| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore
1338 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Nov 2002 : 14:03:44
|
With at least two professional authors and many amateur authors on this board, I'd thought to raise a topic about the novels.
Most novels have characters of at least mid-levels and many feature heroes well in the higher level range (if not occasionally epic level). Why don't the lower level (1-5) characters not get their chance to show. (I can't recall the stats for the heroes in the Sembia series, but I believe they are also mid-level.)
Lower level characters are in the process that defines their characters and sets them on the path to their future careers. There should/could be a wealth of storylines and ideas coming from these type of characters, maybe even a series of novels that follows a character from start to finish...
And there's also a plethora of monster which can be thrown at them without having to resort to creatures that '...make even the Chosen break a sweat...' (quoted from another CK scribe).
Any opinions from the fellow scribes on this matter?
|
|
|
ArcticKnight
Learned Scribe
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 18 Nov 2002 : 14:15:13
|
I dont think that *Most* authors set a "Level" for thier characters. frankly in the DnD world there isnt much a lower level character could do to make a story interesting. but...
shandrils saga lets us see Shan and Narm at LOW level in the beginning but its obvious they increase in the book and beyond.
we see cadderly as low level in the beginning of the Cleric Quintet but he also gains rapidly
but other then that, i dont think its intentional but in DnD terms low level main characters in novels might not make for interesting storys.
it seems to me the formula most Authors are using these days is low in the beginning hign in the end. You have to remember most stats are produced for novel characters AFTER the books are out and usually they fight something(or things) in the storys that have HIGH Exp values so after the storys they are higher level then they started out.
i dunno?!? just my theory |
"The man who does not read has little advantage over the man who cannot read."
|
 |
|
|
Zacas
Learned Scribe
USA
261 Posts |
Posted - 18 Nov 2002 : 21:12:45
|
*cough* SOMEONE forgot Drizzt... if you start out with the Dark Elf Trilogy it starts out with his birth and early childhood... then him going through the fighter's academy (can't recall the name right now...) then his Zakneifen's training... etc. :P i think that shows from 'low-level' and then all the way up to the thousand orcs (whoa... lotta novels... the most written around ONE character i believe in the FR series)....
How dare you forget Drizzt... hehe... |
I am like a superhero, with no powers or motivation.
I have gone to find myself. If I get back before I return, please keep me here.
People like you are the reason people like me are on medication. |
|
|
|
Drummer Boy
Senior Scribe
USA
395 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2002 : 05:59:11
|
Hey Drizzt, here are a couple things you missed:
1. The fighter's academy is called Melee-Magthere.
2. Zaknefein's training was actually before Drizzt went to the academy.
Wow, I can't believe I knew a couple things about Drizzt that you didn't (no offense.)  Its probably because I read the Dark Elf Trilogy more recently than you did. |
|
|
|
Zacas
Learned Scribe
USA
261 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2002 : 18:22:01
|
actually... i'm not the one that uses the name 'drizzt' i just used the only male drow pic i could find in the pic list... :P
and my memory sucks, so i couldn't remember the name of the academy even tho i just finished dissolution... and it's been like... 4 years since i've read the Dark Elf Trilogy... :P and i got too many other novels to read to catch up on my collection so i can't reread a lot of them yet... |
I am like a superhero, with no powers or motivation.
I have gone to find myself. If I get back before I return, please keep me here.
People like you are the reason people like me are on medication. |
|
|
|
Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2002 : 20:11:40
|
Not to beat a dead (bloated, festering, resurrected and then dead again) horse, but I think that the reason we don't get to see too many low-level (or perhaps we should say, less powerful) characters is due to the overwhelming slew of novels about god-like characters.
I think that many authors and publishers very incorrectly estimate that most of their target audience is interested only in seeing huge mages blow the hell out of anything that moves, completely ignoring the fact that the simplistic, the basic and the new are the cruxes of fantasy. We see this even in Faerun's predecessor, Middle-Earth, in which the main characters (with a few exceptions) were Hobbits - very weak, scared, simple creatures who had NO desire to begin slaying dragons. However, the success of Tolkein's masterwork was based in some part on how much fun it was to see these characters grow and change and become powerful, strong-willed champions - particularly when it was their very likeability, charm and naivete that makes the reader fall in love with them in the first place and identify with them......not the fact that Bilbo and Frodo were able to waggle their fingers and sink half of the world into the ocean.
In my opinion, when you crack open an Ed Greenwood novel, there are some things you can take for granted. Elminster will undoubtedly make an appearance - he WILL blow something up, etc. There isn't much there to grab onto (not to mention a lack of character devlopment, but we won't go there  ).
I understand that boring, powerless creatures don't make for a good read, but as a reader I simply HAVE to have a leg to stand on, and it is VERY hard for me to identify with the walking-gods that many Forgotten Realms authors throw at us.......as was said before, gimme Drizzt, Craulnober, Midnight and Galaeron.....their progress to nigh-god-hood (and in Midnight's case ACTUAL godhood) actually made sense.... |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
|
|
|
Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2002 : 21:04:21
|
I feel the same way, in much that high-level characters in novels make the novel far too way out. Yeah i know its fantasy but even fantasy can be unrealistic at times (if thats the right word to use!?).
Novels such as those in the Avatar Trilogy didnt really appeal to me that much, I havent read any of the Elminster series yet so I cant comment, but I assume theyre very high powered. I find much more enjoyment in lower-level character novels, or rather, novels which arent particulary Realms-shattering. Ill once again go back to my praise of the Sembia series, the events are centralised in Selgaunt (mainly) and around the Uskevrens, occassionally affecting other parts of the city etc. but IMHO they are a much better read and more enjoyable than reading about great powerful mages and characters like the Chosen battling emmensly powerful enemies which wipe out huge areas of Faerun with a couple of well placed spells.
Not all high-level character novels are like that however, Artemis Entreri in Servant of the Shard is high-level, but still mainly skulks around in the shadows and back alleys of Calimport confronting thieves. |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
|
|
|
|
ArcticKnight
Learned Scribe
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2002 : 21:27:41
|
also, another reason i think we dont see to many low level characters in novels is the simple fact that, wether we like it or not, books that arnt action packed and full of high-level powers DONT SELL!!!!
think about it, the top Realms series are all high level characters. The books that dont sell as well, typically are those that focus more on a story first and the DnD genre secondary, as apposed to the norm that is DnD first, worry about plot later.
so i dont see WOTC changing the formula anytime soon because lets face it, high level knock-out Drag-out books are what makes (the majority) of people buy the books. |
"The man who does not read has little advantage over the man who cannot read."
|
|
|
|
Drummer Boy
Senior Scribe
USA
395 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2002 : 04:02:43
|
quote:
Originally posted by Zacas
actually... i'm not the one that uses the name 'drizzt' i just used the only male drow pic i could find in the pic list... :P
and my memory sucks, so i couldn't remember the name of the academy even tho i just finished dissolution... and it's been like... 4 years since i've read the Dark Elf Trilogy... :P and i got too many other novels to read to catch up on my collection so i can't reread a lot of them yet...
Oh, hehehe sorry. I feel so stupid. I just looked at your avatar portrait and assumed you were TheGreatDrizzt because you have the same avatar portrait as him. |
|
|
|
Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2002 : 04:44:30
|
Homeland (last time I checked) is the best-selling FG Realms novel ever written - subject: the birth/training of a weak, fledgling Drizzt Do'Urden.
And yes, while I am aware that Drizzt is of a VERY high level now (and probably was of at least a moderate level when he left Menzo at the end of Homeland), Salvatore does not over-indulge the elf's prowess by having him stroll into Zhentil Keep and single-handedly wipe the floor with them.....
(wow - as I wrote that last part as a grand hyperbole, it occurred to me that HAS happened in....guess what? An Elminster novel! See Crown of Fire).
|
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
|
|
|
Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 18:24:58
|
| Here's something I want to know -- what do you guys define as low/middle/high level characters? (Both novel and game.) |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
|
|
|
zemd
Master of Realmslore
France
1103 Posts |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 18:29:24
|
quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Here's something I want to know -- what do you guys define as low/middle/high level characters? (Both novel and game.)
Low level: 1/5
Middle: 6/12
High: 12+
IMO, i don't remember the standard of wotc |
|
|
|
Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2003 : 05:06:09
|
| Thanks, that's about what I thought. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Novels and the lower levels
