What does Veeky Forums think about Drizzt...

What does Veeky Forums think about Drizzt? I saw the collected boxed set in a used book store today and did a double-take. Was tempted to pick them up and do a re-read.

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Good series, irredeemable fanbase.

Why irredeemable?

I read the Icewind Dale trilogy way back when and some of the ones afterwards...haven't followed WotC or D&D or any of that since. Was surprised to see that Salvatore was still writing.

It's pure nostalgia, of course. And I thought the Icewind Dale PC game was very well done too. I guess he's carried on writing b/c $$$ but as time goes on I think he's less cliche than just iconic, and icons don't really brook well with big and rich character development. But I'm just rambling I suppose.

I like Robert E Howard, too, if that tells you something.

He seems like the D&D Universe's version of Jace from MtG. A total spotlight-hogging Mary Sue. That's just my speculation though.

Earlier books are decent enough, later ones not so much.

New to the thread, but I quite liked the Hunters Blades. Nothing really original about them, but I think it gets the formula just right. I thought it was far better than say, the Icewind dale stuff.

In what way does he hog the spotlight? I am not aware of him showing up in any FR novel not written by RA Salvatore, and I'm pretty sure he gets two, maybe three mentions at most in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and the Player's Handbook.

Decent writer. Ok character.

Putrid fanbase, and since he exists, why do the Players even try to beat any of the high level modules in FR? Drizzt would already be doing that. Then again, that's an issue with FR in general, and at least he's not Elminster.

This, actually. He's actually written as the least interesting character in his books. He's more of a plot device than a character, which is why he comes off as a Mary Sue.

>Drizzt would already be doing that

Uh, no he wouldn't? He's one guy in a huge world that has a lot of shit happening. He can't be everywhere at once and do everything at once, and is more often than not wrapped up in his own stuff that's going down. More to the point, he lives up in Icewind Dale for the most part, where news travels slowly - particularly since he likes to spend weeks or even months at a time off in the wilderness, just himself and Gwenhywvar enjoying nature.

The entirety of Horde of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat, for example, could have happened without him ever learning about it until after it was already finished.

To say nothing of events that take place beyond the Sword Coast and the North, which he rarely ranges far from.

You ever play Baldur's Gate? Well, Drizzt shows up in Baldur's Gate at one point, or rather you can stumble across him (the map that he's on is not one you have to enter to complete the game). He's passing through the region on his way to Icewind Dale as part of something else, and will help you kill some gnolls that are attacking you and him anyway. You can literally say to him something to the effect of:

>"Now that you're here, we won't have to worry about the iron crisis anymore!"

And he will respond with something to the effect of:

>"Yes, you will, because I'm busy and have pressing things that I need to deal with up north."

He then gives you some advice on how to deal with the broader world situation, then leaves.

That's Drizzt's role in a campaign, or it should be, if he must show up: dealing with his own shit, but willing to help you with an immediate problem, BUT he's still dealing with his own shit so don't expect him to stick around.

The world is bigger than the PCs, but it's bigger than Drizzt, too.

Never had an interest. Got the impression that he was a mary sue, though I don't know enough to claim this is a fact.

You guys know anything about this character or the book? I saw a set of these books in a middle aged woman's bedroom, and found the cover mildly interesting. The girl looks cute, and I like stories about cute girls. I thought she looked like female teen Drizzt.

YA garbage

I've enjoyed some young adult shit though. Is this really bad, or just bad because it's young adult?

>i saw a set of these books in a middle-aged woman's bedroom

there's something about this sentence that I just can't put my finger on

Hey, crusty ol' panties aren't going to huff themselves.

well, serves me right for asking i suppose

I've never given a shit about Drizzt himself as a character, but I've always liked Pwent, Jaraxle, Athrogate, and even Entreri post heel-face turn.

I don't think he's as big of a Mary Sue as people made him out to be, honestly.

Man he exists in Forgotten Realms. Every single NPC is a spotlight-hogging Mary Sue.

>Salvatore is a good writer, like he's not anything to rave about but him and Raymond E. Feist are responsible for getting me into fantasy and I guess by extension D&D.

Drizzt is actually a decent character, he's in effect a PC so obviously is prodigious in some way, that being he's one of the best swordsmen on the sword coast. He does get a bad rap because he was copied over and over and over and people expected to get the same feeling but the thing about Drizz't is his stories weren't about him physically getting stronger he was already right up there, it was his emotional development and experiences on the surface as well as his origin coming back to haunt him. His supporting cast is also strong in itself, each of the characters could probably be the focus of their own book and still be good.

I sort of miss the days of mass Drizzt clones.

That isn't Elminster.

They need the love of young ones too.

If you don't have anything to contribute you don't have to post faggot.

I mean my only real personal gripe with the Driz man is that the last time I walked past a fantasy isle in the book store there was a distinct lack of any FR books that didn't have him on the cover, or really a distinct lack of FR books. I recall there always being a huge section of them back in the day. From what I know of the FR it has more to do with them pulling that hard reset 4e nonsense that killed off everyone but him or some shit, and then they revived all his dead friends or something because whatever. I guess it's like when comic books do a reboot and throw out 40 years of writing but then never actually reboot anything and the have Drowperboy Prime somehow survive into the reboot universe so you can base all your stuff on him and then revive all his friends because nothing fixes mistakes like time travel and spontanious resurection, JEEEAAN!

Meh. Some of the books are good, others... not so much. I suppose it's a decent series, overall, I just can't be bothered to pick it up again. Always preferred Cunningham's FR books, anyway.

I loved reading them as a kid/teenager, now not so much.

I stopped roughly before the netherese/spell plague shenanigans happened and I'm glad I did. Quality and overall story telling suffered as Bob kept writing Drizzt, hell even the original party supposedly died and all came back to life, just like my animus.

That aside I did thoroughly enjoy the sellsword series featuring Jarlaxle and Artemis, much better written characters/campaigns/settings.

On a semi-related note- can anyone recommend some DnD style fantasy books? I'm getting into a game and could do with some inspiration.

The honest truth is that I was simply working as her house cleaner, at the time.

Honestly Op they're worth a reread, he gets a bad rap mostly because of all the edgelord faggots pout there who tried and failed to copy him as a character because Drizz't hates attention, he's very easy-going and a little overly angsty at times but he never dwells in the angst, he accepts it and moves on. I've never understood why out of all the characters he's the mary sue, cuz that's fucking Wulfgar he was the original main character, til WOTC and R.A. figured out Drizzt was more interesting.

He also appears in BG2 when you're hoping to infiltrate a vampire-filled necropolis, and he is the worst tag-along NPC ever.

He's invincible, and rushes forward whenever an enemy is spotted, literally waking the dead and getting groups of enemies rushing towards you before you have a chance to get off more than a single spell, while offering lines like "STRIKE TOGETHER, FRIENDS!" and otherwise being an absolute prat.

hot

He's invincible, just wait a safe distance away he'll take care of most of it.

There's apparently a bit of leftover code there, he's supposed to encounter Artemis Entreri and the two of them spend the encounter fighting each other, but Entreri apparently got cut. Drizzt's dialogue for seeing him is still in the game though.

>Spotlight hogging
>In his own series
>That features many sections for the perspective of other characters
Didn't read it don't judge it. The only reason you think he's a mary sue is because when he first appeared he was so fucking cool that everyone wanted to be him and he's had that reputation ever since.

A mary sue is someone jammed into a different person's story and explained by the writer as being the best. Drizz't is the main character of his own story and he was so interesting and cool that everyone who read the books thought he was the best. He's the literal literary opposite of a mary sue.

Tamora Pierce is YA and her writing is fantastic and there are lots of other great YA books. Are you saying it's shit because it's YA or just that it's YA and also shit? Because if it's the first then I'm inclined to give it a chance because you probably just have shit taste but if it's the second I'll probably still check it out because the cover looks hot in an angsty 90's hot topic kinda way.

Hell, he hates having the spotlight in his own books, it's so fucking unbelievably stupid that Veeky Forums doesn't know what a Mary Sue actually is, and throws that mantle onto any more competent than usual character.

His books are the equivalent of fantasy pop corn. Fun but nothing to ponder about. Although I have no idea why Bob made Cattie Brie such a bitch since she came back.

He didn't she's pretty pleasant except for the "where's the babies room" shit.

In the interest of fairness, I do believe he is regarded as the best swordsman in the Forgotten Realms. Then again, Inigo Montoya is the best swordsman in Europe during the events of the Princess Bride, but no one calls him a Mary Sue. Because being a swordsman is the only thing Inigo is actually good at, and in everything else he's got average to below-average competence.

And it's the same with Drizzt. He's never labeled as an exceptionally skilled ranger. He knows smatterings of magic, but only because every drow warrior receives some magical training.

He's good at stabbing things. If you don't need things stabbed, his skill set pretty much ends.

>I do believe he is regarded as the best swordsman in the Forgotten Realms.
Sixth best.

Seconded. Just starting a new game and I last read DnD-esque fantasy in middle school with Dragonlance.

Technically Greenwood, said the differnece between all those fighters on his list were, literally like so small as to not even be practical to call any of them less proficient than any of the others, all of them have perfect technical skill, it's the other qualities of a swordsmen where the differences lie, at least that's what i got from that post on candlekeep.
Yeah, that's true.

True, just thought it was worth noting that he's not the definitive best.

It was, and he is I think the only swordsmen on the list who lives anywhere near the sword coast, so he's most likely the best in that general area.

>Well, now. “Swordsmen” you say, so I’m going to narrow my reply down to: male living (not dead or undead) humans.
>I’m going to further qualify my reply by saying that among the most skilled masters of bladework, “best” becomes a matter of opinion regarding style, and the average observer can’t identify (let alone properly interpret) most subtle differences because they’re either dead too quickly, or too dazzled by things that happen too swiftly for them to see properly and too deftly for them to measure or grasp the implications of (matters of shifting a foe just a little off balance, or forcing a movement in stance or location, that will lead to a killing stroke three or four maneuvers later).
>Moreover, “best” is a steadily shifting title, even when one sets aside divine and magical meddling, because (as with real-world tennis) youthful speed and acrobatic suppleness, plus freedom from injuries and the slowing and crippling effects of aging (on, say, the human knee), must always be balanced against the experience gained in duel after duel after battle: young swordsmen are always rising to the fore, but only step into the ranks of the “best” when those more expert through real-life practice grow too slow to defeat the most skilled younglings (or the younglings overcome their inexperience).
>I’m also going to restrict myself purely to matters of bladework, in a one-on-one fight in surroundings that favour neither combatant. In other words, I’m minimizing “street smarts” or dirty fighting or the adventurers’ experience in exploiting traction, lighting, obstacles, distractions, and all of that: factors that seasoned adventurers (like Durnan of Waterdeep) can use to defeat foes who might be a shade faster or a whit better in pure bladework. This will work against Artemis Entreri, for example, but also against a host of other adventurers whom I won’t even mention in this reply, but who might otherwise show up in my answer

Oops, for But yes, Drizzt is probably more or less the best around the Sword Coast, though one guy from Waterdeep (Srace Telthorn) is also on the list, and Methrammar Aerasume (2nd) lives in Silverymoon, which while not the Sword Coast is still "the North" (Drizzt's general stomping grounds).

It's an interesting list.

There was more to the post, he opened it up later on to include elves and other races, drizzt was 6 on that list, and so he's 3rd in that general area, also bear in mind that list was pre-spellplague.

Sorry forgot to link you in

So, in short, Drizzt isn't a Mary Sue, because in the only area where he is exceptionally skilled, he's not even the best.

Yeah, but drizzt's main advantage against any human swordsman is his agelessness as an elf, they'll get slower much more quickly than he will

Kind of not relevant while in the middle of a fight, though.

Never once said it was, because as Ed pointed out, the differences between all these fighters wasn't in technical skill but in the speed of youth and the slowing down of age.

here let me sum up every book thread eer
>hey have you heard of this series i really liked
>UNGA BUNGA MARY SUE
>MARY SUE
Veeky Forums hates fun

That certainly sounds like Veeky Forums.

Artemis and Jarlaxle books>>>>Drizzshit books

Fuck off they're still Drizzt books.

Not really. Artemis is a pretty boring character and his development isn't really handled very well.

>Not even in them

They're the hijinks of evil adventuring parties. Much better than the garbage that is drizzle plots.

...

Not really. Going into Artemis' backstory and his interactions with Jarlaxe make for much better reading because Drizz is boring.

Right? She looks like one of the girls I bullied but secretly liked in middle school.

Too bad Artemis is at least as boring as Drizzt if not moreso.

Unfiltered garbage after the first couple of books

Nah

Oh so you're a fucking edgelord. and they're listed under the same section on R.A.'s website, they originated with drizzt they're drizzt books.

Pierce is viewed through nostalgia goggles for most people, and Maas is still not near that level. It's tons of "omg I can't tell if my hot captor is evil or I want to bang him"

>each of the characters could probably be the focus of their own book and still be good.

Wulfgar's story got too emo and whiny. I have no idea if he ever got himself together though since the last one I read had Drizzt fighting that orc king.

Really bad.

The prequels or whatever where he's living among the drow were better than everything else, iirc. They're still pretty bad.

I unironically think this should be official canon.

He's jolly good fellow now. A shame his pal Morik is long dead.

Did Regis ever become relevant beyond his one magical trinket?

Fuck yes he turned into a badass post reincarnation.

Could you elaborate?

He makes me feel funny things in my pants. The first book with him as a character was read way back in middle school. I think that's where my fetish for elves comes from.

No but i could link you to my google drive with most of the books post resurrection, if you'd like.

I'm on Veeky Forums, you know I have time to waste

WHO ORC HERE?

Do you have a temp email or something i don't know how to link it or give you permission without emailing it.

Drizzt is eyecandy for people who just want a quick fap/shlick. Jarlaxle is romance for people who want a convoluted plot to get off to.

I fucking love this, could you imagine what would have happened if Drizzt's House had capitalized on this instead of trying to cover it up?

>who is that male with the purple eyes?
>don't even think about it, sister. That is Drizzt, he's a halfwit, but he is blessed by Lolth, and thus has supernatural fighting abilities. If you disturb his infantile emotions he will destroy you and your house.

They tried he destroyed them,

drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68MDI2TUhCLXFpMzg/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68S0VlQ3RCTGxFMms/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68MnlQUnUtRkFSSTg/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68S0VYSWNyRFFGMms/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68VlFCbW03eVVXekU/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68dWZqNTNvQ3U4elU/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0BxsUR9QAHo68b3d2ZWZQV1dsTjg/view?usp=sharing

You get them? they're Epub files so i hope you have a reader for them.

A little ambience for this fine conversation.

youtube.com/watch?v=LhVxvv4VWLc

I will
When all of the characters got reincarnated Regis resolved to git gud and learned to fight and became a fencer and also a much better thief than he was in first life and somewhere along the line pissed off a lich with his larceny.

He's also got enough water-elemental blood in him that he gets huge bonuses to swimming and constitution checks involving holding his breath and avoiding the bends from diving.

This guy knows truth

After reading the most recent Drizzt book the mary sue factor was over the top cringe worthy.
Not just for Drizzt but the his entire Companions of the Hall circle jerk party

I won't spoil the book for those who want to read it but unholy shit the way every one of them are immune to death and meaningful failure is fucking painful.

And the way RA writes about how legendary Drizzt is, how everyone wants his Delf dick how he's capable of fucking anything just made me perpetually roll my eyes in disgust.

Don't read below if you don't want spoilers
By the end of the book he's a fighter/ranger/barbarian/monk and its suggested that he may be influencing lolth, the fucking personification of evil and chaos, to shift alignment towards CN if not CG

Okay I've fucking read the book too, and it's a little cringey, yeah, but the primary protagonist going completely batshit insane with no known cure, deserves some leeway, as for the death immunity you supposedly saw, all of them getting away from their respective predicaments was perfectly believable, if improbable, and as for Lolth, Drizz't alone couldn't do that, and he didn't even try, he just refused to bow to her will. Why didn't she kill him? I have no idea, she is the lady of chaos, after all. I suspect though that the little drow bitch-queen had something to do with it, as she too refused to follow Lady Lolth's orders, on threat of worse fates than death. Even knowing all that it's not even close to certain, because Drizz't's extraordinary life alone has caused something of a paradigm shift among the drow, at least among the males in Menzoberranzan and Gods in FR rarely go directly against their followers wishes, because, as you know, unless you're an idiot, gods need their followers worship and prayer to live. Finally, It's the probable end of the character and novel line thanks to WoTC, so Bob had to rush and compact about six originally planned novels into these last three, so considering that R.A Did very well, with what he was given.

Lolth isn't the personification of evil and chaos. She likes to think and act like she is, but in truth she's a big fish in a small pond (the small pond being Underdark deities as a whole; or the elf and drow pantheons as a whole. She's in two ponds simultaneously).

She's nowhere near the most powerful Chaotic Evil deity in the Realms.

She took over a large portion of the abyss while demogorgon was playing in the Underdark, big power increase.

Gods derive their power from worship, though. Lolth's worship has if anything been on the decline. One imagines she keeps making power plays in the Abyss as a failsafe in case she gets demoted from "goddess" to mere "demon lord".

I think the problem with RAS and Lilith is his ignorance, deliberate or otherwise, of the existence of other deities. Early on sure, but at this point he should really have a better idea of things.

I liked killing him in the BG games, does that count?

Still Demogorgon is on the level of the Gods easily if not at least equal to an intermediate deity, so Lolth stealing his strongest Demonic supporters domains within the abyss would definitely help her power up some and hurt him and if she stole his place oh that's a fight i'd want to see.
It's not ignorance RAS, basically crafted the drow's society from nothing when he created drizzt, and within Menzoberranzan, even if you secretly worship Vhaeruan or Eilistraee, how the fuck are you gonna let anyone ven a heretic like Drizzt find out? why would you trust anyone?
No, it doesn't.

Bad books that I love deeply.

Has anyone else gotten to meet RA Salvatore? I got him to sign my books once and talk to him. He wrote a roleplaying game but it looked kinda bad, I really hope he didn't over hear me telling my friend that. He was pretty chill tho, let me take a pic with him and everything.

Obould was an interesting character, an Orc who was trying to take his people from scattered tribes of warring savages and make them into an actual kingdom that was at least somewhat civilized
The fact that he was also blessed by Gruumsh with super-strength as well as being made outright smarter than all the other Orcs was a bonus

Icewind Dale was still when Wulfgar was meant to be the main character, but people loved Drizzt and his mystery so much that Salvatore ended up changing Drizzt to the MC and Wulfgar to a supporting character.
I really like the Drizzt beginning stories the best, they were the 4-6th that he wrote I think? They made me fall in love with the D&D world and especially Drow in general.

I'm one of those faggots that likes to play Drow characters when I can, but can ya fuckin blame me? Whether I'm playing an evil Drow or a more neutral renegade they offer a lot of variety on traditional elfyness. Plus they're good at duel wielding and I'm a sucker for that. What's better than one overpowered enchanted sword after all.

The Drizzt saga made me appreciate evil races in general though. They don't have to just be fodder and James Bond villains and that's all I'd ever been exposed to growing up beforehand. Faceless hordes of goblin fodder and the like, and Drow were my first experience of manipulative, cruel, yet still reasonable evil that can hold off on the killing long enough to form a society.

Can someone type out what order these books go in, plot wise, please?

google.com/search?q=legend of drizzt chronological order&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Thanks!

A lot of those lists ignore side books for some fucking reason which is a shitty idea because:
1) Reading Ghost King without reading the Cleric Quintet is a bad idea, half the characters in that book are from the Quintet and Ghost King wraps up most of their stories.
2) Ignoring Jarlaxle and Entreri's trilogy is skipping one of the better segments of the story and also their hi-jinks come up a few times in the main story.
3) Also, you miss the pretty cool short story where Entreri and Jarlaxle shank a spook which is when Entreri gets his inability to age out of the series in spite of being a human and not an elf.

reddit.com/r/books/comments/33hdn7/question_about_the_reading_order_of_r_a/
Seems to be the best list, the redditor claims it's from Bob himself.