call a 'favorite', and hadn't even mentally gotten to Elaine's books yet, or a plethora of others...) and at this point before I could continue he looked confused. My son noted 'that' look in my eye...

He asked, "R.A.Salvatore wrote about other characters than Drizzt?" I said, "Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about - I'm talking about other Forgotten Realms authors..." more looks of confusion. He was like, "There are OTHER authors?" {heavy sigh} I walked over to the area where they keep the IP-related novels (they rearranged the place, but its always in the same isle as the manga in that store, so I just look for the aisle where all the blue-haired girls are sitting on the floor reading... that's NOT a joke...)

And of course I found just ONE shelf of D&D/FR books, almost entirely RAS. there were two different ones by Erin Evans. no wonder he had no clue. So I sat this nice young fellow down at some nearby couches and explained to him who Ed Greenwood is, what The realms truly are, how ginormous a setting it is, and even slipped in the fact that RAS killed Chewbacca (he didn't even know RAS wrote non-FR novels). Now he's probably better informed than he wanted to be, but he looked extremely happy because I think he thought he met a celebrity or some such (after I told him I actually knew most of the authors from that aisle... and others). I also gave him my DeviantART page (it never hurts to gain more followers, after all).

And it all started with me just wanting to buy the 5e DMG (which I did - I can 'just wing it' for my boys, but if I'm going to be writing for the DMs guild I had better have solid rules behind me), and being offered the Yawning Portal instead. The one thing I avoided was casting ANY disparaging remarks about the TftYP, since he looked thrilled to be playing it soon - I neither had the heart to break it to him that those dungeons weren't really part of FR (although i suppose they ARE, now), nor did I want to do anything to remove that ear-to-ear grin he had on his face as I left the place. He's gonna have some stories to tell at his gaming table this weekend - he met the guy who knows a guy who...

If we would all take the time once in awhile to find these future tabletop gamers (they're still out there, to my wonderful surprise), and nurture their enthusiasm, I think we could actually turn this whole thing around.




I privately find it hilarious that "the blue haired girls" has taken on an entirely different connotation than it did say 20 years ago (when it meant old ladies).

Wait, it was RAS that killed Chewbacca? What a tluining naethhead thing to do.

EDIT: and I just searched online because that just made me go "what?". Poor guy. Apparently RAS was told he had to kill Chewie and his response at a convention was

I was in a conference call with DelRey and Lucasfilm when the editors expressed that they loved the outline. (paraphrasing here) “This is exactly what we want, but didn’t anyone tell you? You have to kill Chewey.”

I won’t type the next two words that came out of my mouth. After a couple of days of arguments and, well, terror, they had convinced me that they were doing it for the right reasons, and well, George was down with it, and it’s his galaxy far, far away, so I did it.

The responses have been mixed, with some people loving the new direction, other people devastated. I think it might be the only thing I’ve ever regretted; I don’t think I’d go back and do that one again.


Taleras Posted - 09 Apr 2017 : 14:13:44
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

This SO weird... ME TOO!
I only go to B&N about once a year, and the kid working there showed me the Yawning Portal, which I looked through. How coincidental is THAT?!

To make a short story long (), I looked through it, and he said his DM planned to run it. Then he told me he only started playing D&D recently - he had no idea the Drizzt novels were connected to the game (at this point my 'fanboi alert' alarms were starting to tingle). He asked if I read them, and I said yes, that I had read most of the Forgotten realms Novels, although there were still quite a few I missed. He asked me which was my favorite, and I did a , "Oh boy... there are so many". "I really enjoyed the Cormyr series, and the saurials books were pretty good" (I was still sifting through my memories for something I could call a 'favorite', and hadn't even mentally gotten to Elaine's books yet, or a plethora of others...) and at this point before I could continue he looked confused. My son noted 'that' look in my eye...

He asked, "R.A.Salvatore wrote about other characters than Drizzt?" I said, "Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about - I'm talking about other Forgotten Realms authors..." more looks of confusion. He was like, "There are OTHER authors?" {heavy sigh} I walked over to the area where they keep the IP-related novels (they rearranged the place, but its always in the same isle as the manga in that store, so I just look for the aisle where all the blue-haired girls are sitting on the floor reading... that's NOT a joke...)

And of course I found just ONE shelf of D&D/FR books, almost entirely RAS. there were two different ones by Erin Evans. no wonder he had no clue. So I sat this nice young fellow down at some nearby couches and explained to him who Ed Greenwood is, what The realms truly are, how ginormous a setting it is, and even slipped in the fact that RAS killed Chewbacca (he didn't even know RAS wrote non-FR novels). Now he's probably better informed than he wanted to be, but he looked extremely happy because I think he thought he met a celebrity or some such (after I told him I actually knew most of the authors from that aisle... and others). I also gave him my DeviantART page (it never hurts to gain more followers, after all).

And it all started with me just wanting to buy the 5e DMG (which I did - I can 'just wing it' for my boys, but if I'm going to be writing for the DMs guild I had better have solid rules behind me), and being offered the Yawning Portal instead. The one thing I avoided was casting ANY disparaging remarks about the TftYP, since he looked thrilled to be playing it soon - I neither had the heart to break it to him that those dungeons weren't really part of FR (although i suppose they ARE, now), nor did I want to do anything to remove that ear-to-ear grin he had on his face as I left the place. He's gonna have some stories to tell at his gaming table this weekend - he met the guy who knows a guy who...

If we would all take the time once in awhile to find these future tabletop gamers (they're still out there, to my wonderful surprise), and nurture their enthusiasm, I think we could actually turn this whole thing around.



This sounds a lot like me, since I got into FR by downloading the Legend of Drizzt audiobook for free and immediately jumped into the Drizzt series. I then found the FR sub on Reddit and read *Elfshadow* and while I am continuing the Drizzt series I am becoming enamored with some other authors and story lines. I had a little more knowledge of the setting, but wasn't sure what the quality of non-RAS books were so I didn't jump into them until I read some good reviews.
moonbeast Posted - 09 Apr 2017 : 07:01:34
quote:
Originally posted by Cyrinishad

My evidence that Realms fans are being brought in is entirely anecdotal... As in the people that I know who had moved away from the game have come back, and the next generation of kids in my family have started playing. So, that's a 1000% increase in the number of Realms fans in my local gaming scene.


Thank you. Me. You are talking about people exactly like me.

In my very first post here on Candlekeep, I specifically mentioned that I was a "returning" D&D Player, and 5th Edition lured me back in. Before 5th Edition, I played back in the AD&D era of the late 1980s to early 1990s when I was much younger. Back in those days, the "Realms" was not a central focus, in fact the Realms in those days was only half-baked, since D&D was still supporting multiple settings.

I'm quite happy that 5th Edition today is focused on the Forgotten Realms as the "default setting". It seems to be the one setting that survived the test of time. And it would have been stupidly confusing (and expensive) if I were to come back to a schizophrenic 5th Edition D&D that told me to buy products for four different campaign settings/worlds.

KanzenAU Posted - 09 Apr 2017 : 03:30:03
Adventures are $60 in-store over here in Australia, so I won't be picking this one up until I actually decide to run Tomb of Horrors or one of the other classics. I'm tempted to get it now anyway just for the Yawning Portal lore, but paying $60 for 4 pages of FR-lore when 2/4 are available in the previews seems like a poor decision.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 09 Apr 2017 : 03:01:10
Yeah, $50 is the cover price. I wasn't going to pay that much for a non-FR product from WotC. I've spent that much or more on other gaming products, but it's got to be something pretty impressive to get that much out of me.
farinal Posted - 09 Apr 2017 : 00:43:26
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

I saw the book at my local Barnes & Noble today, but I did not buy it there... I wanted to, but I got irritated at one of their policies: they won't price match with their own website.

In store, the book is $50. On the Barnes & Noble website, just a bit under $31 -- almost 40% cheaper, and with free shipping!

On top of that, I had a 20% off coupon.

So I'm going to have to wait a few days more to get it, but when I do, it will have only been $26.

Yeah, I want to support my brick and mortar store, but when the same company will sell me the same thing for a lot less, that's really hard to argue against.

CallMeGene works in retail, and he said stores not matching their own online pricing is not uncommon.

And yes, I realize that the physical stores have overhead that the website doesn't... But a 40% difference? No, I don't buy that the in-store overhead is really that high.

The cashier told me, "it costs more here because it had to be sent here." So apparently, shipping to a store a few miles from my house is really, really expensive, while shipping directly to my house is utterly free. Maybe there are a lot of toll roads I've somehow never found betwixt here and there...

If they'd even offered to meet somewhere in the middle, I'd likely have the book in hand right now. $35 or even $40, I'd've likely bought it.

Okay, rant over.



That sucks. 50 USD? I got mine on Amazon for 25! Add 7-8 dollars for shipping to Turkey still really cheaper than that store price.
Delwa Posted - 08 Apr 2017 : 12:13:09
Got my copy of this a few days ago and have been thumbing through it for game ideas. I'm already considering running a few of the higher level adventures as part of my current campaign once my Players hit those levels.
Gotta admit, though, I'm sorely tempted to run the Tomb of Horrors conversion as a one off. I ran the playtest version last year, and my players almost made it to the end. ... almost. I want to see how the final version compares at the table.
I also really like the map for ToH they did. The color makes it much easier to reference than the original I used before. Not sure if that's recycled from an older product or if it's genuinely new, but it is appreciated.

Other than that,I'm pleased with the product. I read the description before buying and didn't read it as anything more than a 5e conversion of several classic adventures in one bound volume. I'd say I got my money's worth.
The litte nuggets of info about the Portal itself were fun, and with Undermountain being Undermountain, I've always wondered why they didn't pull more on the travelers from other worlds shtick before. It seemed a very natural conclusion to me.
Markustay Posted - 08 Apr 2017 : 06:38:42
This SO weird... ME TOO!
I only go to B&N about once a year, and the kid working there showed me the Yawning Portal, which I looked through. How coincidental is THAT?!

To make a short story long (), I looked through it, and he said his DM planned to run it. Then he told me he only started playing D&D recently - he had no idea the Drizzt novels were connected to the game (at this point my 'fanboi alert' alarms were starting to tingle). He asked if I read them, and I said yes, that I had read most of the Forgotten realms Novels, although there were still quite a few I missed. He asked me which was my favorite, and I did a , "Oh boy... there are so many". "I really enjoyed the Cormyr series, and the saurials books were pretty good" (I was still sifting through my memories for something I could call a 'favorite', and hadn't even mentally gotten to Elaine's books yet, or a plethora of others...) and at this point before I could continue he looked confused. My son noted 'that' look in my eye...

He asked, "R.A.Salvatore wrote about other characters than Drizzt?" I said, "Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about - I'm talking about other Forgotten Realms authors..." more looks of confusion. He was like, "There are OTHER authors?" {heavy sigh} I walked over to the area where they keep the IP-related novels (they rearranged the place, but its always in the same isle as the manga in that store, so I just look for the aisle where all the blue-haired girls are sitting on the floor reading... that's NOT a joke...)

And of course I found just ONE shelf of D&D/FR books, almost entirely RAS. there were two different ones by Erin Evans. no wonder he had no clue. So I sat this nice young fellow down at some nearby couches and explained to him who Ed Greenwood is, what The realms truly are, how ginormous a setting it is, and even slipped in the fact that RAS killed Chewbacca (he didn't even know RAS wrote non-FR novels). Now he's probably better informed than he wanted to be, but he looked extremely happy because I think he thought he met a celebrity or some such (after I told him I actually knew most of the authors from that aisle... and others). I also gave him my DeviantART page (it never hurts to gain more followers, after all).

And it all started with me just wanting to buy the 5e DMG (which I did - I can 'just wing it' for my boys, but if I'm going to be writing for the DMs guild I had better have solid rules behind me), and being offered the Yawning Portal instead. The one thing I avoided was casting ANY disparaging remarks about the TftYP, since he looked thrilled to be playing it soon - I neither had the heart to break it to him that those dungeons weren't really part of FR (although i suppose they ARE, now), nor did I want to do anything to remove that ear-to-ear grin he had on his face as I left the place. He's gonna have some stories to tell at his gaming table this weekend - he met the guy who knows a guy who...

If we would all take the time once in awhile to find these future tabletop gamers (they're still out there, to my wonderful surprise), and nurture their enthusiasm, I think we could actually turn this whole thing around.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 08 Apr 2017 : 05:03:16
I saw the book at my local Barnes & Noble today, but I did not buy it there... I wanted to, but I got irritated at one of their policies: they won't price match with their own website.

In store, the book is $50. On the Barnes & Noble website, just a bit under $31 -- almost 40% cheaper, and with free shipping!

On top of that, I had a 20% off coupon.

So I'm going to have to wait a few days more to get it, but when I do, it will have only been $26.

Yeah, I want to support my brick and mortar store, but when the same company will sell me the same thing for a lot less, that's really hard to argue against.

CallMeGene works in retail, and he said stores not matching their own online pricing is not uncommon.

And yes, I realize that the physical stores have overhead that the website doesn't... But a 40% difference? No, I don't buy that the in-store overhead is really that high.

The cashier told me, "it costs more here because it had to be sent here." So apparently, shipping to a store a few miles from my house is really, really expensive, while shipping directly to my house is utterly free. Maybe there are a lot of toll roads I've somehow never found betwixt here and there...

If they'd even offered to meet somewhere in the middle, I'd likely have the book in hand right now. $35 or even $40, I'd've likely bought it.

Okay, rant over.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 10 Mar 2017 : 10:04:21
And since the book isn't even out yet, we don't know that it doesn't do that.

Candlekeep Forum © 1999-2024 Candlekeep.com Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000