Anime Are there any Actually Good D&D books?

[Cael]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

Forgotten Realms went too far with this bullshit of having numerous civilizations inspired by those in real life.
Gygax showed restraint and pretty much had Greyhawk be based on Medieval Europe. Of course, you had other civilizations like the Barbarians in the Thillonrian Peninsula and the Baklunish.

They created civilisations simply for the sake of muh diversity points. Most of those civilisations were never used and so was a completely wasted, except for maybe some fringe black or Arab players somewhere that some leftard on the Internet brought up as a pillorying point at some point in time.

 

[Lt Broccoli]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

In 3.x, a mage who works with couatls is called a Rainbow Servant for a reason. Maztica is a great setting, but to give it that Meso-American feel is likely beyond the capabilities of most DM.

True, it would be a difficult campaign setting to DM unless you studied Meso-American culture. According to Wikipedia: 'Douglas Niles said "thoroughly researched and historically accurate". Niles' research included tours of "numerous archaeological sites such as the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, Tchitchin Itza, and Uxmal" and "multiple trips to Mexico's National Museum of Archaeology"'

 

[Lt Broccoli]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

Forgotten Realms went too far with this bullshit of having numerous civilizations inspired by those in real life.
Gygax showed restraint and pretty much had Greyhawk be based on Medieval Europe. Of course, you had other civilizations like the Barbarians in the Thillonrian Peninsula and the Baklunish.

It is ironic you bring this point up as Wizards of the Coast now disclaim most of these civilisational projects like Maztica. Quoting WotC: 'We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.'